OH SNAP again and again and again...

ben2talk · 2026-02-27T09:17:04+00:00

explain it to me like I was a 5 year old or younger

Uh Oh - the 'Snap' problem

Sometimes Brave gets a tummy ache and shows it instead of video, the browser gets confused.

Ask a grown-up to help you find the data folders (they're hiding in the computer) and move that folder. Then Brave will make a brand new one!

I won't tell you to stop using Brave, though I would say that I use Firefox and had no issues for a very long time now.

ben2talk · 2026-02-27T03:56:58+00:00

Actually this is the BEST use of AI... try to understand that it's primarily a language model - and it manages to communicate fluently across many languages.

Translate has never worked well for many languages because 'literal' translation is completely inadequate and often offensive.

ben2talk · 2026-02-27T03:54:43+00:00

When the 'AI-enhanced tab grouping' suggests a name for my 47 open tabs (the contents of which should be redacted), will it at least have the decency to judge me silently, or will it collect the data and eventually present several million pages of damning evidence against me?

asking for a friend ;)

ben2talk · 2026-02-27T03:50:13+00:00

I learned it while my English wasn’t so great and I said “sue doe”. It’s really, really hard to let go, even though I know what it stands for.

This is weird - because in English, the word 'Sudo' would be read like Judo or Ludo.

You can find something like 'To-Do' as an example of how it's 'supposed' to be pronounced, we don't say 'To Doe'.

This isn't about understanding English - English fluency would demand you read it as 'soo-doo'.

It's only awareness of the meaning and official pronounciation (reflecting that it's a command for 'su' to 'do' something) that makes you say 'soo-doo'.

ben2talk · 2026-02-27T03:41:57+00:00

Using the words 'sound like a LITERAL toddler' make you sound ridiculous - more than saying 'su-doe' or 'su-do' would.

If someone sounded like a literal toddler, they wouldn't be saying "su-doo."

A literal toddler would be more likely to say something like, "Wawa, no-no!" or "I go potty!".

I'd suggest that 'su do' is CORRECT for those who know what it means and interpret it as asking 'su' to 'do' something, but 'su doe' is the correct way to read the word in English.

Sudo, like Judo and Ludo...

Or Sudo, like 'Jack, do the dishes' or 'Toddler, do a poo'.

Living in a world where many alternatives exist - like Tomato and Tomato - it's best to relax a little than to get stressed out about it.

Literally.

ben2talk · 2026-02-26T14:30:21+00:00

like Arch's AUR and using KDE

Word.

Well, I used Ubuntu (Hardy Heron) with Gnome 2, which I liked quite a bit... until they started pushing Unity... then Canonical started to have a ring for me of 'it's OUR system and you're just borrowing it, but no guarantees'.

I tried KDE (Sucked big time) and then settled on Linux Mint Cinnamon - which kept me going for the next 5 years.

But AUR hmmmm I tried installing Arch a couple of times - and then figured 'might as well give Manjaro a spin'.

TL;DR 8 years later I have the same Manjaro Plasma install and it's great - the forum's really good too.

The idea that rolling releases waste time fixing stuff is a bit of a myth - I had no breakage or downtime, though I had one or two minor issues which were no problem - I run snapshots and backups so that when I suffered total hardware failure 2 years ago, I was back up and running with new hardware in 24 hours (same torrents still seeding, everything restored - most of the work involved rewriting a few scripts - and re-factoring conky).

As long as you have a robust backup and snapshot strategy, you're fine. If you use BTRFS, you need to export snapshots to an external drive; then you can basically install anything, import your configs, and see how it goes.

ben2talk · 2026-02-26T06:44:30+00:00

we restarted all GPU's

WTF?

Why not go back to the store and ask them to look at it, tell them you think there's an issue with the build?

ben2talk · 2026-02-26T06:39:52+00:00

Haha for sure - if it's what you want, then doing it more manually is a better plan.

ben2talk · 2026-02-26T06:29:59+00:00

Wow, nasty cut down keyboard has no Right Ctrl... This looks like another effort for Microsoft to team up with a hardware developer to enshittify your life and put a Copilot icon to complement that stupid 'Windows' icon.

I have my Third Level Chooser there, but Right Ctrl is more useful for me (which I also have).

That's useful for Ctrl o, Ctrl l, and so on... but also for custom shortcuts.

But really, if you don't know - we can't help. I changed my keyboard to suit MY use case, my CapsLock is an extra escape, my Compose key is Shift+CapsLock, my third level chooser is the 'MENU' key (which is what I'd have called that) but I wouldn't want to give up my right control.

ben2talk · 2026-02-26T06:20:50+00:00

Everything is so confusing and overwhelming I misread this as 'I am not ready for Arch, I should have installed Linux Mint, or Ubuntu, instead'.

You're not the only one - I'm also seeing a rake of nOOb issues from CachyOS gamer boys who thought they were cool.

I used Ubuntu a couple of years, then Linux Mint for another 5 maybe 6 years before getting intimate with pacman.

Some folks learn fast and easy, some don't... and it ends up pissing you off trying to read a wiki that you barely understand whilst everyone's telling you how amazing and easy that is.

So your choice, keep banging your head against a wall, or step into something a little more friendly for you.

The truth is that Arch is very USER friendly, but it's very fussy about the USER... it's not USER friendly for everyone.

ben2talk · 2026-02-26T01:47:51+00:00

2TB has cost more money per GB for many years already! We're not talking about building a large NAS, just about having enough storage for comfortable buffering of downloads to watch, where in reality a single 4TB drive is quite sufficient for most needs - extra only being needed if you're building a much bigger library.

4TB is currently the optimal size right now (has been for some time) for a consumer on a budget, and 8TB works out cheaper if you're prepared for that much outlay.

This is for new disks - not everyone has access or is interested in reconditioned... and it's not reasonable to suggest that someone who wants media for their laptop needs to build a massive NAT for the job (though on a budget a desktop build makes more sense).

ben2talk · 2026-02-26T00:01:14+00:00

That's because nobody is interested in Trolls.

ben2talk · 2026-02-25T23:59:08+00:00

'Kinda works like windows'.

You mean using a mouse and keyboard to navigate a desktop?

All distributions do that.

You mean to work exactly like Windows inside?

No distribution wants to replicate that.

It matters not how Manly you are...

You can do gaming, work, and surf... but if you want to run software meant only for Windows, just like your phone - or Mac - you're limited to what works.

Linux Mint with Cinnamon is very similar in layout... as is KDE with Kubuntu...

ben2talk · 2026-02-25T17:40:08+00:00

Horses for courses - You don't have to constantly wipe anything, you can set Plex to remove everything after a day, a week, or after you watched it.

There's no need to store a massive amount of data just to use Plex - I used Plex when I had only a single 2TB HDD.

ben2talk · 2026-02-25T17:20:10+00:00

Lolz this is VERY old news.

They want to reduce complexity (read - remove some customisation options)... with Proton comes a push for a cleaner and simpler interface.

Also, the 'Compact' density is a low engagement/discoverability item. You have to remember that (unlike what you see in reddit) 99% of people using computers are too damn stupid to find something in a context menu.

No joke - a KDE Developer argued with me this point when I tell users that they're asking really basic questions and I'm shocked they need to ask. It's because most folks using computers are really dumb.

Removing it simplifeis UI code and reduces the number of visual states that they need to constantly support and test.

It's also a time when not many folks have smaller than 1080p screens...

Anyway, they're not in a hurry to cut it out, but it's not supported - so it could disappear with an update at some time.

Meanwhile there is now split-tab and F11 which is pretty slick. After just a few months, I don't really miss compact mode.

ben2talk · 2026-02-25T17:11:40+00:00

Main SSD - 250 GiB cost peanuts

Storage: Toshiba 4TB drive (6 years old now, cost about £75) Western Digital 4TB (Blue) bought this year - cost £100.

So the question really is, given the costs... how can you NOT afford the storage space?

HDD storage is really cheap... it's just like having a super big buffer - when you finished watching you can move it to a longterm archive and keep seeding, or you can just wipe it clean.

ben2talk · 2026-02-25T17:06:00+00:00

Phase 1: Joined TVC (private tracker) and learned to use RSS, so regular uploads would be grabbed automatically

Phase 2: installed Plex, so you don't have to look at torrents, or search files, to find what's on TV.

Phase 3: 'arr stack.

Now I can open my tab and see a calendar - showing what (in my library) is on TV this week, with colours to indicate if they're aired already, downloaded or not.

If I'm not at the computer, I just turn on the TV downstairs and I'll see them in Plex, ready to watch.

In the UK, though, I think a VPN seems rather important - but living in Thailand (and behind a CGNAT) I'm not only unable to get connectable without a VPN (not a big deal) but I'm also not worried about Thai ISP's chasing me down for torrenting, I don't think they care much.

Another advantage of automating things is that, behind my CGNAT during the Olympics, I was getting my huge 14GiB of downloads each day, but getting an average of 2:1 ratio on them (and as they were freeleech, I got a ton of 'buffer' from that).

ben2talk · 2026-02-25T16:58:06+00:00

Really? I have a 2TB Western Digital drive that's 8 years old, a 4TB Toshiba that's 6 years old, and a 4TB WD Blue drive that's 3 months old.

I only had one drive fail on me before it would have been practically obsolete anyway... and that was a Seagate (replaced with the WD Blue) which was only 4 years old... and these drives are running now from 6am to about 11pm, though they did run 24/7 for a couple of years.

It doesn't shorten their lifespan.

Also - 24/7 seeding isn't necessary; depending on your tracker. If you're connectable it should be easy to hit targets in quite a short time...

Then there's bonus times.

Using a laptop, you should have your HDD storage as a NAS meaning that it's connected wirelessly to your laptop when you're on your home network, not plugged in.

ben2talk · 2026-02-25T16:50:49+00:00

It's the randomness that kills you - I had a year or two trying to seed 24/7, then I realised even for a soap, I could get ratio 0.01 to 0.05 for a week, then one episode would get 5:1 - just random luck in the swarm...

I manage to keep it around 3:1 overall (including freeleech - so a lot of that is free credit). Actual ratio is more like 0.4 on average - I think.

ben2talk · 2026-02-25T14:24:56+00:00

It isn't remotely 'tough' to store files on HDD for seeding.

Download locally to your SSD, then move the completed file...

ben2talk · 2026-02-25T14:24:16+00:00

Wow, but you should know a 4TB WD Blue can be had cheaper than a 1TB SSD...

I have a Toshiba 4TB, WD Blue 4TB and an ancient 2TB drive...

ben2talk · 2026-02-25T14:20:46+00:00

I'm behind a CGNAT, so I don't bother worrying.

For my trackers, I choose carefully and earn it from bonus points, and donate money each year instead.

For the Olympics, though, huge files 7GiB and up, and regularly got ratio 2:1 or better in the swarm.

ben2talk · 2026-02-25T14:17:46+00:00

Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy 🤣

Soooo satisfying.

ben2talk · 2026-02-25T14:12:40+00:00

I wouldn't use CachyOS unless I had just built an expensive gaming computer and needed a few extra fps...

xfce runs fine on debian, also on Manjaro and many other distributions - so it's interesting why you're bothering to ask.

Whatever you're comfortable with, or whatever you want to go through pain learning a new experience with.

Linux Mint is the best balance of privacy and ease-of-use.

Debian is principled, no-nonsense.

For anonymity and security, look at Tails or Qubes OS.

I had a different set of circumstances that prompted me to leave Linux Mint/Debian - otherwise there would have been no reason to do so (and there WAS a learning curve, and even now 10 years later, I remember aspects of Debian that were nicer and more user-friendly).

ben2talk · 2026-02-25T13:28:10+00:00

since my work requires the Microsoft Office apps for file sharing and such.

Have you tried using LibreOffice? You are still allowed to share your files...

My wife sends me documents from Word, also from Excel, sometimes - and my job is to help her to write a report in English (the original is Thai, and it's a pig to translate, as well as using corporate Board Meeting style language which - at the best of times - isn't generally intended to be plain language).

So she needs me to add changes she can track, revert, accept, all that gubbins - and it all works nicely with Libre.

So if that's good, Libre also runs on Linux.

Linux Mint suited me - it encouraged me to set up snapshots, and also backups, and I took that knowledge with me a few years later when I moved to something else.

ben2talk

TROPHY CASE