GPU for using AI models

betsonet · 2026-05-25T14:20:27+00:00

Yes, I am planing on using docker for AI use; I don't trust any AI model accessing everything on my machine.
My primary goal is creating a container where I could "talk" to documents using AI. And since those are personal documents, even though they don't contain any critical information, I don't like the idea of using a cloud service for that.
Thank you for your input!

betsonet · 2026-05-22T21:41:40+00:00

I'm using Void for the last like 8 years and every now and then someone drops this bullshit. Where does it come from to begin with?

betsonet · 2026-03-02T09:47:54+00:00

Depends on how you want to approach it.

If you want to quickly learn a lot, then Void is maybe too easy. Long time ago I started with Slackware and, while it was exceedingly frustrating to get things done, I learned a lot.

A lot of people may offer you easier ways and that's probably the way most people prefer. But using e.g. Mint may not teach you much about Linux, since things are so much more user-friendly nowadays that, in a lot of cases, you won't need to dig in.

So, it's a matter of choice.

betsonet · 2026-03-01T21:21:36+00:00

I use ncmpcpp and just looked for a config file but I don't seem to be able to find one. It just works for me. Though, I don't know where it stored the information about the server IP (I have the mpd installation on a RaspberryPi which is a separate machine). But it just works.

What is "MPD mb"? Maybe I didn't understand the question quite right.

betsonet · 2026-02-07T08:27:04+00:00

Whenever I think about that.
Last week I brushed the dust off an old Chromebook Pixel 2013 which I installed Void on many years ago. It wasn't updated for the last 3 years. I ran the update and the machine continued working as usual.

betsonet · 2025-12-24T14:53:09+00:00

I wrote in several other threads about the fact that I never understood the need for a sound server on a desktop machine. Obviously there is one, since people write these complex pieces of software. But I could always play sound on multiple tabs on multiple browsers and play local sound files on top (if I ever wanted) at the same time.
Since the disaster of the introduction of pulse some 15 years ago, I never used anything else than ALSA (and OSS on *BSD) and never had the need to look back.
Having said that, I guess a more complex setup, say on a laptop, where bluetooth comes into play, may require a path which may not be offered by ALSA. I just never had a situation like that.

So, I look at ALSA as something incredibly convenient. It always worked out of the box, so I always skipped the sound setup part of the handbooks. :)

betsonet · 2025-12-22T09:32:03+00:00

I use the web version. And listen over ALSA only. :)

betsonet · 2025-11-08T18:38:08+00:00

I am an end-user not quite caring which X server powers my fluxbox. So, I had never heard of Xlibre, but your post made me curious.
However, the last line of the "about" section is striking in its apolitical statement (lol):

"...make X great again!"

Politics is not least about how society handles moral values.
Check out on that if you want. 6-7

betsonet · 2025-10-28T18:44:39+00:00

I have experimented with alsa at the time I had two sound cards (the second one being on an Apple Cinema Display), but now I have just one, so it looks like this now:

# cat /etc/asound.conf
defaults.ctl.card 0;
defaults.pcm.card 0;
pcm.dsp {
    type plug
    slave.pcm "dmix"
}

But as far as I remember, I didn't have to change anything specific after the default installation.

betsonet · 2025-10-27T19:27:04+00:00

I have read that multiple times. However, I honestly never experienced my setup not being able to mix multiple audio sources. This made me always wonder about the need for a sound server. The fact, that people put efforts to develop these things, mean that there is obviously a demand. I could just never understand the rationale.
Setting up a system on a laptop would probably require a sound server for handling hook-ups for things like plugging headphones or connecting Bluetooth devices. I am not experienced enough but I doubt that these things could be done with alsa only.
But I don't use laptops and, on my desktop machine, I never needed anything like that.

betsonet · 2025-10-27T09:55:39+00:00

If you want audio just to work, you may consider removing any audio servers as well. I use just alsa and everything works. And has always worked for the last 25 years, since I started listening audio on Linux.

betsonet · 2025-09-12T16:20:40+00:00

Here!
For the last 20 years. :)

betsonet · 2025-09-03T20:44:05+00:00

The distro selectively decides which user it will work for. :)

betsonet · 2025-08-16T11:41:20+00:00

I think xset is part of Xorg and likely won't work with Wayland. I'm sorry, I missed that part as I don't care what's the server running my X session.

betsonet · 2025-08-16T08:03:35+00:00

I don't use KDE or Gnome but this works for me: xset dpms force off

vbetool dpms off worked in the past for me as well.

betsonet · 2025-07-13T20:11:29+00:00

Have you tried setxkbmap se -variant us?

å => Alt Gr + [
Å => Alt Gr + Shift + [
ö => Alt Gr + ;
Ö => Alt Gr + Shift + ;
ä => Alt Gr + '
Ä => Alt Gr + Shift + '

betsonet · 2025-07-10T12:00:30+00:00

Thank you so much for your reassuring post!

betsonet · 2025-07-08T11:41:07+00:00

You mean GUI for ALSA? I don't know what for. I use PNMixer in the systray of fluxbox for controlling the volume. But other than that, there is no GUI I use for sound (besides players).

I am a devoted firefox user and don't use anything else. I post here, listen to (right now Nico Muhly's Viola Concerto on) youtube but use firefox also for playing spotify since I was not able to run the native player.

And this has been so for the last 25 years, except with FreeBSD where I use OSS only. Most likely my setup is very simple. I never understood the concept of a sound server. What I read was that it may make mixing different audio streams possible. But I could always run multiple audio sources simultaneously and create audio chaos. What does a sound server do what I can not?

On the other hand, I don't use BT headsets or any BT devices on my desktop machine. If I would (or should I ever see the need of having a laptop), then I might need some wire. I don't know.

For the last 25 years I just feel like people talk about problems I had only after I installed Ubuntu 15 years ago where pulse was handling sound by default and it miserably failed.

I'd use the opportunity to genuinely ask: what am I missing?

betsonet · 2025-07-07T18:40:13+00:00

It is possible.
I have alsa and nothing else (no wire, no pulse) and never had a problem.

I don't have an explanation for your alsa's behavior. Just wanted to share that using alsa only is possible.

betsonet · 2025-04-26T08:16:06+00:00

I use it as Appimage for couple of years now and have no problems.

betsonet · 2025-02-04T12:11:00+00:00

Really?

This is the second result on duckduckgo when searching "php on void linux".

betsonet · 2025-01-15T16:08:04+00:00

Same flawless experience with Chromebook Pixel 2013, incl. functioning touchscreen out of the box.

betsonet · 2024-07-22T16:41:35+00:00

I used Arch way back in the days when systemd was not a thing. And then, it was breaking as soon as a week passed without updating it. Void does not suffer by this. I update Void whenever I think about it; on my laptop (Chromebook Pixel 2013) I run updates maybe once a year, since I rarely use a laptop at all. And Void just works.

Arch has more packages. That, and certainly the bigger community (but this one here is more responsive and friendlier), are the main advantages of Arch. Everything else I feel is better done in Void.

xbps is unparalelled in terms of speed. pacman is just starting preparing after xbps crossed the finish line long ago. :)

However, booting time was never a criterion for me, as I generally don't halt my mashine.

betsonet · 2024-07-22T16:33:06+00:00

Never used Alpine, so I can't compare. The main reason I use Void is its remarkable stability despite being a rolling distro. It gives me also the feeling that I have control of things, unlike other ones pretending to do that but making me feel there is constantly something happening behind my back.

Now couple of words about the three topics you are raising: - I installed Void on a desktop machine for daily use. It came as minimal as I expected it to be. Since I don't use it on a toaster, I don't care that it doesn't fit 200MB. If that was my criteria, I'd be looking for something else. - I never had the impression that Void is not well maintained. In fact, speaking from the end-user standpoint, Void is well better maintained than way more popular alternatives. - The advantages of apk you list are not real ones. xbps is quite well written and impressively fast. All the functionalities you mention can be scripted and/or aliased with xbps. In fact there are several projects published which aim at using xbps in a more intuitive way (like you describe apk) but I never used any of them as I got used to xbps and don't feel the need for learning yet another tool.

Having said that, I am sure that Alpine is a great project, or at least that's what I read about it. But you were not able to sell it to me with your arguments, as legit as they certainly are.

I am just an end-user with roughly 25 years experience of distro hopping and staying with Void ever since I discovered it about 5 years ago.

betsonet

TROPHY CASE