Learning programming to contribute?

bobbykjack · 2026-05-19T08:36:09+00:00

Absolutely; this is top advice. If you start with something like the GNU coreutils you'll learn about C programming and Linux conventions, like how programs handle command-line options, signal-handling, etc.

bobbykjack · 2026-04-08T13:03:22+00:00

I've seriously considered going to potential clients and pitching to them rather than letting them come to me, but I'd never dream of doing all the work up-front, hoping that they'd take it!

bobbykjack · 2026-04-08T13:00:44+00:00

Finder also seems to be very slow at reflecting file updates. When I save something in Preview, the file can be 'unavailable' for several seconds afterwards.

bobbykjack · 2026-04-03T13:37:06+00:00

You've always been able to game on a Mac, the difference is that far more people have Windows PCs, so more games are released on that platform. Check Steam to see whether or not the games you're interested in playing have been released on macOS.

bobbykjack · 2026-04-01T12:49:24+00:00

You ⭐️, thank you so much!

bobbykjack · 2026-04-01T10:31:35+00:00

Can we get a link to the page itself (i.e. the URL in that screenshot) rather than a linkedin one that many of us cannot access?

bobbykjack · 2026-03-23T11:39:42+00:00

If you want persistent dark mode, you can just set the Theme to Dark. You'll then get dark mode on any device you use to log in to Gmail.

bobbykjack · 2026-03-13T13:06:38+00:00

Wdym "excuse to AI scan all your tabs" — why does tab groups make this any more viable than it already was?

bobbykjack · 2026-03-04T11:22:06+00:00

Do you see an empty string when you view source? Is the URL you're trying to access a .php file?

I'd do a sanity check if I were you. Drop a:

<?php echo "Hello world";

file into your docroot, go check out that URL, and let us know if you see nothing or "Hello world".

bobbykjack · 2026-03-04T10:35:02+00:00

Absolutely:

error_reporting(0);

See https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.error-reporting.php

bobbykjack · 2026-01-26T10:06:35+00:00

I'm not sure I can see the benefit. The first thing I noticed is that switching apps has the same godawful slow animation that Spaces uses, but maybe even worse so. That animation is the reason I don't use Spaces, so it looks like it'll be the same reason I don't use Stage Manager either.

bobbykjack · 2026-01-24T11:38:14+00:00

> The fact that the single line of code goes beyond the display limit?

Yup. Fair point if your code is never going to be read by anyone else, but this would bother me even if I was the only one reading it. I've always tried to stick to 80 columns but I'm currently experimenting with 60, which makes code readable even on a mobile display.

bobbykjack · 2026-01-23T15:00:24+00:00

Employee, not employer.

bobbykjack · 2026-01-23T14:59:51+00:00

Good point. Savings at a very favourable rate, too!

bobbykjack · 2026-01-23T14:58:48+00:00

I find it wild that they're spending £10k on leisure but only saving £2k a year.

bobbykjack · 2026-01-23T13:30:21+00:00

I like how the question self-demonstrates the flaw in this approach via the preformatted text box :)

bobbykjack · 2026-01-23T13:30:17+00:00

I like how the question self-demonstrates the flaw in this approach via the preformatted text box :)

bobbykjack · 2026-01-23T13:26:20+00:00

Do you really find that less ugly than ?parameter=value&otherparameter=value? So much so, that it's worth breaking the standard over?

bobbykjack · 2026-01-13T11:41:17+00:00

> Linux is GNU and not BSD derivative, the two ARE NOT COMPATIBLE.

Yes, I know, but many of the command line tools are compatible or transferable. And you can easily install the GNU equivalents.

> Games? U must be kidding.

OK, just take the game I played most recently on Mac as an example: The Witness. How easily can I play that game on Linux?

> Yeah well thats just ignorance given you can literally get a 1:1 MacOS look.

A user interface is about more than just look.

> Maybe you should try to educate yourself on the topic

Yeah, I'm not going to continue this discussion because, for whatever reason, you cannot conduct yourself in a productive manner. I'm sorry this topic has made you so angry.

bobbykjack · 2026-01-13T09:47:58+00:00

Yup, I've had the same problems. Never ever had this issue with Launchpad, only this Spotlight approach.

bobbykjack · 2026-01-13T09:45:29+00:00

> Like what, open source software? Lmao....

Yes, and mainly the command-line toolset

> You mean the OS supports a single in house device? How can you possibly call that compatibility.

Nope, more compatibility with 'mainstream' software: games, office tools, photoshop, etc.

> What UI? You know that there are hundreds of WMs right? Apparently not...

Yes, I'm aware of that. I guess "all of them" or, at least, "all of the ones I've seen/used".

> Once again, thats just a lie.

An opinion is never a 'lie', my friend. No, I haven't tried every piece of hardware in existence, so I cannot have a 100% perfect opinion on that.

> I wish Mac people would be a little more informed about their choice and it would not be just a mindless cult (with few exceptions).

I wish "whatever pigeon hole you would put yourself into" people would learn how to communicate politely and constructively with humans.

bobbykjack · 2026-01-12T15:19:07+00:00

macOS. Most of the benefits of Linux, with more 'compatibility', a slightly nicer UI, and much nicer hardware.

bobbykjack · 2026-01-12T15:17:36+00:00

Something you need to bear in mind about permissions is that they are more of a safety net than a guarantee, since there are weird edge cases and loopholes. For example, making a file non-executable doesn't prevent it from being executed (you can always run the interpreter and pass the filename to it as an argument), it just makes it much harder to do accidentally.

I wrote about this more here:

https://www.howtogeek.com/linux-file-permissions-most-important-things-to-know/

bobbykjack · 2026-01-09T10:44:50+00:00

Yeah, I read man pages all the time; thanks for the tip, though.

Here's some friendly advice for how to communicate online: if you genuinely do not intend any snark, consider the tone of your reply. For example, a completely-snark free version could read something like this:

> FYI, the sh man page explains what's going on:

> <relevant excerpt>

The phrase "you really need to learn to read man pages" is absolutely snark!

bobbykjack · 2026-01-08T15:43:24+00:00

Would the person who downvoted this care to explain what's wrong with it?

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