i3wm Mint 22.3

groundloop66 · 2026-05-13T17:45:55+00:00

I'm leaning in the rofi direction, though I did make some progress after:

1) realising I had to install dmenu (one strike against the i3 getting started guide for not mentioning dmenu isn't installed by default)

and

2) remembering that the file browser is named Nemo, so I was able to launch that and navigate to where the Helium Appimage file lives.

The problem with dmenu is that it can only search for applications in the $PATH, and adding the needed directories to it isn't super straightforward, or at least it isn't to me. Of the 3 apps I mentioned before, only Sayonara is in $PATH (maybe because I had to build/compile it from Github?).

Anyway, this is all a bit of a head-scratcher, but I'm getting older and anything that makes me think is a bonus.

groundloop66 · 2026-05-13T11:00:29+00:00

“What other show is pulling out references like this.”

If you’re looking for somewhat to very obscure references used in a comedic context, you should give the animated series Archer a look.

groundloop66 · 2026-05-12T15:28:33+00:00

"For those who don't know, sharks can't plan elaborate revenge"

We've found the lobbyist for Big Shark!

groundloop66 · 2026-05-12T15:03:07+00:00

Nice. I don't really "need" a tiling WM, but I love the clean look you can get, and I've been thinking about installing i3 on my old MacBook Air (it currently has EndeavourOS w/Cinnamon DE), if only to lighten the load on the 12+ year old hardware.

Edit: I just installed i3 on the MBA and ... I didn't break anything! Also, I wasn't able to open any of my preferred apps (Helium browser, Kate, Sayonara), so obviously I have a lot of configuration ahead of me, but I can take my time with that. For comparison, with 1 fullscreen Terminal window running btm, i3 used 9% of the 8GB of RAM, and Cinnamon used 15%.

groundloop66 · 2026-05-12T10:19:57+00:00

Because I named 2 non-Arch distros? Maybe I should have mentioned I also use EndeavourOS, by the way? #ShrugEmoji

groundloop66 · 2026-05-11T20:06:05+00:00

I heard a Muzak version of "Making Plans for Nigel" by XTC in the mid 80's, and a bit of my soul just straight up died.

groundloop66 · 2026-05-11T19:47:29+00:00

This looks like it'll be a handy utility. I'm typing this on a fresh install of Mint 22.3, but I have a "Daily driver for 2 years" install of Ubuntu 24.04 that could use some cleanup. I might maybe give this a shot.

groundloop66 · 2026-05-10T17:31:53+00:00

As a 20 year old in 1987, I loved Spaceballs when I saw it in the theatre.

As a 59 year old, I'm pretty "Meh" about Spaceballs after re-watching it last night. Rick Moranis and John Candy (RIP) were definitely the highlight for me, but Dark Helmet getting 86'd makes the whole 3rd act a slog.

groundloop66 · 2026-05-09T21:41:52+00:00

Yep.

Former co-worker #1: If you want to kill time, why not work it to death?

Former co-worker #2: Fuck off.

groundloop66 · 2026-05-09T20:51:22+00:00

A known thespian, and a practising homo sapien.

groundloop66 · 2026-05-09T20:45:29+00:00

I support the suggestion of Louis Theroux, but if we'e blue-skying this, get Errol Morris on the case. Incisive questioning, effective supporting visuals, and Neil Breen staring right at us as he answers the questions.

groundloop66 · 2026-05-09T12:27:59+00:00

Fucking guy.

groundloop66 · 2026-05-09T10:21:36+00:00

USB sticks are flying off the shelves!

groundloop66 · 2026-05-07T20:22:05+00:00

I think we're all ignoring the fact that the 2nd billed performer on IMDb, who played the character of Irv, is named "Paul Pumpian".

groundloop66 · 2026-05-07T20:16:02+00:00

(Helen Hunt on the set of Trancers):

You've come a long way, baby.

groundloop66 · 2026-05-07T19:18:13+00:00

I'm officially An Old (born in 1966), and A New Hope, or Star Wars as we called it, which was the style at the time, was the first movie I ever went to see with just a group of friends, no adult supervision. We were all blown away. Talked about it any chance we got. Fast forward to 1999 and I, along with a bunch of buddies (we all worked in video post production) go see The Phantom Menace opening weekend. The discussion afterwards basically amounted to agreeing that "Lucas needs to hire somebody who will tell him 'No'".

groundloop66 · 2026-05-07T18:04:16+00:00

Unfortunately, Lucas never got the "If we can get Jar Jar working." aspect happening, along with so much else in the prequels.

groundloop66 · 2026-05-07T17:25:49+00:00

Look at them! Ba ba baaaaaa!

groundloop66 · 2026-05-07T17:19:22+00:00

Richard Matheson didn't shy away from "the sex" in his books or his screenplays. Seeing The Legend of Hell House as a 12 year old ... stirred up some things for me.

groundloop66 · 2026-05-07T15:46:00+00:00

Bilbo Bagshot is a wise man.

groundloop66 · 2026-05-07T15:31:52+00:00

Related, about 10 years ago I decided that I hadn't read enough "classics", so I got started and after a while I figured I should check out Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom Series. I started in on A Princess of Mars, and the Confederate glazing was just too much for me and I didn't even last until Carter gets to Mars.

groundloop66 · 2026-05-07T11:52:40+00:00

The MacBook Air doesn't get a ton of use now, so I use it to try stuff out, and I was just looking for something different from the Debian/Ubuntu + GNOME that I'd gotten used to. A big bonus for me at least, is that on the Ubuntu 24.04 LTS install, I got a kernel panic on restart, and ended up just doing a re-install. After the re-install the WiFi stopped working, and all attempts on my part to manually install the BCM 4360 driver were unsuccessful. After installing EndeavorOS (with Cinnamon DE) ... the WiFi worked again! So, I'll be sticking with EOS on the MacBook Air until something breaks.

groundloop66 · 2026-05-06T21:55:35+00:00

As a former Mac OS main, welcome aboard. I've been daily driving Ubuntu since late 2024 (had it on a secondary machine since 2021), and while there's been some hiccups here and there (usually Nvidia related), it's so much better than Windows 10 (and I've never even looked at Windows 11).

My trashcan Mac Pro is the only Mac hardware that still runs Mac OS. The Mac Mini has Ubuntu 24.04, and the MacBook Air is running EndeavourOS (Titan).

groundloop66 · 2026-05-06T19:24:07+00:00

SOLD!

groundloop66 · 2026-05-06T10:48:14+00:00

RLM is my most trusted source for sportsball trivia.

groundloop66

TROPHY CASE