October 2024

Wednesday 2024-10-23 – Link List

Blogging Intensifies Link List for Wednesday 2024-10-23

Linux, Again

So, I am back on Linux again. On my laptop at least. I never really STOPPED using Linux, I use it on Raspberry Pis and my Webserver and in the Windows Subsystem for Linux all the time.

Just for the record, I just went with boring Mint Linux.

But I have moved back to using it full time again on my laptop. I still have the Windows partition for now, but I seriously doubt I am ever going to go back to it again. And FWIW, I have previously used only Linux on laptops in the past. The concept is not at all alien to me.

I have wanted to make the switch back for a while but was a bit hobbled. I had been using an app to tether connectivity off my phone over USB. I could never get it to reliably work in Linux. I discovered recently that my cell plan now just includes regular WiFi based hotspotting, so I can just connect via WiFi when needed.

This was literally the only hurdle.

Another motivation though is the end of life for Windows 10 coming next year. I really feel like this is going to get pushed out because Windows 10 is really going strong still. But just in case, I need to get off of it.

Side note, Microsoft is really over estimating just how often people upgrade their PC hardware with their push of Windows 11 from 10. The blocking factors of the upgrade are extremely arbitrary and most of the PCs that can’t be updated to Windows 11, still function just fine for 90% of use cases for “regular people.”

Anyway, I plan to keep using my laptop for the foreseeable future. So moving to Linux is the best option.

I also want to use it as a bit of a test bed for migrating my project PC to Linux as well, mostly I have questions relating to Docker and the easiest solution will just be to test it.

Anyway, the migration itself was surprisingly smooth. Most of my workflow has been shifting to be very “floaty”. Almost all my writing for example, is Joplin and local files, which are in a private Github repository.

Joplin just worked, and then I set up Git and pulled the repository down. Visual Studio Code has a Linux option, I think it was even pre-installed I think. I already have been using it as a txt editor so I am familiar with the best ways to set things up.

The real missing piece is OneDrive syncing, but its something I can work around, especially since these folders already sync via my Synology.

Most everything else I use on the Laptop was just a matter of making a list in Windows and then downloading them in Linux. Mostly I just use the thing for writing and for sorting image files off my phone.

Vote By Mail Should Be Standard

Something I feel like I take for granted a bit is just how good my state handles everything election wise. And it’s politics in general, for the most part. I mean, like everywhere it’s full of nuts in the rural areas, but overall, it’s traditionally just been a “safe” state.

One thing that I love that is newer is vote by mail. This started back in 2020 because of COVID of course. I mean, maybe it was an option before, but it was made extremely easy in the 2020 election. Previously, like many others, I would go down to my local polling place, often at like 6:30 in the morning before there was a line and before work, fill out a sheet, stick it in a machine, and vote. I tried to vote every year, at least in November, but not always in things like Primaries.

One option when they started the initial vote-by-mail push, was basically, “sign me up for every future election”.

And this has been sooooo nice. I get ballots for every election, even off-year and off-month elections. I have no excuse not to vote at all now, the only real previous excuse being, “I didn’t know there even was an election.” Which feels like an excuse often counted on by some folks with unpopular asshole-type views on issues. It’s less of a problem for my state because we run things properly and fairly. But occasionally I see news stories about some sort of shitty law that pushes some conspiracy tier referendum or whatever but it’s on the odd year early April election that like 4 people normally show up for, instead of on the ballot during a year divisible by 4 (Presidential elections), when many many people vote and can weigh in on the idea.

That’s just one reason to push ballots out to every eligible voter.

And they really should just go out to every eligible voter. Because so many people don’t vote, and they really should. I can only imagine part of the reason is the inconvenience of actually going and doing it. Or maybe people are simply unable due to disability or other health reasons. They don’t know that these options are available, so just, provide it for them automatically.

Another likely hang-up is the whole “I don’t know who to vote for” problem. I already know who I am (and am not) voting for, so I sent my ballot back the day after I received it. I didn’t have to though, I could have held on to it and spent over a month researching every name on the ballot to make sure I vote for the right people.

I did do this as well. Ballots often have a lot fo local offices, and very often have these “Should this judge remain in office” questions. How many people can even name one judge, let alone know if they are a decent judge or a decent person. With the at-home mail-in voting, I could easily look up every judge on the ballot and decide if I thought they should keep their job or not. I had one candidate that is a piece of shit Nazi quoter and should not be in office at all, but they are running unopposed, so I went looking for possible write-in candidates for that office.

It also takes all of the time pressure off. I’m not awake at 6:30am standing in a little booth in a room full of strangers trying to fill out the sheet so I can go back home and finish getting ready for work. I have all day, all week, all month. It’s even better than making election day a National Holiday, which some have suggested. It already really should be a week-long affair, but why not just make it simple and last a month with mail-in ballots.

Of course, there are a myriad of reasons why this isn’t happening everywhere. You can’t have a media spectacle horse race if it isn’t all focused on a single day. Another major factor is that if everyone actually voted, there are some parties in this country that would never win elections at all without pulling up from their myriad of incredibly shitty stances on various issues. There is probably some potential for more actual voter fraud, if you send ballots to every eligible voter, how do you know that particular voter filled them out and not their abusive spouse or parent? How do you know they aren’t a mostly comatose 99-year-old and their kid used their ballot? That sort of thing.