Onno (VK6FLAB)

Anything and everything Amateur Radio and beyond. Heavily into Open Source and SDR, working on a multi band monitor and transmitter.

#geek #nerd #hamradio VK6FLAB #podcaster #australia #ITProfessional #voiceover #opentowork

  • 3 Posts
  • 148 Comments
Joined 4 months ago
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Cake day: March 4th, 2024

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  • At one point, before we virtualised everything, I had a custom desk built in an L-shape. Instead of a desk and a return, I had the refurbishment team put together a desk with two desks instead. It gave me two sets of drawers, two computer cubby holes and the gap was too small for the horrible keyboard adjustable shelf that kept hitting your knees, so they replaced it with a fixed surface instead.

    People laughed.

    Colleagues sniggered.

    Then they wanted one too.

    Now I have a mobile lectern with an iMac clamped to it. Height adjustable, wheels, enough space for keyboard, trackpad and USB hub. I move around my office as the mood or light takes me.




  • I found that it didn’t all come off on the first attempt. I used a cool shower and washed it off. Soap didn’t seem to help, but if I recall, it was a few years ago, sorbolene did help wash it off.

    Ultimately it’s likely still in your pores and causing grief. I was still pulling hairs off days later.

    I didn’t need an immediate result, so not quite the perilous journey that you are experiencing.

    Good luck.


  • It’s a package management system in the same way that Flatpack, yum, apt-get, snap and dozens of others are.

    If you use MacOS and Linux, it’s not inconceivable that you might want to use the same package management system across both.

    I’ve used it, didn’t particularly warm to it and didn’t install it on my most recent MacOS install after it shat all over itself on a previous installation.

    I didn’t know that it was available for Linux. Not tempted to try.

    I’m a firm believer in apt-get and failing that, Docker with side journeys into podman.





  • I had no access to or use of a car until I was around 23. Up to that point I lived in a country where you could cycle for most of your daily routine, take the bus a couple of times a month and the train sporadically.

    I moved to a country where cycling was for the poor and foolhardy, me for several years, and public transport was atrocious.

    Public transport has marginally improved, my bicycle hasn’t been used for 20+ years and our household has one car.

    Learning to drive is a process. It takes time. Just like learning to fly a plane takes time. If you have a need to drive, learning how is step one. In my country even when you pass your test, you are required to keep a logbook for at least two years and drive in a variety of conditions before you can actually upgrade your probationary licence.




  • Based on what you wrote, referencing burnout, I suspect that the issue isn’t that you need a hobby, it’s that you need to make time to do nothing at all.

    Go for walks in nature, away from technology, walk alone or with friends, laugh, tell stories, share secrets and dreams.

    The more you do, the more resilience builds up, the better you can cope with stress and work.

    Only then might you find joy in a hobby. For me it was Amateur Radio, but it might be different for you.




  • In my opinion, you’re solving the wrong problem with the wrong solution.

    The user base for Canonical, Red Hat and SUSE is not the general public watching traditional TV to decide that they want to install Linux across their enterprise data centre, it’s ICT professionals who talk to other ICT professionals and read white papers and implementation guidelines, then pay installation, management and subscription fees to get ongoing support across their shiny new data centre.

    Growing the user base with mums and dads is not something that Linux vendors are interested in, since it only costs money instead of generating an income stream.

    Linux as a commodity comes from rolling out Android phones and tablets, from deploying embedded Linux on network routers, security cameras, in-car entertainment systems, set top boxes, etc.

    The final hurdle for general desktop Linux is not resolved by getting more users through advertising, it’s through having a product that can be purchased. Chromebooks were promising, but missed the mark.

    System76 are trying, but the scale is too small and Linux isn’t ready as a general computing platform yet. I say that having been a Linux user for 25 years.

    If you don’t agree with that last statement, consider what all computer manufacturers would do at the drop of a hat if they thought it would be cheaper, they’d drop Windows like the hot mess it is.

    Unfortunately, it’s still cheaper to pay the Microsoft tax because the associated support network is already in place for the general public.

    That’s not there, yet, for Linux.

    It remains to be seen if ever will be.