The Linux Setup – Steve Best, The Art Directed Journal

February 5, 2020

I found Steve via this very thorough review of elementary. I played with elementary years and years ago and it didn’t feel right for my workflow, but it seems like it’s picking up more and more steam. I should probably give it another chance someday. And I definitely hear Steve on the pragmatism of Linux. There are philosophical reasons for choosing free and open source tools, but there are also practical ones. Neither is more valid than the other.

You can find more of The Linux Setup here.

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  1. Who are you, and what do you do?

    I’m Steve Best, and I have a site that is really more of a hobby than anything else called The Art Directed Journal. I use it to practice/experiment with HTML and CSS, as well as improve my writing skills. By profession, I’m in cyber security, and Linux does cross-over somewhat into my day-to-day.

  2. Why do you use Linux?

    I have used Linux in varying capacities since 2004. I use Linux for all the stereotypical reasons. It’s fast, secure, and free. I’m not against Microsoft or Apple, but I like to use what works. Right now desktop Linux is what works for me. I have found that with my current hardware set up, Windows is just a bit too much in terms of system requirements to be anything other than frustrating. This is an older piece I wrote, which explains my “why” for Linux more in-depth.

  3. What distribution do you run on your main desktop/laptop?

    I am currently using elementary OS (5.1).

  4. What desktop environment do you use and why do you use it?

    I use Pantheon, which comes default on elementary. It is actually one of the main reasons I use elementary. It is fast, fluid, and it makes my old hardware run like new.

  5. What one piece of Linux software do you depend upon? Why is it so important?

    I have come to rely greatly on Code, which is the default code editor on elementary. It is very lightweight, but yet extremely feature-filled. It is another of the main reasons I use elementary. Anything else I can do on my iPhone.

  6. What kind of hardware do you run this setup on?

    My personal laptop is a very old HP Pavilion with a dual core i5 and 4GB RAM. For a number of reasons, I have just never replaced it, nor do I have any plans to do so in the near future. I really need a new battery, more RAM, and a solid state drive. I’ll eventually get around to upgrading these things on it. However, my iPhone 11 is probably my most used “computer,” in terms of my personal use.

  7. Will you share a screenshot of your desktop?

    The wallpaper is from Windows 10x, which I downloaded off Twitter. 🙂

Interview conducted January 26, 2020

The Linux Setup is a feature where I interview people about their Linux setups. The concept is borrowed, if not outright stolen, from this site. If you’d like to participate, drop me a line.

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This Page is Designed to Last

January 7, 2020

I get Jeff’s point that the more pages are dependent upon external content and libraries, the more things get borked when said content disappears. But the nature of the web is linking. Things will always disappear. That’s why I PDF all of my writing and save it locally, so that when it disappears (not if…), I’ll have a copy, which I can put back online.

I agree it’s disruptive when links break. But the glass is already broken. The nature of the web is transitory. It’s like trying to make sure a tree won’t lose its leaves.

This post will be even funnier once the Kottke link breaks.

This Page is Designed to Last | Jeff Huang

My Days Wind Down, Creation and Cells

January 2, 2020

I love this blog, which is an amazingly inspirational travel journal. There’s not much tech stuff, which is fine with me, but this particular post happened to feature an interesting technology perspective. In the post, Mike makes his peace with living in the walled garden of Apple products:

I like this ecosystem and its security and even its walled gardens

I appreciate Mike coming around to this idea, because he’s making a choice. He understands the implications, but the benefits outweigh the challenges. That’s what we should all do with our technology. It’s not always about choosing free and open source.

And check out Mike’s blog. It’s very cool.

My Days Wind Down, Creation and Cells | Mikes Thoughts

How He Does It: Robert Caro Explains His Research and Writing Process

December 12, 2019

I’m not sure if this is really a tech kind of post, but I’m hanging it upon the hook of my interview with The Plain Text Project, where I discussed how I edit on paper.

I just finished reading Robert Caro’s Working, and in it he mentions using triple spacing so he has plenty of room to write in his edits. This article talks about that process:

Caro writes his drafts longhand on white legal pads, three or four times. Then he types these drafts on an old electric typewriter, using legal paper and triple spacing to leave lots of room for editing. Some drafts have more pencil marks than type.

I don’t leave that much space when I print, but I might begin to leave more than my 1.5 line spacing, as more room for writing is always helpful when marking things up.

And just to bring this around to software, one of the things I love about Typora, my Markdown editor, is that you can print from it directly, without converting the work to a PDF or HTML.

How He Does It: Robert Caro Explains His Research and Writing Process | The Elements of Writing