- Joined
- Mar 29, 2014
I closed all tabs with YT and also found out it is YT. So not only is that festering pile of crapsite filled with ads, it also writes that crapload of data. How infuriating.
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The Linux Thread - The Autist's OS of Choice
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Akerman
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2023
YouTube is a pile of shit; it somehow runs slow on my older laptop with less elements on the page than it had 10 years ago when that website ran without issue on the same laptop. So they bloated the website up while still taking elements away from the page. I am now wondering if I have your same issue, but since my hardware is older I notice it more. I would say YouTube is the worst performing website on this laptop out of any modern websites I frequent. It's not even the videos that lag on the laptop it's all the elements around it. I mostly just stream videos to mpv now by doing "mpv" + link in the terminal. Maybe you can do that too to avoid this bullshit.
And where did Google outsource their development to again? Oh right, jeetware... Jeetware everywhere...
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2014
It's even more outrageous when they try to shut down competing frontends with the "this helps protect our community" BS, pushing people to then use the overbloated crapsite.
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- Joined
- Aug 23, 2018
One solution I've heard a bunch are cheap NUC boxes. For the price of a Pi 5 starter kit, you can get a N100 mini PC that has more power, memory, compatability, and has features like bluetooth out of the box. The cost is higher power draw, so if it's not something that's always on, you can get a NUC, put linux on it, and be good to go.
I get that. The thing I don't understand is that, if your only need for a computer is web browsing and productivity. I don't see the point in chasing the latest and greatest.
Things like 4k video have been locked down for a while. Old optiplex machines can handle it no problem, and any cpu after 2021 should have hardware decoding and even encoding in some cases. Maybe in SBC land that kind of stuff is still an issue? But even "home lab" set ups where they run read-write speed tests. I have to wonder just what kind of job they're doing where they have to move 80gb files back and forth so regularly that a 4% speed increase is significant.
- Joined
- Apr 11, 2023
And it's not even that much more power draw. The Mele Quieter 4C pulls 24W max, versus ~15W for the 3 and earlier. IDK about the 4 and 5. These are max power figures. I haven't run ammeter tests, but it wouldn't surprise me if all of Intel's power management tech means it runs leaner than the Pi.
- Joined
- Nov 21, 2020
I use Pis mostly because they're much better supported than the rest of the Chinese ARM devices. The rest of them get support eventually, and maybe even a modern kernel whereas the Pis just work(tm).
Now, most of my fleet of Pis are used to interact with the physical world that wouldn't be a good fit for my server. There's a Stratum 1 NTP/GPS Pi, an ADS-B Pi, a Z-Wave Pi, a label printer Pi, a 433MHz temp sensor Pi, a couple 3d Printer Pis. And then there are a couple I use for isolation. There's a Pi Zero with a POE converter that sits outside and powers a Purple Air Sensor and also acts as its WiFi access point, since it needs power anyway there was no reason to put it on my 'real' WiFi. And then there's the one that the Chinese cameras talk to so they can store files to my file server without direct access. Most of these are older so back when they were reasonably priced.
Now, most of my fleet of Pis are used to interact with the physical world that wouldn't be a good fit for my server. There's a Stratum 1 NTP/GPS Pi, an ADS-B Pi, a Z-Wave Pi, a label printer Pi, a 433MHz temp sensor Pi, a couple 3d Printer Pis. And then there are a couple I use for isolation. There's a Pi Zero with a POE converter that sits outside and powers a Purple Air Sensor and also acts as its WiFi access point, since it needs power anyway there was no reason to put it on my 'real' WiFi. And then there's the one that the Chinese cameras talk to so they can store files to my file server without direct access. Most of these are older so back when they were reasonably priced.
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2025
I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you're refering to as MacOS, is in fact, GNU/MacOS, or as I've recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Steve Jobs. MacOS is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.
Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called MacOS, and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project.
There really is a MacOS, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use. Apple's Darwin is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine's resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. MacOS is normally used in combination with the GNU operating system: the whole system is basically GNU with MacOS added, or GNU/MacOS. All the so-called OSX versions are really versions of GNU/MacOS!
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2014
update: Even sans YT, the excess unexplained writing continues. Same 20 MB blocks every half hour or so.
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2024
Snackbarism
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- May 13, 2025
I'm thinking about giving Linux another go given Microsoft's best attempts to force Windows 11 down peoples throats (last Linux usage was about a decade ago).
What's the best out there these days worth trying for regular general usage and game playing too?
What's the best out there these days worth trying for regular general usage and game playing too?
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2024
Arch
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2025
It's probably just your swap file, Chromium and many other applications are designed to write to the swap file of your SSD as a form of RAM. If you really care about this, it should be possible to resize your swap file so that this stops.
GNU was a free operating system project started by RMS that never completed because Linus Torvalds published his kernel before GNU could secure a free kernel in the way they wanted, and so Stallman wanted to claim Linux as the completion of GNU so that people would appreciate his work. There is about as much reason to refer to GNU/MacOS as GNU/Linux since they both utilized the GNU core utilities (and other GNU software).
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2022
Unless you need hibernate function (as opposed to just normal sleep mode), you probably shouldn’t have a swap file/partition in the first place. If your computer has 16GB or more RAM you’ll probably be just fine using only RAM and ZRAM (compressing contents of RAM).
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2024
Everyone knows about the decades-long failure of GNU/HURD as a project due to Stallman's retardation and lack of work ethic.
No, there really isn't ANY valid basis for tying GNU to MacOS aside from thirsting for Stallman's taint, and as time passes, more and more of the GNU cancer has been removed from MacOS and replaced with better solutions.
Stallman was basically trying to bootleg UNIX due to his Marxist beliefs, and was basically ripping off the evolutionary origins of Mac, not the other way around.
Almost everything in the UNIX side of MacOS was from FreeBSD's toolchain.
Linux is just a clone of Minix that Stallman tries to take credit for beyond his actual contributions and his worshippers fantasize that GNU means more than it really does, much like you are doing.
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2025
It doesn't matter much, just go with MX Linux and install Steam and Proton.
Do you really think anyone would actually call it GNU/MacOS?
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2014
I think I've seen Firefox do that writing without the swap space being filled though. And it's far more writing than reading, by like 50 times. And only happens when online.
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2024
I never discount the retardation of Stallmanites, they continue to find new ways to make themselves look even more idiotic.
Combustion Engine
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2024
A few years ago it seemed as if swap really was on its way out for most cases, until microsoft decided to fuck with sleep states through CPU manufacturers and laptop OEMs (as if they weren't broken enough already), and now it's still very appealing to write to disk to minimize power consumption, increased storage and drive speeds mitigate that a bit. Added bonus of having everything encrypted at rest at a small time cost unlike sleep, and you can make it so the swap allocation is only dedicated to hibernation.
Retarded Weeb
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2022
People usually recommend Mint. It's a split off from Ubuntu that's designed to be even more beginner-friendly and have a desktop environment that looks and feels similar to Windows. It's probably the best option.
I'll mention what I personally did when I switched to Linux on a whim years ago, which is I test-rode several Ubuntu flavors and Mint on a USB drive until I settled on the one I liked the feel of the best, which is why I'm using Lubuntu since I liked LXQt and it's worked for me for the most part. But it's not necessarily the best for everyone can try things out yourself.
On the other side of things, Arch can be useful since you can more easily install the latest version of any program on it, including some stuff useful for gaming, but that's going right into the deep-end of things from the start. As a slight alternative, you can go with EndeavorOS, which afaik is basically just Arch but with an easier to use installer and some useful programs installed by default.
You should probably narrow things down to those basically being your main options. Most other distros are either a "if you need to use this you already know you do" type thing or is just a meme.
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2019
IIRC the N100 is close in performance to an i5-4460, which is still a very capable CPU for desktop use, but the N100 has a TDP of like 7W. It's insanely power efficient. So yeah, those are a great option as well.
Windows gets away with swap/hibernate files just fine, and I don't know why the status quo with Linux distros was to cut out an entire partition for it. A file as also a better option as you can dynamically resize it without being restricted by your partition layout.
Yeah, when I tried to enable S3 on my Win11 ThinkPad, I couldn't. Why? Not supported by the hardware/firmware. So even if I switched to Linux I'd be stuck with the S0 garbage. Though tbf autohibernation seems like a decent choice for laptops when you're leaving it untouched for more than five minutes. Even on the bloated mess that is Win11 it gets up from hibernation rather quickly thanks to modern CPU's and NVMe drives, and you're not dealing with any background power draw in that state whatsoever.