Oh boy! A "OS update" for my Android mobile phone that yet again screws up my settings and makes things more difficult for me to use it. And a LLM feature I'll never use.

This was a good read for #WorldBackupDay2025 :

https://cromwell-intl.com/cybersecurity/availability/storage-longev

I knew and have this information, in different files and formats on paper and electronically, but it's really nice to have it all in one place.

Finished the audio book of:

"Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism" by Sarah Wynn-Williams today.

Brought to my attention by Facebook's attempt to stop it, and winning a case against it being publicized.

These people are far worse than I thought, and my opinion was already very low.

All in one place gives a better picture of what's already been revealed in public.

And remembered the Internet Archive https://archive.org

Maybe they had older drivers?

Searched and used CTL-F to search for USB mentions in each old Windows98 page I used. Downloaded a few that might have it.

Found one that seemed promising.

Extracted it on my current laptop. Burned it to CD.

Copied from CD to Windows98.

#z_lib #Software #qa_computer #computer #Windows98 #PuppyLinux

5/?

Long thread.

Found old 3.5 floppy disk.. 20 unused, 3 of my wife's used. One of them with old family recipes on it.

Then found an old laptop, a Toshiba Satellite 320cdt I'd forgotten I'd had. Windows98 and a version of Puppy GNU/Linux on it.

Floppy drive worked.

Oh, this should be easy.

Tried to burn a copy of her floppies to a CD. Kept failing. Copied to the hard drive in both OSes.

#z_lib #Software #qa_computer #computer #Windows98 #PuppyLinux

1/6

Are there any other options besides Signal? Preferably libre software. Nothing against Signal, it just shouldn't be what *seems* to be the *only* best option.

So two online platforms I use have implemented using LLM and to keep using them you have to agree to their new Terms of Service or delete your account.

To log on them to delete my account I have to agree to their new Terms of Service.

Which I **don't** agree with.

Aaaaarghhh!!!

So yesterday, bicycling by the Prarie Dogs and how they each had their own holes to escape to but lived as a community with some connections underground I thought "Maybe decentralization is a good idea. With loose connections but not one central area that could be a central point of failure. Unless there's a flash flood, I guess."

Came to mind again today, for, oh, I don't know, some unexplainable reason.

While many of my computer problems were solvable, they weren't solvable by me. So much of the help I did find was conflicting. Finally figured out I needed to search by specific year or I would get old solutions that would have worked back then but not for me at the time. If I'd had the money back then I would have gotten a Mac. So glad I didn't now.

Using Linux Mint XFCE version that I'm very happy with right now.

3/3

GNU/LINUX

Problems for me.

Debian: Nothing at first, then only a blinking cursor. Wouldn't work with on board graphics or graphics card.

Ubuntu: Everthing just worked.
Until after 2010. Unity desktop, bad for me. Gnome3, also bad for me. F stab changed as being able to easily use to fix some minor problems after upgrades. Pulseaudio caused problems I didn't have with Alsa.

Debian: playing dvds until I used non-free software.

LinuxMint: None.

2/3

Issues I've had with computer operating systems.

Ms-dos: refused to run some programs it had previously run with no problem.

Windows98: Random shutdowns. Not even "Blue screen of Death", just stopped.

Windows7: multiple times decided to update as I was working, losing what I'd been working even though I 'd saved it.

WindowsVista: Graphics card on board and installed one would sometimes just not work. Same updates problem as Windows 7.

1/3

Trying to setup a computer without internet (not for security reasons, distraction from working on stuff reasons) is far harder than I thought it would be. This computer is on another location away from wifi and ethernet and I don't want either.

Several distributions work live from cd DVD USB or microwave-- but none install to this 2018 Dell XPS desktop.

Again, this "air-gapped" computer isn't for security reasons.

So far, void linux and knoppix work the best live.

More stories like these and the associated ephemera and photos and writings of people like this is what I want servers to store for use and archiving, not LLMs. But also want it done so energy use is low and water isn't taken away from other uses, either.

https://bittersoutherner.com/feature/2023/obituary-for-a-quiet-life

#anthropology
#notable
#EveryoneIsFutureAnthropology
#history
#d_history
#qa_computer