The more things change, the more they stay the same. The nature and business model of Microsoft will never change to become more interoperable or more friendly to anyone but their own interests. Over the years, they have only become more insidious, not more interoperable or more friendly to competitors, and especially not more friendly to open source, which has been the loud drum beat I have heard over the past couple of years. It was all only a ploy to gain our trust, but I never trusted them, and many others also refused to fall for the lie.

My followers on @Twitter have probably seen links on many of my recent tweets. This is happening because I'm using the #Fediverse as my primary way to post my thoughts now. Follow @Kyle 🎶 if you're already federating. If you're not, it's easy to get started.

I would really love to be wrong about this, but some traffic on the Arch Linux email list indicates that it may be beginning to fall into a state of disarray, with close to 750 and counting outdated packages, including the venerable gcc, and possibly even the Linux kernel, both the newest release as well as the LTS release. Having followed the list for a good 10 years now, it seems that suddenly they can't even agree on formalizing a community code of conduct that has been mostly in effect pretty much system-wide for a long time, the formalization of which I would have thought should be a basic requirement for a long-term successful distro. I can't even say that I fully understand their governance structure, but that's an entirely different discussion.

I used to think that the AUR was the best thing about any distro, because pretty much anyone can add package build scripts to this nice searchable repository. But as many know, building packages from source, even when all their dependencies are in official or community repositories, can get unwieldy rather quickly, especially on less beefy systems, and then having to rebuild every time a library gets an update gets even more painful. And to top it all off, although they do have a community repository that holds binary packages that can be added to a system just as easily as installing from core or extra repositories, the process for getting even one package included in this community repository is not simply a matter of following packaging or licensing guidelines or submitting an AUR vote, but involves either getting an audience with a special breed of user that they call trusted, or going through a rather long and involved process to become a member of this rather exclusive club. Essentially, you pretty much have to know more than one club member to get in, as it all starts with an email sent to the AUR email list, as well as two people who are already in the club who are willing to say that they will sponsor you, followed by a rather lengthy discussion period, followed by a vote of all the members of the club to determine whether you are worthy of admission.

Now I see in another list message that one of these trusted users has the following to say with regard to the hope that Linux desktops will soon get a rather large and welcome influx of users in the near future. "That's a very optimistic view and for new users Fedora might be a better fit." So someone officially affiliated with Arch is recommending Fedora, which I know to be quite good, but it's not Arch, meaning that someone involved with the development of the distro is clearly recommending another distro. I could be wrong, and I do hope I am, but this really does seem to be a clear sign that things are starting to fall apart. From the perspective of a long-time user, this does not bode well at all.

Now from the perspective of a somewhat new user of recent Fedora, especially the MATE spin, I find it to be very well put together. In the few places where I have had problems with a couple of packages, I find that there are alternative packages in other places, or alternative package formats, that solve the problem quite nicely. My primary serious issue involved the mame package, which causes assertion failures when installed from the main Fedora repository, but since a snap is also available that does not fail, I have had no problems with it since I uninstalled the rpm version and installed the snap, which was done just after installing the official snapd package. Flatpak is also available in the Fedora repository, just as it is in the Arch repository, so there are multiple alternative cross-distro software sources available without having to build from source.

For other things not found in either Fedora's official repository, RPMFusion, Snapcraft or Flatpak, there is copr, which stands for "community project," where anyone can not only place their package build scripts, but also build them in an automated way for various versions of rpm-based distros. There are licensing guidelines of course, everything must be free and unencumbered, but packages in a copr don't even have to follow the packaging guidelines, although it is of course best if they do. It may also be possible, though I haven't investigated this thoroughly, to get a copr package included in the official repository, although it would of course need to meet both licensing and packaging guidelines. These packages are not built on the user's system from sources, but are in fact built automatically and distributed to all who enable the copr and install the package. Updates via either dnf or the dnf dragora package updater are also just as automatic as getting updated packages from official and third-party repositories. And to top it all off, if I want a specific package that I can't find in Fedora's repositories or in RPMFusion, Flatpak or Snapcraft, the entire copr repository is searchable via dnf copr, as in

dnf copr search somepackage

This will come back with every individual copr that has somepackage, and I can enable that copr and install its binary packages, assuming the user who makes that copr available built somepackage for my distro, version and processor architecture.

I was quite content with Arch, and especially ArchLinuxARM, especially since Fedora is actually backed by a large corporation, namely IBM now that it bought out Red Hat, and was highly skeptical that Fedora would not fall into disarray after it fell under the IBM umbrella, but from what I see and read, Fedora is significantly improving still, and retains its freedom status, whereas Arch does appear to be on the precipice. I have used various distros over the last nearly 20 years, including this one, which was then called Red Hat Linux, and later Fedora Core, but in its current incarnation as Fedora Linux, especially the MATE spin, it blows pretty much anything else I've tried completely out of the sky. These days, just like the Arch trusted user, I recommend Fedora, not only to new users, but to power users as well, as it takes nothing at all away from the power user, but certainly makes desktop Linux easy enough for anyone to set up and get running. It certainly is one of the best for those who just want to sit down at the computer and get things done. As a matter of fact, I was able to get Fedora Linux installed onto a PC and start work within an hour or less. No scripting to have to do, no command prompt, no black magic, nothing. Just install, reboot and start work immediately. Now that was certainly a nice thing to see. Now if only I could get it going on my servers, but I do still want ISPConfig, but ISPConfig only likes Debian, Ubuntu and very old versions of CentOS prior to CentOS Stream. Man I gotta get off that Ubuntu LOL.

Woe this is weird. It seems my posts on Talkabout were private, with the exception of posting to twitter. I don't mind posting publicly, so I think I successfully reset that option. Can't yet figure out why my posts seem to take 5ever to federate though. Is it something in my configuration or is it something on the servers that should be getting my posts?

Dude, you really could have done it. You still have the influence to bring awareness of the #Fediverse to the masses. But it looks like you have squandered your chance, missed your one shot, cooked your own goose. I think there's still time, but you gotta give us the code. Did you forget to read the AGPL licence you got with the software that powered your social network? Perhaps your lawyers are just as inept as I always thought they were. Whether we agree with your views or not, your voice deserves to be heard. Don't lose it like this. Just give us the code.

Wow @Nextcloud 📱☁️💻 is as they used to say back in the day totally awesome! I just enabled the notes app, and have my Nextcloud mounted via rclone. I can now create notes on my phone and see them on the computer immediately. I can also use a standard text editor to write notes on my computer that show up in the app on my phone, titled with the file name I gave each note.

Here's a nice new concept that is completely alien to big tech and spammy advertisers ... you know who you are. If I don't follow you, if I don't like your page, if I'm not your friend, GTFO my timeline and stop inserting yourself in the stories I want to see. It's that simple. If I want to see your advertising, I'll follow your account or like your page. This is exactly why you will find me primarily on the growing #OpenSource #Fediverse and not so much on the big names.

Watching Prince - Sign O' the Times in the IMDB TV app. My #1 favorite 👨‍🎤 of all time, playing through the 🎧 that bear his name, which were sent to me by my #1 favorite 👩‍🎤 of all time. These still blow my mind every time I put them on my 👂👂 they sound so good! ❤️🎶🔥🤩

Not sure how this didn't get on here, but here it is. The amazing package I won from Nicole Bus arrived a week ago yesterday! It was well worth the wait! In the box was a pair of studio monitors, a USB microphone with tripod stand, a very nice pop filter that surrounds the microphone in a foam covering, a pair of headphones that can be used with a wire or with bluetooth with ambiant passthrough and active noise cancellation and a USB midi controller keyboard. I recall saying that I felt like a major part of my future was in this box, and it seems I was right.

One thing I did not share on my other social media channels is that the headphones are especially prophetic and make a tangible musical connection for me. It seems that my favorite artist of all time (Nicole) sent me top-of-the-line headphones that bear the name of my favorite artist of all time before her (Prince.). So now there is a tangible musical connection between me and my top two favorite musicians of all time that I can use for everything from my paying polling job to my home studio to casual use on the computer or out and about connected to my phone. And of course, the very first voice heard through both the headphones and the monitor speakers was the voice of the musician who sent me all this awesome gear ... for a song ... literally. My deep heart-felt endless gratitude to Nicole, and more importantly to God for sending me all these life-changing blessings, can barely be expressed in words.

TESTIMONIAL

This toolbox has everything I need to fulfill my God-given vision, and it is created by a one-of-a-kind artist who uses it and is living proof that it works. Thank you Nicole, you're Toolbox for Artists is truly a life changer.

Kyle, Singer
https://www.toolboxforartists.com/

I got a text with a USPS tracking number at about 4:30 this morning, and when I looked up the PostNL tracking info, it shows that my highly important package has arrived and cleared in the States. I don't have an expected delivery date yet, but I'm guessing Monday or Tuesday it will be at my front door 🤩. My future is now 🎶.

I honestly never thought that I would be writing this. It's a follow-up to my post just over a month ago, and it's truly unbelievable!

"Wow! My all-time favorite musician has heard me sing! 🤩 🎶 This is a dream come true for me, and I know that this is only the beginning! Thank you God for all that You do and for all that You are!"

And so the dreams just keep coming true. That post was written because I was one of a sizeable number of people who submitted short works to win a producer kit. Well, I submitted mine not to win anything, only to be heard by my favorite artist, and I was heard, which in itself was beyond belief. Now fast forward to today, and I find out that I was selected as one of only two winners. Seems that my all-time favorite musician not only heard me sing, but loved what she heard. I also got "a special code for a special winner" worth 50% off the Toolbox for Artists that I posted here earlier. And to top it all off, the rough draft recording of the song whose verses I wrote using her samples and her chorus has also been heard as of today. God is good, and He just keeps on blessing! I am forever grateful to Him for all He has done, and for the future He is laying out for me.

I just knew something huge like this was on the way. This is so on my wish list!
https://www.nicolebus.store/products/toolbox-for-artists

This month, join me in celebrating Black Music Appreciation Month. I will also declare this month Take a Break From Social Media Month. No doubt I will be listening to some truly amazing music instead of getting caught up in all the craziness that we call social media.

George Floyd's murderer has been found guilty on all counts. This is a hallelujah moment for the world! But this is only the beginning. Three accessories to the murder have yet to be tried and convicted, and any appeals need to be denied. Police departments either need to radically change their murderous ways or face the consequences of their actions. I want to say again for the record that laws need to be passed that allow and demand a federal death penalty for any police officer in any state who murders or brutalizes an unarmed civilian. This would go a long way toward our nation's healing.

Hello world.

I've been saying for a few years now that x86 is dying. It's not just Intel, but the power-hungry CISC architecture itself that cannot survive today's demands for higher performance with lower power consumption.

Now how many of them can she get to do it? They see more money than this in a week. It's nothing to them. Can this even qualify as a slap on the wrist?

Now updating my Friendica installation. I don't foresee any problems, and I should have little to no downtime while this updates.

And it's back! There was a little glitch with a maintenance page during the update, but the Friendica installation at https://talkabout.cf is once again up and running.

Philo and Pluto make the best TV pairing ever!

these are my jams for the new year. No matter how bad things look, no matter how life tries to break you, look up to the sky and keep holdin' on to His unchanging hand. Happy new year, and God bless.


And as I was looking for one of these, I just found totally by accident something that I have wanted very much to hear but didn't think existed. So let this Redemption Song bless you as much as it blessed me to hear it.

$4Kyle

Merry Christmas 🎄 to all my friends and family. Many blessings for the new year. 🎉

$600 & No Medicare-For-All Vote? Bah-Humbug! I just emailed my Congressional reps to #ForceTheVote on #M4A and pass a REAL #covid relief bill! I hope you will, too: gp.org/scrooge-covid-… gp.org/scrooge-covid-… via @GreenPartyUS

Amazing! I just found Heart Of The Matter by @Thenicolebus and purchased the only new CD copy. Couldn't stream and couldn't find the CD before today. Amazon still has two used CD copies as I write this, but before today, the page for the CD just said it was currently unavailable.

We just love our new Figgers TV. And the wireless service is amazing also. Customer service is top notch as well. You can't go wrong. Get all your gifts at orders-figgers.com/Kyle