I’m a technical kinda guy, doing technical kinda stuff.
There is no need to mindlessly update this application, it’s been stable and full of enough actual features for some time now.
Get the 8.1.6 apk from uptodown.com. it’s the last update before enshittification occurred.
And then find the app in your installed app list in Google Play and untick “install updates automatically” in the three dot menu.
It’s not a sign of AI, but when every second post manages to slip the “not x, not y, just z” phrase into their wording, you get pretty over it, pretty quickly.
Ditto for posts that worm in the phrase “just physics”. No, it’s not “just physics”. Physics is complicated, and I wish AI slop would stop handwaving away a decent explanation with that phrase.
Why
Monoculture isn’t great.
Having and maintaining other options is good for if/when things go bad.
Try Mint Mate, the desktop environment is lighter than Cinnamon. When I was running systems from that era, Mate was much speedier than KDE / Gnome 3.
After that it’s just looking at what’s running after boot up and deciding whether you need it or not. As long as it’s not hogging precious RAM/CPU don’t worry about disabling it.
Bet it isn’t more than 15 minutes before pieces of metal come out.
That’s just a materials engineering problem at that point.
And does it really matter if your mach 6 hypersonic missile only has a 1500km range before its engine blows up? Still rather handy to have a few around.
You mean
LI
Not shown: user staring at a screen that is blank except for those two characters
Why are ya’ll still attached to that stuff?
It comes with every phone and is the lowest common denominator.
So I can ask a recipient what messaging-app-de-jour they are using, and then install said app , or I have to convince them to use MY messaging-app-de-jour and get them to install it. All this has to happen outside preferred channels of communication, because we haven’t yet figured out what shared methods we can communicate with.
Orrrrr I could just send them a SMS and know that even if they are using the shittiest, most locked down non-free piece of crap phone possible, their phone will go 'bing! ’ and they will receive my message.
My department just gives them a PDF explaining with cool graphics how Linux can save more money, how more secure it is, how we can avoid the constant force fed bug filled updates that MSFT pushes, how we can customize it exactly to our and users needs, we can actually own our own keys… The goes on and on.
No, because there is no simple point and click group policy/active directory equivalent in Linux that allows a group of 5 IT techs to manage 2000 desktops. And if you get your shit together and actually use the tools that Microsoft provides, you don’t get surprise updates, you can image PCs via a gui over network booting, you get bitlocker keys backed up in your domain etc etc etc etc etc.
All the things that allow a business to manage hardware and software with the minimum amount of expensive employees, Microsoft provides it, for money of course. That money is offset by the reduction in IT guys needed to look after everything.
It’s that simple. CorporateLand won’t touch Linux on the workstation until that’s possible.
I’m not sure, but if cake is being served, count me in.
Anyone completely switching off windows needs a bulletproof system
A solid 90 percent of home users just need a browser, email, and access to some kind of app store or repository where they can click on the big colourful icon and get a program they want.
Any modern distro can provide that, it doesn’t have to be the particular one that you’ve got an obsession about.
Flying toasters need to make a comeback I reckon.
There’s slack time in people’s daily work hours. You work an 8 hour day, possibly you’re only actually productive for 4 to 6 hours.
Take that into account and suddenly that thing that claims it can cut an hour or two here and there gets a lot more interesting.
Ha, If you’re alluding to my post being similar to generated output, you obviously haven’t experienced the pure blandness of LLMs trying to write engaging content.
It’s statistical blandness writ large.
The stack of single-sentence paragraphs after the introduction paragraph trying so hard to have an impact.
The tendency to put “not X, not Y, just Z” everywhere.
The perfect conclusion written at the end of each piece , summarising three bland paragraphs with yet another bland paragraph.
Statistically regurgitated bullshit, all of it
I don’t think most phones are useful at multitasking at all tbh. Only bare minimum
Neither are people. Human “multitasking” is basically fast task switching.
Desktops provide a convenient method of task switching using a flat area and windows, phones have a slightly different method of task switching using full screen panels. Both allow you to focus on the task at hand and switch to another task.
Oh lawdy, a budget phone shipping with an OS SEVEN WHOLE MONTHS out of date at time of publication. Will the horrors ever end!?
Quick, someone bring me my fainting chair!
Podcast Addict works well with Android Auto.
Revert to a version of nova launcher from a few years back.
All the features I needed from it were finalised years ago, so why update?
The usual nebulous comments like “bug fixes and performance improvements” in the changelogs isn’t really a strong reason for me.
Considering that some extra trackers were just added in this company’s first release, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be great.
This is standard enshittification.
Introduce a new premium tier, with “cool shit”, whatever that might be. Free tier still allows you to do all the stuff you did before.
Wait a period of time, about 6 to 12 months usually, to get the users used to the fact that the free tier is still the same as usual. Tinker with the premium tier a little to make it sound like awesome shit is happening there and everyone should get on it.
Degrade the free tier, usually by adding “sponsored content” i.e. ads, or dropping features so that genuinely useful stuff only becomes available in premium tier. Pitch this as “maintaining quality for our increasing user base” or some bullshit.
Ratchet up pricing for the premium tier, reduce/enshittify features in the free tier.
Repeat from step 3 until your userbase migrates to the Next Hot Thing and your product sinks into irrelevancy.