4 ms·

I'll admit to putting off applying security patches because my laptop is a giant repository of state and it's a pita to bring it all back up again. I have to r

by x0x0 9y ago

I'll admit to putting off applying security patches because my laptop is a giant repository of state and it's a pita to bring it all back up again. I have to remember how to start postgres, the erb command to make rails work, figure out how my upgrade to bash subtly broke virtualenvwrapper, make sure I didn't accidentally leave anything open in vim in some random window or go through the whining about vim swap files, and dump/restore all the state spread through 20+ browser windows, probably 30+ bash instances, and a couple repls. etc. It's really fucking annoying. Another thing that ate 3 hours of my life recently: post reboot, zoom.us, which previously worked flawlessly, no longer works. I of course discover this as a meeting is starting.

x0x0 9y ago
:s/erb/rvm/
aargh_aargh 9y ago
Solution for you: more frequent updates. Breaks less stuff at a time.
- rwallace 9y ago
  But breaks stuff more often. Why would that be a net win? Probably a net loss because you incur the mental overhead of putting down whatever actual problems you are trying to solve and getting into a frame of mind to try to fix your computer, more frequently.
  - aargh_aargh 9y ago
    Let's sum up the available options: 1) update rarely, fix a lot of breakage at a time 2) update daily, run into each breakage as soon as it happens and fix it 3) never update, no need to fix anything Did I miss anything? Just saying 2) is what works for me. Takes 1-2 minutes every morning before I start working (updates to all systems have been checked and downloaded overnight).
    - AnimalMuppet 9y ago
      The problem with #3 is that, while there are no updates to break things, there are also no updates to fix things, so whatever is broken will stay broken.
StavrosK 9y ago
Do this, and you'll thank me: https://www.stavros.io/posts/provisioning-your-computer-one-command-awesome/ https://www.stavros.io/posts/provisioning-your-computer-one-...
- jacquesm 9y ago
  Was that blog post meant to end like that? It looks as if a lot is missing. The last lines for me read: "The main script First, let’s start with the main Ansible script: ~~~yaml This playbook is meant to provision a new computer. Run with: ansible-playbook -i , provision.yml"
  - StavrosK 9y ago
    Oops, no, I recently migrated to a static site generator and some posts broke. I'll fix it now, thanks Jacques. EDIT: Phew, fixed, good catch, thanks. There was a triple dash in the article, which Lektor interpreted as the end of the post :/
    - jacquesm 9y ago
      Hehe, one of those painless migrations ;) At least you found the cause.
      - StavrosK 9y ago
        Ugh, tell me about it, it took days :( Thanks again!
- z29LiTp5qUC30n 9y ago
  Or better yet https://nixos.org/ https://nixos.org/ Make state something exactly defined.
  - StavrosK 9y ago
    That's good, but you need to move to a whole new OS :(
bluGill 9y ago
Most people in this situation are forced to reboot at some point because of critical failure (power, or something physically break). Thereafter they carefully reboot on a regular schedule to just ensure everything will come up after the unplanned emergency reboot.

by x0x0 9y ago

x0x0 9y ago

:s/erb/rvm/

aargh_aargh 9y ago

Solution for you: more frequent updates. Breaks less stuff at a time.

rwallace 9y ago
But breaks stuff more often. Why would that be a net win? Probably a net loss because you incur the mental overhead of putting down whatever actual problems you are trying to solve and getting into a frame of mind to try to fix your computer, more frequently.
- aargh_aargh 9y ago
  Let's sum up the available options: 1) update rarely, fix a lot of breakage at a time 2) update daily, run into each breakage as soon as it happens and fix it 3) never update, no need to fix anything Did I miss anything? Just saying 2) is what works for me. Takes 1-2 minutes every morning before I start working (updates to all systems have been checked and downloaded overnight).
  - AnimalMuppet 9y ago
    The problem with #3 is that, while there are no updates to break things, there are also no updates to fix things, so whatever is broken will stay broken.

StavrosK 9y ago

Do this, and you'll thank me: https://www.stavros.io/posts/provisioning-your-computer-one-command-awesome/ https://www.stavros.io/posts/provisioning-your-computer-one-...

jacquesm 9y ago
Was that blog post meant to end like that? It looks as if a lot is missing. The last lines for me read: "The main script First, let’s start with the main Ansible script: ~~~yaml This playbook is meant to provision a new computer. Run with: ansible-playbook -i , provision.yml"
- StavrosK 9y ago
  Oops, no, I recently migrated to a static site generator and some posts broke. I'll fix it now, thanks Jacques. EDIT: Phew, fixed, good catch, thanks. There was a triple dash in the article, which Lektor interpreted as the end of the post :/
  - jacquesm 9y ago
    Hehe, one of those painless migrations ;) At least you found the cause.
    - StavrosK 9y ago
      Ugh, tell me about it, it took days :( Thanks again!
z29LiTp5qUC30n 9y ago
Or better yet https://nixos.org/ https://nixos.org/ Make state something exactly defined.
- StavrosK 9y ago
  That's good, but you need to move to a whole new OS :(

bluGill 9y ago

Most people in this situation are forced to reboot at some point because of critical failure (power, or something physically break). Thereafter they carefully reboot on a regular schedule to just ensure everything will come up after the unplanned emergency reboot.