6 ms·

Linux May Be the Best Way to Avoid the AI Nightmare

85 points by josephcsible 2y ago

wilsonnb3 2y ago
> Do you remember when you could put your Mac to sleep, and when you woke it up a few days later, the battery would barely have dropped? Has the author not used the m series Macs? Standby battery life is the best it has ever been in my time using laptops.
- zer00eyz 2y ago
  Apples making a shit ton of money selling all of us expensive ram upgrades that we happily buy. IF the authors Mac is managed by corporate overlords he might be right about the battery. They are stuffing so much security and monitoring shit on there now that I feel like I'm running a spyware and toolbar riddled xp box. Even an older Mac without the corporate crapware is snappy.
- cqqxo4zV46cp 2y ago
  Yeah. This is absurd. And, as if the reason for this “degradation” isn’t for user-centric functionally, and that the functionality can’t be turned off. This is just “old man yells at cloud”.
- sholladay 2y ago
  Agreed. Even knowing that, just yesterday I was surprised to find my M1 MacBook Pro still had 28% battery after more than a month on standby. When I closed the lid it was at 60%, so that’s less than 1% per day. Very happy with it.
  - tasuki 2y ago
    It's curious you like your computer so much, yet haven't used it in a month :)
    - sholladay 2y ago
      Father died, had a lot of offline things to do.
- kjkjadksj 2y ago
  I use an m series mac. Half the time I come to it the next day to open the lid its already warm. No clue what is keeping this computer out of sleep.
  - walterbell 2y ago
    > what is keeping this computer out of sleep Malware?
orsenthil 2y ago
No. Linux might be the best way to miss out on AI bandwagon. These new developments are here to stay. The years of privacy loss and getting worried with the shortcomings of social media and internet is over. We are in the new era with new challenges. There is no rolling back.
- Glyptodon 2y ago
  I don't really get what part of the bandwagon Linux users will really miss out on at the OS level? It's not like you can't use stuff like github copilot and it's really only a moderate productivity boost in many cases.
- Narhem 2y ago
  We need another AI winter to get these dudes off the train.
- ekianjo 2y ago
  missing out is a feature. Microsoft will infest its OS with AI driven ads faster than you think
  - bitwize 2y ago
    We're gonna be like those people from Rainbows End who are still rocking laptops in an era where everybody is semi-permanently interfaced to the net through wearable gear.
    - kjkjadksj 2y ago
      Thats basically how I see it already between those that only know abstracted tech and those who have peeked behind the curtain and know how the magic box actually works.
  - kube-system 2y ago
    They didn't really need AI to accomplish that
  - 2y ago
ekianjo 2y ago
we still cant purchase Linux pre installed from most vendors and for most people thats the biggest bottleneck: they will not go out of they way to install an OS'
- 29athrowaway 2y ago
  You can, from Dell
  - ekianjo 2y ago
    Yes you can if you actually go out of your way to select it. But thats not even advertised. if you buy a PC anywhere else Windows is always the default if not only choice.
  - asadotzler 2y ago
    And Lenovo
    - weikju 2y ago
      .. as long as you're in the USA in both those cases
- TheRoque 2y ago
  Sadly yeah. I managed to install it both on my mom and dad's computers. I didn't push them, they were genuinely curious and sick of having to remember their Microsoft account to do some stuff on windows. They have been running Linux Mint for 2 years and quite happy about it. But I hope they don't constraint themselves due to this, I don't watch their everyday use, but I know that Linux is not always easy on the non tech savy people.
- Narhem 2y ago
  Linux should be something you have to do yourself
  - sholladay 2y ago
themanmaran 2y ago
I don't see how "AI" is going to be more dangerous than the existing telemetry / forced updates / onedrive / icloud paradigm we already have in Windows/iOS. The ship has already sailed for (non-linux) OS privacy. And it seems like most ordinary consumers largely don't care. Microsoft word has been synced to the cloud for years now, so I doubt that adding a msword AI is going to be the tipping point for people switching to Linux.
- NegativeK 2y ago
  Honest question: do Apple and Microsoft currently capture passwords in a password manager, health info, SSNs, and the like? I'm sure they do if you push them to their cloud drives or use their password managers -- which is somewhat applicable, but that's not what I'm referring to. I'm just not sure how panopticon-y they are when it comes to the actual content I type out or view in the browser.
  - coldtea 2y ago
    Both (and Google) have "auto-fill" and password manager features that capture all that.
    - philistine 2y ago
      With Apple having end-to-end encryption and never having your passwords known by Apple. You need one of your devices to access them. I’m not so sure Google and Microsoft can’t decrypt your passwords if they wanted. Details matter.
      - deleted 2y ago
        [deleted]
barfbagginus 2y ago
Sadly, if you move to Linux and you DON'T use AI to help you learn the command line, you are officially Doing It Wrong (tm) - and your free time will judge you for it. Consider local LLMs if you need privacy. They 1. Are Private 2. Are not (yet) evil enough to hijack your machine 3. Can help you learn cli with maybe 5x to 10x less blood, sweat, and swear words
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- TheRoque 2y ago
  I'm really curious about AI and the terminal. Do you have good tools to recommend ?
- _lvbh 2y ago
  DON’T use AI to learn the command line. It hallucinates way too much. A simple rsync command can wipe your drive. I know it’s sort of a joke but I’m serious, read the manual
- segfaltnh 2y ago
  I agree LLM powered search is useful, but I'm not sure it's the best for learning or reference. I still read quite a bit of man pages. Maybe I need the killer turnkey local LLM setup to roll up and convince me of what I'm missing.
- JohnFen 2y ago
  > if you move to Linux and you DON'T use AI to help you learn the command line Most people can use Linux for what they want without ever looking at a command line, or at least without having to look at it any more than you need to in Windows.
labrador 2y ago
> As they add more features, we have less and less control over our computers. Dropbox, iCloud, Copilot, and all of Apple's Continuity features rely on the cloud, sending data back and forth. I don't use any of these on Windows 11. I have complete control of my computer. I can cut it off the internet if I want to. I can block telemetry if I want to. Windows is a a very hackable system. I use Claude AI for my AI explorations. I'm happy with one caveat: If Microsoft 'recall' is not opt-in so is forced on me I'll switch to Linux, which I like too. It's not as nice as Windows imho but it works.
- weikju 2y ago
  > I'm happy with one caveat: If Microsoft 'recall' is not opt-in so is forced on me I'll switch to Linux, which I like too. It's not as nice as Windows imho but it works. At this point it's opt-out. Every minute you spent not switching from Windows is a minute you spend endorsing their inevitable coup against your agency. Why wait? Why live in fear of that happening?
  - labrador 2y ago
    I'm not living in fear of that happening. I'm keeping an eye on it. If it crosses a certain threshold I'll switch to Linux. It's not that hard to install Linux.
    - bitwize 2y ago
      The best time to switch to Linux was about 20 years ago. The second best time is now.
      - labrador 2y ago
        And trade one set of quirks for another? I'll need a good reason. I hope Microsoft doesn't give me one.
cqqxo4zV46cp 2y ago
> AI is already firmly embedded into our computers, powering text autocorrect, recognizing our friends and family in the pictures we add to our photo libraries, and so on. The fact that the author is so keen to lump together all these distinct things that are only lumped together as AI for marketing purposes, yet speaks so strongly about how bad they all are, speaks absolute volumes. If the author just doesn’t like change and wants their computer to work the way that it did in 2003, they should at least own their grumpy old man attitude.
ai_what 2y ago
I like toying around with local AI models. I do so a lot actually. But the AI gold rush is starting to leave a sour taste in my mouth. It's astonishing how quickly this technology went from "new" to being used by profiteers trying to milk it for every last dollar. I can't even remember how many new projects/websites I come across on a daily basis, which are mostly just a wrapper for ChatGPT with custom prompt. Not to mention what the bigger companies are doing, as stated in OP's article. The irony is that even the "Wild West" of cryptocurrency (I know) had a brief, innocent era where enthusiasts drove innovation for the sake of innovation, not just profit. That guy that bought pizza with bitcoin for example, it was fun and kinda cool. AI however, went from something most people had never heard of to full-speed exploitation. It's as if greed just keeps getting worse in this world. Everything is a potential source of income now. Apologies for the rant...
- talldayo 2y ago
  > AI however, went from something most people had never heard of to full-speed exploitation. To be fair, the timeline goes a bit further back. Markov chains had their moment in group chats a decade ago, it's hard to find a communal IRC room without someone's Markov bot lurking around. Then came BERT and GPT-2, both of which had their innocent days of getting finetuned into somewhat-usable form. After GPT-3 was the "oh we can sell this" moment, and all the cutesy, semi-efficient research that was being done got sidelined so people could make their own ChatGPT-killer. That is the disturbing part to me; so many people (OpenAI included) abandoned efficiency for marginal gains. This seems to be the trend going forward, likely exacerbated with GPT-5; we're going to need bigger boats (servers).
- FuckButtons 2y ago
  I think the difference is that crypto requires a certain leap of faith to imagine its utility. But a language model doesn’t. So if you’re someone who doesn’t really care too much about the technology for its own sake, there’s still a descent chance you can imagine a use case for one.
- Decabytes 2y ago
  This is true for everything now a days. People collect limited edition things speculating they will be collectibles in 20 years, they jump on new programming languages and try to develop the first libraries so their name can be attached to the de facto CSV parser for the language, they try to get on new social media platforms early to become the next influencer etc. The world is a lot less naive then it used to be
margorczynski 2y ago
There is a very strong push from OS makers (here mainly Microsoft and Apple) to increase margins via including tracking and ads into the system. The writing was on the wall a long time ago, they were kinda open about it when talking to investors that they see it as the next profit avenue. The ship has sailed and anyone treating their own privacy seriously and not wanting to be force fed ad slop should move away to a free OS, Linux being the main candidate. Linux has came a very long way and is now a very stable and usable system even for the less technically inclined. Almost all games via Steam (Proton) work flawlessly aside from some Ring-0/anticheat stuff. Most apps work great with Wine. If you're not using exotic hardware the drivers are rock-solid for almost all use-cases. It is time to come to the light and leave the corporate OS hellhole.
- ekianjo 2y ago
  what I said in another comment: as long as you cant buy a PC with Linux pre-installed easily this will remain a small minority OS.
  - kjkjadksj 2y ago
    A lot of linux laptops available now from dell, lenovo, etc.
    - jrepinc 2y ago
      Also Slimbook, Tuxedo, System 67 and many more. Hardly any excuse these days, And also agree it is so simple an quick to do the installations that it is not such a problem anymore.
      - ekianjo 2y ago
        nobody knows these brands apart from Linux users. > agree it is so simple an quick to do the installations that it is not such a problem anymore. I wonder if people here are sometimes exposed to non technical users. You would be very surprised.
k310 2y ago
The *nix philosophy. If you want it, go get it, but it’s not there if you don’t.
shirro 2y ago
Plenty of Linux users want the freedom to run useful algorithms including those classified as machine learning and marketed along with a lot of other crap as AI. I don't personally want the distraction of a copilot in my dev environment but I would rather have an algorithm fill in an image or delete a background than do it manually. People using computing as a service whether it runs on an edge device they purchased or server they don't control or a hybrid is that they have very little freedom but they do have the choice not to participate. Some people deny there is a choice and that privacy, self agency, the right to control and profit from our creative works are all gone. We are farm animals to be exploited by investors and should be grateful and it can't be turned back. This is a terrible philosophy and the endorsement of it by so many techbros should be a huge red flag for people.
mglz 2y ago
Another step in the war on general-purpose computing [1]. As people who work in tech we have a shared responsibility to keep technology free and accessible for all who want it. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUEvRyemKSg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUEvRyemKSg
jaredcwhite 2y ago
I've been about as much of an Apple/Mac fanboy as it gets for so many years—and even now I love my iPad Pro tremendously. But I've gotten increasingly upset—irate even—about Apple's terrible missteps with the App Store, as well as the completely unnecessary lockdowns in their i-* platforms for power users. (I'd be more than happy to press a series of 10 giant red scary buttons to unlock my iPad Pro's true "pro-ness" and open terminals, long-running background processes, VMs, and a whole lot more…but alas, it's just not possible.) I've been experimenting a lot lately with GNOME in a VM on my M1 Mac mini, and I'm extremely impressed with how far Linux UI has come. Since most of the software I use on a daily basis is all web-based (and if not it's CLI-based), there's not much I actually need a macOS desktop for rather than a Linux one. All that to say: my mid-2010s self would be shocked to hear these words come out of my mouth: my next computer will be a Linux PC.
mleroy 2y ago
I hope that Linux will be the best way to live the AI dream. AI on Linux could enhance user privacy and security by giving full transparency and control over data, ensuring that AI functionalities are aligned with individual preferences. I hope for a common system pattern where a local-first, frontline AI manages tasks and requests, seamlessly relaying them to either cloud services or specialized local subsystems, such as RAG-enabled components. Linux is uniquely positioned to bring these advanced features to the desktop without compromising privacy. However, if Windows e.g. offers the ability to select any text, hit a hotkey, and seamlessly format, improve, and correct grammar across all applications, while Linux lacks these capabilities, Windows will gain the upper hand again.
- SillyUsername 2y ago
  Thank you for stating this. I've found this particular article tends to have a lot of Luddites, perhaps they see it as a career threat or have a case of the green eyed monster https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green-Eyed_Monster_(disambiguation) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green-Eyed_Monster_(disambig.... I honestly don't understand it. I sarcastically posted this is akin to using Windows 3.11 Vs a modern multitasking OS and we should do that because humans can't really multitask, and it was unsurprisingly downvoted perhaps because it went over people's heads. AI gold rush is just like the internet gold rush or the file sharing gold rush, and it'll settle down with the marginals vanishing, leaving local models and the big players. Those who don't embrace will be left behind, like COBOL Devs of the 80s as newer languages came about (mostly VB and Java) and took their banking jobs (I've seen this first hand, and not ironically I've seen this start to happen with Java as a language now and the "old guard Devs", of the generation I am now in, but this is off topic). Back on topic, Linux will go the privacy route, Microsoft and Apple possibly the sales and analytics route, but regardless of the negative side, people will be able to achieve their work and goals faster. I use ML day to day, and for me my personal use case is to have 2 FE developer AI on tap. These have been https://github.com/wandb/openui https://github.com/wandb/openui and ChatGpt 4o. Eventually I expect the former to be the more capable and use just that, but who knows, either way my FE Dev time (I'm not a FE Dev) has been cut from weeks to hours. Good luck to any average developer without FE skills beating that.
SillyUsername 2y ago
Windows 3.11 may be the best way to avoid the multitasking nightmare. We should do that too as humans can only work on a single task at a time. :facepalm:
samyar 2y ago
Overall, i have never liked Linux as my main OS. i love it for coding and i tried a lot to get to like it but i came back to windows and I'm planning to try Mac too and I'm optimistic it i will like it.
- thinkingemote 2y ago
  Linux is better but you shouldn't compare it on aesthetics. The AI nightmare will be more fun, beautiful and easy to use! Linux will always lose against others when it comes to liking how it is. UX, UI, "it just works" windows and macs win. You should never ever expect someone to prefer it on only aesthetic or usability grounds. You will never like it. But this is NOT why you should choose Linux. Linux is for Freedom, customisability and privacy. With enough investment of time you can get something you will like but you need to choose and use it first. With enough investment and customisation it's possible to get it to be superior in usability but you need to choose it and use it and live with it. You will like it but only if you choose it over liking "better" alternatives for non superficial reasons. (Note: For some non technical people Linux may be able to be simpler and better UX aesthetics and to use if configured properly)
  - Zambyte 2y ago
    > Linux will always lose against others when it comes to liking how it is. UX, UI, "it just works" windows and macs win. It depends on what you're comfortable with. I've been using a tiling window manager with a config that I have barely changed over the last 3 or 4 years now. I find it very awkward to try to stumble around through the UI of modern Windows or Mac OS. And that's not to mention the absolutely obnoxious notifications on Windows... It would take me a lot of time and effort to customize these systems to being close to what I'm comfortable with. It would honestly be easier for me to get working comfortably on a FreeBSD box than a Windows box. I might be able to hack something together that I would be comfortable with on Mac OS though.

85 points by josephcsible 2y ago

> Do you remember when you could put your Mac to sleep, and when you woke it up a few days later, the battery would barely have dropped? Has the author not used the m series Macs? Standby battery life is the best it has ever been in my time using laptops.

zer00eyz 2y ago
Apples making a shit ton of money selling all of us expensive ram upgrades that we happily buy. IF the authors Mac is managed by corporate overlords he might be right about the battery. They are stuffing so much security and monitoring shit on there now that I feel like I'm running a spyware and toolbar riddled xp box. Even an older Mac without the corporate crapware is snappy.
cqqxo4zV46cp 2y ago
Yeah. This is absurd. And, as if the reason for this “degradation” isn’t for user-centric functionally, and that the functionality can’t be turned off. This is just “old man yells at cloud”.
sholladay 2y ago
Agreed. Even knowing that, just yesterday I was surprised to find my M1 MacBook Pro still had 28% battery after more than a month on standby. When I closed the lid it was at 60%, so that’s less than 1% per day. Very happy with it.
- tasuki 2y ago
  It's curious you like your computer so much, yet haven't used it in a month :)
  - sholladay 2y ago
    Father died, had a lot of offline things to do.
kjkjadksj 2y ago
I use an m series mac. Half the time I come to it the next day to open the lid its already warm. No clue what is keeping this computer out of sleep.
- walterbell 2y ago
  > what is keeping this computer out of sleep Malware?

orsenthil 2y ago

No. Linux might be the best way to miss out on AI bandwagon. These new developments are here to stay. The years of privacy loss and getting worried with the shortcomings of social media and internet is over. We are in the new era with new challenges. There is no rolling back.

Glyptodon 2y ago
I don't really get what part of the bandwagon Linux users will really miss out on at the OS level? It's not like you can't use stuff like github copilot and it's really only a moderate productivity boost in many cases.
Narhem 2y ago
We need another AI winter to get these dudes off the train.
ekianjo 2y ago
missing out is a feature. Microsoft will infest its OS with AI driven ads faster than you think
- bitwize 2y ago
  We're gonna be like those people from Rainbows End who are still rocking laptops in an era where everybody is semi-permanently interfaced to the net through wearable gear.
  - kjkjadksj 2y ago
    Thats basically how I see it already between those that only know abstracted tech and those who have peeked behind the curtain and know how the magic box actually works.
- kube-system 2y ago
  They didn't really need AI to accomplish that
- 2y ago

ekianjo 2y ago

we still cant purchase Linux pre installed from most vendors and for most people thats the biggest bottleneck: they will not go out of they way to install an OS'

29athrowaway 2y ago
You can, from Dell
- ekianjo 2y ago
  Yes you can if you actually go out of your way to select it. But thats not even advertised. if you buy a PC anywhere else Windows is always the default if not only choice.
- asadotzler 2y ago
  And Lenovo
  - weikju 2y ago
    .. as long as you're in the USA in both those cases
TheRoque 2y ago
Sadly yeah. I managed to install it both on my mom and dad's computers. I didn't push them, they were genuinely curious and sick of having to remember their Microsoft account to do some stuff on windows. They have been running Linux Mint for 2 years and quite happy about it. But I hope they don't constraint themselves due to this, I don't watch their everyday use, but I know that Linux is not always easy on the non tech savy people.
Narhem 2y ago
Linux should be something you have to do yourself
- sholladay 2y ago

themanmaran 2y ago

I don't see how "AI" is going to be more dangerous than the existing telemetry / forced updates / onedrive / icloud paradigm we already have in Windows/iOS. The ship has already sailed for (non-linux) OS privacy. And it seems like most ordinary consumers largely don't care. Microsoft word has been synced to the cloud for years now, so I doubt that adding a msword AI is going to be the tipping point for people switching to Linux.

NegativeK 2y ago
Honest question: do Apple and Microsoft currently capture passwords in a password manager, health info, SSNs, and the like? I'm sure they do if you push them to their cloud drives or use their password managers -- which is somewhat applicable, but that's not what I'm referring to. I'm just not sure how panopticon-y they are when it comes to the actual content I type out or view in the browser.
- coldtea 2y ago
  Both (and Google) have "auto-fill" and password manager features that capture all that.
  - philistine 2y ago
    With Apple having end-to-end encryption and never having your passwords known by Apple. You need one of your devices to access them. I’m not so sure Google and Microsoft can’t decrypt your passwords if they wanted. Details matter.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]

barfbagginus 2y ago

Sadly, if you move to Linux and you DON'T use AI to help you learn the command line, you are officially Doing It Wrong (tm) - and your free time will judge you for it. Consider local LLMs if you need privacy. They 1. Are Private 2. Are not (yet) evil enough to hijack your machine 3. Can help you learn cli with maybe 5x to 10x less blood, sweat, and swear words

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
TheRoque 2y ago
I'm really curious about AI and the terminal. Do you have good tools to recommend ?
_lvbh 2y ago
DON’T use AI to learn the command line. It hallucinates way too much. A simple rsync command can wipe your drive. I know it’s sort of a joke but I’m serious, read the manual
segfaltnh 2y ago
I agree LLM powered search is useful, but I'm not sure it's the best for learning or reference. I still read quite a bit of man pages. Maybe I need the killer turnkey local LLM setup to roll up and convince me of what I'm missing.
JohnFen 2y ago
> if you move to Linux and you DON'T use AI to help you learn the command line Most people can use Linux for what they want without ever looking at a command line, or at least without having to look at it any more than you need to in Windows.

labrador 2y ago

> As they add more features, we have less and less control over our computers. Dropbox, iCloud, Copilot, and all of Apple's Continuity features rely on the cloud, sending data back and forth. I don't use any of these on Windows 11. I have complete control of my computer. I can cut it off the internet if I want to. I can block telemetry if I want to. Windows is a a very hackable system. I use Claude AI for my AI explorations. I'm happy with one caveat: If Microsoft 'recall' is not opt-in so is forced on me I'll switch to Linux, which I like too. It's not as nice as Windows imho but it works.

weikju 2y ago
> I'm happy with one caveat: If Microsoft 'recall' is not opt-in so is forced on me I'll switch to Linux, which I like too. It's not as nice as Windows imho but it works. At this point it's opt-out. Every minute you spent not switching from Windows is a minute you spend endorsing their inevitable coup against your agency. Why wait? Why live in fear of that happening?
- labrador 2y ago
  I'm not living in fear of that happening. I'm keeping an eye on it. If it crosses a certain threshold I'll switch to Linux. It's not that hard to install Linux.
  - bitwize 2y ago
    The best time to switch to Linux was about 20 years ago. The second best time is now.
    - labrador 2y ago
      And trade one set of quirks for another? I'll need a good reason. I hope Microsoft doesn't give me one.

cqqxo4zV46cp 2y ago

> AI is already firmly embedded into our computers, powering text autocorrect, recognizing our friends and family in the pictures we add to our photo libraries, and so on. The fact that the author is so keen to lump together all these distinct things that are only lumped together as AI for marketing purposes, yet speaks so strongly about how bad they all are, speaks absolute volumes. If the author just doesn’t like change and wants their computer to work the way that it did in 2003, they should at least own their grumpy old man attitude.

ai_what 2y ago

I like toying around with local AI models. I do so a lot actually. But the AI gold rush is starting to leave a sour taste in my mouth. It's astonishing how quickly this technology went from "new" to being used by profiteers trying to milk it for every last dollar. I can't even remember how many new projects/websites I come across on a daily basis, which are mostly just a wrapper for ChatGPT with custom prompt. Not to mention what the bigger companies are doing, as stated in OP's article. The irony is that even the "Wild West" of cryptocurrency (I know) had a brief, innocent era where enthusiasts drove innovation for the sake of innovation, not just profit. That guy that bought pizza with bitcoin for example, it was fun and kinda cool. AI however, went from something most people had never heard of to full-speed exploitation. It's as if greed just keeps getting worse in this world. Everything is a potential source of income now. Apologies for the rant...

talldayo 2y ago
> AI however, went from something most people had never heard of to full-speed exploitation. To be fair, the timeline goes a bit further back. Markov chains had their moment in group chats a decade ago, it's hard to find a communal IRC room without someone's Markov bot lurking around. Then came BERT and GPT-2, both of which had their innocent days of getting finetuned into somewhat-usable form. After GPT-3 was the "oh we can sell this" moment, and all the cutesy, semi-efficient research that was being done got sidelined so people could make their own ChatGPT-killer. That is the disturbing part to me; so many people (OpenAI included) abandoned efficiency for marginal gains. This seems to be the trend going forward, likely exacerbated with GPT-5; we're going to need bigger boats (servers).
FuckButtons 2y ago
I think the difference is that crypto requires a certain leap of faith to imagine its utility. But a language model doesn’t. So if you’re someone who doesn’t really care too much about the technology for its own sake, there’s still a descent chance you can imagine a use case for one.
Decabytes 2y ago
This is true for everything now a days. People collect limited edition things speculating they will be collectibles in 20 years, they jump on new programming languages and try to develop the first libraries so their name can be attached to the de facto CSV parser for the language, they try to get on new social media platforms early to become the next influencer etc. The world is a lot less naive then it used to be

margorczynski 2y ago

There is a very strong push from OS makers (here mainly Microsoft and Apple) to increase margins via including tracking and ads into the system. The writing was on the wall a long time ago, they were kinda open about it when talking to investors that they see it as the next profit avenue. The ship has sailed and anyone treating their own privacy seriously and not wanting to be force fed ad slop should move away to a free OS, Linux being the main candidate. Linux has came a very long way and is now a very stable and usable system even for the less technically inclined. Almost all games via Steam (Proton) work flawlessly aside from some Ring-0/anticheat stuff. Most apps work great with Wine. If you're not using exotic hardware the drivers are rock-solid for almost all use-cases. It is time to come to the light and leave the corporate OS hellhole.

ekianjo 2y ago
what I said in another comment: as long as you cant buy a PC with Linux pre-installed easily this will remain a small minority OS.
- kjkjadksj 2y ago
  A lot of linux laptops available now from dell, lenovo, etc.
  - jrepinc 2y ago
    Also Slimbook, Tuxedo, System 67 and many more. Hardly any excuse these days, And also agree it is so simple an quick to do the installations that it is not such a problem anymore.
    - ekianjo 2y ago
      nobody knows these brands apart from Linux users. > agree it is so simple an quick to do the installations that it is not such a problem anymore. I wonder if people here are sometimes exposed to non technical users. You would be very surprised.

k310 2y ago

The *nix philosophy. If you want it, go get it, but it’s not there if you don’t.

shirro 2y ago

Plenty of Linux users want the freedom to run useful algorithms including those classified as machine learning and marketed along with a lot of other crap as AI. I don't personally want the distraction of a copilot in my dev environment but I would rather have an algorithm fill in an image or delete a background than do it manually. People using computing as a service whether it runs on an edge device they purchased or server they don't control or a hybrid is that they have very little freedom but they do have the choice not to participate. Some people deny there is a choice and that privacy, self agency, the right to control and profit from our creative works are all gone. We are farm animals to be exploited by investors and should be grateful and it can't be turned back. This is a terrible philosophy and the endorsement of it by so many techbros should be a huge red flag for people.

mglz 2y ago

Another step in the war on general-purpose computing [1]. As people who work in tech we have a shared responsibility to keep technology free and accessible for all who want it. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUEvRyemKSg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUEvRyemKSg

jaredcwhite 2y ago

I've been about as much of an Apple/Mac fanboy as it gets for so many years—and even now I love my iPad Pro tremendously. But I've gotten increasingly upset—irate even—about Apple's terrible missteps with the App Store, as well as the completely unnecessary lockdowns in their i-* platforms for power users. (I'd be more than happy to press a series of 10 giant red scary buttons to unlock my iPad Pro's true "pro-ness" and open terminals, long-running background processes, VMs, and a whole lot more…but alas, it's just not possible.) I've been experimenting a lot lately with GNOME in a VM on my M1 Mac mini, and I'm extremely impressed with how far Linux UI has come. Since most of the software I use on a daily basis is all web-based (and if not it's CLI-based), there's not much I actually need a macOS desktop for rather than a Linux one. All that to say: my mid-2010s self would be shocked to hear these words come out of my mouth: my next computer will be a Linux PC.

mleroy 2y ago

I hope that Linux will be the best way to live the AI dream. AI on Linux could enhance user privacy and security by giving full transparency and control over data, ensuring that AI functionalities are aligned with individual preferences. I hope for a common system pattern where a local-first, frontline AI manages tasks and requests, seamlessly relaying them to either cloud services or specialized local subsystems, such as RAG-enabled components. Linux is uniquely positioned to bring these advanced features to the desktop without compromising privacy. However, if Windows e.g. offers the ability to select any text, hit a hotkey, and seamlessly format, improve, and correct grammar across all applications, while Linux lacks these capabilities, Windows will gain the upper hand again.

SillyUsername 2y ago
Thank you for stating this. I've found this particular article tends to have a lot of Luddites, perhaps they see it as a career threat or have a case of the green eyed monster https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green-Eyed_Monster_(disambiguation) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green-Eyed_Monster_(disambig.... I honestly don't understand it. I sarcastically posted this is akin to using Windows 3.11 Vs a modern multitasking OS and we should do that because humans can't really multitask, and it was unsurprisingly downvoted perhaps because it went over people's heads. AI gold rush is just like the internet gold rush or the file sharing gold rush, and it'll settle down with the marginals vanishing, leaving local models and the big players. Those who don't embrace will be left behind, like COBOL Devs of the 80s as newer languages came about (mostly VB and Java) and took their banking jobs (I've seen this first hand, and not ironically I've seen this start to happen with Java as a language now and the "old guard Devs", of the generation I am now in, but this is off topic). Back on topic, Linux will go the privacy route, Microsoft and Apple possibly the sales and analytics route, but regardless of the negative side, people will be able to achieve their work and goals faster. I use ML day to day, and for me my personal use case is to have 2 FE developer AI on tap. These have been https://github.com/wandb/openui https://github.com/wandb/openui and ChatGpt 4o. Eventually I expect the former to be the more capable and use just that, but who knows, either way my FE Dev time (I'm not a FE Dev) has been cut from weeks to hours. Good luck to any average developer without FE skills beating that.

SillyUsername 2y ago

Windows 3.11 may be the best way to avoid the multitasking nightmare. We should do that too as humans can only work on a single task at a time. :facepalm:

samyar 2y ago

Overall, i have never liked Linux as my main OS. i love it for coding and i tried a lot to get to like it but i came back to windows and I'm planning to try Mac too and I'm optimistic it i will like it.

thinkingemote 2y ago
Linux is better but you shouldn't compare it on aesthetics. The AI nightmare will be more fun, beautiful and easy to use! Linux will always lose against others when it comes to liking how it is. UX, UI, "it just works" windows and macs win. You should never ever expect someone to prefer it on only aesthetic or usability grounds. You will never like it. But this is NOT why you should choose Linux. Linux is for Freedom, customisability and privacy. With enough investment of time you can get something you will like but you need to choose and use it first. With enough investment and customisation it's possible to get it to be superior in usability but you need to choose it and use it and live with it. You will like it but only if you choose it over liking "better" alternatives for non superficial reasons. (Note: For some non technical people Linux may be able to be simpler and better UX aesthetics and to use if configured properly)
- Zambyte 2y ago
  > Linux will always lose against others when it comes to liking how it is. UX, UI, "it just works" windows and macs win. It depends on what you're comfortable with. I've been using a tiling window manager with a config that I have barely changed over the last 3 or 4 years now. I find it very awkward to try to stumble around through the UI of modern Windows or Mac OS. And that's not to mention the absolutely obnoxious notifications on Windows... It would take me a lot of time and effort to customize these systems to being close to what I'm comfortable with. It would honestly be easier for me to get working comfortably on a FreeBSD box than a Windows box. I might be able to hack something together that I would be comfortable with on Mac OS though.