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Finding it's much easier to migrate to linux with an llm as a troubleshooting assistant. Even used it to make a task bar applet adjacent to Media Controls, whe

Finding it's much easier to migrate to linux with an llm as a troubleshooting assistant. Even used it to make a task bar applet adjacent to Media Controls, where I can rate the current plexamp song without having to open plexamp. A big plus of linux is the easy ability to use workspaces and switch between them with a hover over the workspace taskbar applet and the mousewheel (and other options).

cdmckay 29d ago
Yeah this is an actually good use of AI in an OS.
93po 29d ago
A recent ubuntu update made my boot fail - the splash screen for disk decryption has a known bug in the latest update for my exact video card. Being able to get into terminal-only recovery mode and launch Codex CLI and ask it to diagnose the problem was incredibly nice. I don't think I'll ever deviate from Linux again since most of my issues with it were random bugs like this, but they're now easily solvable.
- onemoresoop 29d ago
  I agree, using LLMs makes all the linux issues very easy to troubleshoot. However, Im not sure it’s ready for the masses just yet.
openfront 29d ago
I run claude code with 'dangerously skip permissions' flag enabled, and just tell it what I want. I hardly even interact with the OS anymore. I literally just tell it "install X, fix problem Y".
- bauruine 29d ago
  Someone should develop, or vibecode I guess, a Linux tool that does exactly this. A support agent so I can just install it for my mom and she can vaguely write her issues and needs and the agent does it.
- throwaway219450 29d ago
  I still use chat copy/paste for this. Can't argue too much when the results work. The tried and tested alternative for niche Linux issues is browsing the internet and checking different options until something works anyway. I do recommend checking methods against another provider. Occasionally Claude will suggest X, and Sol is like WTF are you insane? Clear often and update the prompt with your latest findings, because there are so many opportunities for the agent to find red herrings that they'll fixate on. As with all LLM work, if you know some sysadmin, the process goes a lot smoother because you can say specifically "Write me a systemd unit file that does X" instead of a vague "I want to automate this, how do I do it" and not have a gut feel for which approaches are jank.
eblanshey 29d ago
> Finding it's much easier to migrate to linux with an llm as a troubleshooting assistant. Especially with NixOS. I would never allow an LLM to make core updates to my OS for fear of breaking it. Now LLMs manage all my packages and upgrades, and because it's all declarative, I can always revert anything that goes wrong.
- toomuchtodo 29d ago
  Do you have any code you can share with us on how you do this? Very interested! Related to https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49482425 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49482425

cdmckay 29d ago

Yeah this is an actually good use of AI in an OS.

93po 29d ago

A recent ubuntu update made my boot fail - the splash screen for disk decryption has a known bug in the latest update for my exact video card. Being able to get into terminal-only recovery mode and launch Codex CLI and ask it to diagnose the problem was incredibly nice. I don't think I'll ever deviate from Linux again since most of my issues with it were random bugs like this, but they're now easily solvable.

onemoresoop 29d ago
I agree, using LLMs makes all the linux issues very easy to troubleshoot. However, Im not sure it’s ready for the masses just yet.

openfront 29d ago

I run claude code with 'dangerously skip permissions' flag enabled, and just tell it what I want. I hardly even interact with the OS anymore. I literally just tell it "install X, fix problem Y".

bauruine 29d ago
Someone should develop, or vibecode I guess, a Linux tool that does exactly this. A support agent so I can just install it for my mom and she can vaguely write her issues and needs and the agent does it.
throwaway219450 29d ago
I still use chat copy/paste for this. Can't argue too much when the results work. The tried and tested alternative for niche Linux issues is browsing the internet and checking different options until something works anyway. I do recommend checking methods against another provider. Occasionally Claude will suggest X, and Sol is like WTF are you insane? Clear often and update the prompt with your latest findings, because there are so many opportunities for the agent to find red herrings that they'll fixate on. As with all LLM work, if you know some sysadmin, the process goes a lot smoother because you can say specifically "Write me a systemd unit file that does X" instead of a vague "I want to automate this, how do I do it" and not have a gut feel for which approaches are jank.

eblanshey 29d ago

> Finding it's much easier to migrate to linux with an llm as a troubleshooting assistant. Especially with NixOS. I would never allow an LLM to make core updates to my OS for fear of breaking it. Now LLMs manage all my packages and upgrades, and because it's all declarative, I can always revert anything that goes wrong.

toomuchtodo 29d ago
Do you have any code you can share with us on how you do this? Very interested! Related to https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49482425 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49482425