[male announcer voice] "The following episode of Veronica Explains contains opinions.
Viewer discretion is advised."
In tech, we have a bad habit of getting
into heated debates about our hardware and software choices.
Getting into flame wars, often with complete strangers on the Internet,
about what tool is best for what job.
This is ridiculous.
Greetings, and welcome to another thrilling episode of Veronica Explains!
I’m Veronica, and today I’m going to make a bold statement: your tools are probably just fine.
If you like using some specific operating system,
computer platform, text editor, or web browser, that’s probably fine.
If you’re watching this on YouTube, you’ve probably seen at least a few videos with titles
like “stop using X, use Y instead” and, I’ve gotta be honest: I think that’s kinda cheap.
Now, I don’t fault any specific YouTubers for doing what they can to get noticed in
this zany algorithmic world we live in. After all, I’m participating in it too.
I go back and forth on what works and what doesn’t,
and I certainly make changes to “appease the algorithm”.
But this tactic of telling you that “your tools are wrong” is just…
icky. And I feel like I need to say that publicly, because we’ve become so used to hearing it.
For example, every time I make a video showcasing a specific Linux distribution - let's call it
Distribution X - I get several comments saying “should I switch to Distribution
X” or, even more telling: “you haven’t convinced me to switch to Distribution X”.
So, here’s another bold statement from me: I’m not really trying to convince you of anything.
When I show off Fedora, as an example: I’m not saying that I think it’s the best for everyone.
Same with Pop!\_OS, or any other Linux distribution.
I’m just sharing my perspective on something neat. You might disagree, and that’s OK!
We’ve become so used to “persuasive
essay as lifestyle” that we see it even when it’s unintended.
So, in an attempt to just be transparent about the whole thing, and where I come from:
here’s a bunch of technology preferences I have, all of which you’re free to disagree with.
I prefer Linux to macOS and Windows! …prefer open source to proprietary software!
…prefer vim to other text editors! …Nintendo to Sega!
…apt to dnf or pacman! …GNOME to KDE plasma!
…Commodore to Atari! …self hosting instead of cloud services!
…Star Trek to Star Wars! …systemd to the init system!
…prefer an iPad to an Android tablet (record scratch)
Yup. You heard me right.
I regularly use an iPad. And you know what? It’s not a terrible experience!
When I mention that to many of my friends in the Linux community, they look almost perplexed.
But the thing is: an iPad is simply the best solution for my tablet needs at the moment.
I mean, look at this thing. It’s smaller than a decent laptop,
and it’s much more energy efficient for many basic tasks.
Now, I can already hear some of you typing “why not an Android tablet?”.
I tried an Android tablet for over a year, but my experience was less than stellar without spending
lots of money on a name brand “high end” tablet, which is just as locked down as an iPad, anyway!
And that says nothing about support-
Android vendors aren’t great about support beyond a two year window.
I also occasionally get tasked with writing some web-based software
with mobile safari as the target OS.
Apple just tends to be the best return on investment- at least for my needs.
Now, I used to carry around this netbook, and I ran Ubuntu on it for a number of years. It did the
job exceptionally well until 32-bit Linux distros became too challenging to use consistently.
Now, the netbook is all but extinct,
and tablets have really become my only option in this size range.
Plus, unlike my old netbook, the iPad has LTE. I’m a sysadmin and developer:
I get troubleshooting calls often enough to where mobile data is a consideration.
An LTE-equipped device with a decent keyboard
that’s small enough to fit in my purse is kind of a big deal to me.
Do I wish I could have all of that in something Linux-based,
like my netbook from over a decade ago? Yes!
But do I feel bad for appreciating my iPad? No. Of course not.
It’s a tool that does a good enough job for me.
And I’m not going to let perfect be the enemy of the good.
If the netbook makes a comeback, I’ll certainly consider switching.
But so far, that just hasn’t happened yet.
If you know of a modern netbook or other similarly small device that ticks all these boxes,
let me know in the comments.
Now, it may hurt my reputation among some to admit I’m an iPad user.
But this is just ridiculous,
and it actually the Linux and open source cause to be so tribalistic about things.
When we talk about Linux as if it makes us superior, we simply push away the potential
community and developer base we’ll need if we want Linux to be competitive in the desktop space.
And that says nothing about the fact that Linux already won the market in a lot of ways-
just look at web server market share.
I’ll link to a video from Jay over at Learn Linux TV: he articulated this quite well in
a recent video about “the year of the Linux desktop”, and I think it’s worth a watch.
In the end, “what you make” is so much more important than “what tools you use”.
I’m a guitar player, and I have both Fender guitars and Gibson guitars in my collection.
And you know what? They both have their place.
Windows is certainly worthy of criticism.
And so is Microsoft. But you know what? So is Linux. And so is everything!
When I make a video about Linux, or vim, or anything else in tech-
it’s not a statement of superiority. It’s just that I think these things are neat!
When I say “Linux is awesome”, I mean just that. It’s amazing that we collectively
have built such a wonderful, open ecosystem for our technology stack.
We don’t need to scream about it at random strangers on the internet.
Stop it. You aren’t helping.
Linux is good enough to stand on its own merits.
It already does in nearly every computing space that matters.
And that shouldn’t surprise any of us because Linux is Awesome! And so are you.
It’s time once again for “Ask Veronica”,
where I answer a question from my supporters over on Patreon.
Today’s question is: “is the /usr” directory pronounced “you-ess-are” or “user”?
I think this is subjective, as all pronunciation is.
I don't necessarily fault anybody for saying "user" or "you-ess-are".
Looking at some of the early UNIX documentation that I've read,
and I've read a fair amount of it...
...it didn't stand for anything other than the place "user stuff" went.
One thing I'm pretty confident in is that it doesn't stand for
UNIX System Resources, although that's a pretty good way to remember what it's for.
As long as your meaning and context is clear, I don't think you'll have any problems.
And if you’d like your question answered in an episode of Veronica Explains,
you can join the Patreon at patreon dot com slash veronicaexplains.
Tiers start at just a buck a month, and it’s probably the best way to help support the channel.
I’m so grateful to all of my supporters over on Patreon,
and to all of you watching. Thank you so much!