The Racism Problem - Why DEI Must DIE

 Racism is a problem, and will continue to be a problem until we accept that there is no such thing as 'racism'.


In my series "The Art of Reasoning", in parts 9 and 10, I discussed some fundamental characteristics of human behavior, some inherent, genetically embedded survival behaviors, which are present in any social species.

Fundamental to survival is the ability to avoid or eliminate that which can harm us. How do we distinguish that which can harm us? Our inherent programming is to flock to that which is like us, and to fear that which is different.

(Note: this mechanism can be overridden. There are two key characteristics which allows us to overcome this survival response to the unknown; confidence, and curiosity. A creature that is sufficiently curious, and free of trauma from past experiences of threat may approach the unknown unafraid.)

This fear tends to lead to one of two responses to a perceived threat - flee, or fight. When alone or outnumbered, flight is the more likely response. When we have the force of a flock (or herd or pack), we may be more inclined to fight. Spend a little time observing the animal kingdom and you will see this behavior, where predator becomes prey. Buffalo, wildebeests, gazelles, elephants - all herbivores- have been known to fight off and even kill powerful prey animals, such as tigers or lions. If a lone wolf strays into the territory of another pack, the pack may respond with violence. They have even been know to slaughter a stray pup.

In 1971, a single tribe of Chimpanzees in the Gombe National Park in Tanzania split into two territorial factions. Those two factions began a brutal war with each other in 1974, which lasted four years, until one tribe was effectively decimated by the other.

All animals fight to protect resources and territories, to eliminate potential threats, to survive. It is a genetically ingrained behavior. And we humans are no different int his regard, we are subject to 'the natural man' within us. We protect that which is part of our herd against that which is not.

And the difference between 'part of the herd' and not can be very subtle. A wolf looks very much like any other wolf to us. Yet the pack can identify the outsider by his unique scent. The Gombe chimpanzees were originally all one tribe, with only four years of separation to distinguish them before they went to war.

We can form flocks based on nearly any distinguishing characteristic. Skin color, geographic origin, eye shape, spoken language, accent, age, gender, religious belief, political system. It is the same mechanism at work.

This is the problem with 'racism', 'Racism' doesn't actually exist. it is a contrived label which we have chosen to give to a very specific instance of the survival mechanism described above. The issue of "black vs white" is no different than that of 'Hutu vs Tutsi', or 'Sunni vs Shia', or 'Orange vs Green'. We create an artificial boundary, group people accordingly, expose real and contrived offenses, dredge up past sins, and go to war.

By labeling it 'racism', we have diverted attention away from the underlying mechanism at work, and instead focused on the superficial differences between two cultural groups. The unintended consequence of this is to reinforce the boundary between the two groups in question. Rather than seek to understand the similarities, we highlight the differences, which inevitably escalates the conflict.

DEI programs take this issue a step further, by introducing the idea of marginalized groups.  Any number of characteristics can be used to create still more groups, draw more battle lines, quite often erasing the very diversity they claims to be seeking in the process.

The economics of conflict further exacerbate the issue. There is so much money to be made, so much political power to be gained from playing on fears, it is far too tempting for most to pass  on the opportunity to exploit it to personal advantage.

 Anti-racism efforts, or Authoritarian imposition of diversity through DEI programs, are therefore counter-productively fostering the very thing they intend to eliminate. The first step to truly ending racism, is to stop labeling it as 'racism'. Real Diversity is achieved when it is recognized that the unit of true diversity is the individual.

Reasoning: The Solution

 In the previous posts in this series, I have detailed the rather substantial challenges we as humans face, both individually and collectively, which interfere with our ability to progress toward truth, and to live in a state of (relative) peace and prosperity.

Our very own biological, genetic nature sabotages us in this endeavor. Ironically working against its inherent purpose.

To be fair, progress in this regard is an uphill battle against a fundamental law of physics, specifically the second law of thermodynamics. In simple terms, the second law of thermodynamics says that a closed system (the universe, in this case), unless acted on by an external force, will inevitably move to a state of absolute disorder. As time progresses, living things die and decay, metals corrode, stone crumbles, stars burn out, matter and energy dissipate, until all is one vast, disordered sameness.

How then, do we combat this counter-current, this inexorable march toward absolute chaos? I introduced the answer In the fifth post of this series, "The Art of Reasoning".

I refer to it as an 'art' as I don't believe there is a specific, formulaic way to apply a prescriptive set of steps and arrive at the end goal. As the antithesis of chaos, it must necessarily be adaptive in nature. It requires an active and dynamic effort on our part, both individually and collectively.

Now, that isn't to say there aren't any basic tenets to guide the endeavor. There are guidelines and guardrails, which human wisdom has known and posited since the most ancient of days. Nearly every religious and philosophical system ever devised includes among its most basic of tenets the ideas represented - perhaps most universally today - by either 'the golden rule' ('do unto others as you would have others do to you') or the 'two great commandments' ('Love God' and 'Love thy neighbor as thyself').

The law of Maat in ancient Egypt, or the law of Tzedek in ancient Isreal are two prime examples of this. The same fundamental ideals also show up in Old Norse writings, early Hindu texts, Japanese warrior tradition...  Virtually every old civilization documents a very similar set of fundamental set of guidelines, a 'code of conduct'. The same themes are consistently represented, namely:

Truth - Be honest (or at the very least, don't lie)

Courage - Don't let you fear master you.

Hospitality - Treat guests well.

Work - Be industrious in helping to build your home and your community. Take Joy in Labor.

Fidelity - Be true to friends, and family, be celibate if single, and faithful to your partner if married.

Honor and Integrity - Keep your oaths. Ensure your family name is respected, that it retains a reputation of purity, honesty, integrity and commitment.

Kindness - Speak kind words often, and look for and act on opportunities to help and serve those around you.

Reciprocity - Return kindness for kindness.

Compassion - Be quick to forgive, slow to condemn. Do not overstep your boundaries of concern.

Remorse and Accountability - Allow yourself the expression of remorse. Acknowledge your faults and and errors, take responsibility for and do all in your power to correct your mistakes, and to undo any harm you may have caused.

Wisdom - Actively seek knowledge and cultivate wisdom.

Discipline - Be modest. Practice moderation and self-sacrifice.

Justice - Protect the innocent, the weak, and the helpless. Do not seek violence, but protect those who are unable to protect themselves.



Quite honestly, most of these tenets seem obvious, so sensible, that when one reads them, it seems almost absurd that any civilization would not choose to adhere to them. This underscores just how powerful the 'natural man' is, and why it is such an active, concerted effort to exercise the art of reasoning.

It is difficult just to keep ourselves aligned with these tenets. How can one even hope to keep a society aligned? No easy task to be certain. But one which is worthy of pursuing. And just as active pursuit of the above tenets can help keep an individual on the path of Reasoning, there are also tenets which can serve as guardrails for a society.

Utopia, Dystopia, and the One Percent

 (This is a continuation of thoughts from two previous posts:

 
https://r-pentomino.blogspot.com/2024/09/infotopia-rant.html

and

https://r-pentomino.blogspot.com/2024/10/reasoning-and-revolution.html
)

I recently attended a technology convention during which there was a presentation involving a sit-down discussion between the CEO of the hosting corporation, and a world renowned international lawyer, who has enjoyed a high degree of success, and celebrity status.

Their discussion focused around their personal, interests and efforts to make the world a better, fairer, more just place. There were three key points which I found particularly enlightening.

First,  the CEO in question made it quite clear that his foremost  interests were fairness and sustainability.

And by sustainability, he means carbon. He has a broad variety of initiatives in his corporation focused around carbon sequestering and carbon reduction. I have a problem with this. As I look around carbon seems the least of our worries, Vegetation can compensate for increasing carbon levels without  too much trouble. Microplastics, in the other hand, or PFAS or pharmaceuticals in drinking water are much more concerning. The priority seems driven entirely by marketability and profitability, rather than any real risk analysis.

The second point caught my attention, was a statement made by the lawyer. She quoted a statistic given to her by her friend Melinda Gates, another celebrity philanthropist, seeking the betterment of the world. She said that "only two percent of philanthropic dollars go to help girls and women."

That is a very disturbing sounding statistic. Hard not to feel an emotional response to that. And that is the main complaint.

The statistic was presented in a weaponized fashion. It is meant to elicit a strong emotion response. A sense of anger at the injustice, the unfairness.

The statistic, as presented means absolutely nothing.

There is no context. How was that number calculated? What data sources were queried to generate the balance sheet? How is the rest divided? Does that 2% refer to dollars which go explicitly and exclusively to girls and women, or does it include a partial accounting of dollars going to all children? to food programs, drinking water, and other programs that help both men and women? If the 2% metric includes those, then where is the other ninety-eight percent going? Dogs? Cats? Endangered species? Trees? Dirt?

What is the average size of a slice from that total pie chart? If every other comparable category is getting less than two percent, then girls and women are getting the largest comparative slice by getting 'only two percent'. You as the receiver of this context-less statistic have no way of knowing what it actually means, it merely serves to manipulate you.

So then, that raises a question. Did this highly competent, admired and successful international lawyer make that claim with the intent to mislead the audience, or did she fail to consider the lack of context herself? Either scenario is troubling, demonstrating either willful dishonesty or woeful incompetence.

But the most illuminating comment was one from the CEO regarding 'fairness'. He made the statement that the world's problems can be solved by trust, that trust comes from fairness, and that fairness comes from justice and regulation.

I should note he explicitly clarified "justice and regulation" as meaning the right laws and the right punishments.

(and I will pause to disagree with this claim. Trust doesn't come from fairness, it comes from honesty and integrity. Fairness doesn't come from Justice, it comes from adherence to the oldest of laws, the great commandment, if you will  - that of Loving God [yes, there is a way this can be applied to the atheist as well as the theist, another post perhaps...], and Loving your neighbor as yourself. All other rules and regulations (and therefore loopholes, and points of coruption) should disappear as people more effectively implement these two. Society becomes more fair and equitable as laws are reduced, not multiplied.)

This philosophy seems a common view held by the politically and financially powerful. I have heard it alluded to by any others, though perhaps not quite so succinctly, or precisely. It was disturbing that a man of such an influential position would ascribe to such a philosophy. Even more disturbing that a room filled with thousands of educated individuals would applaud such a statement.

This philosophy has been the bread and butter of every oppressive, authoritarian regime since the dawn of time.  

I understand the appeal - the vision of a Utopian society in which the right set of just laws bound the behavior of its citizens, thereby providing peace and prosperity for all. Surely it must be possible for the right group of people with superior intellect and sound moral principles to create such a Utopia.

But whose moral principals? Each group or individual is convinced of the superiority of their position as "the one true way".  Each group ultimately discriminates against some beliefs, some individuals. And each group justifies it in the name of "the greater good".

Consider a simple example of a policy regarding use of company credit cards- A policy stating "use of company card for personal purposes is strictly forbidden, and doing so is grounds for termination." Nothing wrong with that, is there? The company card is regulated by tax law, so personal use creates a burden on the company, and the potential for fines, or accusations of tax fraud. So the company is protecting itself from employee misuse.

But what then of the woman, rushing in to the store to buy diapers on her way home, who accidentally grabs the wrong card from her purse? It was an honest mistake, surely not a reason to lose her job.

But rules are rules, she should have been more careful. If they make an exception for this case, then what about the next case? and the next? In a company of thousands of employees, and just a handful of people assigned to policing these cases, they don't have the resources to arbitrate each case, so....

What about age related rules, as another example? What age should someone be allowed to drink alcohol? 21, 12? Different countries set different boundaries, each based on their "scientific reasoning" Each is smugly sure of their justification, and usually condescending of contrary opinions.

What about age of consent? Just looking at the US, the age varies from sixteen to eighteen, depending on the state. But assume for a moment that everyone, globally, decides to accept sixteen. Why sixteen? If sixteen is okay, then why is fifteen years, three-hundred-sixty-four days (365 if it is a leap year) and twenty-three hours not? And if you allow an exception for sixteen minus one day, then why not sixteen minus two? minus three? minus...?

And what of the law makers? The enforcers? A degree of power must be acceded to them.  What ensures they won't abuse that position of power? In all of history, how many powerful regimes can you point to that have never once abused that power? How many have never been part of a massacre (the holocaust, Tiananmen square, Kent State University 1970,...)? Never overthrown or tampered with another country's government in pursuit of their own interests? Never created laws, then exempted themselves from those laws? What powerful organization has not performed questionable acts against their own citizens in secrecy? Or invoked the "letter of the law" while violating the spirit?

Bill Gates once condemned the government for not requiring him to pay more taxes, for placing that burden on the middle and lower classes, rather than on him. Do you know what he didn't do? He didn't lower the cost of his products. If he felt he was overpaid, and others underpaid, why did he not do that? Why did he  not cut his own salary? That was in his power to do, and would have accomplished the same end.

He is lauded for his work in vaccines, particularly around malaria. Now, I don't wish to suggest the outcome was not a good one, but It should also be noted that, in more than one interview, he stated one of his key motivations for pursuing this work was to improve quality of life, specifically in third-world countries (another positive), for the express purpose of altering (socially engineering) the reproductive behavior of women in those countries to have fewer children. His driving motivation was (is) to build Utopia, according to his vision, his perspective, with him benevolently guiding the "unwashed masses".

In the vein of vaccines, consider also, some of the policies during the Covid Pandemic. Other strategies apart from the vaccine race were proposed for dealing with the pandemic, some of which - in theory at least - might have ended the pandemic much more quickly. They were ultimately  discarded, some claim in part due to the massive lobbying dollars provided by the pharmaceutical industry. Interesting to consider, but likely unprovable. And that lack of transparency is a notable concern.

When the vaccine arrived, the world seemed to divide largely into two groups - Pro-Vax and Anti-Vax - each making their compelling case with "scientific" data, outrageous anecdotes, finger-pointing, and fear-mongering.

The truth, as it often does, fell somewhere in the middle.

There were some people who had adverse reactions to the vaccine, some chronically, or even fatally so.

There were other people who benefited dramatically from the vaccine, in some cases experiencing a reversal of chronic post-covid symptoms.

Now the rational, logical path forward would be to gather as much data as possible, from as many people as possible, to develop an accurate profile of who would likely experience benefits, and who would likely experience detriments, thereby allowing individuals to make an informed decision based on their specific circumstances.

Instead, the contemporary powers sought to implement their vision of "Utopia" either by attempting to discredit the vaccine altogether, through propaganda, or by working to implement vaccine mandates.

In either "Utopian" outcome, one subgroup suffers.

Back to the CEO and Lawyer- both are multi-millionaires, the Lawyer doubly so, due to her husband being a very successful actor. If they are so concerned about fairness, why don't they reduce their own incomes, cut costs of their products? raise salaries of their workers? hire more people to do other jobs?

Because each of these individuals is convinced of their own intellectual and moral superiority. Each is convinced they are "the one" - or at least a member of that elite group - who can lead the poor unwashed masses out of their state of ignorance and into Utopia. Each fails to recognize that their vision, their strengths, and their flaws, are no different than those of the monsters who went before them - the Hitlers, the Stalins, the Zedongs and the Nyiramasuhukos... All full  of good intention and sincerity and... madness. They fail to understand that they are not nearly so different as they believe.

To be fair, we don't see this either, as we only remember those men, and women as monsters, we don't remember that they too were once idealists, dreamers, artists, social workers, students, soldiers, victims, politicians, fathers or mothers, sons or daughters...

They, we  - both the monsters of the past and the potential monsters-to-be -, are all ultimately driven by our personal interests, ideals, desires, flaws, and foibles, and by our mis-perceptions of reality.

One individual's Utopian vision is inevitably another's Dystopian nightmare.

A year ago, after a conversation involving efforts to clear up misinformation on an unrelated, yet still relevant topic (pharmaceutical industry overreach), a recent friend made the following comment to me:

"...and I literally fear all politics and socio economics manoeuvres trying to control the people somehow, making them weak or inducing them to spend money to whatever they decide to without any thought on the people health and wellbeing
Sometimes I feel just a small piece in a big money machine the money goes always to someone else..🙄🙄"

Reading this again In light of the recent insights I acquired, it occurs to me that (and I may be getting ahead of myself in my "reasoning" work here.) at the core we are, each of us, seeking our Utopia. We are seeking a state of peace, prosperity, safety, for ourselves, our loved ones... And most of the time we are ignorant of the dystopian effects on others of our Utopian vision.  

This is the case whether you are part of the one-percent, or the ninety-nine.

What fundamentally separates the one-percent from the rest is their capacity to evangelize their particular flavor of Utopia, and their capacity to obliviously impose that "Utopia", on others, with all its dystopian consequences (which they and their sycophants refer to as 'unintended consequences' or, more heartlessly, 'collateral damage' or 'acceptable losses').

It seems a never-ending cycle- Utopian dreams to dystopian nightmares to revolts to new Utopian dreams.... round and round the wheel turns.

But, is it an inevitable cycle, or is there another path which can be taken?

Reasoning and Revolution

 

My last post was a bit of a rant. It wasn't entirely spur of the moment. It was a long time coming.

There have been a number of items in the news which have been weighing on my mind for some time.

I included a few at the end of aforementioned rant, on the topic of nefarious people using technology to stalk and harm their victims, of heinous attacks on free speech.

I included an article about the discovery that Microsoft is reading your emails:

[Microsoft is scanning the inside of password-protected zip files for malware | Ars Technica]

Not JUST reading. They are hacking your emails, looking for passwords and using them to open and read encrypted content. (They also look at your Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents, by the way, even the ones you retain locally, on your computer)

Sure, they claim this is only to stop malware and child pornography. But, how do we know? They didn't disclose what they were doing, what assurance do we have they aren't profiling for psychological manipulation via targeted ad-campaigns and misinformation? How do we know they aren't stealing the works of others? Using information gleaned for insider trading? Abuse of monopoly powers?

(I've asked various information security professionals if they have concerns, or are taking precautions. I get either, the deer in headlights look, or the foolishly confident (naive?) claim that the paid enterprise version of Microsoft services is different from the consumer version, or the shrugging "everybody else is using them so... it must be okay...")

Also, I really don't mean to single out Microsoft. Google's stack and behavior is no different.

And then you have the data brokers, the businesses who scour the internet, collecting every last scrap of information about you, and making it available to anybody who wishes to pay for it. Extortionists, Predators, Scammers, Unhinged governments... You are a commodity to be used, abused, manipulated, scammed, extorted... enslaved...


The next news item of concern to me has been AI:

To begin with, AI is worrisome because people trust the word 'Intelligence', of which there actually is none. AI is just a computer scouring large quantities of data and pulling out certain parts based on a weighting algorithm (frequency, popularity, etc...).

I don't mean to imply this isn't useful, in fact I prefixed my rant with an example of a useful function AI could serve.

But here's the problem- Pulling from my exploration of reasoning, and focusing on 'our greatest enemy', we humans are naturally greedy and lazy (that's a meaner, less nuanced way to say it than I do in the post, but also less verbose).

People gravitate toward that which is more easily and rapidly profitable. Which generally involves controlling, manipulating and exploiting other people. IT is the dark side of our unchecked, natural state.

With that lens, I look at some of the news about AI:

[CGI 'Influencers' Like Lil Miquela Are About to Flood Your Feed | WIRED]

This short youtube video also: 

[AI Influencers are taking over]

Now, lilmiquela is relatively easy to identify as 'artificial'.

But what about Milla Sophia?


It will get harder over time. These AI influencers are created using AI. An AI art program scours the ba-jillions of images on the internet, and then, using the information it has gathered regarding what characteristics do and do not appeal to the target audience, it in essence 'randomly' generates a 'person' who matches the target 'ideal' with near perfection (You just thought competing with surgically enhanced, photo-shopped supermodels was bad).

(I'm ignoring for now, the potential negative effects this could have on art as a human economic and creative endeavor. \[ i.e. Someone with no artistic talent whatsoever, using the right AI tools, could conceivably, with very little personal effort, create thousands of unique art pieces, or spam amazon and other retail sites with books, songs, etc... flooding the market, and crowding out legitimate artists who have sacrificed years perfecting their craft].)

It's more than just the physical image though. These AI 'people' have a 'backstory', affiliations with organizations. The AI algorithm (with human assistance) develops them to be someone with whom you feel a deep and personal connection, someone who you trust, someone who can influence (manipulate) your decisions.

It's bad enough that the social media feeds are inundated with stories and comments derived from half-truths, misinformation, and outright lies, generally founded on fear (I am just finally getting to some of this in parts 8 and 9 of "The Art of Reasoning"). Now individuals and organizations can feasibly crank out an army of highly influential, personal, and 'trusted' virtual voices to steer narratives and manipulate opinions, or to simply scam the most vulnerable)

(An additional, related headline I will not post, due to the graphic nature of the material, but in short, several real female influencers were victimized by an individual who used their likeness in deep-fake, pornographic films. These poor girls are dealing with the trauma and embarrassment of their families, their friends \[not to mention themselves] seeing themselves engaged in lewd behaviors, which never actually happened. It will be increasingly difficult to distinguish reality from fiction, from what someone actually said or did versus what some threat-actor invented. Further still, there are now sites where, for a few dollars, you can take images of someone and have movies created of them as victims of heinous acts of violence. Consider the impact this could have on the psyche of young men, the potential consequences, when the fantasy is no longer sufficient to feed their addiction... )

But how will anyone know for sure what is real and what is not? Of course, people are working on AI systems to detect deep-fakes and AI generated entities, which will likely be a perpetual game of cat-and-mouse. And of course the large corporate minds are calling for strict government regulation, which is unlikely to be enforceable in any meaningful way, but ultimately what that does is strengthen the technological monopolies of said corporate and government institutions, allowing them and their allies to control and manipulate the narratives. Not a desirable outcome at all. Imagine hundreds, thousands, millions of carefully crafted, personalized AI entities, designed specifically to appeal to and manipulate individuals, all controlled by a small handful of people in positions of financial or political power...


But beyond these potentialities, there seems a real madness descending on the world.


First, this one caught my attention:

[‘Sound of Freedom’: Box Office Triumph for QAnon Believers – Rolling Stone]

There is no need to invoke conspiratorial speculations that wealthy elitist pedophiles/serial-child-abusers were trying to kill the show in order to protect their evil behaviors. I have seen little in the way of sound evidence to support such a claim. It may or may not be true, but in this case, it doesn't even matter.

The more likely case (given the tone of the writing); the writers of these detracting articles don't like Jim Caviezel, because of conspiracies he has promoted in the past. Or perhaps they don't like Trump (ironically/hypocritically for conspiratorial reasons), or possibly Glenn Beck, or other high-profile figures whose names have been connected to this due to their open support for Operation Underground Railroad. Perhaps they don't like Tim Ballard because "...he's a Mormon..." (That is literally the justification more than one commentor has given for why people shouldn't see the show or support the organizations behind it, presumably for 'Christian' reasons - in response, please refer to Mark 9:38-39 and Luke 9:49-50), or ... who knows what else? There are any number of explanations, based on simple, fundamental human behaviors, which don't require any sort of highly organized, deep-state or  Hollywood elitist conspiracy.

(Though there is still that nagging question in the back of my mind - this was a low-budget, independent film, with no big industry backing, and no 'big-draw' actors. If nothing shady is going on, why then did these folks not simply ignore the film? Why did they feel the need to pile on with desperate-sounding, ad hominem attacks?)

Even more disturbing are derogatory comments from other anti-trafficking organizations who have called the film out for being 'unrealistic', or for not addressing more common avenues in which trafficking occurs (i.e. family members trafficking family members). Now, I get they would want to note these other vectors for trafficking, sure. But by siding with detractors? That seems petty, jealous and self-serving.

They could have just as easily  gotten behind the show, given their support, shown even the smallest semblance of unity regarding the fundamental issue being addressed - that slavery is STILL VERY MUCH A REAL PROBLEM TODAY, and that we need to do more to actually abolish it. I can think of few topics that should more easily cross political, cultural, social and economic boundaries than this one.

But no. Instead we were subjected to yet more division, greed, pride... Those, I would argue, are no less damning reasons than the alleged conspiracy theories.

That was, perhaps, a bit of a lengthy, rambly rant to observe that something so seemingly unifying as a film decrying human trafficking - especially child-trafficking, became a point of polarization and contention, its salient point nearly swallowed whole in the pointless conflict.

And there there is this headline:

[Young woman who survived Brussels airport terror attack 'euthanised' after struggling with PTSD - World News - Mirror Online]

It is an older headline, but one which has been weighing on me. There is an implication here that I am struggling to wrap my brain around

You see, Belgium - like many other places - has eliminated the Death penalty.

This means that we have become... what... so civilized?... that we - mercifully - do not execute the individuals who planned and executed the attack which ended the lives of over thirty people, but we will -mercifully- execute the surviving victims.

And I don't begrudge the young woman for wanting to 'check-out', after such a harrowing experience. I just find myself... at a loss. Am I the only one who feels like our priorities are a complete mess? that our culture has gone completely sideways? That our mental and social care systems are an utter disaster?

It is further 'interesting' to note that the individuals who planned and executed this attack, also planned and executed an attack in Paris a year earlier. One of the individuals had been engaged in violent criminal activities for over 15 years prior to this incident, and in fact had just been released from prison after serving four years of a ten year sentence, one year before the Paris attack. So we mercifully keep violent criminals alive, and then mercifully kill their victims. It is utterly, mind-bogglingly insane.

It is an absurd madness, fueled by those who profit from fear and division (and I don't necessarily think they do so knowingly. Many likely don't understand the implications of their actions on the grand scale, they simply are seeking to. participate in the attention economy, trying to grab influence, to garner followers, to gain sponsors, or to promote an idea which is important to them. And so, they try ideas, and repeat that which works to garner attention. And - as I have noted in my essays on reasoning. Fear works.)


This rise of chaos has lead me to think on the topic of revolution of late, for it seems we are daily on the brink of yet another one. There have certainly been a few of various sizes and relative degrees of success of late (mostly small, localized to a single city or neighborhood, and inconsequential.)

But I've been thinking a bit about revolutions of late - reading about past revolutions,the circumstances, catalyst, and outcomes.

Most don't end well for the revolters.

In 209 BC Cheng Shen and Wu Gang were ordered to march their army of commoners to assist in the defense of YuYang. They were delayed by floodwaters. The Qin laws of the time mandated execution for those who showed up late for government laws regardless of the reason. With nothing to lose, they led their soldiers in a revolt. They were no match for the emperor's trained soldiers, and ultimately their revolt failed,  and Cheng and Wu were assassinated by their own men.

The Trung Sisters, who attempted to free Vietnam from Chinese rule in 42 AD were beheaded.

The Transylvanian Peasant revolt of 1437 Lasted a year before the rebel forces were starved out or otherwise decimated.

The 1381 German Peasants revolt fared no better.

The Celts revolted on many occasions against the Romans, the last official conflict being the war of Numantine, they fought for twenty years, but in 134 BC they were ultimately overpowered and the Numantine revolters committed suicide, rather than surrender.


Not all end so badly for those who instigate them.

in AD 17 Mother Lu, a wealthy Landowner in China, whose son - a minor official - was executed by the local magistrate for a minor offense, sold her property and used her wealth to raise an army. She stormed the county seat and killed the magistrate to avenge her son's death. She died of an illness shortly thereafter, and admittedly the peasant revolt she inspired ultimately was quashed. So, okay for her, not so much  for those who followed her.

Still others fared even better.

The American Revolution for instance. The United State revolted against British rule, and created a nation which has lasted for a quarter of a millennia to date, and whose existence has had far reaching influence (some good, some bad) on the entire globe.

It is curious to me that farmers are frequently at the middle of these revolts. The Dutch farmers have recently made the news. It isn't the first time for them though. They have risen to the occasion to protest government action against agriculture before; once in 1963 and again 1989.

And while there are the few odd cases of a revolt by a military official seeking greater power, or an individual or group seeking revenge over a specific incident, most instances occur when someone or some group who perceives themselves to be oppressed reaches some breaking point. That last tax hike, that last oppressive law, that unwarranted abuse or death of just the wrong individual at just the wrong time. That one day when the bus driver threatens to arrest an individual for not moving out of the arbitrarily designated seats for people of a particular race, and that individual is just tired of playing that stupid game (Rosa Parks).

One could argue that WWII began as a revolution. The German people were subjected to severe economic hardship by the victors of WWI, to the point that enough was enough. Unfortunately, a madman ended up in charge of that 'revolt'.

Most of the time a revolution occurs when one group of a society uses their position of authority over another group in a way the other group deems oppressive. Their reasons may or may not be justified, or justifiable to them. It often starts with just one or two malcontents. It has been building over time, but today... something about today pushes them over the edge, and they fight back.

(It is interesting to note that generally both sides - the oppressor and the oppressed, when examined under the lens of reasoning, are at some level, seeking the same visionary end - Utopia. They have some grand vision of a 'perfect society' which they are seeking to achieve, or some path toward a perceived future utopia they are trying to maintain. But what all fail to comprehend is that  - since each person is unique, with unique preferences and perspectives - their vision of utopia is inevitably someone else's dystopia.)

In most instances, that is where it ends. They bluster, and are either ignored, silenced, eliminated, or in some other way subdued and made irrelevant. In some instances, that one moment of individual rebellion is the spark that ignites others, and a group revolt occurs, either spontaneously or after careful planning. In some vary rare instances, these revolts gain sufficient momentum to effect meaningful and sometimes lasting change.

Only rarely.

It becomes clear then, that one should carefully and deliberately consider their decision to revolt. The cost is usually quite high, and the probability of success abysmal. But, when you hit that breaking point, it can be hard to be deliberate.

I think the two revolts which I find most interesting are the Plebian revolts and Gandhi's revolt.

The Roman lower class plebians, through a series of five revolts against the upper class patricians won equal status. Theirs was a non-violent revolt. They simply packed up and left, and the patricians, realizing the discomfort they would inevitably face, made concessions to convince the plebians (primarily farmers) to return.

Imagine! An entire sector of society packing their bags and moving out of the city(/country) all at once. There doesn't appear - in any writings I  have read at least - to be any charismatic figure who instigated the action either. Just a collective decision. It is hard to imagine something like that ever occurring (though I suppose one might be inclined to compare it to a union strike, and perhaps it has been romanticized in my mind as something more virtuous than it really was...).

Perhaps my favorite non-violent revolutionary was Mahatma Gandhi, who managed to bully the Hindus and Muslims into peace by threatening to starve himself to death (how did that work exactly? I am pretty sure if I went on a hunger strike, I could count on my fingers and toes the people who would even take notice), and who secured India's independence from Britain through peaceful non-cooperation (though it should be noted, many of those peaceful protesters suffered horrific violence at the hands of their oppressors before victory was achieved). His determination and commitment to non-violence is absolutely inspiring.

So, what then of our future? Does yet another great revolution lie ahead for us? Will it be violent, or peaceful? Can it be avoided? Perhaps revolution is simply part of the human experience. One of the definitions of the world itself implies the turning of the wheel, coming full circle.

But with rising division, and a sort of chaos overriding human reasoning, what will the next great revolution look like? How will it end? What will be the cost?

Infotopia - A Rant

 Warning, incoming rant...


Picture this, if you will - 

 

It is 100 years after a massive, global, data-gathering and analysis system, linked to a network of sensors, cameras and geo-location systems begin tracking everything.

In the background, with  no effort on your part, they record your blood samples, urine samples,hair samples, skin cell samples, what you eat, drink, where you go, what activities you participate in, everything.

Now consider the following short story of a woman we will call Jenna:

Jenna awakens slowly, pleasantly, to the soothing sounds of ocean waves, played through the speakers in her bedroom. The room grows brighter as the LED wall simulates a beautiful sunrise. She yawns and stretches, smiling as she is bathed in the sensory simulation.

Hopping out of bed, she begins the day with her usual routine; water, toothbrush, toilet, and a light workout and invigorating cool shower.

"Good morning Jenna," the voice of her AI personal assistant greets her as she stands in front of the LED wall, now serving as a mirror as she applies the finishing touches to her outfit and makeup.

"I have observed an anomaly in your urine sample this morning. Nothing serious, but I would recommend a blood sample, if you have time."

"Okay," Jenna returns to the bathroom and places her finger against a small receptacle which has extended from the wall, a slight poke and a drop of blood is extracted.

She returns to the LED wall and reviews her schedule for the day,  instructing her assistant to reschedule her hair appointment to the day following, to make additional time for a lunch date with a dear friend who is in town for the day.

"I have completed analysis of the blood sample," the assistant reports as Jenna sits down to eat breakfast. "There appears to be a higher than normal level of adenosine, and a reduced level of bromine. Specifically in this region of the country, this combination has shown a high correlation to adrenal-cortical carcinoma in people of your age and genetic profile, at a probability of 65%."

"I have found three strategies which show a high probability of reducing this risk to less than 2%. Would you like to review them?"

"Yes, please." It always seemed a bit silly to Jenna that the assistant asked that question. Who wouldn't want to? She glanced to the small display next to the dining table, as it populated with information"
 

-
1. Reduce intake of Meats (to lower adenosine intake)
2. Increase grains (to increase bromelain intake)
3. Add a bromelain supplement for 30 days.

Recommendation to follow one ore more of the above alternatives for thirty days and re-assess.

-

"Please adjust my meal plan to accommodate recommendations one and two, and add 'get bromelain' to my todo list." Might was well try them all.

Jenna finishes breakfast, reviews and approves the newly recommended menu and sends off the grocery order, then heads out the door to her first appointment of the day.

-----

How cool would that be?!!

Can you imagine how many problems might be preventable with information that deep and broad? Analyzed and correlated for the many thousands of variables contained therein - far more than any human or group of humans could digest. Can you imagine the potential leap in quality of life?


But, we can't have that.

Why? you ask.

<begin rant>

Because anytime anybody starts collecting data, somebody finds a way to abuse it.

Creeps use gps data from fitness-gadgets and smart-watches and phones to stalk people.

Marketing agencies use all kinds of data to discover your interests, obsessions, guilty pleasures, and the most effective ways to manipulate you into buy garbage you don't really need.

Governments use any and all data to identify potential threats -  which could range anywhere from legitimate terrorist to 'political enemy', depending on who is in charge at the time. In some countries now, you can face prison time if you say the wrong things on social media. What constitutes 'wrong things'? Depends entirely on who is interpreting the law at any time.

Sleazy, money-grubbing scammers will use that data to find ways to steal your retirement funds, and your personal savings.

Political idealists/activists will use that data to dox, swat, or otherwise terrorize those they see as enemies to their cause. They will manipulate and misrepresent that data to justify unwarranted and abusive actions on the part of governments to enforce their 'utopian' vision, a the expense of those who don't share their particular views.

We can't have that because a small handful of the population value personal wealth, personal fears, personal power, or a personal vision of the future more than they value their 'neighbor'.

And so, all the decent folk (who I still believe make up the majority), wind up going into "hiding" (The dark forest), to protect ourselves from the minority of predators.

So a hearty "Thank-you" to all the Kochs,Soros,Gates,Musks, and many other well-known, lesser-known, and unknown, political and corporate 'luminaries', groups of deranged lunatics, and individual, self-serving scum-buckets (and by 'thank-you' I mean 'no-thank-you').

You're the reason we can't have nice things.

<end rant>

 

A few headlines supporting above rant:

[Microsoft is scanning the inside of password-protected zip files for malware | Ars Technica]

[Former cop abused unrevoked system access to extort women (malwarebytes.com)]

[Saudi arabia woman jailed for 11 years for online expression supporting womens-rights]

[Death penalty for hate speech?]

[German woman given harsher sentence than-rapist for defamation]

[UK warns of stalking risks from connected devices]

Some discussions on the "dark forest" concept (focused specifically on the exponential growth of this phenomenon due to  generative AI):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXkDaDDJjoA&t=21s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrcbH0ge2WE

Leaving Microsoft: Taking the Plunge

 Well, I did it.

I started out with the best of intentions to thoroughly and carefully plan, test and then install. To be fair I did do SOME planning and testing. Just not thorough.

A few weeks back, I took a Saturday, copied all my documents, pictures etc... to an external hard drive. Then I rebooted, and installed Debian version 12.

The first week was a bit problematic. The computer would occasionally freeze. I didn't get to the root cause, but I did resolve the problem.

When I installed, I did not use the default, Gnome windows environment. Instead I switched to KDE Plasma. I am more comfortable with it, as it is more similar to Microsoft Windows in look and feel. It is also more configurable, allowing me to more easily tailor it to my specific needs.

The freezing problem appeared to be related - not to KDE specifically, but to a subsystem used to translate between KDE and the video drivers.

Switching to Gnome removed that subsystem, and the problem went away. There is probably a way to fix it, but again, I'm trying to avoid digging in the guts too much.

So really. Where I have ended up is essentially the default install, which would be fairly trivial for anybody to do. I've made a few minor changes after the fact, but nothing that would be difficult for anyone to do, given instructions. I might try putting together some how-to videos to post on YouTube.

Gnome is taking a little getting used to. I have had to change the way I do a few things. I would say it is neither better nor worse, just different.

All of my critical applications (or their replacements) are working just fine, and I have even managed to move a few of them to more updated versions than what is part of the Debian 12 ecosystem by using an application ecosystem called flathub. It has worked out nicely.

So, all in all, happy with my decision to pivot and revert to Debian. What they lack in "up-to-date-ness" of applications, they make up for in ease and stability.

I did have one totally geek-out moment yesterday. A small detail I suppose, but totally made my day.

I was watching a youtube video when my cell phone rang. I was closer to my phone than the computer, so I grabbed it and answer the call, while racing to pause the video.

But I didn't haven't to. The Linux phone integration automatically paused the video for me the moment I answered the call! It was the coolest thing ever! It was technology as technology should be! Technology working for me, making my life more convenient and enabling me to be more productive and effective.

That moment alone made the switch worthwhile.

So I am now operating Microsoft free, with respect to operating system on computers.

I still need to move to a new email provider. That will be a painful process, as I need to:
1. Find a privacy respecting email provider
2. Set up the new email address
3. Change the email address on all services I use

I might not be fully Microsoft-free until next year, but I am happy with my progress thus far.

Is It a Sin To Be Efficient?

 A few weeks ago I was asked to lead a discussion in a church meeting, on the topic of the two great commandments. More specifically, It was a discussion of a Talk given by Gary E. Stevenson last April, Titled 'Bridging The Two great Commandments' (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2024/04/53stevenson?lang=eng).

As part of that talk, I printed out the 613 Laws of the Old Testament (Mosaic Law)  and the ten commandments to start the conversation out by noting that, for the most part, The Two Commandments were a higher-order law - that if one was following those two laws the other laws were not really necessary (is you love your neighbor as yourself, you obviously won't kill them, or steal from them...).

While reviewing the Old Testament laws, I hit upon something I hadn't noticed before. Beginning with law 41:

41.Not to reap the entire field (Lev. 19:9; Lev. 23:22)

42.To leave the unreaped corners of the field or orchard for the poor (Lev.
19:9)

43.Not to gather gleanings (the ears that have fallen to the ground while
reaping)
(Lev. 19:9)

44.To leave the gleanings for the poor (Lev. 19:9)

45.Not to gather ol'loth (the imperfect clusters) of the vineyard (Lev.
19:10)

46.To leave ol'loth (the imperfect clusters) of the vineyard for the
poor (Lev. 19:10; Deut. 24:21)

47.Not to gather the single grapes that have fallen to the ground (Lev.
19:10)

48.To leave the single grapes of the vineyard for the poor (Lev. 19:10)

49.Not to return to take a forgotten sheaf (Deut. 24:19) This applies to
all fruit trees (Deut. 24:20)

50.To leave the forgotten sheaves for the poor (Deut. 24:19-20)



Don't harvest the corners of the field. Don't pick up what you drop while harvesting. Don't go back and gather anything you forgot.
Are these laws suggesting it is a sin to be too efficient?


Now, in the context of these laws as presented, there is a clear purpose. Leave some behind so the poor can collect it. You could argue the above laws are summed up in the fifty-second law.

 

52.To give charity according to one's means (Deut. 15:11)

Give of your abundance to the needy.



But what then of the modern business culture of ultra-efficiency? of "just-in-time" manufacturing?

This all-consuming drive to eliminate every last bit of waste. Is it a sin? Does it violate this law?

If, for instance, I were a potato farmer, and I only grew precisely the number of potatoes I could sell for maximum profit, there would be nothing left for the poor. Would I be in violation of the law?

The obvious counter argument is, since I have maximized my profit through my efficiency, I would now have more money with which to help the poor.

But would I? Or would  I simply grow my business? Diversify? Invest in further efficiencies? I might even justify this, noting that further growth and efficiency will mean I will be better able to help even more poor in the future.

Meanwhile the poor in the present are starving, and perhaps some who just above the threshold are becoming poor as well.

Now, that is clearly a choice. I could just as easily, willfully ignore the original law as stated to the same end. Perhaps this is simply a straw-man argument.

What are the other effects of hyper-efficiency?

Perhaps 2020 is a good case to consider. As businesses shut down due to the pandemic, supplies of many products dwindled. Many shelves in stores were bare.

Some people were left without the ability to care for themselves. Some were left impoverished.

Natural disasters are a part of living on this big ball of dirt and rock, hurling through space. Earthquakes, floods, famine, disease...

I believe the primary function of Godly law is to facilitate greater freedom for us, by protecting us from that which would enslave us (addiction, debt...), or at the very least, protect of from that which would restrict our freedom.

Always, there are things we can't control for, things we can't predict or prevent. If you are always living at the very edge of your capacity, then if anything goes wrong, you have nothing to fall back on. You - or someone else - suffers.

When there is abundance - some waste - then when something terrible happens, the abundance can fill the gap.

So, is it therefore a sin to be efficient? Or at least, to be too efficient?

Olympic Womens boxing: The real victim

 The events surrounding the Olympic Womens Boxing have certainly been a travesty.

But Angela Carini is not the victim. Neither is Imane Khelif the victim.

Rather the real victim is reason.

It began with images of Carini in tears, defeated. by "a man".

This understandably raised the indignation of some. There had, after all, been a number of incidents in recent years, of young women robbed of scholarships, of accolades, of opportunities, by biological men masquerading as women. There were incidents of serious harm being wrought on young women by considerably stronger, biological men.

And here were images, of Carini woman in tears, broken. What kind of person would not feel the protective instinct kick in?

And so they flooded social media with their outrage.

But the story, as presented wasn't entirely honest. The "Man" in question, was born with female genitalia, was raised as a female.

And so it wasn't long before the "other side" launched their own campaign. They attacked the first group, labeling them as transphobes, and mocking them for attacking the very person they were supposedly intent to protect, a "cis-woman".

But this wasn't entirely honest either, as it appears the individual in question has xy chromosomes.

And finally a third group entered the fray. Offering their sincere apology for leveling false accusations, for being insensitive and cruel to poor Khelif.

Except, I haven't noticed that any of those in this third group were part of the first group. And they, like the others willfully glossing over the complexity of the situation.

In reality all three of these messages are strategically identical:

1) They are built on a falsehood, wrapped around a small kernel of truth.

2) They are designed appeal to emotion.

3) They are designed to signal one's own position of moral superiority.

4) They are designed to shame "others" for their morally reprehensible behavior.

5) They are developed to garner clicks and likes (no doubt providing fiscal benefit to some few).

6) They are utterly devoid of reason.

Certainly, there are questions which need to be answered:

1. Was Carini actually at risk of serious harm? Or did she just have a bad day, get inside her own head, and fall apart?

2. Does Khelif have an unfair biologic/genetic advantage to the extent that others lives and safety are at risk?

3. Does the classification of "female" for purposes of sport need to be re-evaluated? (Sorry Matt Walsh, it appears you didn't manage to solve that conundrum entirely - or maybe you did, I have't actually watched it yet so...) There are a few obvious options: by genetic classification (XX vs XY), by hormone levels at time of contest enrollment, or by birth genitalia, for instance. 

4. In each of the above cases there are outliers, anomalies. Any classification system we make has outliers (a tomato is a fruit in a vegetable salad. A platypus is a mammal, but lays eggs) How do these outliers need to be treated? Arbitrarily pick one group, recognizing somebody will have an unfair (dis)advantage? Create one or more "other" groups? (Perhaps this is a valid case for a "non-binary" distinction.)

But those questions are unlikely to be answered. Because emotion is so  much more interesting (and profitable) than civil, reasoned, discourse.

Because pithy, mindless memes and pithy op-eds are so much more convenient to read (and produce) than thoughtful, well researched reports.

Because we would rather be "right" than correct.

And so we sacrifice reason, and the pursuit of truth on the alter of ego and pride.

May they rest in peace.

Leaving Microsoft: A quick dip in the deep end

 I had a chance to do my first trial run "without the training wheels" (in a manner of speaking). I had a two-week trip to the UK, and I took the Linux laptop, instead of my Windows laptop. (I was going to post something before I left, but for reasons I may rant about later, I didn't).

It went well, no hiccups during the trip.

But then, another glitch when I ran updates after returning home.

Most Linux systems use one or more repositories - which are essentially the same as the Apple Store, or Google Play, or Microsoft Store - as the primary means to obtain, install and update applications.

Arch has primarily two repositories. They have a reasonably large set of applications in their main  repository, managed by a command called "pacman".  To update any and all software you have installed form this repository, you simply run the command "pacman -Syu". It then takes care of everything. It does a pretty good job too.

For everything else they have a repository known as AUR. AUR is a user generated repository. The stuff in there isn't quite so simple to maintain. For each individual application, you have to check for an update, pull the update, run a command to rebuild a new install package, then apply the new package. Of course, someone built an application (called "YAY") which attempts to handle AUR packages with the same ease as pacman does for the main packages. I decided to give it a go to simplify managing the half-dozen AUR-based applications I installed. 

But, it (YAY) has its own list of dependencies, and it installs a bunch of other stuff in the background.

One of these appears to be broken, preventing YAY from updating the system. It looks to be something similar to the prior issue - a library listed as a dependency, which is a different version than the one installed.

Now, I don't doubt I could spend some time in their forums and sort it out. However, as I noted in my first post. I don't want to have to spend a bunch of time under the hood of the operating system. And this is twice in as many months.

The best way to clean it up will be to do a fresh install and stay away from YAY. I might still be able to simplify management of the AUR packages using either a script, or better still, something like ansible.

That is going to take time to sort out, however, and I don't want to drag out my migration of my main system.

So, I believe I will press forward using Debian on my main system for now. I will continue to experiment with Arch on the test laptop. But for the present, Debian's build philosophy focusing on stability and security will be the safe route forward.

I may take the plunge before this weekend, we'll see.

I did prepare for that possibility this evening. I copied all of the data from my main computer to external hard drives, in preparing to erase windows.

 Most of my data, I keep on a separate drive (D:), which I copied that whole drive.

The C: drive is the operating system, most of which is pointless to copy. I did copy the following folders from my user folder (C:\users\<whatever your login name is usually, or some derivative thereof>):

Documents - Any files I don't have in one drive.

Desktop - I usually keep this pretty bare, just a couple files on here.

Downloads - Probably not much I really need to keep in here, but... just to be safe.

Favorites - A few useful bookmarks.

Music - I didn't actually grab this one as it is empty. I keep my music files on a network share. I am mentioning it, in case others use this as a reference.

Pictures - Not much in here either as most are in One drive.

Videos - Same story as Music.

Oh, and one more (which is hidden):

AppData - Mostly this is garbage, but there are a few applications which store data in here, which I will want to recover. The one I can think of right off is Thunderbird. My Archived email, and contacts are in AppData. There may be others, so I grabbed the whole thing (some files failed to copy, as Windows has them locked, but they were all executables or libraries, nothing I need bad enough to go to the trouble to circumvent windows and copy.)

I believe that is everything of importance.

I will need to take care to copy anything I change between now and when I pull the trigger on the Debian install, so the sooner I get to it now, the better.

A story about fear, power, privacy, and my life as a "terrorist"

 Many years ago, I subscribed to a magazine dedicated to the Linux operating system.  They ran a range of articles from beginner introductions to various applications, to in-depth reports on kernel development.

There was typically a social commentary or op-ed article in each issue, discussing some political or philosophical idea relating to open source.  Nothing subversive or nefarious, mind you. They were typically discussion of the potential positive impacts open-source philosophy had or can have on democracy, personal freedom etc..., and though there were certainly differing opinions from one writer to the next, I don't recall any being anti-establishment, nor was there a particularly noticeable overall political leaning. A variety of usually well-reasoned, thoughtful articles.

At some point a few years after the events of 9/11, and the resulting rise of the surveillance state, one or more fearful voices in positions of some degree of power sounded the alarm that Linux was a threat to security, that Linux users were extremists, a danger to democracy and order.  

And so, the powers that be implemented surveillance mechanisms targeting various parts of the Linux community, focusing on proponents of privacy.

It was around this time (unaware of the above events, personally), that I became aware of a curious trend. Whenever I traveled for work, I could count on being "randomly" selected for additional security searches or questions at the airport. It happened on every trip, both on outbound and return flights, with very few exceptions. At that time, I had a colleague who had dealt

A couple years later, I received an email from staff members of the Linux magazine I subscribed to informing me their office had been raided by officials from a government intelligence agency, and their subscribers list collected. They claimed to be sending the notice in violation of a gag order, to warn their subscribers that their names had most likely been added to a security watch list.

I really should have preserved that email. Unfortunately, I didn't copy it out of outlook and the outlook data became corrupted. I lost several years of emails (backups- you don't need them until you need them...).

I didn't really give it much thought at that time, in all fairness. The frequency of "random searches" suddenly made more sense, and while it is an inconvenience, as a law-abiding citizen, I have nothing to hide, so... not a big deal, right?

I went for about a decade with no travel for work, and had thus mostly forgotten about it, until a trip to Costa Rica last year with my son, for his Spanish class (we were both "randomly selected."). A few weeks ago, I had a business trip to the UK. I was pulled aside at security for an additional search of my luggage, then I was called to the desk at the gate for additional questioning. I was randomly selected for additional scrutiny a third time on my return flight.

Again, an annoyance, an inconvenience, but nothing world-ending.

However, I was recently asked about making a trip to one or more of our facilities in China. Given the unusual relationship between China and the US, I expressed concern about this, and suggested the company might want to use their resources to explore the potential implication for me.

I don't know if they have done anything yet, but my own research suggests I could be detained, and possibly imprisoned for up to 40 days, without formal charges, on suspicion of criminal activity.

So, while I may have nothing to hide, I do have something to fear.

A sweeping decision by some unknown, fearful person in a position of political power nearly two decades ago is carrying potential, lasting consequences for me - for my career.

Next time you hear some fringe lunatic ranting about the erosion of privacy and government overreach, and you are inclined to think "If you've nothing to hide, you've nothing to fear," remember this little anecdote of mine.

Leaving Microsoft: A minor setback

 I've encountered my first issue.

I was updating my Arch test system, and it failed with an error that one of my installed packages was incompatible with the new packages.

The offending package was electron25.

You will note electron is not in my list of applications. It isn't an application I use, specifically. Rather it is a framework for developing applications which will run on multiple operating systems. I was fortunate enough to have been vaguely aware that Obsidian (which is one of my applications) is built on electron. A web search might give you that answer (it did me, but search isn't entirely trustworthy nowadays - dark forest and all...).

I did do some searching in Arch for an answer. I found a few similar issues, but not the same, and no applicable solutions.

Since this is a test system, I decided to try uninstalling electron. I would then run the updates, and then see if I could figure out how to get electron back on.

The uninstall and update went smoothly, no issues. Then for giggles, I decided to try launching Obsidian. It worked.

Puzzling.

I used a command to query my system for electron and discovered that, unbeknownst to me, there was a new version of electron which was installed.

My initial thought was why didn't the older version of electron uninstall when the newer version was installed. Of course the answer is, there are some frameworks which you can have multiple versions installed, to satisfy compatibility issues with different applications. You see this same behavior on windows, with .Net, and a variety of Visual C++ libraries (And I have had to deal with issues on the Microsoft side, though usually not with typical consumer applications).

This did give me pause to consider my decision to go with Arch, One of my criteria is that I don't want to have to spend time fiddling with the guts of the Operating system. I expect it to largely "Just work". 

Interestingly, as I was pondering going back to Debian, there was news of excitement there, involving KeepassXC - one of the applications I depend on.

One of the quirks of the Linux ecosystem is, you don't typically get your applications directly from the original developers.

You can get the source code. And then build it yourself. But that can be a major headache. You have to work out what dependencies are required, tweak compiler options and settings, then compile the source code into the application. It can be a time-consuming and fiddly process.

And then you have to watch for new releases of the source code and repeat the process to keep your applications up-to-date. Not a user-friendly process.

Fortunately, most Linux distributions have a package management system. This system works similar to an app store. You select the application you want to install, and the package management system handles deploying the the program and any dependencies for you. It typically has a mechanism to check for an apply updates as well.

But where does this compiled program for your distribution come from? And how does it know about the dependencies?

Somebody else does all of that for you. These individuals, called package maintainers do the heavy lifting, so you don't have to.

There are a few catches.

1. They are usually volunteers, which means your important package may not be their number one priority.

2. They make decisions about how the application gets packaged, which you may not agree with. And you might not get much of a say in the matter.

That is essentially what happened to KeepassXC for Debian. The person maintaining the package for Debian decided several features were a security issue, and arbitrarily removed them. The ramification was many people suddenly lost access to features they relied on after updating to the latest version.

Now, this wasn't really as dreadful as the news articles made it out to be. The maintainer released a separate version under the name "KeePassXC-full" with all the features available. So, all you really had to do was select a different package and all is well.

But it does point out one challenge when working with Linux.

You are often entirely dependent on individuals, over whom you hold zero influence. What if they decide to configure the program in a way that doesn't meet your needs? What if they do't feel like building necessary documentation, leaving you to "figure it out"? What if they decide to slip malware in? (yes, the benefit of open source is anyone can look at the code, and report if this happens, but can you really be certain that capable people are looking at the code for the programs you use?). What they have a falling out with the developers of the program, or the Linux Distribution you use, and decide to abandon it?

The reality is many of those same issues exist in the Windows/Apple worlds as well. Companies abandon applications, or make poor financial decisions, or poor technical decisions, which can impact your experience as a user. That is in fact one of the primary reasons I started this endeavor - Microsoft was caught reading customers' email - not just reading, but also breaking into password protected zip files, ostensibly "for your safety". Apple of course claims they "would never". But then, they just implemented a backdoor into their iPhone OS giving them the ability to do so. If they "would never", why then did they do that?

And that is, I suppose the bright side of the Linux "mess".

Yes, you have to deal with this mass of independent, often arrogant, free thinkers, often driven by their own whims, which leads to a cacophonous array of distributions, disjointed systems, inconvenience and general chaos. 

But, that inconvenience and chaos can disrupt conspiracies of wealth and power, and it does produce some brilliant innovations as well.

Not the ideal, perhaps, but, until we humans can ascend to our better natures, it is better than the alternative.

Pragmatically pressing on....

Leaving Microsoft: Applications

 

This is the continuation of my posts journaling my effort to disconnect from Microsoft. The initial posts focused on the operating system itself, but the operating system is really just the skeleton. It is the framing in the house, so to speak. If it is doing its job properly, you should largely forget it is there. It is the applications that actually matter.

I have been taking inventory of the applications I currently rely on or am tinkering with. I have created a quick list below (Alphabetical). Below that, list each application is presented with some additional detail, including:

• What the application is used for
• Is there a version which runs on Linux
• What reasonable alternative applications have I found
• Any notes regarding the status of testing, findings, etc...

This would probably be better residing in a wiki or something similar, as it will go through a few changes as I progress, but... here it is for what it is worth. Let me know  if you think I am missing something.

7-Zip

Audacity

Calibre

Draw.IO

Edge

GIMP

Git

Gnu Cash

GnuPG

Handbrake

KDEnlive

KeePassXC

Kleopatra

Minecraft

MP3Diags

MP3Tag

MS Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint)

MS OneDrive

MS OneNote

MS Outlook

Notepad++

OBS Studio

Outlook.com

Phone Link

Putty

Steam

Visual Studio

Vmware Workstation

WinSCP

Yubico - Yubikey Key Manager

Zoom

7-Zip

What? File/Folder compression/decompression

Linux Version? Yes

Alternative? NA

Notes:

Audacity

What? Audio Editing 

Linux Version? Yes

Alternative? NA

Notes:

Calibre

What?  eBook Management

Linux Version? Yes

Alternative? NA

Notes: I have just started playing with this, to see if It can be useful in my authoring endeavors.

Edge

What?  Web Browser

Linux Version? NA (Microsoft)

Alternative? Chrome (Google), Firefox, Falkon, Brave

Notes: Google is on my list of companies to detangle from in the future. I stopped using Firefox after they forced out one of the directors for his personal donation to a political cause (which, shouldn't have even been public knowledge). I am reluctant to go back, as I have no indication their culture has changed. Playing  with Falkon at present, as it was bundled with Arch/KDE. It is built on Chrome source, but with Google stripped out. So far so good. Brave is popular with priacy experts, but I haven't tried it out yet.

GIMP

What?  Graphics editing

Linux Version? Yes

Alternative? NA

Notes:

Git

What?  Version Control (software, documents, etc...)

Linux Version? Yes

Alternative? NA

Notes:

Gnu Cash

What?  Person(/Business) Finance (Like Quicken or Quickbooks)

Linux Version? Yes

Alternative?  NA

Notes:

GnuPG

What?  Cryptography Platform (encryption and digital signatures)

Linux Version? Yes

Alternative? NA

Notes: I've only just started playing with this., for privacy and authenticity puproses.

Handbrake

What?  Video Conversion tool

Linux Version? Yes

Alternative? NA

Notes: I used this to make backups of my DVD's (No, I don't pirate them. I am strictly in compliance with copyright fair-use). I have also used it a few times to convert old video files to more modern (supported) formats.

KDEnlive

What?  Video Editing

Linux Version? Yes

Alternative? NA

Notes: Another one I have just recentlty started tinkering with, so I don't know much about it yet.

KeePassXC

What?  Password Management

Linux Version? Yes

Alternative? BitWarden

Notes: I am happy with KeePassCX, but have been keeping an eye on BitWarden as an alternative option.

Kleopatra

What?  Digital Certificate Management (Front end for GnuPG)

Linux Version? Yes

Alternative? NA

Notes:

Minecraft

What?  Entertainment

Linux Version? Yes (But Microsoft Owned)

Alternative? 

Notes: I like this game as a diversion, and have even been recording my game sessions, which I have just started posting to YouTube as an educational experience. I am aware of a few alternatives people are building, but nothing which looks like a viable alternative for me at present. I am willing to give it up. 

MP3Diags

What?  MP3 Repair tool (Fixes audio and metadata issues in  mp3 audio files.)

Linux Version? ???

Alternative? 

Notes: There used to be a Linux version, but it appears it is no longer supported except on windows. I still need to find an alternative. I can move forward without it, however, as need is very low, and I could probably accomplish the same things in Audacity, albeit with a learning curve.

MP3Tag

What?  MP3 metadata editor 

Linux Version? No

Alternative? Tagger, EasyTag, Kid3, Amarok

Notes: Haven't evaluated these yet. I use this to fix MP3 metadata (i.e. add Genre, which is often missing from purchased MP3 files.) Need is low.

MS Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint)

What?  Staple Office applications

Linux Version? NA (Microsoft)

Alternative? Libre Office

Notes: I have already converted to Libre office. Interestingly, It did a better job of converting my old office files than MS Office could.

MS OneDrive

What?  Cloud Storage, file syncing, DR

Linux Version? NA (Microsoft)

Alternative? DropBox, Sync, ProtonDrive, SynchThing, NextCloud

Notes: There are tons of options for this out there. Trick is finding the right mix of convenience and privacy. Currently playing with syncthing, which is self-hosted. Probably more work than most want to do. ProtonDrive seems to be very strong on privacy, with end-to-end encryption. I still need to work on this one.

MS OneNote

What?  "Second Brain" Note-taking and management platform

Linux Version? NA (Microsoft)

Alternative? Obsidian, Notion, Logseq

Notes: I have been using Obsidian for the past year and a half, after OneNote corrupted a bunch of my data. OneNote appears to store files in a proprietary, binary format, which puts the data at risk. Obsidian, on the other hand, uses plain text files with Markdown. It is incredibly powerful - much more so then OneNote as a personal knowledge management tool. You can build in capabilities to allow project and task management, calendaring, habit tracking, data library management, and so much more. They also provide built-in syncing of data, for a subscription. They are closed source, so it is difficult to gauge how they are with respect to privacy. They seem to be good. Logseq looks interesting as well, so I may explore it, but at present, Obsidian is the clear winner for me.

MS Outlook

What?  Email client

Linux Version? NA (Microsoft)

Alternative? Thunderbird

Notes: I don't entirely love Thunderbird. It is a bit slow and clunky, and it is owned by Mozilla (Firefox). I've not yet found any other viable alternative, however.

MS Visio

What?  Diagraming software (flowcharts, network diagrams, etc...)

Linux Version? NA (Micorosoft product)

Alternative? Draw.io

Notes: Still new to this one. Need to play with it more to come to a conclusion, but thus far it seems okay.

Notepad++

What?  Text file editor.

Linux Version? Yes

Alternative? NA

Notes:

OBS Studio

What?  Video recording.

Linux Version? Yes

Alternative? NA

Notes:

Outlook.com

What?  email hosting.

Linux Version? NA (Microsoft)

Alternative? Protonmail

Notes: My primary email address is an outlook.com email. This will be a pain in the backside to detangle. I may opt to break it out: one for family/friends, hosted at proton (better privacy, though less convenient), and one for bills, etc. hosted... somewhere else. Still not sure about this one.

Phone Link

What?  Enables interaction between my phone and my computer, such as being able to see and respond to text messages from my computer. My primary use is to copy one time passcodes sent by SMS, to the requesting website on my PC.

Linux Version? NA (Microsoft)

Alternative? KDE Connect, GSConnect

Notes: I have just started playing with KDE Connect on my test system (Broke my connection to my computer in the process. Presumably I can connect to only one system at a time.). So far so good. Not quite a polished or convenient, but sufficient for my needs.

Putty

What?  Terminal software. Used for connecting to (via SSH, or Telnet) the management interface of devices (network switches, wireless access points, Linux servers, etc...)

Linux Version? Yes

Alternative? NA

Notes:

Steam

What?  Entertainment (Video Games)

Linux Version? Yes

Alternative? 

Notes: I only have a couple of games on Steam (Half Life 2, Skyrim). I haven't played them in ages. There is a Steam client for Linux, though I don't know if that means my games will "just run" (i.e. are they emulating windows, so you can play windows games?), Or if I would be given access to Linux versions of the games, assuming they exist. I may or may not take the time to investigate this. I can live without it, at any rate.

Visual Studio

What?  Software development environment.

Linux Version? NA (Microsoft)

Alternative? Eclipse, VSCodium (Visual Studio Source code, but with Microsoft removed)

Notes: I don't do much coding, so this hasn't been a priority. I have used eclipse before, and it works well enough. VSCodium should work fine too.

VMware Workstation

What?  Virtualization Platform

Linux Version? Yes (But Broadcom?)

Alternative? VirtualBox (Oracle? Not any better), (QEmu)

Notes: I have mostly used VMWare workstation to demo Linux systems. I may be able to get by using Docker once I am moved to Linux as the underlying OS. For now, I will probably continue to use VMWare, but Broadcom is making me nervous.

WinSCP

What?  File transfer utility

Linux Version? Yes 

Alternative? NA

Notes:

Yubico - Yubikey Key Manager

What?  Hardware Security (Physical key with digital certificates, to enhance secure access)

Linux Version? Yes

Alternative? 

Notes: I've just started using this for privacy/security (might do a post about it- how i use it, best practices, what safeguards I use, etc...). Basically, it is a physical key, which you can bind to password managers, such as KeePassXC, and to Financial and other critical websites. In addition to entering your username and password. the site will require the key to be present (connected to your pc via a USB port, or you can 'tap it' to your phone, just like you do with newer credit cards) in order to allow you to log on.

Zoom

What?  Video conferencing.

Linux Version? Yes

Alternative? 

Notes: I still need to test this. I really only use it to chat with family at present, so usage it fairly rare, (more so than it should be).

Leaving Microsoft Part 2- Migration Strategy

My previous post, I announced my intention to cut all dependency on Microsoft. (Previous post is here).

There are a few strategies to proceed with such a drastic change, and I will use this post to enumerate them.

1. Obtain a new computer, deploy it with the new operating system from the start, and run your old and new system in parallel, until you are comfortable with the new system, and have successfully migrated all applications and data. 

This is arguably the safest strategy, as your old system is available, untouched, until you choose to shut it down. There is some complexity in managing to disparate systems for a period of time, which might cause issue with managing data between the two. 

This option requires funds to acquire a new system (which if you are due for, and planning an upgrade, is not an issue), and space to have both systems set up and running simultaneously.

2. Dual Boot your existing system - It is possible to install both Windows and Linux on the same computer. Each time you start the computer, you will be presented with a menu from which you can select which operating system to boot.

This saves bot money and real estate over the first option. It does require free space on a hard drive in order to install the second operating system. There is also a risk of something going wrong, and your old system getting erased (take a backup first). 

It can also be a fiddly process to get working, especially with newer systems with secure boot technologies. You may have to do some fiddling around in BIOS, which in turn may cause your existing operating system to become unavailable. As such, this wouldn't be my first recommendation.

3. Test the new system on your existing computer using a "Live" distribution 

There are versions of Linux which can be run from a CD or USB drive, on your existing hardware, without tampering with your existing operating system. This is a good way to sample the new operating system and see how it works generally.

This won't be a thorough test, as you may be limited to the applications and drivers included on the live-boot system, meaning you may not be able to test all of your applications, and if your computer requires drivers not included, you may experience issues with video etc... which are correctible, with a full installation.

You should also keep in mind, the Live-boot system is booting from slower media (CD or USB), thus may appear to have comparatively poor performance. Just keep that in mind when evaluating.

The biggest drawback to this approach - you have nothing apart from your own personal motivation to move you forward. You could spend forever dipping your toe in the water, and never make it into the pool.

4. "Burn the boats"

You could just - on a wild impulse remove the old operating system, install the new, and then work through whatever issues you encounter.

This has the advantage of forcing you to move forward and find solutions. This could lead to interruptions in your ability to do your daily work while you find solutions, however. I would therefore not generally recommend this approach.

5. Obtain a cheap (or free, if you have access to one) laptop to deploy the new system on for testing.

This is similar to the first option, but with a lower cost. It requires minimal space (and can be tucked away when not in use). It allows you to safely test your applications, and general functionality, without risking your primary computer.

When you are satisfied, you can then "Burn the boats" (option 4) with greater confidence.

The test won't be truly representative of your final system. Cheap or free most likely means older hardware, so performance may not be as good. Also, since it is different hardware, this approach won't necessarily resolve potential hardware issues when deploying to the final system.

Similar too option three, There is really nothing apart from your own motivation to drive you to actually making the final jump and moving your actual system to the new operating system.

Personally, I am using option 5 presently. I was able to obtain an old, refurbished laptop for under $150, and install Arch Linux on it. I have been able to test most of my applications. Thus far (Though I ran into one issue, which has me reconsidering Debian vs Arch as my Operating System of choice. I will likely address that in the next post.)

*Note - I am trying very hard to approach this from a non-technical perspective. My hope is that this will be readable by anyone who has a desire to break ties with large organizations who are increasingly intrusive and authoritarian in their behavior. If you are taking time to read this. I would appreciate your feedback as to how well I am (or am not) accomplishing this objective *

Leaving Microsoft

 This is arguably out of order. I have one or two posts which should probably go before this (namely, why I am starting with Microsoft, why it isn't JUST Microsoft, and what brought me to this point), but I am feeling a bit cowardly about posting them. Perhaps later. We'll see.

But I have reached a threshold of tolerance for poor social, political, and economic behavior, from certain organizations, and the social and political structures they are building, and I have decided to do something, even if it is only removing myself, my labor, and my personal information from the equation (a drop in the ocean, admittedly).

I recognize a certain amount of inconvenience will come from this effort. But as a wise farm-boy-turned-pirate once said, "Life is pain...".

Weak humor aside, life is often difficult, and sometimes you have to "Choose your hard." Switching away from all Microsoft products will be hard, but I feel it a better choice than remaining under their thumb.

But as I noted at the start, this post isn't intended to enumerate my grievances, rather it is to work through the technicals.

There are three (four, technically) facets to this endeavor, which must each be considered.

1. Operating System - Currently running a mix of Windows 10 and Windows 11 in my home. Microsoft allegedly plans to bully people into moving off 10 (not practical for a couple of my systems which are too old to run 11). And I have mostly regretted upgrading to 11 on the systems where I did. More clicks to get the same work done, and I am no longer able to organize resources in a way which is practical for me.

This will be the focus of this post.

2. Applications - This is a big topic and may be a couple of posts. From a Microsoft perspective. I have already moved off MS Office (to LibreOffice) and OneNote (to Obsidian - I did this after OneNote unrecoverably corrupted a large number of documents roughly a year ago. Obsidian works in plain text files, with Markdown, so eliminates that likelihood as well as dependence on a single, proprietary application).

3. Data - This is heavily tied to applications - for my purposes, it is a factor to consider from the perspective of file formats (mostly Office files - Word, Excel, etc... Which Ironically, LibreOffice was able to recover legacy versions of MSOffice files, that Office could not), to make sure my data is accessible and protected.

4. Configurations - This is very heavily tied to applications. Often Configurations are splattered across various files and/or scattered throughout the Microsoft Registry. This is a significant frustration for me. Application configurations should be kept in a file, or a specific folder structure of files, and preferably in a plain text format (YAML, or similar). This way you can move to a new computer, reinstall the application, copy the configs, and voila! All are personal tweaks and preferences are 'magically' there. It is absurd to me that this isn't the default way of doing things.

I will only be focusing on the first item in this post. I may address the others in later posts, depending on interest, personal momentum etc...

So, Operating System.

There are a few key requirements for this:

Price - It needs to be affordable. As I have limited budget. but I also don't want "free". "Free" tends to come with strings. Price also includes cost of hardware, I want something that runs on my existing hardware, so I don't have to spend a fortune on new gear.

Stability and Ease-of-use - I own a car to get me from point A to point B, not to work on the engine. I respect people who do that, and am not disparaging them, but for me, the operating system is just the platform for running applications, which are used to get stuff done. I am reasonably competent, technically, and can dig into the code a bit if needed, but I don't want to spend all my time fiddling with the operating system.

Applications - I need to be able to run my applications, or an alternative application which meets my needs. For the most part, I have been preparing for this for the past couple years. Most of the applications I use are cross-platform (i.e. have versions for other operations systems), the rest, I believe I can live without.

There are really only a handful of options for operating system.

Windows - Which is what I am seeking to leave. So, obviously it's out.

Apple (MacOS) - I have ruled it out based on cost, proprietary hardware requirements, and the closed ecosystem - which I do recognize is a plus for the fiddling, however they have taken it a step too far - I don't want to spend all my time tinkering with the engine, but I also don't want a car with the hood welded shut, so to speak. Also, I have a long-standing beef with Apple, due to their founder's poor behavior, and concerns they are still supporting slavery (specifically Uighurs, and political dissidents in China).

Linux - This seems to be the winner. There are of course, thousands of Linux distributions, and this is really the meat of this post, evaluating the myriad options. Though most can be discarded as too niche.

Linux is not without flaws of course. The thousands of different distributions for example. Linux tends to be very fragmented. It is open source, which means anyone can look at - and work on - the code. This has some benefits.

1. It likely won't disappear onto a shelf somewhere. Since anyone can pick it up and start working on it.

2. There is the potential for better security, based on the principle of "many eyes". With more people looking at the code, it is less likely a security flaw (intentional or unintentional) will stay in the code for long. I emphasize potentially however, as this only is the case if skilled people are actually looking at the code. This may or may not actually be happening, which can lead to a false sense of security.

But there are flaws as well - 

1. The people working on it are often... strong personalities. This leads to fragmentation as individuals split over differences of opinion on design and structure.

2. It is difficult to effectively monetize, when anyone can pick up your work and use it for their own distribution. So projects are often the result of someone following a passion. Passion doesn't put food on the table. This means some projects just... die. Projects often lack good documentation as well, as the people working on them are interested in solving a specific problem for themselves. (In an ideal world, people would acknowledge the work of individuals and make micropayments to them, which would add up to a reasonable living. I use the example of music artists. If there was an easy way for everyone to identify the artist who produced a specific song, and then pay the artist... say... 25 cents for the song - A million people doing that, and the artist just made a quarter of a million dollars!)

Still, given the tradeoffs I believe Linux is the best option. Now, which one... 

Redhat (/Fedora) - One of the oldest and most established distributions, with a solid company behind it. However, their pricing tends to be business-centric (i.e. too expensive for home users). They have free offerings, but they have been doing some weird stuff with those of late. Redhat is now a subsidiary of IBM, and while far from the worst, they are on my list of organizations to avoid, due to bad behavior.

Debian (/Ubuntu/Mint/)... - Debian is another old-guard. They are unique in that they are a non-profit, all-volunteer organization. Debian itself is very stable, albeit lags behind other distributions. It has become the foundation for numerous other distributions, Ubuntu being perhaps the most well-known.

Ubuntu has a for-profit model, though a home user can obtain it for free. They essentially take Debian's work and put their own polish on it (which in theory makes it more user friendly. This was most notable with respect to hardware support, as Debian had a strict policy of not allowing proprietary code, which meant some fiddly technical work during installation. As of version 12, they have relaxed this somewhat, allowing proprietary firmware.). 

Ubuntu and Mint (and other derivatives) will often fast-track key applications, making their distribution slightly more 'up-to-date' as well.

My general leaning is to go to the source, rather than a derivative work. So, Debian is my preference here, even if it lags behind a bit. They are well established, they have a solid governance model, and they are committed to openness and accountability.

It is not a purchased product, but as a non-profit, they aren't using me as a product, and perhaps there will be an opportunity for me to contribute to the community in time.

Arch - A (relatively) new distribution, Arch has one unique feature in that they don't release 'versions' of the operating system. It is always "Arch".

The benefit of this is you don't have that occasional, massive and painful upgrade. (Like going from Windows XP to Windows 8, or Windows 10 to 11, etc...).

The downside- it is constantly being updated. there is a greater risk of instability, and more fiddling is likely necessary to keep things working as you like. I have been testing it for a few months now, and thus far I have had no difficulties.

Arch has a reputation for being snobbish and "elitist". I can't say if this is true, as I have had almost no interaction with other arch users (again, no problems so far). They do seem to have very good documentation, should it be necessary.

NixOS - an even newer distribution. I know very little about this one, and what i have read suggest it is (at present at least) too fiddly to meet my ease-of-use requirement. I mention it because it is definitely on my "to keep an eye on" list - possibly for future consideration. The reason being their immutability design principle.

As I understand it, NixOS has a single YAML config file (though I believe it can be broken out into sub-files - a single file would be cumbersome), which has all of the system configuration information.  This means you can grab the installer, feed it this file, and rebuild your system from scratch at will, with all your tweaks and preferences intact. I would consider that ideal.

But, it sounds like, at the moment, it takes quite a bit of fiddling to get this working how you want. So, I will keep it in mind, but wait for now.

It is possible I can achieve the same result with Debian or Arch, using a tool such as Ansible, which allows you to build YAML documents to define your system, and then it idempotently applies the necessary changes to the system to achieve that state.

Again, this is fiddly, and Ansible is a RedHat product, so... We'll see.

Based on this analysis, my inclination is to Use Debian for my home server needs - and probably the family computers as well, and use Arch for my main workstation, where I will need to be a bit more cutting edge.

I also have a Microsoft Surface pro, which is my portable computer, and that one may be a particular challenge. Looking at online resources, it doesn't appear there is presently a "plug-and-play" solution to move off of Windows there. (Microsoft hardware, so I suppose that is to be expected). Still not sure how I will tackle that.

That is where I am at this point. The idea is not fully baked, but I intend to make significant progress in May and June to eliminate Microsoft products and services from my life.

Why am I even posting this? Partly for accountability. Now that I have said it out loud, I am less likely to chicken out. Also partly, in case others have gone down this path, or are considering it, this provides a chance to connect and share knowledge.

Wish me luck...