Ercanbrack @ercanbrack@mastodon.online

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Quality news media? Well, I start by knowing the way the news outlets lean, and then try to choose those of the highest journalistic quality. If I don’t have time to read from both sides of the political spectrum, then I try to focus on the most central of the high quality news outlets. Often, there is a downloadable app that I can install that makes it easy to read my news. Here is a nice chart that I like to refer to when determining media source quality and leaning:
https://www.adfontesmedia.com/

Interesting reading!

The Fantasy of Opting Out: Those who know about us have power over us. Obfuscation may be our best digital weapon.

http://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/the-fantasy-of-opting-out/

Alternatives to Google Products for 2021

https://restoreprivacy.com/google-alternatives/

#linuxtablet

Debian/Arch Comparison thoughts:

Debian with a minimal, console-only install, and set to use the Debian Sid Repos is roughly equivalent to Arch with its AUR in terms of amount of software and software newness.

Debian Testing is roughly equivalent to Manjaro + AUR in terms of software amount and software newness.

#linuxtablet Of all of the Linux OSes I've researched, it is the Debian and Arch based families that seem to offer the most. If I were not using Debian (or Ubuntu), I'd probably use Arch (or Manjaro).

These two Linux families seem to offer the most to a Linux user like me.

#linuxtablet Realtime kernels generally don't work with power-saving features that are essential to mobile devices. If I had decided to wait around and use Ubuntu, it would be very easy to install the low latency kernel that is included in their repository and be done with it. It's still an option. But I like Debian's philosophy and lack of corporate ties enough to do a little extra work to use Debian. It really is the Universal Linux OS.

#linuxtablet For this reason, I suspect that I'll need to plan to compile my own custom kernel. I'll experiment, of course, and if I can find a stable, low-latency kernel that works great and is available through a repository, I'll use that. But I suspect that this may not be optimal.

Ubuntu caught a lot of crap for switching from a RT kernel to a generic kernel with compile-time configurations for low latency, but I think the idea has merit as an argument for using a single kernel.

#linuxtablet Of all of the kernels I mentioned above, only the AVLINUX RT kernel and the generic kernel that is specifically compiled for low audio latency (like Ubuntu's low latency kernel used in Ubuntu Studio) will specifically serve my purpose.

Everything else is compiled for improved general desktop usage and will probably be an improvement over the generic kernel, but won't necessarily be as optimized as it could be for the specific low audio latency task that I am wanting it for.

#linuxtablet The thing to be aware of with many of these RT and custom kernels is that the current proprietary NVIDIA, Virtualbox, VMware Workstation / Player and some other dkms modules/builds (ie Wifi) are not supported and likely won't work when using them. I'll probably have to use GRUB and keep a generic as well as my custom kernels available, so that I can boot into my regular and low-latency kernels as needed. One specifically for low-latency work, and one for normal usage.

#linuxtablet Customized kernel variations that I am currently aware of: Liquorix, Xanmod, Xanmod Cacule, Libre-LTS, Libre-Current, Zen, AVLINUX RT, Generic, Generic compiled for low latency, and Real Time kernel.

Essentially, in order to get exactly what you want, you have to patch/configure/compile the kernel yourself. Otherwise, you can get "close" with these alternative kernels.

Also, since my ultimate goal is to make a Linux equivalent to the iPad, with pro audio abilities, I've been researching and learning about customizing the linux kernel for low latency. Essentially, kernel customization comes down to patching the kernel and customizing the pre-compilation configuration to compile a kernel that does what you want it to do. I've found that there are countless patch sources, and there are a lot of pre-compiled kernels already available.

#linuxtablet While waiting for Debian 11 to drop at the end of the month, I've been continuing my research and learning. For dual-booting, it looks like the best set up will be to use UEFI + GPT for the partitioning method rather than the older MBR. This more modern method protects the dual operating systems from having their boot records overwritten. It better separates the operating systems and allows for more than 4 partitions.

#linuxtablet I dried the system off and didn't dare to power it on until tonight. To my great relief, everything seems fine! Whew!! 😳

#linuxtablet Yesterday, my young daughter left her half-eaten mango popsicle on my nightstand where I have been keeping my new 2-in-1 laptop/tablet. I came home from work yesterday to find my system laying in a pool of condensate (water), from the popsicle.

#linuxtablet I’ve heard that Debian 11 is likely to be released at the end of this month (target date is July 29). Shortly after that, the bug fixes will be starting to move out of Experimental into Unstable. About 10 days after that, they’ll move into Testing. I figure by August I’ll have the fixed GTK3 in my distro. 🙂

Debian Unstable and Arch are both basically rolling releases, so there’s that to consider. I think I’ll still prefer Debian Testing, but it’s nice to have options! 🙂

#linuxtablet If I wanted to stay exactly on par with Arch, I could go with Debian Unstable (Sid), but I don’t mind being two weeks behind Debian Unstable. It’s still very, very up-to-date! 🙂

#linuxtablet It occurs to me, that aside from when there are 6Mo freezes during preparations for new Stable versions, Debian Testing is nearly as up-to-date as Arch, but more stable. With Debian Testing and Apt Pinning and the unstable and experimental repositories, I can have the absolute bloodiest of bleeding edge apps, while having a higher stability than Arch, while also having the broadest number of available apps. I think this is the way I want to go. I’ve always favored Debian anyway. 🙂

#linuxtablet My Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Yoga Gen5 arrived today, & I’ve been playing with it for hours. So far, I love it!! At this point with Linux, I highly recommend using a 2-in-1 touchscreen laptop over a convertible laptop. It is much less unwieldy, & you always have your keyboard with you when you need it! 🙂 I have not yet tried Linux on it, but have been playing with the touch interface in Windows. It is ahead of Linux in the realm of touch, but not by too much once existing bugs are fixed. 🙂

#linuxtablet My mother-in-law needed a new device anyway, & so this works out great!!

I’ll find a whole slew of NEW problems with a new device, but I’m going to do things differently. I’m going to run Windows as my main system (for now), & then Virtualbox Arch to continue learning & improving my knowledge & understanding. Once I feel comfortable with Arch (& once the showstopper bugs are out of the way), I’ll set it up as a dual boot option. If I can get Linux working well enough, I’ll switch.

#linuxtablet So, all of that is background information. Here’s the news:

I just ordered a Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Yoga Gen5!!

#linuxtablet She knows that my current tablet is in excellent condition, so she made a deal with me! 😂 My mother-in-law lives with us, and her current tablet is working great, but is an older generation. She will send her tablet to a family member in Peru that doesn’t have a tablet, and keep my tablet (running Windows, of course), and I will get to have a new computer that hopefully improves on things because of what I learned.

#linux is really close, but I don’t think it is quite ready to go completely keyboard less yet. Maybe it will be ready in a couple of years, it’s just not there yet. I mentioned that I wanted to sell my HP X2 Elite 1012 G2 and get a 2-in-1 laptop that has the keyboard always attached, but that can fold over to act like a tablet. I also said that I wanted to get a bigger screen, so that I can possibly run at native resolution without things being too small....