Seirdy's recent activity

  1. Comment on How web bloat impacts users with slow devices in ~comp

    Seirdy
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    This is part of the reason why I generally advise caution when it comes to lazy-loading. Low-end-device users generally expect their machines to run hot while a site loads, and have come up with...

    This is part of the reason why I generally advise caution when it comes to lazy-loading. Low-end-device users generally expect their machines to run hot while a site loads, and have come up with workflows for that (e.g. opening 15 links and making coffee while the pages load); sidestepping that by making the page continuously need extra bandwidth, CPU, and interaction just makes for a miserable experience.

    10 votes
  2. Comment on The limited utility of the phrase “GNU/Linux” in ~comp

    Seirdy
    Link Parent
    I've seen people unironically insist that it should be called "GNU/Linux" to distinguish it from the likes of Android multiple times in the past week. I was initially inspired to write this after...

    I've seen people unironically insist that it should be called "GNU/Linux" to distinguish it from the likes of Android multiple times in the past week.

    I was initially inspired to write this after reading this post: https://social.linux.pizza/@redstarfish/109467634692979081

    3 votes
  3. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~comp

    Seirdy
    Link Parent
    Yes, Sway is basically compatible with i3-gaps wherever possible. Been using it for years without issue.

    Yes, Sway is basically compatible with i3-gaps wherever possible. Been using it for years without issue.

    1 vote
  4. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~comp

    Seirdy
    Link Parent
    It's called "The Birth and Death of JavaScript" by Gary Bernhardt of Destroy All Software, at PyCon 2014. Here's a recording. WebAssembly did not exist at the time; the talk was about WASM's...

    It's called "The Birth and Death of JavaScript" by Gary Bernhardt of Destroy All Software, at PyCon 2014.

    Here's a recording.

    WebAssembly did not exist at the time; the talk was about WASM's precursor, Asm.js.

    7 votes
  5. Comment on An experiment to test GitHub Copilot's legality in ~comp

  6. Comment on An experiment to test GitHub Copilot's legality in ~comp

  7. Comment on Does anybody have any experience with switching to pipewire? in ~comp

    Seirdy
    Link
    Fedora switched to Pipewire and uses the pipewire-pulse compatibility layer. No issues on my end, only improvements.

    Fedora switched to Pipewire and uses the pipewire-pulse compatibility layer. No issues on my end, only improvements.

    1 vote
  8. Comment on Abortion Search Noise Generator in ~tech

    Seirdy
    Link Parent
    When you search for abortion-related info, you may feel worried about being tracked. This tool allows others to make these searches randomly, increasing the likelihood of a false positive to...

    When you search for abortion-related info, you may feel worried about being tracked. This tool allows others to make these searches randomly, increasing the likelihood of a false positive to engines tracking these queries.

    If one person wears a ski mask, they look suspicious and might get pulled aside. If 50 other people wear a ski mask...

    2 votes
  9. Comment on US abortion bans are going to hit us worse than we think in ~talk

    Seirdy
    Link Parent
    Thank you for sharing this. I always have a preference for elevating other voices, asking for opinions, offering domain-specific advice, or assistance when I can't speak personally about an issue.

    Thank you for sharing this. I always have a preference for elevating other voices, asking for opinions, offering domain-specific advice, or assistance when I can't speak personally about an issue.

    2 votes
  10. Comment on The right thing for the wrong reasons: FLOSS doesn't imply security in ~comp

    Seirdy
    Link Parent
    Binary patching is harder and also more error prone, especially when certain build flags are used (binary-patching a program built with -fPIE -flto=thin -ffunction-sections -fdata-sections...

    Binary patching is harder and also more error prone, especially when certain build flags are used (binary-patching a program built with -fPIE -flto=thin -ffunction-sections -fdata-sections -fno-semantic-interposition is...not fun) or when the software uses binary obfuscation.

    Freedom is more than just understanding the software in question, though. Some vendors are quite hostile to reverse-engineering efforts, for instance.

    I wrote two previous posts on how FLOSS is a necessary but insufficient requirement to achieve user freedom, linked near the top.

    4 votes
  11. Comment on The right thing for the wrong reasons: FLOSS doesn't imply security in ~comp

    Seirdy
    Link
    A detailed post on how security audits are pretty similar regardless of source model, and how vulnerabilities are typically found. I believe in supporting free software for the right reasons, not...

    A detailed post on how security audits are pretty similar regardless of source model, and how vulnerabilities are typically found.

    I believe in supporting free software for the right reasons, not the wrong ones. I wrote this to address the wrong reasons.

    3 votes
  12. Comment on What are your favorite Linux distributions to use for gaming and as a daily driver, and why? in ~comp

    Seirdy
    Link
    I'd suggest Fedora. Fedora is semi-rolling: most packages roll while many are frozen. It also has frequent releases (every 6mo) so frozen packages don't get too out-of-date. Fedora's also ahead of...

    I'd suggest Fedora. Fedora is semi-rolling: most packages roll while many are frozen. It also has frequent releases (every 6mo) so frozen packages don't get too out-of-date.

    Fedora's also ahead of most distros on the security front. Fedora Silverblue and Kinoite have immutable root filesystems whose changes can be tracked using ostree. Fedora's working on supplementing this with FS-Verity (coming around Fedora 37) and dm-verity (WIP). If you combine that with some form of user-controlled verified boot, you can achieve a reasonable level of confidence in your system's integrity. On top of that, Fedora has SELinux support by default (though the default policies are admittedly lax).

    I don't like GNOME though; I use Fedora with Sway.

    4 votes
  13. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tech

    Seirdy
    Link Parent
    (sorry i'm late) Thanks for the shout-out! I just updated Qwant's info.

    (sorry i'm late) Thanks for the shout-out! I just updated Qwant's info.

    1 vote
  14. Comment on Linux (In)security in ~comp

    Seirdy
    Link
    I love using Linux on the desktop for many reasons despite its insecure architecture. This article from a Whonix developer and GrapheneOS contributor explains how Linux is behind when it comes to...

    I love using Linux on the desktop for many reasons despite its insecure architecture. This article from a Whonix developer and GrapheneOS contributor explains how Linux is behind when it comes to (mostly desktop-oriented) exploit mitigations.

    Other articles worth checking out on madaidan's site take a critical look at Firefox and OpenBSD. He also has a good Linux hardening guide.

    4 votes