8
votes
Can we get a GNU section of ~tech?
I would like to share my rice and stuff like that, but I'm not sure if this is the right place to share. It would be nice to have a place here to chat about GNU news and such/
I would like to share my rice and stuff like that, but I'm not sure if this is the right place to share. It would be nice to have a place here to chat about GNU news and such/
Why not just post it to ~tech and tag it accordingly? Then, if there is enough activity, the tag could be promoted to a group.
I keep seeing this discussed, but I've never really seen it satisfactorily explained as to the time at which a tag would be promoted. Is there any kind of indication on this score that I've missed?
No scoring, just a public discussion, since Deimos is the only and ultimate instance we need to convince here.
That's a fair idea. Like I mentioned in a different comment, there are things like desktop threads that might attract attention from multiple groups. ~creative would be relevant for having created something, but ~comp might also fit because ricing a desktop can be a very technical process. There's also things like the demoscene where it's computer art that has the same problem of fitting into two places at once. It does make a lot of sense for groups to just be another flavor of tag, maybe with the difference from other tags being that at least one is required before posting?
If your post is in a more general group (~comp, for instance), you may attract people who never would have searched for that topic into your discussion, or who would have never visited that group, being it's very specific. I believe (and I haven't really been keeping up, but I was around quite a bit when the site was new-ish) that the intention is still to avoid creating new groups unless the demand is shown to be there for vibrant discussion that's limited to that topic, which always made sense to me (you don't want to fragment your people into groups as finely as reddit does, for instance). Having those topics now in a more general group may actually lead to demand for the more granular topic that would necessitate a new group.
Would it be a better fit for ~comp?
Is it about time for a holy war?
If we had such a group, I think ~comp.linux or (as other people have mentioned) ~comp.unix would be better names. Linux is the commonly known name (nobody posts GNU news outside of GNU themselves, using it here would break the principle of least astonishment), and UNIX would be the broader category likely encompassing everything related that people would also care about. GNU isn't automatically relevant, so it'd be unnecessarily exclusive.
As far as desktop pics themselves, I think it kind of falls in a weird area between ~creative and ~comp. I'd probably lean towards ~creative, maybe with a tag? Not anything Linux/UNIX/GNU-specific though. Plenty of people rice non-Linux/UNIX/GNU systems and there's no reason to section them off from an already small group.
I'd personally like a ~comp.unix group, but groups are added pretty sparingly and only when there's overwhelming demand. Like others have said, posting that in ~comp and tagging it accordingly would be the best thing to do.
Perhaps instead of sharing your setup in a one-off post, you could start a "show off your computer setup" thread? I'm sure others would be interested, and that way ~comp wouldn't get flooded with other posts from other people who want to share theirs as well.
What is "rice" in this context?
Like this.
Sorry, I'm not understanding. It's screenshots of unix desktops? Is it an acronym?
IIRC it’s originally a racial term for how Asian people would trick out cars.
This post gives a pretty succinct history as I remember it.
Was originally a slur from Harley bikers against asian sport/racing cycles. Which, as a sentiment, I get, because there's a massive cultural difference between a sport bike and a cruiser.
America has an especially sordid history with racism and import vehicles. Even moreso than regular American racism, import autos are/were often seen as an attack on American lifestyle, in no small part to it being one of the biggest industries that built the middle class.
Ah, gotcha. I'm familiar with the term for cars, having grown up in a town where they had separate lots for "foreign" cars. I just wasn't up on its current usage. Thank you for the explanation.
It's a synonym for customization.
Sorry I should have explained more.
Those unix desktops are "riced". Incase you don't already know they're custom desktops. Kind of.
I would also vote for a dedicated ~comp.linux or ~comp.unix (or, my preference and probably the broadest, ~comp.foss) subgroup. I'm a programmer, and 90% or more of my tech interests fall under one or all of those categories.