today's leftovers

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Jul 19, 2025

• Desktop/Laptop

  • XDA ☛ 6 niche operating systems you can use that aren't based on Linux

    When it comes to the operating systems you can actually use on your computer, there are really only three main ones that are ever brought up. You have Windows 11, macOS, and Linux (or, more accurately, Linux-based operating systems). Most people wouldn't ever think there's anything beyond that, especially because so many operating systems are based on Linux, whether it's Ubuntu, NixOS, or even Android.

    But that would be an incorrect assumption. In fact, there have been a few operating systems throughout the years that are built completely from scratch or based on different projects altogether that have nothing to do with Linux, and some of them are actually usable. For the most part, at least. So let's take a look at a few operating systems you can take for a spin if you want to try something really unique.

• Graphics Stack

  • Ruben Schade ☛ Finally deshrouding my 3070 graphics card

    Picture the scene. What was supposed to be Wawasan 2020 for our Malaysian friends turned into a bad year for everyone. Wow Ruben, way to start a post. With so many people stuck at home, and with blockchain pyrite shovelling at an all time high, supplies for graphics cards shrank as fast as their prices rose.

    Into this world of scalpers and opportunists came this weird guy called Ruben, and his desire to wittle away downtime hours stuck at home on something fun. When an Australian online retailer briefly restocked their supply of cards, he pounced on whatever he could get his hands on. The result was the Zotac Twin Edge 3070 OC, a name longer than the card itself:

    I have so many conflicting feelings about this card. For one, it was a spectacular upgrade over my GTX 960, and the Radeon Pro 5600M in my last defective chip maker Intel MacBook Pro. Shaders in Minecraft looked sublime, giving my favourite modern(ish) game a completely different dimension. Other simulation and open-world games also popped, and it could even max out the framerate on my 60Hz 4K display, despite it being targeted more at the 1440p segment.

    But it wasn’t all raytraced sunshine and roses. This Zotac card was designed to be small, and with that came steep thermal compromises. The heatsink was two-thirds the size of competing cards; it was wrapped in a thick plastic shroud which didn’t help airflow; and it only included two fans instead of the usual three. Worse, one of the fans was only 9 cm in diameter, and both fans sported meagre blades barely a centimetre tall.

    When you don’t have a large thermal mass or wide fans, you have to push more air faster to achieve the same level of heat dissipation. This resulted in the single loudest piece of consumer electronics I’ve ever owned since my late Power Mac G5 from 2003. From the start, it would fire up its tinny, shrill fans to full speed at the drop of a hat; so much so that I would intentionally set quality settings to 3060 territory to avoid hearing them. This worked, but only added to my frustration that I overpaid for this 3070.

• Distributions and Operating Systems

  • Debian Family

    • Bisco ☛ Birger Schacht: My first tag2upload upload

      Following the DebConf25 talk by Ian Jackson tag2upload - upload simply by pushing a signed git tag I decided to use the quiet time during the day of the DayTrip on DebConf 25 to try out uploading a package using tag2upload.

    • Salih Emin: uCareSystem v25.07.17: Stability and Integration in the best system maintenance tool for Debian & Ubuntu [Ed: Seems like it might be LLM slop with slop images]

      I am thrilled to announce a landmark new release of uCareSystem! Which you know it is THE best system maintenance tool Debian Ubuntu.

      This isn’t just an incremental update; it’s a significant evolution of the tool, focusing on deep infrastructure improvements, professional-grade Debian packaging, and a smoother, more reliable user experience.

• Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

  • Licensing / Legal

    • Seth Godin ☛ On reading the Terms of Service

      Every time you use any service online, you’re entering into some sort of contract. And setting expectations is essential, but too often, the MBAs adopt a nickel and dimes approach, figuring that the system gives them no choice. If everyone else is racing to the bottom, they should too.

      One printing service I’ve used asks how many pages your book is when giving a price. Inevitably, after they get the doc they raise the price, pointing out that the file is two pages longer than was quoted. I finally figured out that they were counting the inside front cover and inside back cover as ‘pages’. No one does that in the real world, but it helps them, the accountants figure, offer a lower price to get the order, then they can boost it later.

      This is deception as a business model.