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1. Embed this notice
   Charlie Stross (cstross@wandering.shop)'s status on Tuesday, 12-Nov-2024 23:18:21 JST Charlie Stross

   This is your regular scheduled reminder to NEVER EVER EVER type a UNIX command line you don't understand! (And don't ask an LLM to explain it to you, they lie by design.)
   https://paquita.masto.host/@Rataunderground/113470389701524370

   • Embed this notice
     Charlie Stross (cstross@wandering.shop)'s status on Tuesday, 12-Nov-2024 23:57:59 JST Charlie Stross

     in reply to

     • Jernej Simončič �
     • marmarta

     @jernej__s @marmarta So you don't remember the fun of installing Slackware on a 386 off a humongous pile of floppies, only to discover a corrupt disk sector 14 floppies in?

   • Embed this notice
     Jernej Simončič � (jernej__s@infosec.exchange)'s status on Tuesday, 12-Nov-2024 23:58:00 JST Jernej Simončič �

     in reply to

     • marmarta

     @marmarta @cstross I did use Slackware before Gentoo – a friend set it up for me as a router when I got cable internet on an old Pentium 75 machine. I used that for a while, then read about this Gentoo thing and decided to try it when I bought a Via Eden mini-ITX motherboard.

   • Embed this notice
     Jernej Simončič � (jernej__s@infosec.exchange)'s status on Tuesday, 12-Nov-2024 23:58:01 JST Jernej Simončič �

     in reply to

     • marmarta

     @marmarta @cstross I learned Linux by doing a Gentoo Stage 1 install :)

   • Embed this notice
     marmarta (marmarta@chaos.social)'s status on Tuesday, 12-Nov-2024 23:58:01 JST marmarta

     in reply to

     • Jernej Simončič �

     @jernej__s @cstross that works! My first encounter was when I visited the school admin and said "give me a linux CD". He gave me Slackware. It was extremely educational :D

   • Embed this notice
     marmarta (marmarta@chaos.social)'s status on Tuesday, 12-Nov-2024 23:58:02 JST marmarta

     in reply to

     @cstross I agree.... mostly. I mean, this is how I learned linux: typing various stuff I saw over someone's hand / found online (not even googled, I think, it might have been before I found google) and seeing what breaks. I'd add "on a system you care about or connected to things you care about".

   • Embed this notice
     Charlie Stross (cstross@wandering.shop)'s status on Wednesday, 13-Nov-2024 00:36:08 JST Charlie Stross

     in reply to

     • Grumpy Grimnir :verified:

     @grumpygrimnir It's the modern equivalent of what used to be called schoolboy humour. (It has a place, I think, in user education—but NOT as a random meme on social media where somebody vulnerable might fall for it.)

   • Embed this notice
     Grumpy Grimnir :verified: (grumpygrimnir@mstdn.social)'s status on Wednesday, 13-Nov-2024 00:36:09 JST Grumpy Grimnir :verified:

     in reply to

     @cstross I hate those "joke" commands.

   • Embed this notice
     Charlie Stross (cstross@wandering.shop)'s status on Wednesday, 13-Nov-2024 03:04:22 JST Charlie Stross

     in reply to

     • WellsiteGeo
     • marmarta
     • nex

     @WellsiteGeo @nex @marmarta I spent years writing man pages for a living. MWAHAHAHAHA!

   • Embed this notice
     WellsiteGeo (wellsitegeo@masto.ai)'s status on Wednesday, 13-Nov-2024 03:04:23 JST WellsiteGeo

     in reply to

     • marmarta
     • nex

     @nex @marmarta @cstross

     Oh, that blissful youth. When "I've read the MAN files" could equate - inside your head - with "I understand the application".

     Should we disilusion it/them, or let rude experience do the job?

   • Embed this notice
     nex (nex@chaos.social)'s status on Wednesday, 13-Nov-2024 03:04:24 JST nex

     in reply to

     • marmarta

     @marmarta @cstross Sure; you can totally get suggestions for how to approach a task from the internet, including chat bots. But looking up what each command will do before actually running it is so easy, there's really no good reason not to do that. Et voilà, you're no longer running a command you don't understand.

     Similarly, reading an AI's explanation can be helpful, but it would be a good idea to cross-check with actual documentation instead of blindly taking the bot-BS as fact.