I suggest having your students install IntelliJ IDEA and using Java. A full blown IDE might be much but I can’t think of an easier way to install a JDK and an editor suited for it.

I dropped that one and never picked it up again

It’s a ton of fun with people you’re familiar with over Discord or whatever. I miss those days.

My brother tried so hard to get me into it. I was all, “Where are the dungeons?”

Oh man

I’m pretty sure I’m sticking with it for the foreseeable future. But it was touch and go for a minute. I knew Debian, it was comfortable, and I had to fight the urge to run screaming back.

There are a lot of moving parts and I wish they were less abstract. Going in I had no idea I had to learn a foreign programming language. The other day I was surprised to realize that the bash NixOS module is different than the Home Manager one. In my inexperienced opinion I feel they should be one and the same. Some important packages are behind Debian. Debian. I’m on the unstable NixOS channel.

It’s not all doom and gloom. I feel I’m learning a lot more about the bits that comprise a Linux distro. It feels a lot more mine. I can keep the config in my head. I’m a software engineer so the build error messages don’t scare me. I’m on the latest kernel. I wrote a package for a little software tool that I wrote and I like how it fits right into NixOS. If I change the code one command will build it, run tests, and install it in my system. That’s rad.

Yeah, in retrospect it was unwise to try to figure out both NixOS and Home Manager at the same time. Oh well.

Edit: I love how easy it is to jump straight to the actual source from NixOS search. And I appreciate that the infrastructure is modern. Debian’s is absolutely ancient in comparison.

Thank you. What did you dislike in Cinnamon what you felt GNOME was doing way better?

The polish thing again. This was years ago when GNOME 3 was a thing. I adapted fine to it. Cinnamon was mandated as an attempt to continue with the traditional GNOME 2 paradigms. I tried and I was immediately repelled by the lack of polish. I’ve been doing UIs for ages by that point and I had gotten pretty sensitive to UI issues. I immediately put GNOME back even though I had to support it myself. I was happy to and it was easy.

The cohesiveness and polish of it (I’m a UI engineer). I understand some lament the lack of options and the heavy handedness of the GNOME folks but those issues don’t bother me personally.

Granted I don’t have much experience with KDE. I have used Cinnamon enough to make me go out of my way to get back to GNOME.

I don’t have the desire to explore because I’m pretty happy with GNOME

I think GNOME as a whole is ridiculously awesome. I can’t believe I get it for free.

I switched a couple of weeks ago (from Debian unstable)!

Linux and the ecosystem are freaking amazing

Sure, the pixelated look is “simplistic” but I don’t feel it detracts from the gameplay. It’s deep, your choices are interesting and significant, and it’s oh so addicting. And most importantly, it’s fun! I recommend it to friends and they think it’s fun.

Balatro has received universal acclaim from game critics,[2][3] selling more than 5 million copies by January 2025.[4] Along with several other awards and nominations, Balatro was named Game of the Year at the 25th Game Developers Choice Awards and nominated for the top prize at The Game Awards 2024, the 28th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, and the 21st British Academy Games Awards.

From Wikipedia

Balatro is well done

On the web client, if you go to Trending, you will see “hot” posts (I have no idea how they’re ranked) by folks you’re not following. The official Android client has this too. It’s where I spend most of my Mastodon time.

I would take a paycut to work remotely

A’ight

We are particles governed by physical laws, so no

A good, fresh salsa verde

TIL about Discuit

• Cars divide everything with highways, busy roads, and slow traffic.

I’m glad you pointed this out. I realized how isolating cars are after moving to a walkable neighborhood. I’m convinced walkable neighborhoods foster community.

Your pain is valid and I’m sorry you’re feeling it

Damn I wish my company offered remote work again. I’d take it in a heartbeat.