Journal BarbaraHudson's Journal: Interesting ... openSUSE in a VM to the rescue! 6
The last few years, I've been able to read again, but NOT program. Sitting in front of the computer trying to write code, I would just draw a blank. This was the second time - the first being after the whole flesh-eating disease thing a couple of decades ago.
Finally got off the antidepressants a couple of months ago (psychiatrist still wants me on them because I still show signs of anxiety and depression, but
Things I discovered over the last few years:
1. IDEs have gotten WAY TOO COUNTERPRODUCTIVE. The worst example is android studio. What a piece of shit. 1.6 gigs, downloaded an example program, wouldn't compile, clicked on "install missing libraries", over and over and over, rebooted, no diff. Reinstalled, no diff.
Eclipse isn't any better.
2. The old, simple ways worked, and if it ain't broke, why fix it? gedit/vim, make, and a few perl and bash scripts for versioning, etc. are all I need for c/c++ and java. At least when something doesn't work, I can find why quickly.
3. Which brings up a beef (well, another one) about Android. Material design is counter-intuitive. Horizontal on-off switches??? At least a checkbox, you can tell at a glance whether it's on or off. With a horizontal toggle, is left on or is right on? Takes up more space and is less intuitive. Yet another example of change for change's sake that ends up screwing up simple, already solved problems. We keep "solving" already-solved problems, and I suspect it's pushed by people trying to justify their jobs. Like usual.
4. Ageism. It's been real the last few jobs, and there's no way it's gotten better since I stopped working. Of course, the demand for c/c++/java programmers isn't that great here any more, and the demand for 60-year-old coders is probably zero. I could get away with chopping 10-15 years off my age (most people I've met are kind of shocked I'm that old - "you certainly don't look it!") - and there is NOTHING a potential employer can do if you lie about your age. Age is not pertinent to doing a job, and using that as a reason if/when they find out pretty much proves age discrimination, but what the hell - I'm not going to be looking for a regular job anyway, right? I remember the crappy working conditions - I'd rather work part time for minimum wage elsewhere than go back to working for schmucks. Or as one softie put it - "went lettuce picking."
5. That last point bears repeating on its own : I remember the crappy working conditions. It's just not worth it. Why waste your life explaining why $IDEA is neither great, new, earth-shaking, innovative, or worth pursuing. Or telling them to f*ck off about using Rails, Groovy, $LATEST_FAD_LIBRARY_FRAMEWORK.
6. LINUX TO THE RESCUE (again).
The importance of being able to program again is mostly to restore my self-assurance that the last few years haven't caused any real damage, not to go back into coding.
Should be interesting
* You probably can't blast lasers through the lens onto the retina 4-5000 times per eye without doing some damage to the lens as well. Oh well, (imitate voice-over from "$6 million man" - we have the technology) it sure isn't going to be anywhere near as bad as the vitrectromy.
Something I'm Quite Familiar With (Score:2)
Been running openSUSE as my primary OS for about 12 years.
Also been running it in a VM for 6 or 7 years. You are using VirtualBox? Shared folders/shared clipboard are pretty awesome.
(Why are you "stuck" with Win 8.1 on the host, BTW?)
In any case, let me know if you run into any issues. Glad to help if I can.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, Virtualbox. I don't bother with the clipboard, though I have the drive shared.
I'm "stuck" on Windows right now because if/when my eyes go again, I'm going to need a decent screen reader, and I tried NVDA [nvaccess.org] - it works (free, but Windows-only).
The ophthalmologist who's been doing the laser photocoagulation that's stopped the bleeders on my retina did the last possible spaces a week ago. The idea behind pan-retinal laser photocoagulation is to reduce the permeability of the retina to oxygen, resulting in
Good luck (Score:2)
You are completely on point.
Tech needs a lot more old-schoolers. I hope that your recovery goes well and they you are able to contribute more.
Please never give up your oft insightful and occasionally controversial commentary as it adds a lot to Slashdot and helps drown out the fanbois and zealots.
Re: (Score:2)
Thanks for the encouragement. One of my sisters is in the purchasing department for a neighboring government (population +13 million) and they're using two different Microsoft ERP products that handle rounding in different ways, so none of the reports balances. She's ordered them to fix it (yeah, she's that high up - good for her) but she's also pissed off that we keep re-inventing the wheel and breaking the same things over and over again (Microsoft has had rounding problems [blogspot.com] for decades, using several diff
Cataracts and Suse (Score:2)
IIRC you're Canadian (if in the US you'll need insurance) and should be able to get CrystaLens implants for an extra $2,000. They cure nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, and cataracts.
I ran Suse back in 2003 and liked it, but moved to Mandrake because my TV didn;t like it; I was using the TV as a monitor with an S-video cable. Still trying to find a distro that will run on an old Gateway laptop.
Re: (Score:2)
Here they start at $300. However, I don't know if I want them. They're still not completely there. One out of 200 have so many problems they have them removed. Leaves me wondering how many have problems but don't want to face another round of surgery ...
I've always been near-sighted, so it wouldn't be any big deal to get fixed-focus lenses that are optimal for near vision. Glasses would handle regular vision, same as they always have. Or I could get fixed-sight lenses for normal vision, and reading glasses