The Vent and Rant Thread

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

The hardware isn't the latest and fastest...

Don't... get... me... started.

Last year, I built this Skylake desktop box, with a GTX 1070. Then it fell out of use for a year because of circumstances and me working on my laptop 100% of the time. Now I resurrect it, and what do I see? After almost 10 years of creepingly slow upgrades (up to and including Kaby Lake, the 7700K CPU), the new series will have two extra cores (6 instead of 4), and a 4.7 GHz boost instead of 4.2. So yes, after having worked with a Core2Quad for 8 years and not feeling the need to upgrade until last year (when Kaby Lake wasn't even out), NOW they introduce a CPU that is more than 50% faster than the last generation. Blergh.

Do I *need* it? Nah. Not really. This Skylake box has 32GB of RAM, and the GTX 1070 is fast enough to run any game I have... for most games except The Witcher 2 and 3, it probably doesn't even need to wake up and turn its fan on.

On the other hand, CPU-Z says my mainboard has "Revision 37", and the board has had 15 (!) BIOS/UEFI updates since it was released in November 2015. I shudder to think of the problems I might have had when I had tried to build this system in 2015. Normally, I do wait about a year after the release of new boards and CPU's before I buy a new system. Maybe that's the reason why I mostly don't have weird hardware or driver problems.

[Katsunami]

I give up.

Because I've been playing BG1 for so long, I *KNOW* what needs to be done in the Firewine Ruins (kill the Ogre Mage), and I *KNOW* he can be reached from one of the village houses. I went in from the Firewine Bridge (there are four entries/exists), and I couldn't remember where the Ogre Mage was.

After having moved forward... like two corridors... in the last half an hour, I've lost my patience looking for the exists. I went online, printed out a map of the ruins, and I'll go to the Ogre Mage directly. If there's anything to do to topside on the Firewine Bridge, I'll go back there over land.

If I ever play this game again after I finish it, I'll go in to kill the Ogre Mage, using the village house, and leave the single, useless quest in that ruin to itself.

Damn, I hate this map.

===

edit: Even knowing where I needed to go, moving through that map was epic torture at a few inches at a time. I went and did the unthinkable: I enabled the cheat console, and used the MoveToArea() function to directly jump onto the map of the village where I was trying to go. Then entered the ruins from one of the houses, at the entrance/exit where the Ogre Mage is, killed him and his companion, and got out again. The loot was OK, but only one spell would be worth it to inch your way through that map.

The one who designed the Firewine ruins should be shot.

Firewine: done. Now to Cloackwood and on with the story.

(Oh, and it seems I have to start the game as Administrator as well. Even though everything _seems_ to work correctly, there are some weird things going on, such as characters getting stuck/unable to move, and unable to type savegame names...)

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

With regard to stupidity: I think the internet just exposes us to more people who actually don't know what they're doing.

Today I saw some people lamenting the fact that Linux _still_ isn't one of the top dog operating systems on desktops and laptops. "Everybody is denying the numbers", one said. "Linux runs on EVERYTHING but desktops and laptops, from phones to supercomputers!"

There's difference between "runs on" and "is used on".

The one thing this guy forgets is:

- A phone runs Android. Yes, it has the Linux kernel under the hood, but nobody knows. For all intents and purposes, the OS is Android, not Linux.

For that matter, dedicated eReader devices like the Kindle and the Nook have a Linux kernel under the hood, and are technically Linux systems. I suspect only a tiny fraction of the user base is aware of that.

Linux, Windows, or OS/X - you don't interact directly with the OS kernel. You interact with a shell, which may be a desktop GUI or a command line in a terminal window.

- A supercomputer doesn't run an off-the-shelf Linux most of the time. The builders of the supercomputer for a distro such as Debian, Red Had/CentOS or whatever, strip it, rebuild it to their specifications, and write their own drivers. Maybe they even start from scratch, from the source code. Yes, the OS is Linux, but it's a specific version for that computer.

"Off the shelf" generally means a generic "one size fits all" kernel plus supporting utilities, GUI, and likely some bundled apps.

A supercomputer from Cray, Hitachi or the like will probably start with kernel source and compile specifically for their architecture, with drivers.

Once upon a time, most Linux users got a generic kernel in place just long enough to grab the source and do a custom compile for their hardware, incorporating only the drivers their system required. Hardware was slower and more expensive, and you built and tuned for performance. like leaving out stuff your system didn't need.

(One of the design features of Android is that it's modular, designed to be picked up by OEMs and built to support their systems. Don't have Bluetooth hardware in the system? Don't include the Bluetooth driver and supporting software in the build...)

And the most important point:

- Linux isn't used on desktops or laptops by the average person not because of the fact that it's a bad OS (it isn't), but because it doesn't run the software the users want to run, or doesn't support the hardware users want to use.

I've been around this before in Linux forums. It has minimal pickup on the desktop because it's different. Back in the days when I was supporting users on a mainframe, I learned that the average user learned just enough to do what they needed to do, then stopped.

I saw the same thing when PCs came around, and when Windows took over the desktop. There would be foot dragging when a new version of Windows came out because things would change, and the user response tended to reduce to "I don't have time to get my work done now. I certainly don't have time to learn new things to be able to do it."

What people know and are familiar with is Windows. Without a very pressing reason, they will not spend the time and effort to learn a whole new UI and workflow. Why should they?

Yes, that's not Linux's fault, but still. People use an operating system for the applications it runs and the hardware that is supported, not for the sake of running a particular OS. You first choose your applications, then you choose your hardware, and THEN you choose an operating system that supports both, and on a desktop and laptop, it often ISN'T Linux.

It's almost never Linux. It's Windows or OS/X.

In short: people having an entire discussion about computers and operating systems without knowing what using a computer is really about: GETTING SHIT DONE.

I have encountered people who like playing with OSes. So do I. But I started using Ubuntu as my desktop Linux OS a while back because it did the best job I'd seen in a distro of figuring out what it was running on, setting itself up in installation, and Just Working with minimal interaction with the user. I wanted to spend my time using the system, not fiddling to make it usable.

I can tweak and fiddle afterward, but I want to begin and install and have a working system an hour or so later that I can start using. (Working video, and especially networking, are sore points on other distros.) Yes, I'm a tech, and I know how to answer the installer questions, but it should be able to figure out what I'm installing it on. All I should have to do is review the assumptions it made and what it plans to do and correct things I disagree with. (Ubuntu, for example, allocates a swap partition, which defaults to being the same size as installed RAM. My box has 8GB RAM and will barely touch swap in use. It doesn't need an 8GB swap partition, and might get away with no swap partition at all.)

And with faster and more powerful hardware, we are increasingly reaching the point where it doesn't matter what the OS kernel as, as software is cross platform. I can run Libre Office, for example, on Windows, Linux, or OS/X. (And I have a port of Open Office under Android.)

Most OS discussions have little to do with technology and much to do with perceived status. "I'm Smarter/cooler than you because I run Linux (or OS/X, or Android...)" Dream on.

I just say "I don't use things because they're cool. Things are cool because I use them!" That tends to put a cork in such bottles.
______
Dennis

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

What people know and are familiar with is Windows. Without a very pressing reason, they will not spend the time and effort to learn a whole new UI and workflow. Why should they?

Well, I'd love to run Linux to have more control over my computer, but if I'd do so, I'd run into:

- Having to fiddle with WINE to get my games to run (if they'll even run)
- Switching from one software package to another for several applications, where there is a great Windows version, and nothing that even comes close on Linux
- Run into the fact that there's NO alternative for some applications I use, so it's WINE again.
- Even if I get everything to run, the system parts are chained to one another: if you upgrade X, you often upgrade library A, which makes program Y break, so the package manager upgrades that as well, but that one also uses library B which is then upgraded as also, which makes program Z break, which then can't be upgraded because the maintainer is a jackass and and refuses to use the new version of library B because the curly brace style in the code has changed from K&R to Allmann. (True story, that one.)

[Rumpelteazer]

Twice a week, on Thursday and Saturday, we have our so-called consulting hour in the store. I've known since July that I wanted to go away for a couple of days in September or October, so we've been warning people about that. The day after I booked my trip I put up signs that on October 12 there is no consulting hour.

Yesterday there was a customer who lost his cool about that. He thinks it's our duty to have a consulting hour twice a week and we're not allowed to ever cancel it (he also thinks we should be open from 8am until 8pm, seven days a week).

This year we will have cancelled consulting hour six times. Let's assume a year has 52 full weeks, that would mean 104 potential consulting hours. Ascension Day is always on a Thursday and we are closed, however, this year neither New Year's Day nor Christmas is on a Thursday or Saturday, so that mean 103 CH's, minus the six we cancelled because either my father or I weren't there. That means we still have 97 consulting hours this year. I don't think he should complain.

[Hemmi]

People always find something to complain about. You're giving plenty of notice for people to plan ahead. Some customers just think they know how your business should be run. They've obviously never worked in retail. It's a tough job to keep a store running!

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

Twice a week, on Thursday and Saturday, we have our so-called consulting hour in the store. I've known since July that I wanted to go away for a couple of days in September or October, so we've been warning people about that. The day after I booked my trip I put up signs that on October 12 there is no consulting hour.

Yesterday there was a customer who lost his cool about that. He thinks it's our duty to have a consulting hour twice a week and we're not allowed to ever cancel it (he also thinks we should be open from 8am until 8pm, seven days a week).

This year we will have cancelled consulting hour six times. Let's assume a year has 52 full weeks, that would mean 104 potential consulting hours. Ascension Day is always on a Thursday and we are closed, however, this year neither New Year's Day nor Christmas is on a Thursday or Saturday, so that mean 103 CH's, minus the six we cancelled because either my father or I weren't there. That means we still have 97 consulting hours this year. I don't think he should complain.

It's quite simply ridiculous. The "consulting hour" is an accommodation that you make, for your customers and prospective customers. It's not an obligation; they are not paying for it. They're not entitled to it. If you want to cancel it, ahead of time, that's your prerogative. It's idiotic that they've come to DEMAND it. Yes, yes, I realize it probably makes you guys money, but...I'd lose it if someone pulled that cr*p with me.

I swear, people get worse all the time with this sort of endless list of demands, entitlement (yes, yes, I know it's a grossly abused term), and behavior. It's like the Net stripped off the veneer of civilization and turned everyone into completely self-absorbed, self-centered @$$holes. It's crazy. (I speak with a woman who's been in print layout for decades. We lately speak every week or two, and talk about how every time we speak, we V&R about how they're getting worse by the minute, and how logically, that simply can't be true...but it bygod feels like it is.)


Hitch

[Rumpelteazer]

You're right, we have the consulting hour as a service; to prevent things from being thrown away if they are easily fixed, save family heirlooms and hopefully teach people how to do their own repairs. We only charge for the parts that are used, not for time, so if only a wire has come loose people aren't charged anything. Luckily, most people appreciate the service, but sometimes people make you want to reconsider. Today I had a woman who couldn't come to either consulting hours. Not because she had to work or had to take her kid to swimming lesson. No, she didn't want to get up early for it.

Hitch, the Vent Fest is very recognizable. A lot of our customers are people who own or work in a local store, restaurant or café. If you happen to help One Of Those Customers before them we politely wait until that customer is gone and then have a Vent Fest.

In Dutch we have a saying "De jeugd van tegenwoordig...." with means "today's youth..." to put them down as rude. However, in my experience, it's the older customers that are rude, know everything better and are unreasonably demanding.

[wodin]

When you offer something for free people begin to view it as an entitlement. Once that happens they begin to think you owe it to them and it's difficult at best and impossible at worst to rescind the offer.

You have to be assertive.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Hemmi

People always find something to complain about. You're giving plenty of notice for people to plan ahead. Some customers just think they know how your business should be run. They've obviously never worked in retail. It's a tough job to keep a store running!

There was a classic cartoon in the New Yorker years back with a manager berating a clerk. "In this store, the customer is always right. Fickle, bull-headed, even abysmally stupid, perhaps, but always right!"

I worked in retail a very long time ago. I was in a back end function and didn't deal with the customers, but I knew those who did. I was careful to avoid customer-facing positions thereafter.

(Being an IT guy supporting internal users was bad enough. I was delighted to not deal directly with clients.)
______
Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Hitch

(I speak with a woman who's been in print layout for decades. We lately speak every week or two, and talk about how every time we speak, we V&R about how they're getting worse by the minute, and how logically, that simply can't be true...but it bygod feels like it is.)

I used to be in print layout. I spent a fair bit of time trying to convey "You are paying me to do this because I know more about it than you and am better than you are at it. Given that, perhaps you should let me do my job and not try to pee in he soup?" And I learned to give the client two prospective design concepts and let them pick the one I preferred. Guaranteed, if I gave three, the one the client picked would be the one I liked least and didn't really want to do.

I saw the same thing when I found myself in IT. Any time you give people leverage, they are likely to use it, so think carefully about what you will be committed to when you give it.

I still do odd design projects as a hobby. My explicit deal is "You are asking me to do this because I am good at it. You get to tell me what the requirements are and what needs to be in the publication. What it looks like is my call and you don't get a vote! If you can't deal with that, find another designer."
______
Dennis

[Hemmi]

But you haven't lived until you get a customer right in your face screaming at you how "the customer is always right".

Makes you realize real fast that, nope, customers can just be a-holes like anyone else.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

I used to be in print layout. <snippage>

My explicit deal is "You are asking me to do this because I am good at it. You get to tell me what the requirements are and what needs to be in the publication. What it looks like is my call and you don't get a vote! If you can't deal with that, find another designer."
______
Dennis

Right. Sure. Absolutely. She said...

...sitting here, looking at a book of Haiku, in which the haiku were typed--all however-many of them--by the typist typing the line, and then holding down the spacebar until the line wrapped back around to the margin.




I guess I should stop whining. The author wanted to send me the physical book, which he'd made by hand-trimming the paper and making the binding himself. For digital formatting, you understand.

Do we have a Kill Me Now emoty???


Hitch

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Right. Sure. Absolutely. She said...

...sitting here, looking at a book of Haiku, in which the haiku were typed--all however-many of them--by the typist typing the line, and then holding down the spacebar until the line wrapped back around to the margin.




I guess I should stop whining. The author wanted to send me the physical book, which he'd made by hand-trimming the paper and making the binding himself. For digital formatting, you understand.

Do we have a Kill Me Now emoty???


Hitch

[wodin]

Any small business or Mom and Pop store that has a "Customer is always right" policy is not far from bankruptcy. Those always right customers will soon find ways to take advantage.