Computer General Discussion Thread

[Bezombia]

Xfce is great once you customize it.
Get rid of the standard dock, replace it with Docky - get a decent theme on it (Numix is the most popular, I prefer Numix-Dark) and a decent icon theme (Numix-Circle is my favorite) and you've got the best DE setup short of Archbang.

EDIT: Oh and make sure you replace the default font with a decent one like Roboto or Segoe.

Already put Numix-dark on it actually, and I use numix-circle on all my linux builds because it's purty. Didn't think about docky though, I'll have to look into getting that because all I've done right now is turn off the standard dock because it was hideous

I'll look into those fonts as well. Now that I think of it I've never changed the standard font in any build I've done.

You should - a good font is the difference between a UI that looks like it's from 1997 versus one that looks like it's from 2015.

You can get Roboto on Google Fonts. Segoe UI can be ripped off of any Windows computer (running 7 or later, perhaps Vista as well).

[YellowApple]

Already put Numix-dark on it actually, and I use numix-circle on all my linux builds because it's purty. Didn't think about docky though, I'll have to look into getting that because all I've done right now is turn off the standard dock because it was hideous

I'll look into those fonts as well. Now that I think of it I've never changed the standard font in any build I've done.

You should - a good font is the difference between a UI that looks like it's from 1997 versus one that looks like it's from 2015.

You can get Roboto on Google Fonts. Segoe UI can be ripped off of any Windows computer (running 7 or later, perhaps Vista as well).

What if I want my font to look like it's from 1997?

On this laptop (running a very shitty Ubuntu Studio 15.04 install), I'm running Xfce with numix-dark, some random icon theme, and Computer Modern Unicode as my font. Dem serifs.

Also, Segoe is gross. Segoe UI ain't a whole lot less gross. Humanist sans-serif in general is pretty gross. I much prefer neogrotesque or geometric sans-serifs and didone or mechanistic serifs.

[Bezombia]

You should - a good font is the difference between a UI that looks like it's from 1997 versus one that looks like it's from 2015.

You can get Roboto on Google Fonts. Segoe UI can be ripped off of any Windows computer (running 7 or later, perhaps Vista as well).

What if I want my font to look like it's from 1997?

Courier Old.

On this laptop (running a very shitty Ubuntu Studio 15.04 install), I'm running Xfce with numix-dark, some random icon theme, and Computer Modern Unicode as my font. Dem serifs.

Congrats you've officially taken the worst serif font in recorded history and put it on the worst distrobution in recorded history. Considering how much you obviously hate your eyes I can only recommend Fedora and replacing all your system fonts with Monotype Corsiva.

[YellowApple]

What if I want my font to look like it's from 1997?

Courier Old.

On this laptop (running a very shitty Ubuntu Studio 15.04 install), I'm running Xfce with numix-dark, some random icon theme, and Computer Modern Unicode as my font. Dem serifs.

Congrats you've officially taken the worst serif font in recorded history and put it on the worst distrobution in recorded history. Considering how much you obviously hate your eyes I can only recommend Fedora and replacing all your system fonts with Monotype Corsiva.

Worst distribution, yes. Worst font? Please. It's the best font. Certainly much better than Segoe or any other humanist sans-serif.

[Bezombia]

Courier Old.



Congrats you've officially taken the worst serif font in recorded history and put it on the worst distrobution in recorded history. Considering how much you obviously hate your eyes I can only recommend Fedora and replacing all your system fonts with Monotype Corsiva.

Worst distribution, yes. Worst font? Please. It's the best font. Certainly much better than Segoe or any other humanist sans-serif.

That font was literally created to show off how easy it would be to change it in TeX.

[YellowApple]

Worst distribution, yes. Worst font? Please. It's the best font. Certainly much better than Segoe or any other humanist sans-serif.

That font was literally created to show off how easy it would be to change it in TeX.

Literally everything in TeX was created to show off how easy it would be to change it. That doesn't mean that it's a good idea to change those things. Computer Modern's still pretty much as good as it gets, especially for mathematical notation, but also as a general-purpose typeface (at leas the serif one; I don't care for the sans-serif one as much, so I'll usually use Futura or some similar geometric font in its place).

[Lechites]

That font was literally created to show off how easy it would be to change it in TeX.

Literally everything in TeX was created to show off how easy it would be to change it. That doesn't mean that it's a good idea to change those things. Computer Modern's still pretty much as good as it gets, especially for mathematical notation, but also as a general-purpose typeface (at leas the serif one; I don't care for the sans-serif one as much, so I'll usually use Futura or some similar geometric font in its place).

Well I've decided to rip Wing Dings from W7 and use that.

[Bezombia]

Literally everything in TeX was created to show off how easy it would be to change it. That doesn't mean that it's a good idea to change those things. Computer Modern's still pretty much as good as it gets, especially for mathematical notation, but also as a general-purpose typeface (at leas the serif one; I don't care for the sans-serif one as much, so I'll usually use Futura or some similar geometric font in its place).

Well I've decided to rip Wing Dings from W7 and use that.

Wing Dings is still more readable than Computer Modern.

[YellowApple]

Well I've decided to rip Wing Dings from W7 and use that.

Wing Dings is still more readable than Computer Modern.

Says the one who recommends Segoe UI.

[Bezombia]

Wing Dings is still more readable than Computer Modern.

Says the one who recommends Segoe UI.

Says the one who unironically uses Computer Modern. I don't even use Computer Modern in TeX documents. Trying to read something in Computer Modern is like trying to read an /lgbt/ thread - the content might be bearable but you still have cancer by the time you get to the bottom of the page.
Seriously whoever decided that the serifs should just turn into circles at the bottom and then become straight lines either doesn't have eyes or reads everything sideways.

[New Oyashima]

I currently only have 51 inches of wall space to fit a computer desk for my PC and my dual monitors. Plus extra space for pens/organizers/etc.

What if I stack one regular monitor on my ultra wide? Is this a thing?

[Bezombia]

I currently only have 51 inches of wall space to fit a computer desk for my PC and my dual monitors. Plus extra space for pens/organizers/etc.

What if I stack one regular monitor on my ultra wide? Is this a thing?

If you have the wall space, you could get a wall mount and mount the second monitor on the wall above the first one (which is on the desk).
Of course this also requires you to have a compatible wall - I couldn't do this because my walls aren't flush.

[YellowApple]

Says the one who recommends Segoe UI.

Says the one who unironically uses Computer Modern. I don't even use Computer Modern in TeX documents. Trying to read something in Computer Modern is like trying to read an /lgbt/ thread - the content might be bearable but you still have cancer by the time you get to the bottom of the page.
Seriously whoever decided that the serifs should just turn into circles at the bottom and then become straight lines either doesn't have eyes or reads everything sideways.

What version of "Computer Modern" are you even using? Serifs as circles? What?

CM's readability is unrivaled in technical and mathematical documents.

I mean look at this.

Very few fonts offer that high of a degree of readability. It's even readable on my Latitude's shitty display, and that's saying something.

CM does look really ugly with incorrect kerning, as do pretty much all fonts that aren't monospaced. There are also quite a few documents that use the pre-1992 version of the font, which was made much more readable than the original, and is what Knuth actively recommends nowadays. Those are the only cases I can possibly think of where CM isn't the textbook definition of readability and clarity.

[Bezombia]

Says the one who unironically uses Computer Modern. I don't even use Computer Modern in TeX documents. Trying to read something in Computer Modern is like trying to read an /lgbt/ thread - the content might be bearable but you still have cancer by the time you get to the bottom of the page.
Seriously whoever decided that the serifs should just turn into circles at the bottom and then become straight lines either doesn't have eyes or reads everything sideways.

What version of "Computer Modern" are you even using? Serifs as circles? What?

CM's readability is unrivaled in technical and mathematical documents.

I mean look at this.

Very few fonts offer that high of a degree of readability. It's even readable on my Latitude's shitty display, and that's saying something.

CM does look really ugly with incorrect kerning, as do pretty much all fonts that aren't monospaced. There are also quite a few documents that use the pre-1992 version of the font, which was made much more readable than the original, and is what Knuth actively recommends nowadays. Those are the only cases I can possibly think of where CM isn't the textbook definition of readability and clarity.

Are you literally blind? You're gonna look at those half-moon serifs on the "t" and tell me it's readable? Jesus.

Everyone knows that the most readable font is Georgia for serifs, Roboto for sans-serifs, and Consolas for monospaced. Those three + Calibri for editing purposes and Garamond for neato printing shit and you'd only ever need five fonts installed on any one system.
Segoe UI is a fair replacement for Roboto and TNR is a fair replacement for Georgia.

[YellowApple]

What version of "Computer Modern" are you even using? Serifs as circles? What?

CM's readability is unrivaled in technical and mathematical documents.

I mean look at this.

Very few fonts offer that high of a degree of readability. It's even readable on my Latitude's shitty display, and that's saying something.

CM does look really ugly with incorrect kerning, as do pretty much all fonts that aren't monospaced. There are also quite a few documents that use the pre-1992 version of the font, which was made much more readable than the original, and is what Knuth actively recommends nowadays. Those are the only cases I can possibly think of where CM isn't the textbook definition of readability and clarity.

Are you literally blind? You're gonna look at those half-moon serifs on the "t" and tell me it's readable? Jesus.

Oh please. If you're talking about that very slight swoosh at the bottom and telling me that you can't easily tell it's a 't', then please, for everyone's sake, get some glasses or LASIK and try again.

Everyone knows that the most readable font is Georgia for serifs

HAHAHAHAHAHA no. Especially those numbers. Uneven numeral heights? Really?

Roboto for sans-serifs

HAHAHAHAHAHA again no. Try typing the word "Illumination". Very few fonts get that readably right, and Roboto is certainly not one of them.

and Consolas for monospaced.

This is the only one you've mentioned that isn't an unreadable mess (at least not as much of an unreadable mess). It still looks like shit, and the lowercase 'l' and the number '1' are still dangerously similar.

Those three + Calibri for editing purposes

I will admit that Calibri was one of my favorites before I found Computer Modern.

and Garamond for neato printing shit

Inconsistent numeral height; thus, same readability issues as Georgia, especially when dealing with something number-heavy - like, again, mathematical and technical documents.

and you'd only ever need five fonts installed on any one system.

Meanwhile, all I need is CM, some font for titles (I like Futura, TeX Gyre Adventor, or some similar geometric sans-serif), and some monospaced font (I'm currently using CMU Typewriter, but I'm dissatisfied with the ambiguity between 'O' and '0' and would prefer zeroes with bars).

Segoe UI is a fair replacement for Roboto

It's a fair replacement for a shitty font, but you're just replacing shit with shit. The Ubuntu typeface is better for that role, in my opinion at least.

Either of them will pass the "Illumination" test, so they've got that going for them. That's about as far as Segoe's merits go.

and TNR is a fair replacement for Georgia.

At the expense of making yourself look like a pointy-haired boss.

[Grand Britannia]

I currently only have 51 inches of wall space to fit a computer desk for my PC and my dual monitors. Plus extra space for pens/organizers/etc.

What if I stack one regular monitor on my ultra wide? Is this a thing?

If you have the wall space, you could get a wall mount and mount the second monitor on the wall above the first one (which is on the desk).
Of course this also requires you to have a compatible wall - I couldn't do this because my walls aren't flush.

There's an empty space in front of my desktop...

Are there mounts for a second screen that attach to the desk? I've been interested in a second screen to draw/browse while I game.

[May Mays]

Well, TNR is actually very much necessary on most machines because it's the educational standard in the US. Every school elementary through uni uses it.

[YellowApple]

Well, TNR is actually very much necessary on most machines because it's the educational standard in the US. Every school elementary through uni uses it.

That doesn't make it a good font. Plenty of schools mandate things like .doc(x) (instead of something actually decent like ODF or PDF), too. And I actually got through most of my high school education using anything but TNR (including - and especially - Calibri, which is the only humanist typeface I've ever particularly liked) with no issues.

Also, not every university even uses - let alone mandates - TNR. If anything, Computer Modern's dominant in that realm.

[May Mays]

Well, TNR is actually very much necessary on most machines because it's the educational standard in the US. Every school elementary through uni uses it.

That doesn't make it a good font. Plenty of schools mandate things like .doc(x) (instead of something actually decent like ODF or PDF), too. And I actually got through most of my high school education using anything but TNR (including - and especially - Calibri, which is the only humanist typeface I've ever particularly liked) with no issues.

Also, not every university even uses - let alone mandates - TNR. If anything, Computer Modern's dominant in that realm.

Well schools are not famous for mandating good things.

But if I'm not mistaken, TNR is MLA standard.

[YellowApple]

But if I'm not mistaken, TNR is MLA standard.

You're mistaken:

Double-space the text of your paper, and use a legible font (e.g. Times New Roman). Whatever font you choose, MLA recommends that the regular and italics type styles contrast enough that they are recognizable one from another. The font size should be 12 pt.

While TNR is suggested, there are no requirements other than legibility and being 12 pt.

Really, though, the point of MLA for most schools is to teach students how to properly cite their work (which, of course, is something that BibTeX can significantly automate, yet for some reason LaTeX isn't taught in schools... hm...).

[Bezombia]

Well, TNR is actually very much necessary on most machines because it's the educational standard in the US. Every school elementary through uni uses it.

That's only relevant if you're partaking in education-related activities.

If you have the wall space, you could get a wall mount and mount the second monitor on the wall above the first one (which is on the desk).
Of course this also requires you to have a compatible wall - I couldn't do this because my walls aren't flush.

There's an empty space in front of my desktop...

Are there mounts for a second screen that attach to the desk? I've been interested in a second screen to draw/browse while I game.

There are, they require a bit more work though.

While TNR is suggested, there are no requirements other than legibility and being 12 pt.

Really, though, the point of MLA for most schools is to teach students how to properly cite their work (which, of course, is something that BibTeX can significantly automate, yet for some reason LaTeX isn't taught in schools... hm...).

Honestly the fact that schools these days use computers for anything surprises me, considering how little it seems they know how to use them.

Apparently the high school in my town is giving all of its students chromebooks next year, in spite of protests by both the students and the media center. Not sure how they pulled that off.

[Bezombia]

[    705. 688367] systemd[1]: Failed to register match for Disconnected message: Connection timed out
[    730. 724354] systemd[1]: Failed to register match for Disconnected message: Connection timed out
[    755. 764368] systemd[1]: Failed to register match for Disconnected message: Connection timed out
[    780. 800301] systemd[1]: Failed to register match for Disconnected message: Connection timed out

RIP ssh.

[Lechites]

There's an empty space in front of my desktop...

Are there mounts for a second screen that attach to the desk? I've been interested in a second screen to draw/browse while I game.

There are, they require a bit more work though.

Also usually about twice as expensive.

[May Mays]

There are, they require a bit more work though.

Also usually about twice as expensive.

Also why a desk mount?

Get one of those weird things you see in hospitals.

[YellowApple]

Apparently the high school in my town is giving all of its students chromebooks next year, in spite of protests by both the students and the media center. Not sure how they pulled that off.

The students are protesting Chromebooks? Why?

If anything, I'd be cheering; free Linux machine :)

Also usually about twice as expensive.

Also why a desk mount?

Get one of those weird things you see in hospitals.

As a former hospital computer tech: which weird things?

If you mean a rolling computer cart ("computers on wheels" or "CoWs", as we'd call them), those are absurdly fucking expensive even without the battery packs. Pretty much every other specialized piece of computer equipment for hospitals is even more expensive. Most stations with multi-monitor needs just put them side-by-side, or were in places where the back half of the "desk" was elevated enough for a second monitor. My workstation's quad-monitor setup was built using a bunch of old books and a ledge (my desk was once upon a time an ICU nurses' station).