Sunday, November 30

Geek

Daily News Stuff 0 December 2025

Page Petronius Edition

Top Story

  • Year of Linux on the Desktop?  Part One: Does Linux actually account for 11% of desktops even in the US - and a higher number globally?  (ZD Net)

    Probably, yes.  You get that number by adding together desktop Linux, ChromeOS (which is Linux) and "Unknown" numbers.

    Globally Linux numbers are about 50% higher, and looking at US government website stats, 25% of requests come from some flavour of Linux (including Android).


  • Year of Linux on the Desktop?  Part Two: Google's AluminiumOS (yes, they spell it with two eyes) brings Android to the desktop.  (Thurrott)

    And Google has already been working to merge ChromeOS with Android.  So this would bring a thoroughly-tested Linux variant with a huge collection of existing applications to the desktop, though half of those apps are Kairosoft games.

    And the new Steam Cube is due to launch soon, bringing SteamOS - again, a flavour of Linux - to the desktop.

    With Microsoft working tirelessly to destroy Windows, these consumer-oriented Linux versions may bring welcome relief.


Tech News

  • Yes, Virginia, there are still some tech bargains: Seagate's 24TB Barracuda model is selling for just one cent per gigabyte.  (Tom's Hardware)

    Or $240 for the whole thing.

    Well, not in Australia, where it is significantly more expensive and also completely out of stock everywhere.

    With SSD prices on the rise this may be a good choice for people looking to build a high-capacity NAS.


  • Speaking of SSD prices, an interesting thing is happening there.  The shortage is affecting NAND flash generally.  All versions, from high-reliability enterprise chips to the cheap stuff targeted at microSD cards.

    Meanwhile PCIe 5 controller chips for consumer SSDs are coming down in price, meaning that the price gap between PCIe 4 and PCIe 5 drives is fast disappearing.  At the start of the year it cost around 100% more for a PCIe 5 drive; now it's closer to 30%.


  • People are more likely to give up their seats to pregnant women on public transport when Batman is present.  (Nature)

    He's not going to hurt you.  He's just going to judge you.


  • Why a RAM boycott isn't going to do anything.  (WCCFTech)

    Because 70% of RAM goes to enterprise customers and if you don't buy it, they will.

    So what's the solution?

    Linux.  It's notably more memory efficient than Windows.


  • Why Honda is suddenly launching reusable rockets.  (The Verge)  (archive site)

    Because they don't do much if you don't launch them.

    People don't often think of them that way, but Honda is a successful aerospace company.


  • Someone tell Petronius the Arbiter that I've found the Door into Summer.

    Now I just need to find the Door Back into Pleasant Spring Weather.


  • Updated my Minecraft modpack.  It's still on 1.20.1 because some key mods aren't available on anything later - Minecraft doesn't care at all about mod compatibility between versions - but I found a single mod (Vanilla Backport) that bundles together backports of all six six out of nine feature releases since then but has a weird compatibility problem with the Modernfix mod.

    Dye Depot and Dye the World - which add 16 more colours to vanilla Minecraft and to 19 other mods respectively - have both been updated.  And Create: Steam and Rails has a beta version with Create 6.0 compatibility.  I took Create out of the modpack entirely because the update to Create 6.0 broke compatibility with a lot of other mods, and if I wanted Steam and Rails and included Create 5.0, that broke still more things.  Looks like the great rift is finally healing.

    And after a whole bunch of tweaks and changes and updates, it just worked.  That never happens.


Tanya Interlude



Nine years after season one and seven years after the movie, anime's sweetheart is back.  Tanya the Misunderstood will return for its second season next year.  The original cast though not the director are also returning.

(For those who haven't seen it, The Saga of Tanya the Evil is set in an alternate universe where World War I didn't happen but the October Revolution in Russia - or something very much like it - did.  Now it's the 1920s and the Great War has lit off with everyone fighting everyone else, and Tanya really does not like commies.)


Musical Interlude





Disclaimer: Tanya the Evil?  Tanya the Based!

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 05:34 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Post contains 730 words, total size 7 kb.

1 I've asked. You've ducked. You're female.
It's more than ok. Your commentary sounds sharper that way.
(And come on. The hololove computers and so on. smile

Posted by: furball321 at Sunday, November 30 2025 10:36 PM (As8gg)

2 More like Tanya the ethical, amirite.  (Not really ethical, but compared to communists...)

Posted by: PatBuckman at Monday, December 01 2025 01:04 AM (rcPLc)

3 Petronius wouldn't need a Door Into Summer if he could Walk Through Walls(it's no coincidence that 'Heinlein' ryhmes with 'feline').

Posted by: Joe Redfield at Monday, December 01 2025 04:27 AM (KOtXO)

4 It should be "Alumium", but we don't use the proper discoverer's nomenclature anymore.

Posted by: normal at Monday, December 01 2025 08:34 AM (Sbqr6)

5 And the problem is that the "Oktober" revolution would never have happened without the distress from WWI, given how goofy the 1905 revolution turned out.  But maybe I'm delusional about that.

Posted by: normal at Monday, December 01 2025 08:43 AM (Sbqr6)

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Apple pies are delicious. But never mind apple pies. What colour is a green orange?




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