Gyroscopic Investing

Howdy folks! I thought I might give folks an update on what's new, since I've been pretty quiet here for a while. The truth is, I've just been too dang busy! In between my new job, I've started to heavily contribute in the Linux community to KDE Plasma, to the point where I'm starting to take on a leadership role. I've become the Kubuntu Project Manager in addition to my role within KDE itself.

I firmly believe that we can make KDE Plasma the best computer operating system on planet Earth, and I've been working hard for the past few months to make it happen. It's got a strong technical foundation, a happy user community, and I believe I'm bringing the project a user-centricity that will take it to the next level.

I know we have some Linux users here, so let me offer a firm recommendation: Kubuntu 18,04, once it's released in a few months. It's lighter than the "lightweight" distros, and more feature-filled than anything else out there. It's becoming more polished and user-friendly all the time, and I'm always available at nate@kde.org for support.

If you're interested, you can follow my blog here: http://pointieststick.wordpress.com/

Hope everyone else is still doing well!

Awesome, man. I've used KDE on and off for almost 15 years on the desktop. Now I'm on macOS due to iOS development, but still have a soft spot for the Linux desktop.

Nice work, PS . I’m liking the sound of 1804, hope it all comes together.

Pointedstick wrote:I firmly believe that we can make KDE Plasma the best computer operating system on planet Earth, and I've been working hard for the past few months to make it happen.

If you're interested, you can follow my blog here: http://pointieststick.wordpress.com/

That's great. I have been on Ubuntu for about seven years. Is KDE Palma going to be be any better for things like Bluetooth support? Very sketchy on Ubuntu. Also I could never figure out how to network in with my wife's Win10 machine, in order to get to the printer.

I'm using a System76 laptop, five years old, it needs to be replaced. I'd appreciate any recommendations for new, purpose-built Linux systems.

Pointedstick wrote:Howdy folks! I thought I might give folks an update on what's new, since I've been pretty quiet here for a while. The truth is, I've just been too dang busy! In between my new job, I've started to heavily contribute in the Linux community to KDE Plasma, to the point where I'm starting to take on a leadership role. I've become the Kubuntu Project Manager in addition to my role within KDE itself.

I firmly believe that we can make KDE Plasma the best computer operating system on planet Earth, and I've been working hard for the past few months to make it happen. It's got a strong technical foundation, a happy user community, and I believe I'm bringing the project a user-centricity that will take it to the next level.

I know we have some Linux users here, so let me offer a firm recommendation: Kubuntu 18,04, once it's released in a few months. It's lighter than the "lightweight" distros, and more feature-filled than anything else out there. It's becoming more polished and user-friendly all the time, and I'm always available at nate@kde.org for support.

If you're interested, you can follow my blog here: http://pointieststick.wordpress.com/

Hope everyone else is still doing well!

Congratulations!

A curiosity question: How would you compare the features of KDE Plasma to Mint for a semi-literate Linux user? I like to play around with Linux distros (booted from a pendrive) on an old Dell Dimension 8400 P4 that currently runs Win10 just fine.

Mountaineer wrote:

Pointedstick wrote:Howdy folks! I thought I might give folks an update on what's new, since I've been pretty quiet here for a while. The truth is, I've just been too dang busy! In between my new job, I've started to heavily contribute in the Linux community to KDE Plasma, to the point where I'm starting to take on a leadership role. I've become the Kubuntu Project Manager in addition to my role within KDE itself.

I firmly believe that we can make KDE Plasma the best computer operating system on planet Earth, and I've been working hard for the past few months to make it happen. It's got a strong technical foundation, a happy user community, and I believe I'm bringing the project a user-centricity that will take it to the next level.

I know we have some Linux users here, so let me offer a firm recommendation: Kubuntu 18,04, once it's released in a few months. It's lighter than the "lightweight" distros, and more feature-filled than anything else out there. It's becoming more polished and user-friendly all the time, and I'm always available at nate@kde.org for support.

If you're interested, you can follow my blog here: http://pointieststick.wordpress.com/

Hope everyone else is still doing well!

Congratulations!

A curiosity question: How would you compare the features of KDE Plasma to Mint for a semi-literate Linux user? I like to play around with Linux distros (booted from a pendrive) on an old Dell Dimension 8400 P4 that currently runs Win10 just fine.

Features-wise, we have more, hands down. But features aren't always the important part for regular users. Mint is definitely more user-friendly, because that's what they've focused on. Unfortunately, it's built on top of rotten foundations, technologically speaking. An enormous amount of effort goes into fighting the deficiencies and problems caused by their underlying tech stack (C, GTK+, GNOME frameworks, GNOME apps), which is why they had a strong start years ago but have stagnated since then. Too much technical debt. It's a shame, because but for that, I would have joined them instead. But I looked at the KDE community and I saw very high quality tech that simply had never been polished for maximum usability before. So I proposed that as a goal, and after it was voted one of the 3 winners, it started to, like, happen. We're not there yet; I think we're probably about 10 years behind, usability-wise where we need to be in 2018. But we're currently making up about a year's worth of lost ground roughly every month, so I anticipate that 2018 will be a very, very good year.

Oh and by the way, to bring the topic back a bit to this board's focus, I've since fallen out of love with the ERE idea. I've since realized that the appeal was caused by dissatisfaction with my job. After I lost that job and achieved a semi-ERE status, I found that it didn't bring me the happiness I'd hoped for. I missed the feeling of providing value for others, and became restless. So I got another job, which helped a ton, and got me out of my rut. And then I found a place in the Linux world, and now I truly feel like I'm doing the work I was put on this Earth for. The only remaining challenge is to figure out how to make a living from it, and on that note, I've set up a Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/ngraham

My feelings about investments have only solidified since then, too. The idea of micro-optimizing to achieve a target wealth number for some certain austerity level of living seems like a waste of time. In practice, not even the super-stable PP is really capable of providing the requisite level of stability without a healthy buffer. But the healthier your buffer (e.g. 40x or even 50x annual expenses), the less your choice of investments matter at all. At 50x expenses, a 100% stock portfolio will probably serve you just fine if you can avoid looking at it. I haven't actually looked at my investments in over a year.

It seems to me that the most natural progression is to focus on earning money by providing value to others during your career, and use that time to build up a nest egg so big that what you invest it in doesn't actually matter at all once you finally reach the age at which you're ready to enter a semi retirement mode. I say "semi-" because all the happiest retired people I know still work, just part-time-ish, and doing the things they love, whether for a little money or not. The best things in life always come not from hoarding value for yourself, but rather providing it to others. If you focus on that, the money usually takes care of itself.

Very timely, I've been thinking about using a Linux on my Chromebook.

Great to hear from you, PS. I'll have to check out KDE Plasma and give it a spin.

BTW, I also totally get your ERE perspective. So many people get fixated on the not working part to escape their current rut that they lose sight of what actually makes them happy in a sustainable way. And sometimes they're so underwater emotionally that they really have no idea what makes them happy before they first extract themselves from the office. For me, financial independence is more about freedom to choose your own path regardless of financial motive. Congrats on finding your passion!

Pointedstick wrote:Oh and by the way, to bring the topic back a bit to this board's focus, I've since fallen out of love with the ERE idea. I've since realized that the appeal was caused by dissatisfaction with my job. After I lost that job and achieved a semi-ERE status, I found that it didn't bring me the happiness I'd hoped for. I missed the feeling of providing value for others, and became restless. So I got another job, which helped a ton, and got me out of my rut. And then I found a place in the Linux world, and now I truly feel like I'm doing the work I was put on this Earth for. The only remaining challenge is to figure out how to make a living from it, and on that note, I've set up a Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/ngraham

My feelings about investments have only solidified since then, too. The idea of micro-optimizing to achieve a target wealth number for some certain austerity level of living seems like a waste of time. In practice, ot even the super-stable PP isn't really capable of providing the requisite level of stability without a healthy buffer. But the healthier your buffer (e.g. 40x or even 50x annual expenses), the less your choice of investments matter at all. At 50x expenses, a 100% stock portfolio will probably serve you just fine if you can avoid looking at it. I haven't actually looked at my investments in over a year.

It seems to me that the most natural progression is to focus on earning money by providing value to others during your career, and use that time to build up a nest egg so big that what you invest it in doesn't actually matter at all once you finally reach the age at which you're ready to enter a semi retirement mode. I say "semi-" because all the happiest retired people I know still work, just part-time-ish, and doing the things they love, whether for a little money or not. The best things in life always come not from hoarding value for yourself, but rather providing it to others. If you focus on that, the money usually takes care of itself.

Sounds quite a lot like the two greatest commandments, love God and love neighbor. One just needs to be sure to pick the right God. And, I completely agree with you about the money usually taking care of itself - every successful business I'm relatively familiar with does best financially when the primary focus is on the customer, the community in which it operates, and its employees. Focusing on primarily on self (at the individual or corporate level) is fraught with hazards and penalties, in my experience.

Thanks for the info on Mint and Plasma. I'm looking forward to giving Plasma a spin.

Very cool stuff, PS.

Congratulations, PS! Always good to hear from you, especially when things are going well.

I'm a long-time KDE user, so what you're talking about is very exciting. I don't have any plans to move off of Debian, but I am about to move from Jessie to Stretch on my main laptop, which means using Plasma instead of KDE 4.x. Looking forward to it.

One thing that would be really cool, which 4.x does not do (but possibly Plasma does?) is to have Kate detect changes in files loaded via the sftp kioslave. It does this for local files, and the result is an alert icon and a nice prompt asking what to do. The lack of this means I can lose data after running a subversion update on my dev VM.

Regardless, it's really good to know that you're part of KDE. I'm sure it'll be to the benefit of all.

Thanks Xan! I don't have a setup where I can test that, but if you find that the KF5 versions don't do what you'd like, please file a bug and I'll see what I can do.

PS,

In years past, KDE has had a reputation as being "bloated" and suitable only for more powerful machines. More recently, I have heard from several people that KDE is much more lightweight than it was previously; you seem to agree. To what do you attribute this change?

Congrats, PS, and nice to hear from you! I'm delighted you're now a Linux leader. I'll definitely keep KDE Plasma in mind - my lab uses Linux distros for some desktops to squeeze more life out of them and avoid some of the heavy handed protections on Windows boxes that limit usability. A year or two perhaps.

It sounds to me like ERE was a very good path for you in fact. If it weren't for that, you might still be living in the Bay area and working for a big Silicon Valley firm, and you certainly wouldn't be working on Linux. I view it as a backstop that lets you take advantage of opportunities that you might otherwise pass by, and also provide yourself with a better work/life balance. At my workplace the atmosphere is beyond horrible because everyone is terrified of likely impending job & pay cuts - and because of that, they aren't accomplishing very much professionally beyond the day to day tasks. But then, they mostly live in expensive homes in elite suburbs where property taxes are $30-40K/year, and a pay cut would be devastating. It's nice to be at least semi-immune, which lets me focus on work much more effectively.

Desert wrote:

Tyler wrote:Great to hear from you, PS. I'll have to check out KDE Plasma and give it a spin.

BTW, I also totally get your ERE perspective. So many people get fixated on the not working part to escape their current rut that they lose sight of what actually makes them happy in a sustainable way. And sometimes they're so underwater emotionally that they really have no idea what makes them happy before they first extract themselves from the office. For me, financial independence is more about freedom to choose your own path regardless of financial motive. Congrats on finding your passion!

I agree with you both, regarding the ERE philosophy. The FIRE principles are still powerful, since they provide a path out of standard wage slavery, allowing individuals to identify what they're truly motivated to do in life. But the "retirement" portion is largely unhealthy/unnecessary. Humans are built to chase passions, not to retire from them.

BASIC FIRE PRINCIPLES

7-1. To build a fire, it helps to understand the basic principles of a fire. Fuel (in a nongaseous state) does not burn directly. When you apply heat to a fuel, it produces a gas. This gas, combined with oxygen in the air, burns.

7-2. Understanding the concept of the fire triangle is very important in correctly constructing and maintaining a fire. The three sides of the triangle represent air, heat, and fuel. If you remove any of these, the fire will go out. The correct ratio of these components is very important for a fire to burn at its greatest capability. The only way to learn this ratio is to practice.

All text and images from the U.S. Army Field Manual 3-05.70: Survival.

Desert wrote:Humans are built to chase passions, not to retire from them.

TJLYOM

Reminded me of a somewhat tongue in cheek rejoiner or modifier I read the other day.

http://thetattooedbuddha.com/2018/02/17 ... fold-path/

geaux saints wrote:PS,

In years past, KDE has had a reputation as being "bloated" and suitable only for more powerful machines. More recently, I have heard from several people that KDE is much more lightweight than it was previously; you seem to agree. To what do you attribute this change?

1. We're benefiting from Qt's investments in slimming down, due to their push to get into the automotive and embedded markets. Qt is simply a fantastic toolkit these days.
2. We're benefiting from prior painful architectural decisions (e.g. KDE 3 -> Plasma 4 -> Plasma 5) that don't tie us down to legacy bloat.
3. We're working really hard on performance tuning ourselves. It's a strong focus.

On boot, it's not uncommon for a full KDE Plasma environment to be using under 400 MB of RAM. CPU usage is also very low. We're destroying the "lightweight" desktop environments' raison d'etre.

WiseOne wrote:But then, they mostly live in expensive homes in elite suburbs where property taxes are $30-40K/year, and a pay cut would be devastating.

Pointedstick wrote:

geaux saints wrote:PS,

In years past, KDE has had a reputation as being "bloated" and suitable only for more powerful machines. More recently, I have heard from several people that KDE is much more lightweight than it was previously; you seem to agree. To what do you attribute this change?

1. We're benefiting from Qt's investments in slimming down, due to their push to get into the automotive and embedded markets. Qt is simply a fantastic toolkit these days.
2. We're benefiting from prior painful architectural decisions (e.g. KDE 3 -> Plasma 4 -> Plasma 5) that don't tie us down to legacy bloat.
3. We're working really hard on performance tuning ourselves. It's a strong focus.

On boot, it's not uncommon for a full KDE Plasma environment to be using under 400 MB of RAM. CPU usage is also very low. We're destroying the "lightweight" desktop environments' raison d'etre.

PS,

Thanks for the thoughtful response. Please keep up the great work!

Desert wrote:

Mountaineer wrote:

Desert wrote:
I agree with you both, regarding the ERE philosophy. The FIRE principles are still powerful, since they provide a path out of standard wage slavery, allowing individuals to identify what they're truly motivated to do in life. But the "retirement" portion is largely unhealthy/unnecessary. Humans are built to chase passions, not to retire from them.

BASIC FIRE PRINCIPLES

7-1. To build a fire, it helps to understand the basic principles of a fire. Fuel (in a nongaseous state) does not burn directly. When you apply heat to a fuel, it produces a gas. This gas, combined with oxygen in the air, burns.

7-2. Understanding the concept of the fire triangle is very important in correctly constructing and maintaining a fire. The three sides of the triangle represent air, heat, and fuel. If you remove any of these, the fire will go out. The correct ratio of these components is very important for a fire to burn at its greatest capability. The only way to learn this ratio is to practice.

All text and images from the U.S. Army Field Manual 3-05.70: Survival.

Spoken like one of them Chem E's.

Nothing better than a Chem E quoting the Army Field Manual: Survival. Oh, here is some additional highly paraphrased FIRE advice from the Army - if you enter a cage match with ochotona, take a 45, FIRE it. It will improve your odds of winning.

Pointedstick wrote:

WiseOne wrote:But then, they mostly live in expensive homes in elite suburbs where property taxes are $30-40K/year, and a pay cut would be devastating.

Thank you PS I needed a laugh this morning!

And no, that wasn't a typo. Living in Westchester and commuting to the city every day on top of those housing costs...I just can't imagine a more depressing way to live.

MangoMan wrote:PS [or anyone],
I have a laptop with a 21GB solid state hard drive running Windows 10. It will no longer update because the current iteration of Windows takes up about 19GB and it needs another 8GB to do the update. Attaching a USB hard drive did not work as it did for a previous update. Downloading the update onto a flash drive didn't work either.

So I am thinking about wiping the HD and installing Linux. Do you think KDE Plasma would be the best choice for this laptop?

Of course, but I'm biased! would recommend Kubuntu 18.04, which comes out tomorrow (hopefully). I'm the Product Manager for it. Choose the minimal install option in the installer. Should only take up like a gig of space, maybe two.

Regardless of what you choose though, replace that SSD! 21GB isn't enough to store much actual data on, regardless of how small the OS is. SSDs are dirt cheap these days. You can get 256GG for less than $100.