WIRED

I currently use Debian. It is comfy and predictable and I am lazy.

I did recently try NixOS and Guix and I really enjoyed my experiences in different ways, but I always come back to Debian. I will probably move to Guix at some point, when a powerful passively cooled GPU is available that has less proprietary obstacles for me to grapple with.

I enjoyed NixOS because of the many precompiled things. I had an awesome experience with it. I loved how it just worked, and was so flexible and easy. I totally get why it is the Hotness.

That was until it wasn’t. Suddenly when I got to its edges, it felt like being in another walled garden. For sure the walled garden wasn’t really walled, I just couldn’t be bothered to learn how to climb that particular ladder. Too much to learn. Too much arcane stuff to learn. I mean, I did like Nix, but to learn its own language? Really? Did I mention that I am lazy? I really value my learning time and like it to be as useful (widely serving), long serving and fun as possible and the Nix language just was too arcane for me to get my emacs working without more WTF than I wanted.

That means that as and when I can more easily move to Guix, I will be able to, because it uses a version of LISP. In other words I wont just be learning a language for my OS, but I get to reuse the learning across a range of interests and tools.

I carried on dual booting NixOS its compile of OBS was recent and Just Worked. But recently I ditched the dual boot and have been using OBS on Debian again. But… the Debian OBS package doesn’t have the browser as a source feature. This was a bit too limiting for me, because there are some things that cannot be done without it. Mainly I wanted it in order to make my stream/recordings look a bit less basic by using an overlay. And potentially I also wanted to be able to use Big Tech platforms to stream to, you know, just incase I wanted to stream to something other than the awesome peertube. I like avoiding BigTech, but I also want to be in choice to be able to use it if I want to. Ya know?

So the best option, it seemed, was compile OBS! However, compiling software is something I tend to avoid, did I mention I am lazy? This is particularly true for me where there is something that I use that will likely be updated, i.e. most things. With Debian, it just looks after all that faff for you (most of the time). I like that. I like Debian. It just keeps on trucking.

So compiling a core tool seemed like more faff and effort than I was likely to be able to bother with. I really don’t enjoy running out of date software or having it hanging around on systems.

Since lock down I have experienced more brain fog and anxieties so having the clear headedness that I would need in order to track errors and use the CLI with sufficient velocity to be fun… has been a precious commodity.

I am writing this in part to thank Dario, who wrote a guide that held my hand through the process. This means I now have my own compiled OBS. It is more up to date than the Debian package (of course) and has the browser as a source feature that I wanted. Moments like these bring me all the joy – this is why I really love Free Software and its community.

On the journey, I delighted in the stretch of learning a little more about the CEF project – just Wow! (and why isn’t there a FF equivalent?). I also was delighted in how easy it was to make a package that would then allow me to stay within the Debian Way™, something I have learnt over the 20 years to avoid deviating from (Did I mention I am lazy?)!

<3

Hail Eris!