Never believe that [they] are completely unaware of the absurdity of their replies. They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge. But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words. [They] have the right to play. They even like to play with discourse for, by giving ridiculous reasons, they discredit the seriousness of their interlocutors. They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert. If you press them too closely, they will abruptly fall silent, loftily indicating by some phrase that the time for argument is past.
This being said, the Socratic method sometimes works. Just keep asking them questions and let them argue with themselves.
Also I don’t even bother with figuring out printers on Linux. I’m almost certain they all universally work
Almost.
And this is the problem. The linux community is basically an example of survivorship bias. People who had no significant issues or were able to solve them are understandably fans. People who ran into a weird issue that they couldn't solve, are far more likely to give up or not be a member of the community anymore.
If your a Windows fan that fine but don’t pretend we don’t try to make it easy.
And then when someone does run into an issue, members of the community will often call them stupid. "They've run into an issue they can't solve. Linux is easy! That must mean they're stupid. I've never run into an issue I couldn't solve, linux is easy, that must mean I'm smart."
Vanity, it's the Devil's favourite sin.
It's a similar attitude you'll see in rich people, who overestimate how much talent was involved in their success, and underestimate how much luck was involved. "Why are they poor? They must be stupid. I've never had money issues, making money is easy if you're smart like me."
Here's the thing. I am genuinely a fan of the philosophy of GNU. Which is why I want everyone to be welcomed into the community, helped when they do run into issues, rather than to have them face snarky comments from linux users who think they know more than they actually do.
I find it annoying that the community pretends otherwise.
Someone goes on a forum with their laptop with an nvidia card and a wifi card no one's ever heard of, and more likely than not he'll be told it'll be easy to get linux running on it.
Hell, I was wrong. It's not just that a lot of linux users don't know much about windows, they also don't seem to know about the issues people can face with linux on some less or non-compatible hardware.
You can be a linux fan and admit that companies like Nvidia, Realtek or HP often don't give much of a shit about linux, but some pretend otherwise.
Let's be real. It's a lie that linux's only requirement is a CPU. Wrong hardware, because some vendors don't support linux properly or at all, and linux isn't fun.
The same thing can be said about plenty of configurations and linux. Plenty of laptops or the wrong nvidia card, and you're likely to have to find a workaround too.
Hell, bypassing the TPM requirement is almost certainly easier than creating your own driver for an nvidia card or problemsolving wifi issues because your laptop's network card manufacturer doesn't give a fuck about linux users.
NATO allies now know that vast swathes of the American electorate are willing to knowingly vote for probable Russian or Chinese assets, who won't have their back. If not in the next election, possibly in an election with the next few decades.
This has already been factored in. For example, given the timing, I doubt it's entirely a coincidence that the Japanese withdrew from their partnership with Lockheed Martin in favour of cooperation with BAE for a 6th generation fighter. Talk of (and funding for) EU strategic autonomy also increased dramatically after Trump's election. And I know plenty in the US like to complain about the EU not pulling its weight, historically not without reason, but in the longterm the Europeans moving further from the US won't result in more weapons sales for the US. Likely the opposite: Europe first.
When it comes to intelligence sharing, the US electing a Russian asset who shared classified documents with the Russians and likely got foreign assets killed, really isn't something that you can fix in a few years either. The damage is lasting if not permanent. Trump may be gone, but US institutions are still filled with his supporters and ideological fellow travellers.
Especially at a time when China is ascendent, it's possible that Trump has permanently fucked the US and that the zenith of US power and influence has already passed. That it is all downhill from here. Behold the decline and fall, let's all hold hands with our backs to the wall.
No, you're retro! runs away sobbing