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@Jesse_b ?

@FaheemMitha My new favorite programming language: arnoldC

@Jesse_b Never heard of it. Are you at work? On a Saturday?

Odd, my latest answer doesn't seem to be automatically syntax highlighting

Looks an awful lot like a copy

It doesn't mention anything about SE though, are they using some open source version of it (if that is even a thing) or are they creating their own thing clearly inspired by SE

Seems like it, although I can only find indirect references so far -- docs.microsoft.com/answers/articles/388/…

> However, Stack Overflow has specific criteria about what questions are appropriate for the community and Microsoft Q&A will have a more open policy regarding this.

Seems benevolent

@JeffSchaller I think they have an enterprise version, not teams.

@terdon ahhh, thank you; I admit unfamiliarity with the commercial side of things

I just have a vague idea such things exist.

People often get mad at me because they make grammatical errors and I don't understand them. Blows my mind

It's almost never obvious to me

Is it ok to edit .config/mimeapps.list by hand?

Hello, I've found conflicting advice on how seamless installing Linux on a Windows laptop is. I have an HP 15-au018wm with a broken Windows installation, and wanted to wipe the OS and install Mint. Would there be any compatibility issues between Mint and this hardware?

@user10478 Possibly but I don't see any harm in trying

I don't have much experience with mint but I've been able to install centos and ubuntu on every laptop I've ever tried

without having to do any special work to find drivers, etc

Cool, I'd heard that machines were becoming more specialized for Windows over the last few years, but couldn't find anything concrete to confirm. I just didn't want to try if it was likely to fail cause I'm not super proficient at installing Linux (did it once year ago) so it will probably take some time/effort to do.

I think microsoft announced they will no longer focus on windows several years ago so it would be odd if hardware manufacturers were catering to a dying OS

but really your only concern is that you can find all the needed hardware drivers. As long as it's a major laptop brand without any oddball hardware I'm sure it will be fine

You may not be able to find the correct drivers to control certain touchbar type features, and things like that but otherwise I'm sure it will be fine

Okay, sounds good, thanks a lot

I guess I am misremembering some articles I probably barely read in regards to that microsoft no longer focusing on windows thing

@Jesse_b Hardly a dying OS.

@FaheemMitha debatable

Desktop computing is dying. In 10-15 years almost everyone will be using phones/tablets and people like us will be the only ones still using desktop computers

@Jesse_b I really don't think that's true at all.

I think it's without question that desktop computing is on it's way out, the only thing up for debate is the timeline

I don't agree. Phones and tablets are of limited usefulness for some things.

But there are lots of things you cannot do comfortably with them.

Basically, anything of substance.

most users already do everything they need with them

I'm probably the only person I know that still owns a desktop computer (other than my technical coworkers)

@Jesse_b Most people don't really use computers.

If you mean social media, browsing, and light email, yes, you can use a phone for that.

@FaheemMitha They used to. In the late 90s/early 2000s virtually everyone in the USA had a computer

I mean they still have computers though, they are just smaller and often referred to as phones :p

@Jesse_b Perhaps it wasn't necessary for their purposes. If you are using a computer like a toaster, a smaller toaster might do just fine.

Why is the macos tag linked to OSX? They are not the same thing

OSX doesn't really even exist anymore

I guess I can't do anything to change it?

at the very least it should go the other way, OSX -> macos

@FaheemMitha I think once someone makes a replacement for microsoft office like apps that doesn't require a desktop computer that will be the final blow

I think the overwhelming majority of desktop computing done today is done in offices for work purposes and the majority of that is simple word processing and spreadsheet work. As soon as you can do that work as effectively elsewhere the desktop computer is doomed

They already have fully functional office apps for cell phones but the small screen and lack of a keyboard make them difficult to use, but it's already possible to connect your phone to a monitor and keyboard so perhaps that is the next step but I think we will find a way to bypass that altogether

modern smartphones are already more powerful than the generic budget dell/hp PCs most offices have and they actually cost about the same too

in 10 years it will be hard to find someone familiar with desktop operating systems to work in a non-technical job but everyone will know how to use a smart phone (it's already hard to find people familiar with windows)

^ all of that is opinionated and backed by no facts whatsoever :)

@Jesse_b Power isn't so much the issue. It's more about usability.

The screen is too small. And the keyboard is tiny.

@FaheemMitha yeah I addressed that

And a phone still doesn't have much computing power.

@Jesse_b How did you address that?

> They already have fully functional office apps for cell phones but the small screen and lack of a keyboard make them difficult to use, but it's already possible to connect your phone to a monitor and keyboard so perhaps that is the next step but I think we will find a way to bypass that altogether

@Jesse_b I'm not sure what you're suggesting. That people can use smartphones as a desktop computer by connecting them to a keyboard and monitor?

That sounds possibly certainly, but awkward.

@FaheemMitha Yeah that is certainly possible right now but I agree awkward which is probably why it's not done

Also, smartphones are easily damaged. Do you really want your computing equipment wandering around the place?

It would only take a few companies to lead the way and show that it saves money though before almost everyone else followed

@Jesse_b That was saves money?

Most companies I've worked for already assign smartphones to employees

Yeah a desktop computer is about $1000 + trying to find a candidate that knows how to use it + training + you likely need to buy them a phone too anyway

I would really hate having to use a phone for real work.

Actual computers aren't that comfortable, but they are infinitely preferable to a phone.

Yeah I don't think that is going to happen but I think for sure things will be invented that I cannot even fathom to make them easier to use, or even something else altogether

For one thing, you can't really type using them. It's horrible.

@FaheemMitha Well the keyboard would solve that

@Jesse_b I don't see what could magically solve the issue. Short of AI.

Dictation is also getting much better with all these wire tap devices monitoring everyones conversations 24/7

Yay spyware.

@FaheemMitha People generally didn't see any revolutionary thing coming

@Jesse_b Actually, they do. They're called science fiction writers.

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”

well science fiction tells us that we will be able to connect our brain directly to the computer

Actually, speculative novelists in general don't have a bad track record.

An example that comes to mind is Aldous Huxley's description of a rock concert in the 1930s, before they actually existed. In "Brave New World".

@Jesse_b My point what the SF writers are good at imagining possibilities.

But they haven't imagined any possibilities which aren't computers, phones, direct neural interfaces, and AI.

Yeah people invent things based on ideas they get from science fiction, but also thousands of things are invented by the soul vision of a single person without ever being written about in advance

And the last two are clearly some way off, assuming they are technologically achievable in the first place.

They already have direct neural interfaces for people with spinal disabilities

For example, mobile phones featured heavily in Star Trek in the 1960s. At the time, they didn't actually exist.

@Jesse_b For example?

@Jesse_b Not exactly what I was talking about. I mean, people communicating with computers directly. Like in the novels of Vernor Vinge. That's just one random example.

He's actually a computer scientist and his depictions are relatively plausible.

@FaheemMitha I don't know because I haven't read every single piece of science fiction work ever written but I think what I said is unquestionably true because it would seem statistically impossible for it not to be

@Jesse_b It's much cheaper and easier to imagine than to actually do.

So people imagine lots of things.

You definitely have an affinity for computers, as do I, but I think it's skewing your view of things

It would be like me saying the gasoline automobile isn't going away because I love them so much

Sure they are extremely useful and currently way better than the alternative but its only a matter of time before that is no longer true and as soon as that changes there will be a rapid shift in their usage

People already don't own computers, it's happening now

Yeah but I think they will still hold the market for corporate use until something else comes along

Probably