Friday August 15th, 2025- What's on Your Weekend Agenda?

[Al B]

Congrats to you. You deserve it.

[lew]

7 hours ago, JWD said:

 

I mostly bailed on Windows in 2002, running linux instead.  Had a dual boot machine for a little while, as I had a WWII flight simulator I liked on the Windows 7 side.

 

All these years I've been running the most old school yet easy to maintain flavor of linux I could.  I'm not into the nuts and bolts of it, just want a stable system that works well for most of what I do. 

 

I've mostly had that with the one I use, but recently I went looking for the .ssh directory and couldn't find it.  The ls command no longer shows you the hidden directories without some kind of modifier.  It's there, but now I have to go find the switch I need to show the hidden stuff.  Even the old school stuff is starting to hide the gritty details from the user.

 

I had a millennial kid at work (yeah, "kid" who's in his 40's) who seemed to like this kind of arrangement - he liked knowing the "secret handshakes" that get you in to the gritty details on the apple machines we have there.  I can only imagine that this is why so much of the non-Windows world has gone this way now.  I stopped using my work issued mac for much when the new one I got in 2022 didn't have an X server installed by default.  You can buy one and install it, but the whole utility of having macs was that they were enough like Windows for the admin people and enough like linux for the science and engineering people.  Getting rid of XQuartz made it less useful to me so I just brought in a linux machine to use instead.  I use the mac for admin stuff that requires a VPN and zoom meetings - of which there are thankfully very few for me.

 

I guess the summary is I'm getting too old for this stuff, right?  

 

Wholeheartedly agree about the complexity of Windows. Unfortunately, some of the software I used (and rely on) is proprietary to Windows. No opensource or alternates are available. Got everything working this afternoon. Only thing I lost were a few text files that I saved to an old drive and then, when in a hurry, deleted the partition on that drive. Also, didn't reload a bunch of programs that I never used. I do have Linux loaded on a virtual machine, on my test bed. Just hardly get time to mess with it.  

[frenchwwr]

1 hour ago, Grandpadave52 said:

@frenchwwr. Congratulations Kevin. Well done. Really cool idea and look with your shade.

The shade was the final touch. I ordered it off eBay, it arrived only hours before the deadline to have items at the Fair.

[Gunny]

Looks cool!!!

[JWD]

13 hours ago, lew said:

 

Wholeheartedly agree about the complexity of Windows. Unfortunately, some of the software I used (and rely on) is proprietary to Windows. No opensource or alternates are available. Got everything working this afternoon. Only thing I lost were a few text files that I saved to an old drive and then, when in a hurry, deleted the partition on that drive. Also, didn't reload a bunch of programs that I never used. I do have Linux loaded on a virtual machine, on my test bed. Just hardly get time to mess with it.  

 

We have a few things at work that require Windows - mostly vendor provided software for specific tools.  I feel you pain there  

 

When I've toyed with the idea of setting up a CNC machine, one of my reservations is having to deal with Windows for modeling and toolpath software!

[Fred W. Hargis Jr]

33 minutes ago, JWD said:

 

When I've toyed with the idea of setting up a CNC machine, one of my reservations is having to deal with Windows for modeling and toolpath software!

 That's a big drawback for me regarding CNC as well.  We're a Mac household and I'm not willing to do anything in Windows. Of course there is another reaaon, at my age i don't relish the thought of trying to get the software figured out.

[JWD]

1 hour ago, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

 That's a big drawback for me regarding CNC as well.  We're a Mac household and I'm not willing to do anything in Windows. Of course there is another reaaon, at my age i don't relish the thought of trying to get the software figured out.

 

I've noticed that as I get older I'm not as comfortable learning new stuff.  The big problem I have at work is that it's a large part of the job.  I've tried delegating the "learn new things" part to some of the junior people, but so far none of them seem to have had a knack for it and I have to do it regardless.

 

Funny part is, I have no problem at all learning new things when I'm interested (like in woodworking and other hobbies).  I guess as I get older I recognize that time is limited and the last thing I want to do is waste my effort on stuff in which I have little interest.  In some regards I've learned patience over the decades, and in others I have become much more impatient.

[Larry Buskirk]

21 hours ago, lew said:

 

Wholeheartedly agree about the complexity of Windows. Unfortunately, some of the software I used (and rely on) is proprietary to Windows. No opensource or alternates are available. Got everything working this afternoon. Only thing I lost were a few text files that I saved to an old drive and then, when in a hurry, deleted the partition on that drive. Also, didn't reload a bunch of programs that I never used. I do have Linux loaded on a virtual machine, on my test bed. Just hardly get time to mess with it.  

Some windows programs can be run with Bottles, and Wine on Linux machines.

[lew]

2 hours ago, Larry Buskirk said:

Some windows programs can be run with Bottles, and Wine on Linux machines.

I'm using Quicken 2017 and Akrutosync. Quicken is no longer available as stand alone program. I refuse to pay for SAS stuff. Akrutosynce only works with Microsoft Outlook. It's bad enough trying to get old windows stuff to work with the newest windows build let alone trying to get it to work through "bridge" software. I appreciate the suggestion, though 

[Gerald]

I think it is absolutely criminal to have to pay every year for a program like Quicken . Then I could not get it to take data from USAA so I did not renew this year.

[Fred W. Hargis Jr]

I also refuse to use software that has an annual renewal fee. I gave up Microsoft Office because of that change. My checkbook program also went to that format and I'm still suing the last version available with the subscription. But at some point those programs will quit working...I guess then it will be subscribe or use nothing.

[JWD]

Especially in the days of open source software available for Windows, I just don't understand why they're applying the subscription model to individual users.  It works, up to a point, with corporate customers because the cost makes sense to them and gets diluted in the number of people doing the work day in and day out.  For individuals, it has to be so cheap that they don't care - Netflix kind of cheap.

 

For taxes though, I have long preferred an accountant.  I started using one who had learned her job working in Kansas City when I was living in NM and working in AZ.  The accountant was based in Tucson and knew all about how to file when you live in one state and work in another - commonly done in large border cities like KC.  I consider it to be buying back some of my limited free time every year, even though my taxes are much more simple now.  

[lew]

3 hours ago, JWD said:

I have long preferred an accountant

My first and only experience with accounts was when my Mom passed a few years ago. I was uncertain how/what to file with her final return. Used a recommended local group only to have them totally screw up the submission and it took a year to get everything corrected- which in turn added that year to getting the estate settled. 

[JWD]

3 hours ago, lew said:

My first and only experience with accounts was when my Mom passed a few years ago. I was uncertain how/what to file with her final return. Used a recommended local group only to have them totally screw up the submission and it took a year to get everything corrected- which in turn added that year to getting the estate settled. 

Yikes!

This office I use did my parents' taxes since the late 1980's, two business entities for them, as well as my own on and off depending on if I could afford that luxury or not.  They were really invaluable when settling my mom's estate as well. 

 

Her estate was well prepared however, she had filed a lot of beneficiary deeds and that makes it easy.  She had a will as a backup, but we didn't need to use it.

Edited August 19 by JWD

[Larry Buskirk]

I do my own taxes. Standard deduction wipes out tax liability.

[Gerald]

When I was first out of school I did go to a tax office but after a few years and seeing how simple it was I started doing my own. Maybe 20  or 30 years ago started using a computer program for taxes. Saved a lot doing my own taxes.