Workspace Keyboard Shortcuts for Cinnamon

One of the things I have come to like about Linux is its workspaces — or, if you prefer, virtual desktops. I actually get a little frustrated when I’m at work, or working in the VPN and remote desktop to work, when I’m in Windows and I don’t have them. Yesterday, for example, after upgradingContinue reading “Workspace Keyboard Shortcuts for Cinnamon”

Don’t Forget Your Towel

Fedora 42 released today, and I upgraded my installation. With a release number like 42, that called for a Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy wallpaper. I liked this wallpaper, based on the movie. You can find it here. I really should have the Infocom Hitchhiker’s game running in the terminal — I have it hereContinue reading “Don’t Forget Your Towel”

A Last Anniversary

Facebook memories reminded me this morning that today, February 1st, is the anniversary of the founding of Diamond Comic Distributors in 1982. I hadn’t yet turned nine. There were photos in my memories of the 40th-anniversary in 2022, when the office was essentially closed due to COVID… …and of the gift we received for theContinue reading “A Last Anniversary”

Adventures in Backgammoning

I was losing this game of backgammon badly, then I came back to win it, with white leaving five pieces on the board. How badly was I losing? At one point, I had five pieces pinned in white’s home quadrant, white offered a double or resign (and I did not resign), and white had alreadyContinue reading “Adventures in Backgammoning”

An Unexpected (Partial) Work-from-Home Day

Four and a half years after going work from home, yesterday, for the first time, I executed one of my key job duties remotely. Each month I run a process called the “Page & MCBA Number Update.” To describe it briefly, I load all the items in the month’s PREVIEWS catalog (typically about 3,000, plusContinue reading “An Unexpected (Partial) Work-from-Home Day”

Mixing MATE and the i3 Window Manager

So, I have been tinkering. Back in June, I installed Linux Mint 22, with the MATE desktop to an empty partition on my system and configured it to look like old-school GNOME 2. It’s a nice environment, something to have fun with, like using Compiz to turn my desktop into a cube and then spinningContinue reading “Mixing MATE and the i3 Window Manager”

Trapped in a Past We Never Made

A few days ago the beta for Linux Mint 22 was approved for release, and while it hasn’t been officially announced yet I downloaded it off one of the mirrors to take a look at over the weekend. But not the usual Cinnamon edition, or the XFCE edition (which I use on my Chromebook). IContinue reading “Trapped in a Past We Never Made”

Operating System Archaeology

About a month ago, digging into the drawers of my desk, I found a stack of old Linux install CDs. Mostly Linux Mint — versions 5, 6, 9, 12, 13, a couple of others I can’t remember off the top of my head — and an Ubuntu 8.04 CD. Ubuntu 8.04! The first Linux IContinue reading “Operating System Archaeology”