3 thoughts on “getting stuck in stupid ways

  1. Eirik

    * the following is played to the tune of “You’re in the Army now” *

    Welcome to the incredibly frustrating, but – at the end of the day – rewarding world of *nix! For most daily users of OS X in terminal mode, Linux, FreeBSD or whatever, the wisest strategy is probably not to set the goals too high (“learning Unix” surely is one such goal?), and rather aim for knowing just the things you need to get your work done.

    Regardless of the complexity, there is something to be said for an OS which has been in development for decades. For instance, I’ve found that there’s _always_ an obscure (or blindingly obvious) Unix command which will solve your specific problem. And I’ve learnt from bitter experience that it pays to write down exactly what you did, as you will surely have forgotten it the next time you need it. 🙂

  2. Jill

    That’s probably my main problem – I do things too rarely. I thought I could install MoveableType in my sleep but had forgotten STUPID little things (like I can’t ssh that server not because I’ve forgotten the password or have the wrong command but because the admin won’t allow ANYONE to ssh it, argh) and OH it’s so annoying! Actually I suppose that’s not about me not knowing Unix but about me not being in charge of the server, isn’t it…

    Still, it’s (almost) working now 🙂 And next time I’ll remember!

    “Learn Unix” is too high a goal? Oh dear…

  3. Eirik

    Well, what can I say: “Linux in a nutshell” (of the usual high O’Reilly-standard, thus highly recommended) is a _thick_ book (928 pages in the fourth edition). I shudder at the thought of how much is outside the nutshell. 😉

Leave a Reply to Jill Cancel reply

Recommended Posts

Triple book talk: Watch James Dobson, Jussi Parikka and me discuss our 2023 books

Thanks to everyone who came to the triple book talk of three recent books on machine vision by James Dobson, Jussi Parikka and me, and thanks for excellent questions. Several people have emailed to asked if we recorded it, and yes we did! Here you go! James and Jussi’s books […]

Image on a black background of a human hand holding a graphic showing the word AI with a blue circuit board pattern inside surrounded by blurred blue and yellow dots and a concentric circular blue design.
AI and algorithmic culture Machine Vision

Four visual registers for imaginaries of machine vision

I’m thrilled to announce another publication from our European Research Council (ERC)-funded research project on Machine Vision: Gabriele de Setaand Anya Shchetvina‘s paper analysing how Chinese AI companies visually present machine vision technologies. They find that the Chinese machine vision imaginary is global, blue and competitive.  De Seta, Gabriele, and Anya Shchetvina. “Imagining Machine […]

Do people flock to talks about ChatGPT because they are scared?

Whenever I give talks about ChatGPT and LLMs, whether to ninth graders, businesses or journalists, I meet people who are hungry for information, who really want to understand this new technology. I’ve interpreted this as interest and a need to understand – but yesterday, Eirik Solheim said that every time […]