[sf-lug] some notes on the Virtual Meeting of Sunday 3 January 2021

[Bobbie Sellers]

On 1/4/21 11:59 AM, Rick Moen wrote:
> Quoting aaronco36 (aaronco36 at SDF.ORG):
>
>> Continuing on from Victor's availability of only 4 GB of installed
>> RAM on his PC.
> I know people perceive this as a real problem, and I really shouldn't
> laugh, but I do boggle and chuckle every time I see people using phrases
> like 'only 4GB of installed RAM' (in the context of desktop Linux) with
> no discernible sense of irony.

     Yes considering the results I used to get with 8 Megabytes of RAM 
on my old Amiga 2000.
>
> I'll just gently point out, once again, that it's not necessary to run
> bloatware, and that part of the task of getting to know Linux is to
> customise your installation and decide actively what you wish to run and
> why you wish to run it.  Just accepting all the distro-installer
> defaults and then declaring the task 'done' when it terminates and
> reboots is short-changing yourself, and never learning what the heck
> you're doing.
>
> Anyhow, when folks are done doing protracted tire-kicking and want to
> actually learn, and get much greater satisfaction with less waste of
> machine resources, they can.  I'm pretty sure a properly lean,
> non-bloated Linux desktop system will still be confortable with 2 GB
> total RAM, even with 2021-grade apps that have grown like Topsy since
> a decade ago (Web browsers being one of the major culprits).

     But then fools like me will have more problems using their 
computers.  I would have to
give up my tagline "-“Nearly any fool can use a computer. Many do.” 
After all here I am... ",

>
> Naturally, even a carefully constructed system can be brought to its
> knees by, say, keeping 30 browser tabs open with no ad-blocker or
> Javascript controls.
>
> The adtech/user-tracking companies certainly don't care at all about
> your Web browser bloat and poor performance, and failing to take
> countermeasures -- which are up to the user to implement, and not
> delivered on a platter -- appears to be one of the reasons we keep
> hearing claims that increasingly monstrous amounts of RAM aren't enough.
>
> (Rhetorical question;  How many people here occasionally take a look at
> the process list, and determine what processes are sucking RAM?  Maybe
> y'all should make a point of doing that.)
     Not too often but I look especially when problems arise.
>> Some of the various factors mentioned that will no doubt come into
>> play at some point are...
>> - current and future mutations of the COVID19 virus such as the
>> current mutation spreading through the UK and the US states of
>> Colorado and California

     Actually it has spread to continental Europe as well.
> FYI, there's now an additional new strain emerging from South Africa,
> that's said to be at least as infectious than the UK-sourced one, _and_
> involve "pretty substantial changes in the structure of the [virus’
> spike] protein" (that is targeted by the Pfizer, Moderna, and
> Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines).
> https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/04/south-african-coronavirus-variant-more-of-a-problem-than-uk-one.html
> Thrills!
        Oh what fresh hell has nature conceived.
>
>> - current and future costs of reaching out to communities and then
>> administering to these communities the proscribed doses of vaccine
>> (not even considering for the moment the related issue of those
>> vocal anti-vaxxers!)
> At the risk of being pedantic:  There's a minor risk of confusion in the
> above, as I'm pretty sure you meant prescribed (specified) rather than
> proscribed (prohibited).

     You are correct I meant to type "prescribed."

     But in addition i have developed some information today that was an 
on-topic discussion at
the PCLinux Forums.   Some of us may be concerned about the topic of 
allergic reactions to
the vaccine.

The allergen which caused the fuss in the UK was actually a compound 
called polyethylene glycol.
   It is there to help the vaccine through the hypodermic needle like a 
lubricant.

You or your doctor can read about the contents of the vaccine at the 
following URL.
<https://www.businessinsider.com/pfizer-covid-19-vaccine-ingredients-allergic-reactions-2020-12?op=1>

No one with common food allergies need worry about reactions as there are no
food-based ingredients in the vaccine except sucrose(sugar).

So that is all I have gleaned so far today.

Bobbie Sellers - former nurse who has learned how to spell polyethylene 
glycol today.
doubtless I will forget how to spell it by tomorrow.