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eMarginalia

@demerara@social.vivaldi.net

Lifelong reader and book lover. Ebook maker. Retired application consultant. Old as dirt.
#ebooks
#mystery
#PulpFiction
#pulp
#Calibre
#formatting
#FOSS
#LibreOffice
#Linux
#html
#AA
#AlcoholicsAnonymous
#recoveryposse

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8 Posts

Joined December 08, 2022

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eMarginalia @demerara@social.vivaldi.net · Mar 13, 2026

Replying to @mmstick@fosstodon.org

@mmstick@fosstodon.org Thank you, excellent to know that the -E option is a workaround. Synaptic is my go-to when I run into dependency chaos in trying to compile some app I want to use that has no package. That is rare and no fun...I can't wait to run into it now with Cosmic!

eMarginalia @demerara@social.vivaldi.net · Mar 13, 2026

Replying to @mmstick@fosstodon.org

@mmstick@fosstodon.org Wow, this is good to know, but about as obvious as a pebble buried on a beach. Is there anything like a "guide to going to Cosmic" for us normal human users? I mean, I've been using Linux for 15 years and I'm finding this transition pretty tough in spots. And it remains that the flatpak version of Zoom did not save any of my new meeting history or settings. I can now find the traces in ~/.var/app/... but none of my stuff was actually saved there. Zoom is flakey as heck on Cosmic, just in terms of window control--chat and participants, floating versus pinned--but it does work without crashing. I blame Zoom mostly for this, its Linux apps have always been a bit iffy.

eMarginalia @demerara@social.vivaldi.net · Mar 12, 2026

A bit of my experience in upgrading to #pop_os 24.04 with COSMIC and Wayland (from 22.04 pop_os/Gnome...) - just FYI

You won't get java, so when stuff like Calibre plugins don't run, you will have to install it. Not obvious at first.

OTOH, most of my old Gnome and KDE apps and settings programs were preserved, so be careful of them. The apps work but who knows what the sys settings stuff would do to COSMIC.

Screen brightness has no built-in controls. There are a couple of apps in the store, but I couldn't get them to work. If your monitor is too bright or too blue, see if it has its own control buttons or setting menu.

Zoom is available in the COSMIC Store but as a Flatpak. It will not find your old settings, backgrounds, and so on...and it will NOT save any new ones. So don't install this, use the downloaded deb package...all your old stuff should still be there (mine was).

The dock is weird. You can pin your most-used apps, but every open window adds an icon and soon it is horribly cluttered. If you are a big dock user beware.

Synaptic will not run as root!! WTF?

On the other hand, almost everything just works, even apps that normally barf on Wayland. It is fast, pretty, slick, and seems stable. Settings are many and pretty intuitive, but still immature.

I like it, I'm keeping it.

#Linux #Wayland

eMarginalia @demerara@social.vivaldi.net · Jan 01, 2026

Replying to @cmccullough@polymaths.social

@cmccullough Those of us who do not do that social media (and don't have nor want smartphones) don't use those businesses. I guess we are such a small number now they don't care?

eMarginalia @demerara@social.vivaldi.net · Dec 26, 2025

Replying to @fschaap@mastodon.social

@fschaap@mastodon.social I don't know why it surprises people that us old pharts should not be treated like children over computers. We have been using them since before some of you guys were born! Sure, not all of us worked in tech like I did, but if we were using Compuserve back in the day, the chances are we're not naive about stuff like the "enshitification of everything" and want better than Win 11. I talk to friends my age (80) all the time about Leenux and computers and stuff...and not trivial stuff. Load her up! She'll catch on.

eMarginalia @demerara@social.vivaldi.net · Oct 22, 2025

Replying to @Dtraslerwriting@mastodon.social

@Dtraslerwriting@mastodon.social We poor citizens need these services, and they seem pretty obvious. But we accidentally elect some legislators with evil MBA degrees. Then what we get are money-making solutions that can't, because they don't fit. Even greed can't market a letter to aunt Millie like a piece of junk fashion. Should hospitals sell your data to Amazon to stay afloat? So yes, Pratchett should be required reading for anyone to even be a candidate or a civil servant, much less a PM.

eMarginalia @demerara@social.vivaldi.net · May 13, 2025

Replying to @xylophilist@mastodon.online

@xylophilist@mastodon.online Imagine going into your local hardware store...I want to see a heat pump...certainly, sir, can I see your drivers license first? I'd be outta there.

eMarginalia @demerara@social.vivaldi.net · Jun 23, 2023

Replying to @yerald@social.coop

@yerald@social.coop @bookstodon@a.gup.pe #pulp #SciFi #sciencefiction I love them. I have a large #Calibre library full of old ScIFi, Fantasy and Pulp Mystery, and I collect the covers as well as the books. Often have several alt covers on a pulp book or magazine story. Here is a favourite.

eMarginalia

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