May 31, 2020

I finally got AwesomeWM to display terminal windows with gaps, with the help of this example AwesomeWM config I found: https://pastebin.com/yTHUmDeL

This is mentioned in the Arch Wiki, however, its not too clear where exactly the “Theme” section begins: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Awesome

Here’s a screenshot to show the “beautiful.useless_gap = 5” setting (which I was able to do via Emacs with C-u C-c C-l):

This is good since I was pretty dang close to just finding a new window manager if I couldn’t figure out gaps easily.

However, the more I learned about ‘systemd’, the more I realized I need to get all Linux computers switched to distros without it for optimization reasons.

With this in mind, I’m debating Gentoo: https://www.gentoo.org/

vs Slackware: http://www.slackware.com/

vs Devuan: https://devuan.org/

I’m also debating getting a backup laptop, specifically one that can be “librebooted”.

The ‘Devuan’ operating system listed above flat out is totally against ‘systemd’ which is awesome, and their reasoning can be found here: https://devuan.org/os/init-freedom

The reason is that if you libreboot a Linux computer, you’re able to bypass the default Intel based BIOS that could be spying on you.

Though, normal users like myself don’t have anything to hide, that thought alone is kind of dumb to not at least put the power back into your own hands. Its just better for peace of mind to just use free and open software overall.

Best quote on this topic is from Richard Stallman himself: “To be able to choose between proprietary software packages is to be able to choose your master. Freedom means not having a master.”

Richard Stallman’s computer habits on his Thinkpad T400s can be found here: https://stallman.org/stallman-computing.html

Of course, though Internet Service Providers are likely to do the same dang thing anyway, I would still like the ability to run FOSS (free as in freedom) software in whatever manner I’d like to, and not on the terms of a Linux distribution like Debian that forces ‘systemd’ on its users.

Makes me want to get a Thinkpad T400s off eBay to libreboot.

A great resource for this topic for anyone considering to throw their Windows infested computers into the trash, and librebooting it with GNU/Linux is this site I found: https://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/ThinkWiki

I do however like Debian a lot for its stability so ‘Deuvan’ seems like the best choice as its basically a fork of Debian without ‘systemd’.

In terms of the last week off due to vacation, I’m glad to have been able to complete a lot of things last week in terms of minor things for my Linux laptop.

With that in mind, I plan on just skimming the rest of that course, and finish up the one JS based book to kind of finish my learning stuff for work.

After that, I plan on somehow optimizing my actual job’s workflow for Emacs in Windows (or figure out how to dual boot the work computer with Linux and run Windoze as a Virtual Machine :D).

This debate of deciding what is the best OS to pick has kept my mind off the crazier and crazier world we are now living in.

But most of all, I trust in God’s Will, since I would like to also get into homesteading one day as well, and need favor on the next couple of decisions for my life.

Looking forward to another month to kick butt at work, and yet another week off at the end of it :).

Stay safe, and God Bless.