ruffsl

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I really appreciate the comma command.

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I only have 3 installs of NixOS already, two for work (a server and laptop), and a third for a personal use (desktop). I largely started out by copying a public config from the community. Now I just copy a few kilobytes between the three from time to time via git repo to keep all my kernels, kernel modules, patches, net config, package versions, and system users/groups permissions in sync via lock files. And my user dot files too, but you don't need nix for that last one.

If I have to do something multiple times, like copying a distro across even a few systems more than once, then I figured I'd just revision control it via lockfiles like any other software project.

That all said, NixOS is a hell of a rabbit hole; great for lazy admins and hobby tinkering alike:

https://xkcd.com/1319/

The top graph reflects my stable work install for robot software development,but the bottom graph is my personal install for hobbies and home lab.

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ruffsl @programming.dev 2mo ago

Moving nixpkgs development from GitHub would be ambitious, as that repo already pushes their infrastructure limits with enterprise level support.

https://discourse.nixos.org/t/nixpkgs-core-team-update-2026-01-22/74585

I suspect the Nix org would need to garner many more sponsors to fund the hosting expenditures for an equivalent forge with matching CI/CD, PR automation, and geo redundancy. Would be nice to see.

ruffsl @programming.dev 3mo ago

I love the comma command. Great for things I only use every blue moon and am fine with being cleaned up by garbage collection.

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ruffsl @programming.dev 3mo ago

Wow, hello fellow Rose alum! Class of 2013 here, so don't I remember if IT was advertising an Eduroam SSID back then, but the standard issued corporate HP laptops had decent Linux support, or at least someone in the class cohort would find and disseminate a workaround by the time the next LTS kennel rolled around.

Definitely agree on seeking out a local LUG on campus. As originally an EE while at RHIT, I didn't know about LUGs until I continued on to grad school for CS at GT, which had a very active LUG with invited guest speakers and even senior student led lectures.

Looks like the hosting for lugatgt.org is now down, hope they're still going, or perhaps merged with ALE of Atlanta.

https://vtluug.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_and_Unix_Users_Groups

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ruffsl @programming.dev 3mo ago

The article veers off about Flox, but I'm unsure what Flox adds over stock Nix?

ruffsl @programming.dev 3mo ago

I never want to go back to an OS I can't diff or track under revision control. I just love being able to solve an issue once and move on without worrying about if I'll forget all the minutiae of changes I made to my customized system when it eventually comes to migrating workstations or replicating across my computers.

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ruffsl @programming.dev 3mo ago

Congrats on solving your issue, and thanks for updated the post with the solution! It's really slick how NixOS makes adding a kernel patch to your config no more complex than it would take patching any dot file. Hope the up streaming of your device info goes smoothly.

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ruffsl @programming.dev 3mo ago

Encountered an odd Bluetooth issue last week with a motherboard that had a combined Bluetooth and Wi-Fi radio chip set. Wi-Fi worked, but the Bluetooth hardware wasn't even detected. This was after migrating from a Windows install with known working Bluetooth drivers on the same motherboard.

Found a solved thread for the same motherboard SKU where power cycling after disconnecting the desktop power supply from AC for 30 sec resolved it. Didn't believe it, but tried it anyway and it worked. Guessing the Windows driver must have put the Bluetooth transceiver in a funny state that the mainline Linux kernel couldn't recover, but resting the chipset with a through power cycle with internal voltage supplies zeroed made the difference in re-initializing the hardware.

Just a wild suggestion...

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ruffsl @programming.dev 4mo ago

This is cool! Still reading over the wiki yet, but do you know what they term multiplexing controllers as? I'd like to learn how they implement the same controller assist functionality for merging simultaneous inputs for the same axis.

There's very little documentation on how the property game consoles implement this accessibility feature, and I'd love to learn how others have implemented the signal mixing logic from a multi user input perspective.

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ruffsl @programming.dev 4mo ago

Admittedly, it's pretty niche software. But for those who grew up using equivalents on gaming consoles such as Xbox or PlayStation, it was (still is) a pivotal accessibility feature.

And it's not necessarily only for those with physical disabilities or reflexive motor skill issues. Sometimes you'd like to introduce a really good story based game to a novice player that you know just doesn't have (yet or never) the coordination or muscle memory to complete it.

My grandparents never grew up playing videogames, and some of my nieces and nephews in the family are too young to grasp complex game mechanics. However, all of them really enjoyed playing with a control assist, where they could take the initiative in gameplay, like choosing dialogue options, steering saddled horses, flying broomsticks, exploring the world at their discretion, and I could just coast along in the backseat, fixing their camera angles, steering them back on course when lost, rescuing them in high stake combat encounters, etc.

In some ways, you could think about it as co-oping for single player games, but because it's per controller, you can do the same thing for multiplayer games as well. Like to help level the age gap in PvP games with your older sister versus your younger brother.

Before we ever played with control assist, I tried the classic method of tossing around the one controller like a hot potato, but it's just not the same in a number of ways. For one, having to relinquish a single controller really breaks immersion, as your suddenly fumbling about between living room chairs only your game characters on death's door from an unexpected boss encounter. It also deprives them of that haptics, where they can learn more easily attack patterns or UX interaction that conventionally telegraph via force feedback.

There is perhaps some functionality for solo players as well, such as splitting hand control across multiple gamepads. Like if your hands/arms were of different sizes, or you wanted to play other than with the controller on your lap, you could just easily dual wield controllers mux together the left and right sides-in-reach, or mux a regular handheld gamepad with something more like a Xbox Adaptive Controller for when dexterity or convenience demands.

Although, I think the majority of folks will find the assist co-op scenario for single player games the most appealing aspect. As others have replied on prior release posts, like parents helping their kids through their first playthrough ever, it's really an underrated feature for game consoles, and bringing that to gaming on Linux was really appreciated.

ruffsl @programming.dev 4mo ago

Thank you for all the efforts the admins put into maintaining this place!

ruffsl @programming.dev 4mo ago

oh, my hand typing was atrocious, that's what I get for not voice dictating with my regular assistive tech.

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ruffsl @programming.dev 4mo ago

Indeed it's just a placeholder logo until a real human artist would like to contribute, as I'm no talented graphics designer myself. I still think it serves a purpose to quickly and visually illustrate what the project does, as all of the key words and terminology used by similar efforts never reached a consensus or becoming a household names.

Xbox initially called this Copilot (lol, on brand), Apple calls this buddy mode, PlayStation just filled it under Access™, so something to link words to an intuition is better than nothing at the moment. If you have any suggested SEO for folks to find this is that's what their looking for, let me know. I've been in the trench for too long to know less technical jargon folks would use.

I'm also already transparent in using AI for rubber duck sessions in the public pull requests, so anyone agents AI would already probably object to its origins.

ruffsl @programming.dev 4mo ago

I'm no graphic artist, and with my disabilities it certainly would have taken me much longer to type out the same docs. Also, emojiis is what I grew up with back when AOL chat and sms char limits where the norm. LLMs have been a boon for assistive technology users, but admittedly a crux for those who less experience in computer science; though not much different from any double edge sword.

https://programming.dev/post/42735619/21165601

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ruffsl @programming.dev 4mo ago

Full disclosure AI is used, but I keep all transparent. You can read through GitHub PR reviews I use Copilot to rubber duck with, and committed the No Banana prompt for the banner logo in case folks where curious. I've a disability that impairs my typing, partly the motivation behind developing this projects, so I also use LLM to grammatically correct and format my voice dictated commits and tickets.