Today Cameron mentioned his old laptop. It was apparently severely computationally insufficient. I suggested that he install Linux, and he asked about Arch. I was horrified!
I’ll give a longer explanation now. Why do we work out? Yes, physically, why do we want healthier, stronger bodies? Some respond that “it improves my confidence”, “it makes me feel healthy”, sometimes “it helps me fight demons”. You wouldn’t believe it from looking at my skinny body, but I’m into working out as well.
I can relate to those reports. You can generalize any reason for working out into the observation that I made. “I am changing the interface between myself and the world”. Isn’t that why body image is so important? Indeed, you can only experience the world through your body. There is no other way to experience, at all. Without a body, unless you believe in consciousness after death, there is no experiential, no phenomenon at all. In many ways, you are your interface with the world!
I hope I haven’t lost your attention by now. By working out, we take control of our lives by controlling and improving our interfaces with the world. Now we consider Arch Linux. Every package, every software you install, every configuration, every daemon you enable, is an architecture decision that you live with for the remaining tenure of your computer - indeed, the remaining tenure of your interface with the world. Again, in many ways, you are your interface with the world! For people like me, such a thing is an exercise in taking control over our selves. My digital body is something trained over years, with plenty of injuries and muscle. This is the interface with the world that I proudly cultivate. If you plan to interface with the digital for a long time, consider taking control of that interface. Companies are very happy to sell you worse interfaces for more money.
As I said before, it takes a certain kind of person to even consider bearing such a cross. From what I’ve seen, it’s the people with nowhere else to go, who make the digital their world, who can. When one lives completely digitally, of course they can consider Arch. Did you know that the Arch Linux community is associated with shut-ins, queers, and autists. Yes, like me! Do you think shut-ins, queers, and autists use Arch because there’s some trait of Arch Linux that appeals to shut-ins, queers, and autists in particular? Where do you think we go? Where do we go, my god, I think of the people I’ve lost and I weep! We retreat to the mind and extend it through the screen, we are chased out of the third dimension and satisfy ourselves with two. I tell you, nobody who has a choice seriously uses Arch Linux.
I haven’t met any serious Arch user who doesn’t fulfill at minimum two of the criterion. Horrible things happened to us.
Cameron studies hard, he’s got decent grades, he’s a great contributor to our organization, he’s a really friendly person, he’s emotionally mature, and he climbs rocks. He’s got people to talk to. By this description, can’t I claim, that this is the zenith of virtue in a real-world engineering student, already? Isn’t this someone who can freely interface with the world as he wishes?
In any case, there is nobody who has nothing wrong with them, who wants to use Arch. I told him right off. I hope he’s alright.