I Don't Want To Blow Up
As a tech enthusiast, I use Linux, Python, Vim and Git as my go-to tools. I'm a big fan of Bram Moolenaar's plain old Vim from 1991, as it's more future-proof and resistant to obsolescence. Are you looking to learn Vim? I'm encouraging you to do so - just type `wsl --install` in a DOS COM to get started. Vim is a powerful tool and is much more fundamental than the full web stack.
Learn Vim: Unlock the Power of a Text Editor with WSL and Vimtutor
By Michael Levin
Sunday, May 22, 2022
I don’t want to blow up
I’m sad Toys R Us is gone
I get a million views on YouTube
Sometimes when I’m on
But it doesn’t persist
And I throw it away
Cause I’m here for catharsis
And a whole lot of play
The job that I do
Pays so good so this guy
Is just streaming for you
For the pandas and py
A joke from a geek
Can either trigger or trot
You along the right path
For your life. Maybe not
The mind that is open
Is the place we begin
That apple would tell ya
Is a place of great sin
I’m gonna share what I do
For my sisters and brethren
You get Linuxy too
From your Windows 11
You fire up COM
In the past it was DOS
And it’s still really dumb
We’re slashing back like a BOSS
The following words
Are gonna carry y’all
Through a glass-looking wardrobe
wsl —install
Now you wait just a minute
Maybe twenty. Oh shoot!
Tune back here real soon
Cause I gotta reboot
But when we come back
We’ll be in a place where they say
Is so scary and intimidating
That’s to keep you away.
Cause if you learn a few things
Such as ls means list
You’re gonna make a few dings
And get Ellison pissed
You don’t need a sequel
Cause the data’s right here
There’s a whole lot to love
Without VS Code near
Cause the world that you’re leaving
When you pass through those gates
Has the powers believing
Control y’own fates
They know they must let ya
They couldn’t before
But they’re still gonna get ‘cha
By controlling the door
The Terminal window
Is terminal ‘cause
When you download it
Ya make y’own laws
—Mike Levin
And that’s all I have to say about that.
Actually, I have a lot more to say
But a little indoctrination like this is necessary to undo decades of damage caused by the window dressing slapped on substandard systems that are finally, after 30 years, being replaced by something live worthy underneath you can ditch the old stiff for and future proof yourself. Cause the new stuff is really the food old stuff. It didn’t go away then. It’s coming back today. And it’s really where you’ve got to get to right now if you don’t want to keep having the latest full web stack faddy thing pulled out from under you every 2 to 5 years.
Tech Poetry as Performance Art
Linus Torvalds changed the world. Ken Thompson did first. Then Linux did more.
Here are the four tools I use. Use whatever you like, but the FOSS roads are windy twisty ones with a lot of options and paralyzing dead-ends. Here’s one righteous path that has the humble advantages of future-proofing, resisting obsolescence and wrangling disruption to very manageable levels.
- Linux
- Python (Guido van Rossum)
- vim (Bill Joy vi & Bram Moolenaar)
- git (named after Linus)
I also use a screen terminal server to exit screens without stopping jobs. Most people will tell you to use tmux. I use gnu screen which is always there.
- tmux
- GNU screen
The text wars are not over. It’s vi(m) vs. emacs as much today as it ever was. VSCode isn’t even in the wings waiting to be tagged-into the fight because it’s built on du jour full web stack tech. It won’t survive coming platform disruptions. The Web is big but it’s not as big as Terminal.
- vim
- emacs
Even if you choose vi(m), there’s difference. I use plain old vim from Bram Moolenaar that came out in 1991 on the Amiga Computer on Fred Fish 591. It’s the defacto standard, generally replacing the old Bill Joy vi original in most modern popular versions of Linux.
- vim
- NeoVim
If you’re on Windows 11 and want to jump on the Linux bandwagon, open a DOS COM and type:
wsl --install
After that, it will be easy to type:
vim
But you won’t know how to quit. Sorry, but keep at it. It’s one of the handful of the most important decisions you’ll make in your life. I’ll guide you along to super-powers. The overarching direction I’m going with these videos is:
- Keep a journal in vim
- LXD under WSL
- systemd to make Linux services
This is an alternative to the “full web stack” JavaScript NodeJS direction everyone else is going to lead you. Poof, what do you need? Poof, what do you need? I am not a genie. WebDev is stupid. Get out of that tiny little living space. Learn the context that even the webservers must be run from. Learn how to write and schedule Linux Services. It’s much more fundamental, powerful and applicable across a larger problem domain and lifetime.
Systemd is much maligned. It’s still the best thing going for this sort of thing. The init.d system that came before it, which is still alive on Gentoo and Arch Linux, requires you to become a Unix bash shell wizard. This is valid, but go with the flow. Get the 80/20-rule advantage. Sometimes the mainstream is right.
We will run Linux system services in a way that makes them utterly understandable and almost as much fun (to me) as WebDev.
We will make them understandable by still looking at their terminal output (gnu screen).
Lots of things try to “keep you” from learning vim, including the git default configuration which sends you to alternatives. Alternative Terminal-based Unix/Linux text editors that will try to block you from learning vim include:
- sun text editor
- pico (Unix)
- nano (Linux)
Don’t give in. Open a terminal and type:
vimtutor