• 4 Posts
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Joined 11 months ago
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Cake day: April 18th, 2025

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  • As far as Arch-based distros go, CachyOS has a lot of helper tools included, and a lot of GUI programs. That’s probably why people consider it beginner-friendly.

    I wouldn’t really consider CachyOS as a beginner distro. It’s probably the most accessible for anyone looking for something highly optimized, but there are plenty of others that are easier to set up and use.

    Been daily driving Cachy for a couple years now, and I love it. It’s not for everyone, though.








  • Technically, but the algorithm consists of which communities you’re viewing and what order you sort posts. Generally when people talk about an “algorithm” in social media, they mean an opaque self-tuning selection process based on your usage patterns (and whoever is paying them the most). And Lemmy doesn’t have any of that.

    If you’re selecting sort-by-new and you’re noticing problems with getting old posts mixed in, that would be a problem. But seeing the same posts when you’re viewing the same communities and sorting the same way isn’t a problem, it’s showing you what you asked for. Why blame the “algorithm”?




  • No problem! I love chatting about this stuff, questions are always welcome!

    Not sure what online retailers are available or what you have access to in Vemezuela, but something like this starter kit would be ideal. But anything you can get your hands on can be fun.

    In general, you need:

    • a microcontroller
    • a way to program it
    • hardware to control and usually some sort of input or sensor

    Even if you can’t find a starter kit, finding a USB UART interface lets you hack into all sorts of devices (did that to reprogram a router a while back), as long as you’re handy with a soldering iron. And like another commenter said, hardware emulators would let you get started writing and running code if you can’t get hardware right away.

    Hope it’s fun! Feel free to DM with questions if you’d like.


  • You’re looking for what’s called Embedded Programming, which is that low-level stuff where the software you create makes things happen in real life outside of just a computer screen. There are lots of hobby beginner kits that come with things like motors, lights, etc. That’s probably your best bet for actually getting some hands-on experience.

    If you want something a little higher-level, go for something like a Raspberry Pi (a Single Board Computer or SBC). On these, you’ll have a full-fledged Linux kernel and operating system, but still have ways of interacting with hardware like lights and such. If you want to get lower level, try Arduino or something based on ESP32 (the key word here is microcontroller). On these, you’ll either use a smaller OS or go “bare-metal”. Though note that Raspberry Pi makes things at this level as well (their “Pico” line).

    For making that connection between computer theory and programming, I recommend experimenting with microcontrollers. You can even do some projects in assembly and understand what all the key registers are doing. I started on PIC micros, which was a great beginner thing. Not sure if they’re still around.

    If you want recommendations on a starter kit, let me know your budget and what country you’re in, and I can send some suggestions.

    Source: embedded programming for 20+ years.






  • why not just skip the middleman

    Because many people take for granted their advanced understanding of Unix systems that allows them to get into the “meat”.

    If you’re the type of person that is excited by a terminal display and prepared to read a whole pile of documentation, then sure–go straight to Arch, or Alpine if you’re insane. But most people want something that’s familiar, easy to set up, and will never force you to open a terminal. That’s Mint (plus a number of other beginner-friendly distros). And most average people are perfectly happy to stay there. And that’s perfectly fine.