ABC05 – Spring cleaning (tech edition)
Post #5 of my homebrew April blogging challenge. Words: approximately 520.
It's April and springtime and yet it's still snowing where I live. I don't observe Easter, so the long weekend is time for resting and tidying. Since I've been diligent in keeping my physical space decluttered, I'm focused on cleaning up my digital home, namely across my devices.
It's like a checkpoint to I ensure I've the latest firmware and software installed (e.g., Bluetooth speakers). It's when I consider resetting some devices to their factory settings to clear away cruft and work with a blank slate (e.g., e-reader). It's when I entertain re-installing a Linux distribution to get me by for the next while. On the last point, I'm reminded of how much I've learned over my Linux journey, and how much I appreciate open source software.
Tangent: I have a desktop tower with Windows 11 installed. I turn it on every few months (because there are certain apps that work only on Windows, and my main devices only have Linux—specifically Debian—installed). When I ran Windows Update last night, it took two hours to download and install the updates. As I've grown used to apt and how Debian tends to security updates instead of feature upgrades, those two hours were painful.
I'm not distro-hopping here. I'll be clearing away Debian 12 (oldstable) on my current daily driver and installing Debian 13 (stable). Yes, I could run an in-place upgrade, but I rather enjoy the process of setting up shop from the system defaults. As I improve my understanding of Linux and my use case for it (not that it's complicated), I develop a better sense of what I want to do and how to do it.
That said, my past exploration was adventurous but haphazard. I didn't take notes. This time around, I'm thinking it would be prudent to document how I interact with a fresh install, like I imagine system administrators do so that they are more efficient and effective in maintaining production. I don't expect anything elaborate, but even recording my choices for customization/configuration would be an interesting exercise. Not because I feel it necessary to replicate each time I start fresh (e.g., I like changing up my system fonts), but so I have a basis for (re)consideration as I use my systems over time.
I suppose it's a way to generate some sense of control these days. Despite not being a power user, I want to know the tools I use.
Meanwhile, I'm jamming out to some old (to me) and new (to me) music: ABBA, Bob Marley, Bob Seger, Cheap Trick, Joni Mitchell, Journey, Led Zeppelin, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, Nick Gilder, Queen, Steve Perry, and Whitesnake.
They represent a few different genres, and I'm exploring them by way of "greatest hits" compilations, or else the albums that their fans highly praise. I'm not entirely sure why I suddenly have an interest in music from the 60s to the 90s, but I'm excited to indulge. With epic orchestra and shoegaze being two of my favourite genres, I rarely listen to music for the lyrics. Listening to the aforementioned is a way to practice something different.