@mattdm@hachyderm.io cover
@mattdm@hachyderm.io avatar

mattdm

@[email protected]

Distinguished Engineer and Manager at Red Hat. Linux distro and free and open source software thought follower. Former Fedora Project Leader.

Open source means we are building better software that belongs to everyone — including you.

he/him

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@mattdm@hachyderm.io avatar mattdm , to random
@sortius@infosec.exchange avatar sortius , to random

Not plugging a company, but giving my honest experience with Crumpler.

I've owned a Crumpler Mild Enthusiast for about 13 years, it's been through thick and thin, held multiple different cameras, lenses, gaming consoles, etc. I've loved it to death. The seams were starting to fail, and finally, the zipper started to fail a few weeks ago.

I knew it was terminal, but just ignored it until I had "time". Well, it made time, the zipper broke at Pride Party. Luckily it wasn't while I was out, just at a regular home pit stop.

I took it in to the "bag spa" they have in town, it used to be just down on Gertrude, but they moved.

The girl immediately said "yeh, we can fix all that, and it'll be under warranty".

Lesson, get a well made bag from a company that respects its customers and you'll never need another

mattdm ,
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@sortius @joannaholman

I had one a decade ago. Liked it, but it was itself approximately as heavy as all my daily photography gear.

@mattdm@hachyderm.io avatar mattdm , to random
A wall mural at MIT World Peace University in Pune, with a timeline of operating system developments. It's all pretty arbitrary, but in the 2020s block, we have: Mac Os / Big Sur Windows 11 / Macintosh OS Linux Kernel 6.x / (Microsoft)
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@mattdm@hachyderm.io avatar mattdm , to random
Big purple sign by the side of a street in India. (I'd call it a "busy street", but here that is just "a street".) It says DEVCONF.in and WELCOME.
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@alice@lgbtqia.space avatar alice , to random

Ugh 😩 I met my new doctor today, had my yearly exam, and got three vaccines. Now I feel like shit from the jabs, and lemme tell you...

I'd get them again in a fucking heartbeat, because science and social responsibility fucking rock 🤘

mattdm ,
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@lispi314 @jt_rebelo @alice @BashStKid @benroyce @sezduck

Yeah — I don't think it's innate, but fear is, and that's easily exploited.

@RainofTerra@terra.incognita.net avatar RainofTerra , to random

To the mad genius that decided cats should be seen as devices when you link your Litter Robots to Home Assistant, I salute you 🫡

A screenshot showing Chonk, Moose, and Molly, our cats, as devices in home assistant
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mattdm ,
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@RainofTerra

LOL. I think it was either that or making them People.

@mattblaze@federate.social avatar mattblaze , to random

United Nations Secretariat Building, NYC, 2021

All the pixels, none of the bickering, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/51381729335

A glass curtain mid-century modernist office building, with a plaza and fountain in front.
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mattdm ,
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@astrid@infosec.exchange avatar astrid , to random

A - DNS Record
AA - Battery
AAA - Battery
AAAA - DNS Record

mattdm ,
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@sysop408 @kwayk42

Huh. So 9V batteries are actually batteries!

mattdm ,
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mattdm ,
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@sysop408 @kwayk42

tl;dr The manufacturing process for making layers of things in rolls was already well-established for other things. Now even more so, so there's not any real incentive to retool for something else.

@agnes@pdx.social avatar agnes , to random

Honestly I still don’t know if “social distancing” was all that effective for COVID-19, because droplets from coughs and sneezes definitely travel over 6 feet. Maybe it was a “better than nothing” thing? 🤔 Now there are too many doomer info to sort through which is exhausting so I don’t bother, but I’d still like to know the scientific conclusion after all these years…

mattdm ,
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@agnes

I found this survey which basically concludes that stay at home orders and mass closing probably helped, but that for the rest, we'll never really know, because it's not like you could really do a proper experiment (just observation, with a lot completely out of control).

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10446910/

@mattdm@hachyderm.io avatar mattdm , to random

I am enjoying Starfleet Academy for:

  1. over the top angsty teen drama
  2. futuristic take on Prarie Style decor
  3. just, relentless optimism about people and possiblites
  4. Holly Hunter's complete, absolute inability to sit in a chair like a normal person
@mattdm@hachyderm.io avatar mattdm , (edited ) to random

I literally know Amish people who know more about electric circuits than the HVAC tech currently at my house does.

Status this morning: no heat on the first floor even though the thermostat was calling for it.

Status now: no power to the thermostats on all three floors.

Guy is claiming they are defective.

mattdm OP , (edited )
@mattdm@hachyderm.io avatar

I showed him that there is no power on the circuit that is supposed to provide power. He keeps saying that when he touches all four wire together, that calls for heat, and that this proves the thermostats are defective.

I told him that's because there's power on the red, and when that's closed with the white, that completes that circuit. But that he's broken power on the other one.

He says that it was like that when he got here.

mattdm OP ,
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I said, "Well, I'm not an electrician. I don't know if you are...."

Imagine this said in the tones one might say with "sorcerer" instead of "electrician".

I (heroically, I think) kept my temper and asked if his company had any electricians on staff he could call.

So, okay, an electrician is now on his way.

Fediverse, I am not paying extra for this.

@mattdm@hachyderm.io avatar mattdm , to random
@mattdm@hachyderm.io avatar mattdm , to random

Oh look new All Creatures Great and Small!

@mattdm@hachyderm.io avatar mattdm , to random
Image from a a menu. Top left, a red square with weird diamond pattern and WARNING. To the right in black letters, followed by BEWARE OF THE SAUCE / NASHVILLE HOT IS SPICY! / NO REFUNDS! And then in red YOU'VE BEEN WARNED. Below that, a woodcut of a goat on a little oval of short grass.
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@mattdm@hachyderm.io avatar mattdm , to random

RE: https://hachyderm.io/@mattdm/115854633965583202

Still true this evening fyi

@mattdm@hachyderm.io avatar mattdm , to random

RE: https://hachyderm.io/@mattdm/115817725681359478

The CBC across-Canada countdown is now hands-down my favorite thing to watch on NYE

@mattdm@hachyderm.io avatar mattdm , to random

Happy New Year, Newfoundland!

@mattdm@hachyderm.io avatar mattdm , to random

RE: https://floss.social/@bookwar/115815416997433915

Taking notes with ADHD :)

@mattdm@hachyderm.io avatar mattdm , to random
@mattdm@hachyderm.io avatar mattdm , to random

Confusing conversation happening next to me:

"One of the Marys is actually Jewish."

"Mary-mother-of-God. Mary Magdalene, she's Italian."

"I think one of them is Cuban. One of the ladies."

This is all in a heavy Boston accent.

mattdm OP ,
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@mattdm@hachyderm.io avatar mattdm , (edited ) to random

LOL Google Merchant Center. No, this is not drug paraphernalia

https://magpiekids.com/products/twisty-stix

18+ @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar futurebird , to random

Crystalizing some principles:

  • Durable is more impressive than expensive. There can be a lot of overlap but they aren't the same.

  • Durable items with evidence of their durability (nicely aged) are the most impressive.

  • Trends don't matter but innovation does. A new way to do something can be exciting especially if it solves old problems in a fresh way.

  • This may sound utilitarian but it need not be. There are still many design questions to consider.

mattdm ,
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@futurebird

I agree with you on keeping it if it's in good shape, and also not horrendously ugly.

But also: if you for some reason want a non-wood wood-look floor, LVP (the L stands for "Luxury" in an meta-ironic way) isn't the only or best option. The ceramic wood-look tiles are much nicer.

Or, you know, go with actual hardwood, but that's more expensive and needs maintenance.

mattdm ,
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@futurebird

Sure, but also, it's okay to make your space feel like it's yours. You shouldn't have to live with someone else's taste just because it's been there some few years.

@mattdm@hachyderm.io avatar mattdm , to random

Whenever D'Arcy Carden is in anything, I can't help but note if she is a Good Janet or a Bad Janet. (In Loot, she is definitely a Bad Janet.)

mattdm OP ,
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@doctormo

I don't understand what you are saying.

mattdm OP ,
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Do you mean "Neutral Janet"? I don't think that's right.

@mayintoronto@beige.party avatar mayintoronto , to random

Poll poll

mattdm , (edited )
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@mattdm@hachyderm.io avatar mattdm , to random

My brother: You would think there would be at least one Marvel-themed jam band called Infinity Tones.

@NorcalGma2@sfba.social avatar NorcalGma2 , to random

I decided to take all of the vegetables that our refrigerator hasn't frozen yet and make them into a vegetable beef soup for dinner. Paired with crusty sourdough bread spread with salted butter.
It doesn't look fancy but after three hours on the stove with me tossing in a little of this and a little of that it is a hearty and comforting dinner.
Since, I don't know how to make soup in any quantity other than a full stock pot we will be giving two thirds away.
My husband is a picky eater and since he loves it I figure it tastes better than it looks and is palatable enough to share.

A white bowl full of vegetable beef soup.
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mattdm ,
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@NorcalGma2

Giving it away is awesome, but I know because my grandma made something similar: you can pressure-can that and it'll last perfectly well for a year or more.

@zhenech@chaos.social avatar zhenech , to random

"This packaging is 100% made from sugarcane paper, which is a waste material from sugarcane production"

Okay, cool, and what does that mean? Do I throw it into paper recycling? Compost? Regular waste?

mattdm ,
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@zhenech

Compostable.

@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar futurebird , to random

Do you have a TV in your home?

That is a large screen on a shelf, table or wall for watching videos and movies not a computer monitor.

(A screen with a keyboard in front of it that you sit at is not a "TV")

mattdm , (edited )
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@futurebird

I have one plus https://tablotv.com/ specifically to watch Jeopardy. Occasionally other things but mostly that. (Streaming for other stuff.)

As a bonus, the DVR setup made it easy to put the antenna in the attic without running coax. And also, we're grandfathered in to their commercial-auto-skip system (which they weirdly stopped offering).

@mattdm@hachyderm.io avatar mattdm , (edited ) to random

Here is a thing I like about the English language (not just in specific but by example):

"The Beeping": uh ok

"The Beepening": oh no

@fedora@fosstodon.org avatar fedora , (edited ) to random

As of Fedora Linux 43, would you make Fedora your go-to recommendation for someone's first Linux distro? Please check the response that most closely fits what you think.

Feel free to share your thoughts in the replies!

mattdm ,
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@sozutovo @fedora

Try Silverblue or Kinoite. Then, the upgrade is just a quick reboot.

@mattdm@hachyderm.io avatar mattdm , to random

lol we put a cheap IKEA desk on the sidewalk and someone took it but left a cheap IKEA desk chair.

@jackwilliambell@rustedneuron.com avatar jackwilliambell , to random

Tomorrow's gonna be a bad day on the US . It ended down today and Asian markets are dropping right now.

> Morning Bid: Pyrotechnics in stocks and US elections. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/global-markets-view-europe-2025-11-05/

> Asian stocks jolted by valuation fears, tech sector hit hard. https://www.reuters.com/world/china/global-markets-global-markets-2025-11-05/

Softbank is down nearly -11% as I type this. And apparently that's a bounce from -14%.

European stocks are joining the selloff in early trading…

mattdm ,
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mattdm ,
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@jackwilliambell

Oh I'm not saying you're wrong.

@liw@toot.liw.fi avatar liw , to random

On this day in 1971 the first version of the Unix Programmer's Manual was published. This included the first ever man pages.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_page

mattdm ,
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@liw

The Wikipedia article makes the extraordinary claim that Unix man pages are the first online (not printed) OS documentation. Surely Old Timer Mastodon can find some earlier examples?

(Certainly the bit about earlier OS documentation being locked in steel binders bolted to a shelf is... not generally true, at least, although if there is a specific story about that directly related to the history of Unix documentation, that'd be cool.)

mattdm ,
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Before Unix (e.g., GCOS), documentation was printed pages, available on the premises to users (staff, students...), organized into steel binders, locked together in one monolithic steel reading rack, bolted to a table or counter, with pages organized for modular information updates, replacement, errata, and addenda. [citation needed]
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  • Reply
    • @mattdm@hachyderm.io avatar mattdm , to random

    Super happy to see another amazing, on-time, high-quality Fedora Linux release — this time, from the back of the room.

    Congratulations everyone!

    https://fedoramagazine.org/announcing-fedora-linux-43/

    @mattdm@hachyderm.io avatar mattdm , to random

    AirBnB deleted my wife's account because there is a woman in Florida with the same name and birthday but also a meth problem and parole violations.

    mattdm OP ,
    @mattdm@hachyderm.io avatar

    Also, when she contested, they sent my wife the full list of the poor woman's run-ins with the law, credit history dings, phone number, current and former addresses, the works.

    US needs a GDPR.

    mattdm OP ,
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    @bexelbie @dneary @hrw

    When I worked at the public library in high school, there was a woman who came in to research (in the periodicals-on-microfilm) her fortune which had been stolen from her by nefarious forces.

    She was, she said, secretly married to Prince Charles.

    She must have detected my skepticism, because she insisted I look her up in the city phone book — which, indeed, had her name followed by "and Prince Charles".

    @foone@digipres.club avatar foone , to random

    as a programmer, I totally understand why I have to restart Inkscape to make it see the font I just installed.

    but as a graphic designer, how dare you ruin my flow like that?

    mattdm ,
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    @foone

    Yeah, totally. There are an infinite number of computers-are-just-a-bunch-of-sentient-sand-in-a-trenchcoat-under-36-layers-of-abstraction problems. Pick the ones you find fun. Or let them pick you.