/cyber/ - Cyberpunk & Science Fiction

>>58291

>how do I stop being just a consumer?

What does consume mean and why is it bad?

consume is only bad if it leads to a pattern of consuming more, while forgetting about the reasons for your consume. If you consume only for consumes sake, you're a consumer. But if you chose to understand something, because you think it is important, how is that bad consume? How are you a consumer?

If you feel like a consumer, maybe you should switch your E-Mail provider, maybe you should delete your Social Media, maybe you shouldn't use your phone for other things than necessary conversation.

Just think about what you want to do with a computer and what you want to prevent meanwhile, that should give you the right direction.

>>58292

>forgetting about the reasons for your consume

Even though I use the computer every day, there's no real self-reflection regarding its use. By this I mean the lack of knowledge regarding its alternative uses. This is what mindless consumption is.

I know that Windows is bad and Linux is better, but I don't know how to get into Linux. All the sources that I've seen recommend watching a few youtube videos and then starting to use it. From the fact that books were written on the subject, it follows that this approach turns you into a monkey. You don't know how one thing is related to another (because this couldn't be properly explained in the videos), you just follow instructions. If I am to install gentooo, I wish to know why should I install it instead of some other distro. Suppose I do install it, now of course I am pressured into finding even more dumbed-down answers since the depth of the problem has increased, but my knowledge of it has not.

I'm not interested in diluted sources that are subject to the bias of their creators. I'm not in it for a ride, instead, I wish to decide for myself whether one thing is appropriate or not.

As such, I ask you to provide me with book recommendations so that I could understand why you believe in what you believe.

Whether they are textbooks or even fiction, I will read them as long as they are valuable

Quoting from 'How To Read a Book':

>On the following pages appears a list of books that it would be worth your while to read. We mean the phrase "worth your while" quite seriously. Although not all of the books listed are "great" in any of the commonly accepted meanings of the term, all of them will reward you for the effort you make to read them. All of these books are over most people's heads sufficiently so, at any rate, to force most readers to stretch their minds to understand and appreciate them. And that, of course, is the kind of book you should seek out if you want to improve your reading skills, and at the same time discover the best that has been thought and said in our literary tradition.

Note, that by this quote I don't expect you to be like Adler and recommend me the greatest writers that have ever lived. All I wish is that you recommend me books that are 'worth my while' as they were worth yours. Because (again quoting from Adler):

>As we have pointed out several times, the primary aim is to read well, not widely.

>>58294

You seem pretty determined for someone who doesn't want to work with IT.

Sticky, third link. ctrl+f and type linux. The whole page is pretty 水 IMHO.

>>58295

Was the first thing I read after discovering this board. It doesn't contain any actual guides. Again, I don't know anything about computer science so can't find what I need if I don't know that I need it (not to mention the fact that I don't even know from what date are books outdated - Gentomeen library is full of older books). For example, I can no longer access 8kun without using mobile data, but nave no idea why. There was a thread about it on 4chin around the time of the Capitol attack, but that would make it associated with U.S., and I live in EU.

>>58299

(1) Determine your objective. DO you require privacy? Do you want to play games? Do you want to learn how to develop your own code? Do you want to hack and learn penetration testing?

(2) After you determine your goals, apply that reasoning to https://distrowatch.com and "shop" for the most idea distro for your needs

(3) Once you determine your desired distro, research the required hardware. What is supported, what isn't. Also think about video and sound card drivers if you really get into the weeds of picking an unpopular/rare distro.

(4) Find an old laptop, raspberrypi, old desktop tower. They are abundant and cheap. You can even find entire rack servers for cheap if you know where to look. Hardware is literally the least of your worries as one man's e-waste is another's project.

(5) You too can into linux. Follow install instructions or prompts and viola. You are cooking with linux. Transitioning and learning an UI may take some time. Mastering CLI over time will not only make your experience more enjoyable, but help you grap an intrinsic understanding of how filesystems and functions work.

Even if you decide to keep simping as a layman.

>>58300

Yes, but I was referring to Computer Science in general.

Few people are honest about this, but getting "good at computers" is an art. And even though linux distros are open source, not all of them are transparent.

Distros like Arch, and Gentoo are custom/semi-custom, so you can start by using one of them distros. The more barebones your setup, the more scripting you can do (and probably should).

This is how I got to where I am, not by doing those silly "okay, manipulate a list this particular way" sort of exercises.

And funny you mention math, it's kind of the same for me. Math vs USING math was a huge eye opener for me. It's like that, kind of. Look, don't mix up the map with the terrain.

>>58291

>how do I stop being just a consumer?

You'll (hopefully) stop mindlessly consuming when you've become a 9-5 wageslave and daddy doesn't provide anymore

In the meantime just have fun man

>>58302

Problem Based Learning is only viable if one posseses some basic knowledge beforehand. I don't, and therefore tips/book recs (a map) are a necessity for me to discover what I'm interested in. Without them, I would waste time repeating mindlessly the mistakes of others. Human race hasn't come to the present point by having every generation reinvent the wheel.

>>58303

I refer to consumption as experiencing something without understanding that thing (OP is expanded upon in >>58294). Mindless consumption refers to the lack of isolation of variables worthy of understanding, and instead simply consuming everything. Opposite of mindless consumption is specialization. Clearly, it's impossible to specialize without possessing basic knowledge regarding the subject. This is what the school is for, especially the advice of teachers, but I have chosen math instead of CS. As such, I have created this thread to serve as a substitute.

>>58304

>>Problem Based Learning is only viable if one posseses some basic knowledge beforehand. I don't, and therefore tips/book recs (a map) are a necessity for me to discover what I'm interested in. Without them, I would waste time repeating mindlessly the mistakes of others. Human race hasn't come to the present point by having every generation reinvent the wheel.

Oh good, so you're interested in the basics. What is basic is irreducible. I don't know what else to tell you; watch vids on the file system. Learn how to use man. Hell, copy other people until you can tweak their methods to your own use. Soon, you'll be doing it yourself.

So yeah, file system and man pages. File system is the terrain, man is kind of like a compass I guess.

You seem to have a "learning disability", btw. That's a good thing, just persist and you'll go further than most everyone else. You have to let yourself make mistakes though. If you need to, use a virtual machine so you can 'break' things without risk. You'll definitely learn then.

>>58305

I consider reading (doing what the author intended you to do by writing) to be the ultimate kind of learning. You sound like a person who studied CS at the university. Would you provide me with the names of the books that allowed you to acquire the knowledge that you speak of? Any other books that would help me

> to discover what I'm interested in

would be much appreciated as well.

>>58307

I didn't study cs at a university. I stumbled upon linux when I bought a single board computer thinking it was a microcontroller, as I was into electronics at that time as a hobby.

Watch youtubers famous for this stuff. Luke Smith, Mental Outlaw, Distrotube, etc. Learn how to use man, and then learn about the file system.

Learn HOW TO USE man.

Learn ABOUT the file system.

Learn ABOUT and HOW TO USE the command line.

Learn HOW TO script.

Use a distro like Arch or Gentoo. Likely Arch first.