Of course, shit-for-neighbors can make all kinds of trouble out of anything. I was thinking more along the lines of MIT free nuts, take 'em, eat 'em, sell 'em, just don’t sue me over 'em. As opposed to GPL “free nuts,” must be consumed on the property. If you take a dump while you’re here be sure to bury it at least 3" deep along with any TP used. Bring your own privacy screening.

In the corporate world, they have a lot to lose. So, they have lawyers - expensive lawyers - who, in theory, protect them from expensive lawsuits. One of the easiest ways to stay out of lawsuits over GPL and friends is to not use GPL software, so… that’s why it’s radioactive. Just having the parasitic lawyers review possible exposure is hellishly expensive, better to re-develop in-house than pay lawyers or even begin to think about the implications of entering into an agreement with a bunch of radical FOSS types.

It sucks, but it’s also how it is. Some corporations (like Intel) do heavily support and contribute to FOSS, when they feel like it.

GPL has certainly failed time and time again, openly in the case of FFmpeg and their clones all over Eastern Europe and elsewhere. FFmpeg made a lot of noise and resorted to “public shaming” mostly because the courts weren’t working for them. And they have a very visible product… so many GPL licensed things are lurking inside proprietary products where they’ll never be seen.

It’s like putting a license on COVID to prevent it from spreading… it just doesn’t work in the real world.

The point of all of this is that you really should, no matter what it is.

That’s like saying: I have a pecan orchard, I like my trees and I don’t mind if people collect the nuts as they walk by. Oh, but the point is: you really should, those are your nuts, you pay the taxes on the land, you care for the trees, YOU should be the one to sell them, not give them away to some randos passing by.

Yeah, sure. You do you.

without my consent or their assuredly begrudging reciprocation. This should not be controversial. The GPL accomplishes this

In legal theory. In corporate practice, MIT and similar “pushover” licensed software, especially FOSS libraries, is more readily adopted by corporate users - and through this adoption it is exercised, tested, bug reported - sometimes the corporate trolls even crawl out from under their rocks and publish bug fixes and extensions for it. By comparison, GPL stuff is radioactive, therefore less used.

Then we can talk about how successful you are likely to be in enforcing GPT on any large entity, particularly those in foreign countries.

I’m just wondering about basic functionality - can it play through without a crash or is it still Windows only for a smooth UX?

But, what’s the user experience playing the MYST humble bundle on it?

Windows 10 is the last Microsoft operating system you will ever need.

https://www.theverge.com/2015/5/7/8568473/windows-10-last-version-of-windows

Ironically? it lasted 10 years. I wonder if 11 will last 11 years? Back in the 95/98 era it seemed like each subsequent version of a MS OS (major updates of 95, 98, 98SE, ME) seemed to be lasting about 0.95 to 0.98 years each.

use AI. Get a few lines of logs with the errors, check them for confidential information, and simply paste the suspect lines into chatgpt, gemini, claude, co-pilot, whatever

concur. I used to put smaller snippets of the logs into Google search to hopefully bring up pages from fellow sufferers of the same malaise; that usually worked, but AI is doing it better - now.

I don’t know if they’re really making them that cheap or this is some overstock / loss leader situation, but a lot of simple electronics are priced like that.

You may have misunderstood - I got all four of the devices for a total cost of $15 including taxes and shipping (I think they were $2.99 each, including USB-C port rechargable batteries.) Direct from China prices aren’t always that good, but for some stuff they become mind-bogglingly cheap.

My kids are occasionally rough on their bedroom “remote” keyboard with touchpad. I got a stack of 4 of them from AliExpress for under $15 including shipping (same thing from Amazon sells for $20 each, still not too bad but why pay extra?) Of course, now that I have the stack of spares, the first one has lasted over a year…

a compatible remote controller.

I use VNC on my phone… it’s not as “clickable” as a traditional remote, but then I hate that form of TV browsing anyway. That’s one of the strengths of using a real PC: more direct and powerful search capabilities. We have a couple of others setup (Family room, one bedroom) which use touchpad keyboards as remotes.

For screen sizes over about 42", yes - there are few “dumb” options. Basically, you end up in the computer monitor market and you end up paying 2x-3x for the same screen performance. I spent a weekend in a rental home with a “Smart” TV just now, it confirmed for me I’m glad I spent the 3x to have a “dumb” monitor with a PC attached. For one thing, the remote controls now do voice recognition, and they were suggesting YouTube videos related to the conversation in the room - without having activated the microphone button.

They do draw more power than a Pi-5 even, but they are still practical in fanless mode and interfaces are significantly smoother and quicker. Of course, if all you care about is the streaming video you can get a PiZero to do that for you.

I love Raspberry Pis, I have about 6 of them running around the house right now, but for TV work I prefer a beefier computer like the newer N100/N150 fanless models.

Answer: get a “dumb TV” (or more cheaply: a SmartTV you don’t grant internet access) and tape a fanless N100 PC to the back. They’re far more capable and responsive than the cheapo processors that come in a SmartTV and just as silent. They’re going for well under $200 these days, and run Linux very well.