How about this weather?
Don’t underestimate small talk. It lets people take their wall down.
what do you think about climate change
What distro are you running as your daily driver?
And why is it arch?
Fedora 39, and it runs beautifully on my gaming laptop. I’m pondering trying out the COSMIC DE for kicks, but I’m also liking GNOME 45.
This question is like catnip for Linux users, we just can’t help it.
Ok after 5months here I have to ask, what the fuck is a distro?
It has to do with Linux.
Linux itself is not a fully fledged operating system as most people would expect it. Since Linux has to work on servers and microchips as well as on desktop PCs, lots of stuff is not shipped with it.
For example Linux is missing a way to display windows and has no real package manager.
A distro (or distribution) is a predefined set of of software, that makes it easier for a user to use Linux.
This is mostly a window manager or desktop environment like KDE or GNOME, a package manager like apt or pacman and useful software like an office suite, a browser and other stuff.
Distros also exist for servers, the ln they don’t include a way to display images, but still have a package manager and other useful stuff preinstalled.
That’s of course not all, but maybe gives you a little overview.
Much, much, much shorter answer:
It’s the equivalent to an operating system, like Windows.
That’s a great summary and completely explains it, thanks bud.
And I presume Arch is one of the more (if not the most) popular distro for PCs? Just because I see it referenced all the time
You sound the coolest if you say you use Arch btw (this is a meme now).
Arch is most memy distro out there besides Hanna Montana Linux. It became that way because Arch is super hard to maintain in working condition and became a status symbol to use it in some circles. Now there are couple layers of irony vowen into this meme and I am not quite sure where we are right now.I just checked steam hardware survey and now I am not sure. SteamOS is most popular due to Steam Deck, and with arch and ubuntu right behind.
Still whats popular is not always the best for starting out.
For begginers I would recommend Linux Mint. If you don’t like the start menu or file menager ask in one of linux communities, they would be happy to help.
Appreciate the info thanks mate, I’m not really interested in using it tbh, I was just curious.
My PC gets used to play trackmania during boring meetings at work and not a lot else these days. Simple and easy with next to no thought or maintenance is what I’m after so windows is fine for me.
There are a lot of big ones like Ubuntu, Mint, Debian, Fedora or Arch. Arch is for users with a little more experience. But funnily enough Arch has like child-distributions, that build upon its core. Ubuntu is also a ‘child’ of Debian an Mint builds onto Ubuntu.
It’s kind of like three or four big families, that had lots of children. 😂
(and then there are NixOS, OpenSuse and lots of others, which I forgot)
I heartily commend you for asking, and was happy to see you get a good response.
“What is the most common distro” is not straightforward to shat because of the breadth of users. Arch is one of the more… esoteric… distributions, it will allow you very, very fine grained control of everything - but it also requires you to be able to make those choices. At the other end of the scale we might find Ubuntu and Mint which are far less customizable* but “just work” out of the box and, as such, are obvious choices for users new to Linux or unwilling to invest in “tinkering”.
Really, the freedom of choice is overwhelming to many newcomers, and at the same time the strength of the whole system.
*Any distro is very customizable. You can make nearly the same changes to Ubuntu and Arch, it’s just that Ubuntu is not designed to make that easy for you.
Seen any good movies or shows lately?
“Who are you and how did you get into my house?”
deleted by creator
I’m a locksmith, and, I’m a locksmith.
“What’s your favourite dinosaur?”
“What is rimming?”
My go to is “how was your weekend?” Hopefully they’ll drop enough information that you can turn it into a conversation.
It usually ends in awkward silence. 🤐
I kind of hate when people ask my things like that because I often had a fun weekend but now can’t remember what all I did so I have to stop and remember for a while before answering, so I usually just say it was nice and hope they don’t ask for more details.
I kind of hate when people ask my things like that because I often had a fun weekend
I hate it for exactly the opposite reason - I seldom go anywhere or do anything interesting the weekend.
Eh. Yeah. I don’t usually have a lot in common with people, so I try to find some common ground that can start a conversation. I’m not very good at noticing what people like/do, so this gets a conversation moving.
I also forget my weekends. Which turns into a topic of conversation too. 😬
You: "How was your weekend?“ Them: glares at you in silence
I hate when people ask me this because either it makes me think about how I didn’t get to what I wanted on the weekend, or how I was depressed over the weekend… On a good day the problem is that I mostly like to keep my hobbies and personal life to myself. I guess I’m probably hard to get to know 😅.
I know what you mean.
I started doing it because I noticed that I felt lonely at work, so I put an effort into small talk and making myself a bit more available. Part of that involved being more open about my hobbies and free time. It was worth it for me.
I had an acquaintance that started following hockey solely so she would have a conversation starter. I don’t have that kind of commitment, so I just do the weekend thing.
Do you like getting your asshole licked by a fat man in an overcoat?
Who’s asking?
Yeah who is asking ?
Something that’ll lead to fairly flippant, casual, low-stakes chit chat about completely unimportant bullshit. People like getting a chance to get a sort of baseline reading of you, so talk about flippant, dumb, unimportant things for a little bit. Preferably ones that they are 100% certain to have recently experienced themselves, so it can go back and forth smoothly.
Given the diversity of humanity, this is a fairly short list. Weather, food, free time hobbies, etc. If they’re like a student, or work in a particular industry, that opens up a lot of options. But for a stranger? Just got a few to pick from. So, just pick one.
They call it “small talk” for a reason though. The real purpose of the talk has absolutely nothing to do with the actual subject of the discussion.
The real purpose of the talk has absolutely nothing to do with the actual subject of the discussion.
That makes it really confusing. What’s a good question, then? Ask about the weather?
Honestly? The weakness of the standard small talk topics is how common and banal they are, which bores people. I recommend them because they’re so easy, and the cost of boring people for a few minutes is fairly small.
But it’s not ideal. For ideal you need something flippant, unimportant but also novel. Since novelty is now valued though, that means you can’t be using the same thing over and over. Other people will probably have used it too, if it works, and that means its not novel.
So, the actual best ice-breaker topic? Some clever, interesting or amusing observation about something in your immediate environment that you can both look at. That adds thinking on your feet to the mix though, so is more of an intermediate level of social skill. Best to have the boring fundamentals nailed down first.
So, yeah, I’m perfectly comfortable leaning on something as dull as the weather. And it makes decent enough practice at chit chatting. But eventually picking more novel subjects that also fit the requirements is better.
The actual question would usually go something like “Hey, did you see that?”
Who are you?
Tell me, who is this Encarnacion?
Who who, who, who
Tell me who are youuuu
The most stupidly obvious question: “please tell me as much as you can about yourself”
Who are you?
What are you doing in my bathroom?
Have you ever danced with the Devil by the pale moonlight?
I ask that of all my prey, I like the sound of it.
Have you ever fallen into a tank of toxic chemical waste?
I haven’t, but I’ve always wanted to. Do you recommend any favorite spots?
Crossroads at midnight when the moon is full.
