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Using Windows after 15 years on Linux

Wed 6th April, 2022
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12 min read, 2797 words.

Category: tech

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I’ve been using Linux exclusively for ~15 yrs. I’ve recently started a fantastic new job – the only wrinkle was that it came with a Windows 10 laptop. This is my first time using Windows after a 15-year break. This is how it’s been going.

First Impressions

Windows is such a mess! It’s sort of shocking how much of a mess it is. Desktop Linux is often criticized for this, but Windows is much worse, somehow! It’s really inconsistent. Half of it is “new” UI and half of it is old Win32/GDI type UI - just as bad as KDE/GTK - except worse, because you can’t configure them to use the same theme. Also, when you install a Linux distribution, it’ll start off either all KDE or all GTK, or whatever - but with Windows …

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Windows PowerShell aliases can’t have parameters, you need to write a function.

Sat 5th March, 2022
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1 min read, 163 words.

updated Wed 30th March, 2022

Windows PowerShell does support aliases, but doesn't support commands with parameters in aliases - you have to create a function

Using UDF as an improved filesystem for USB Flash Drives

Mon 13th May, 2013
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4 min read, 781 words.

updated Fri 12th March, 2021

Category: tech

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Ever tried to copy something onto a USB flash drive, only to discover that the file was too big to copy?

This is because most USB Flash drives are formatted using the FAT32[1] filesystem - which only supports individual files up to 4 GB in size, no matter how much free space you’ve got. It also only supports drives up to 2 TB, can’t store symbolic links, can’t store files with these characters in the name: "*/:<>?\| – and is generally pretty crappy.

The solution is to use a better filesystem

There are many filesystems to choose from - but there are a few criteria that a good USB flash drive filesystem needs to meet which cut down the choices quite a bit:

  • Compatible with every computer - just plug it in, and it should work
  • Has no permissions, or optional …
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