\@writefile{toc}{\contentsline{subsection}{\numberline{2.3.1}Where does the Unix Principle actually apply in real life?}{15}{subsection.2.3.1}\protected@file@percent }
\@writefile{toc}{\contentsline{subsection}{\numberline{2.3.2}Where else does the Unix Principle \textit{not} apply that it probably should in real life?}{17}{subsection.2.3.2}\protected@file@percent }
\@writefile{toc}{\contentsline{subsection}{\numberline{2.3.3}Where does the Unix Principle not apply in real life and this is actually a good thing?}{17}{subsection.2.3.3}\protected@file@percent }
\@writefile{toc}{\contentsline{chapter}{\numberline{3}What Are All Those Files in the Linux Root?}{18}{chapter.3}\protected@file@percent }
\@writefile{toc}{\contentsline{subsection}{\numberline{2.3.3}Where does the Unix Principle not apply in real life and this is actually a good thing?}{19}{subsection.2.3.3}\protected@file@percent }
\@writefile{toc}{\contentsline{chapter}{\numberline{3}What Are All Those Files in the Linux Root?}{20}{chapter.3}\protected@file@percent }
\@writefile{toc}{\contentsline{section}{\numberline{4.1}A Scanner Darkly, but with a workflow}{23}{section.4.1}\protected@file@percent }
\@writefile{toc}{\contentsline{section}{\numberline{4.2}Is This Really a Hack? Or Is It Just a Tip?}{23}{section.4.2}\protected@file@percent }
\@writefile{toc}{\contentsline{section}{\numberline{4.3}What I Learned About \LaTeX\tmspace +\thinmuskip{.1667em} While Creating This Issue}{26}{section.4.3}\protected@file@percent }
\@writefile{toc}{\contentsline{section}{\numberline{4.1}A Scanner Darkly, but with a workflow}{25}{section.4.1}\protected@file@percent }
\@writefile{toc}{\contentsline{section}{\numberline{4.2}Is This Really a Hack? Or Is It Just a Tip?}{25}{section.4.2}\protected@file@percent }
\@writefile{toc}{\contentsline{section}{\numberline{4.3}What I Learned About \LaTeX\tmspace +\thinmuskip{.1667em} While Creating This Issue}{28}{section.4.3}\protected@file@percent }
\contentsline{subsection}{\numberline{2.3.1}Where does the Unix Principle actually apply in real life?}{15}{subsection.2.3.1}%
\contentsline{subsection}{\numberline{2.3.2}Where else does the Unix Principle \textit{not} apply that it probably should in real life?}{17}{subsection.2.3.2}%
\contentsline{subsection}{\numberline{2.3.3}Where does the Unix Principle not apply in real life and this is actually a good thing?}{17}{subsection.2.3.3}%
\contentsline{chapter}{\numberline{3}What Are All Those Files in the Linux Root?}{18}{chapter.3}%
\contentsline{subsection}{\numberline{2.3.3}Where does the Unix Principle not apply in real life and this is actually a good thing?}{19}{subsection.2.3.3}%
\contentsline{chapter}{\numberline{3}What Are All Those Files in the Linux Root?}{20}{chapter.3}%
\title{{\Huge the codex}\\{\footnotesize Life with Linux — A Zine\\Typeset in \LaTeX}}
\date{\begin{small}2021.09.16\end{small}}
@ -284,21 +287,48 @@ I've resisted buying a breadmaker for years, because I actually don't want a dev
This is how every person who drives a jalopy describes their car. But they are missing a much bigger point. They really should describe their car like this:
\medskip
\bigskip
\noindent ``It's not much, but it gets me where I'm going, and more importantly, \textit{it gets me back where I started}.''
\medskip
\bigskip
That is really the only purpose that a car has: to get you from point A to point B and back to point A while doing a reasonable job of protecting you from the elements.
My first car was a 1980 Ford Escort with two doors, a hatchback, an AM radio,\footnote{Although the old couple who had owned it installed some excellent speakers and an FM converter, which was a thing back in the day.} and a four-speed manual transmission. It got me where I was going and back again, and it did it in a very economical manner. There was never anything on the AM radio, and FM reception was spotty, so the only entertainment I had was what was out the window, whatever discussion I had with passengers, and my own mind.
My first car was a 1980 Ford Escort with two doors, a hatchback, an AM radio,\footnote{Although the old couple who had owned it installed some excellent speakers and an FM converter, which was a thing back in the day.} and a four-speed manual transmission. It got me where I was going and back again, and it did it in a very economical manner. There was never anything on the AM radio, and FM reception was spotty, so the only entertainment I had was what was out the window, whatever discussion I had with passengers, and my own mind. I would often take long rides in the country on the weekend in it, and since it did not have any reliable way to entertain me, I actually had to \textit{notice} my surroundings. This was the pre-digital age, so there was no mobile phone in my pocket to stop and take pictures with.\footnote{Or the ultimate monument to vanity, the selfie.} If I wanted pictures, I had to plan ahead and buy film for my 35mm camera.
Out of the cars I've ever owned, that is the one with second fondest memories.\footnote{I could talk about my Chevrolet Corsica, which the most happy, and happiest memories, but that's for another zine.}
Nowadays, the purpose of a car is to get you from point A to point B and not allow you to become bored for even a millisecond. Heaven forbid you should get bored on your morning commute. I don't remember ever becoming bored while driving that old car, even though I'm sure I did. But I had a brain that was trained to entertain itself, so such moments were rare and short-lived enough that I don't recall them ever occurring.
Modern cars include satellite radio, seat warmers, DVD players, bluetooth connectivity (we used to settle for 8-track and cassette features long ago, then switched it up to cd players, but now everybody is just streaming their music), GPS navigation,\footnotemark and a bunch of other stuff that has nothing at all to do with getting us where we are going and everything to do with preventing us from getting bored.
\footnotetext{I have to admit that this is useful, and in the age of climate change, I'm all for anything that reduces the number of wrong turns you can make. But I find it easier to go online and plan this out \textit{before} I get behind the wheel of my car. It's probably safer, too.}
Perhaps the best example (or most egregious example, depending on your viewpoint) of this new philosophy was a commercial a few years back for a \sout{suburban assault vehicle} SUV (sport utility vehicle) which featured a young family driving through what appeared to be a wilderness area of the southwest United States. The landscape was simply stunning, and of course, the kids were in the back, watching a movie on a dvd player. I don't recall what the parents in the front seat were doing, but all I can remember is that they were driving through some of the most beautiful landscape this small planet has to offer, and rather than observing that and being amazed by it, the kids are in their own world in the back seat watching a movie they could watch anywhere, and the parents are in their own world in the front seat, doing their own thing. They could actually make this a wonderful family experience, but no. Why should they inconvenience themselves?
And I know, someone will point out that long car trips are hard on kids, that they don't always find the landscape as beautiful as the adults do. This is all true. But that's no reason to abandon your parental duties. If you can pack a bunch of dvds, you can also encourage your kids to pack up some things of their own choice that they can use to keep themselves entertained. Just because your vehicle enables you to evade your duties as a parent doesn't mean that you should evade your duties as a parent.
Sadly, the irony of owning and being responsible for a car is lost on most Americans. What is your primary reason for owning a car? So you can get to work. And why do you work? So that you can pay rent and make your car payment. And why do you own a car, again? So you can drive to work and spend most of your time away from the place that you are spending so much time at work to be able to rent.
Out of my cars, that is the one with second fondest memories.\footnote{I could talk about my Chevrolet Corsica, which the most happy, and happiest memories, but that's for another zine.}
There is a part of this equation that makes no sense and could—and definitely should—be deleted. But we, as a society, can't figure that out.
\medskip
\noindent\textbf{Microwave ovens}
\noindent\textbf{Microwave ovens} — Microwave ovens have a lot of buttons because people apparently like to press buttons. (Actually, people like the illusion of choice. Only some of us like to feel like we are piloting the starship \textit{Enterprise}.) But really, most people only use microwave ovens to do two things:
\begin{enumerate}
\itemsep-0.20em
\item Heat up leftovers.
\item Heat up frozen burritos.
\end{enumerate}
When I was a kid, we were given a microwave oven as a gift. It included a cookbook that had recipes where you could basically make anything in the microwave oven, and at a fraction of the time. Pies, Sunday dinners, fried rice — you name it, you could make it in the microwave oven.
Alas, I have no idea how a beef roast cooked in the microwave oven tastes. Nor do I want to know.
You'll notice that I left ``thawing out frozen food'' off that list. Have you ever tried to defrost anything in the microwave oven? It's an utter failure, with half of it still being frozen, and the other half being mostly thawed with overcooked inedible bits at the edges, with an odd liquid slowly coagulating on the plate below. No, thank you. The best way to thaw out frozen foods is to plan ahead and throw them in the refrigerator the night before. But in a society which does not encourage us to think—indeed, we are often discouraged from thinking—we are taught to think that defrosting in a microwave is a good alternative.
It is not.
\subsection{Where does the Unix Principle not apply in real life and this is actually a good thing?}
