Finished what have I installed section

002/codex-002.tex

@@ -554,6 +554,14 @@ ghostscript/jammy,now 9.55.0~dfsg1-0ubuntu5 amd64 [installed,
 automatic]
 \end{verbatim}
 
+\noindent \texttt{apt} also has a related command, called \texttt{apt-mark}:
+
+\begin{verbatim}
+$ apt-mark showmanual
+\end{verbatim}
+
+Even though I've chosen the ``showmanual'' option, it \textit{still} shows a lot of software packages that I \textit{techically} installed myself when I upgrade my system software. 
+
 \section{dpkg}
 
 If you want something a bit more tabular, you can always run 
@@ -606,13 +614,29 @@ $flatpak list
 
 The real problem with all of these approaches is that none of them do a very good job of telling what you actually want to know: which software packages did \textit{I} deliberately install?
 
-In fact, I found a page on StackExchange\footnote{\href{https://askubuntu.com/questions/17823/how-to-list-all-installed-packages}{\texttt{https://askubuntu.com/questions/17823/how-to-list-all-installed-packages}}} that was first asked in December 2010 and was last modified in March 2022, has 24 answers, has been viewed 4.6 million times. Even something as simple as 
+In fact, I found a page on StackExchange\footnote{\href{https://askubuntu.com/questions/17823/how-to-list-all-installed-packages}{\texttt{https://askubuntu.com/questions/17823/how-to-list-all-installed-packages}}} that was first asked in December 2010 and was last modified in March 2022, has 24 answers, has been viewed 4.6 million times. There simply isn't a way (that I could find, at least) to figure this out easily.
 
-\begin{verbatim}
+\medskip
-$ apt-mark showmanual
+\noindent \textit{Meet my friend, Occam.}
-\end{verbatim}
+\medskip
 
-\textit{still} shows a lot of software packages that I \texttt{techically} installed myself when I upgrade my system software. 
+The irony is that the Unix Principle came out in the 1970s, but in the early 1960s the US Navy came out with a different, yet similar, principle called KISS: keep it simple, stupid.
+
+This means that instead of looking backward (i.e., "What did I install a year ago when I was several beers deep?") we should be looking forward (i.e., "What am I about to install, and then possible remove, while I am completely sober and trying to solve a problem that is currently driving me up the wall and so once I've solved it, I will be so happy to have solved it that I will immediately forget what I did to solve it?").
+
+The solution is simple: \textit{write it down}.
+
+When I upgraded this computer, I also bought a new desk for it, and I threw a notebook in the drawer. Whenever install something, I make a note of it in the notebook. If I delete it a few days or months later, I add a note of when I deleted it and why. (That ``why'' is important. I may be able to remember the problem that particular piece of software solved, and may not remember the rat's nest of problems it went on to create for me.)
+
+\begin{center}
+ \includegraphics[scale=0.4]{notebook}
+ 
+ \textit{\footnotesize{Of course I would select a black notebook and a black desk. \\ Let's use \textbf{all} the toner.}}
+\end{center}
+
+Sure, you could just keep a list on your computer (text files if you want to keep it simple, or you could \textit{<shudder>} use a spreadsheet as a database. But if your computer fails, then your list fails. Sometimes paper really is the best way to go.
+
+Of course, I've also just purchased a RocketNotebook and have been experimenting with that, and maybe storing my scribbles in the cloud is the way to go. We shall see.
 
 
 \chapter{What's to Like About Linux?}