feat(blog): computing happy

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+title = "Computing happy"
+author = ["Michał Sapka"]
+date = 2024-07-08T23:24:00+02:00
+categories = ["blog"]
+draft = false
+weight = 2002
+image_dir = "blog/images"
+image_max_width = 600
+abstract = "A short, 3-hour long video essay"
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+
+One thing I've noticed about myself and my relationship with technology is that I care.
+Not about productivity, getting stuff done and all those things.
+I do them at my job, they pay bills.
+
+But what I actually want to do with computes is to have a damn good time.
+This is why I am so peculiar when it comes to choosing software.
+In my `meatsuit` life, I am the only person I know who uses Emacs or BSD.
+There are some folks who used to us Emacs, some use Linux.
+But I am on the far end of the popular-obscure software spectrum.
+
+I do this not because I like to make things harder to myself, but because I love tinkering.
+Yes, I can get a clean MacBook into a working shape faster than my personal laptop, but it doesn't spark any joy.
+Apple hardware and software in 2024 is devoid of any happiness.
+It's boring, it's corporate, it `locked down`.
+And while I understand why they pay me to use it, I don't enjoy it.
+
+But should work bring happiness?
+It should not bring sorrow, that's for sure.
+My previous job, 10 years ago, was a gruelling MS Office sadness fest.
+It gave me a lot of spare time, but I really wanted to go into software development.
+
+And I did.
+I learned Ruby on Rails and joined a software product company.
+It was full of joy and excitement!
+For the first few months, going to the office was _the shit_.
+
+But 10 years have passed.
+I still enjoy what I do, and I like our product.
+But does it spark any actual excitement?
+I am not the same person I've been back then.
+
+I grew to love computers on a whole different level.
+They are not a _tool_, but a _goal_.
+And it all comes to this: I don't care if my software is making me productive.
+I want to enjoy using it.
+And for the last few years, this means only one thing: free software… and lack of web browser in between.
+
+That's the distinction between software I _have_ to use and which I _choose_ to use.
+But this also means I look at the computer-crowd differently.
+People I care about are not the ones who I cared about before.
+I can proudly say, Apple is out of my bloodstream.
+It _used_ to be great, but it became terrible even before I was earning enough to buy myself a Mac.
+Currently, everyone I admire are on the other side of the FOSS battlefield.
+Stallman is where it's at, not Jobs!
+And most definitely not Nadella/Cook/Bezos/Musk/Zuck or whoever there is now.
+
+But this is me.
+You may be entirely different.
+You may _enjoy_ getting stuff done and be glad to be done with it.
+Likewise, you make love that IntelliJ and spinning EC2 instances.
+I get it.
+I disagree fundamentally, but I get it.
+It's the same with cars: there are people who know everything about them, and then there's me who only knows where my mechanic is.
+And while I have no idea how to fix a car, I admire people who can do it.
+
+Similarly, I grew to _envy_ sysadmins.
+Damn, how I wish I was administering a bunch of Open/Net/FreeBSD…. But wait! I do.
+I don't get paid for it, but I do it on my personal infrastructure.
+It all _ties together_: I choose the software which makes me happy, as computers are my only hobby.
+And what a hobby would be, if it didn't bring me fun?
+
+Computes were a passion for many, and they still are for many people.
+And that's what great about them.
+
+But really, sysadmins are amazing.