Nothing for you to apologise! Also, thank you so much for explaining it. :-)

I can’t help but think about this while reading this post. However, this is probably indicative of my lack of understanding of computer networks, despite dealing with it from time to time.

Viable is a broad term.

I use a single provider and multiple indexers, and it is an objectively better experience when compared to torrents. Very fast downloads and I almost always find what I am looking for. For old or esoteric stuff, I rely on Internet Archive or YouTube.

I do hit an infrequent failed attempt but that is due to me relying on a single provider/backbone.

Long and short, usenet is viable and convenient for me than torrents and paid streaming and gaming subscriptions.

AI Pioneer 🤖

• Fleet: 1 device · 11–20 TB
• Motivation: Independence from Big Tech & subscriptions, Privacy & data ownership, Fun / the hobby itself
• My MVPs: Plex, Radarr, Immich, RomM, BookOrbit

Searching for Stash on DDG reveals that the name is shared by at least a finance manager, network tool, and a porn clip organiser (the very last item on the first page of results).

I am safely assuming you are referring to the third one.

TIL.

I agree. Haiku is a great option if one wants to give their old computer a new lease of life.

However, anyone trying it out must be aware that it is still in beta, and the OS does behave as such. Performance takes a hit at times. It is not at all optimised for battery usage. Suspend/resume do not work (and as per the developers, it is not a priority). I could go on.

Having said that, it is a distinct piece of software as well as philosophy, which one must definitely try out at least once.

Also, none of the newer OSes (besides NetBSD, Puppy Linux derivatives, and maybe Antix Linux) even support the computers that this OS targets. :-)

On Haiku? I haven’t tried it.

I have tried past Haiku betas on an old-but-no-so-old ThinkPad X31, and the experience wasn’t buggy enough to go back NetBSD.

I really liked the conclusion of the article. As someone who uses NetBSD as my primary computer, an old Nokia with Symbian as my secondary phone, self-host whatever I can, and with a general aversion to Electron apps, the conclusion really resonated with me.

We like to imagine a world of Haiku clients, talking to NetBSD back-end servers, and nothing but feature-phones – maybe running a revived Symbian. No AI, no Electron apps anywhere. A sky as clear and blue as the Haiku desktop, with no trace of a Cloud to be seen. That sounds idyllic to us. If it does to you as well, we think you might enjoy trying Haiku.

I get this error regardless of the network or device I am accessing from. The same goes for when accessing cd-romance.

I predominantly use Usenet for procuring all my media, except for

1. Switch ROMs, which I rely on torrents via NSWTL. I have 4 indexers and all of them give me “missing parts” error when I try to download Switch ROMs.
2. Music, which I rely on Telegram bots. I am in the process of migrating my streaming library to Navidrome and I haven’t found a better workflow than to send a playlist link to the bot, and downloading the music and then tagging it using Picard.