2018-02-23 18:58:03 +00:00
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---
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created_at: '2011-05-09T08:34:10.000Z'
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title: Alex Payne - Rules for Computing Happiness (2008)
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url: http://al3x.net/2008/09/08/al3xs-rules-for-computing-happiness.html
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author: franze
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points: 70
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story_text: ''
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comment_text:
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num_comments: 50
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story_id:
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story_title:
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story_url:
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parent_id:
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created_at_i: 1304930050
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_tags:
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- story
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- author_franze
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- story_2527943
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objectID: '2527943'
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2018-06-08 12:05:27 +00:00
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year: 2008
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2018-02-23 18:58:03 +00:00
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---
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2018-03-03 09:35:28 +00:00
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A list.
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2018-02-23 18:19:40 +00:00
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2018-03-03 09:35:28 +00:00
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## Software
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2018-02-23 18:19:40 +00:00
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2018-03-03 09:35:28 +00:00
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- Use as little software as possible.
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- Use software that does one thing well.
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- Do not use software that does many things poorly.
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- Do not use software that must sync over the internet to function.
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- Do not use web applications that should be desktop applications.
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- Do not use desktop applications that should be web applications.
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- Do not use software that isn’t made specifically for your operating
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system. (You’ll know it when you see it because it won’t look right
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or work correctly.)
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- Do not run beta software unless you [know how to submit a bug
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report](http://stevenf.com/archive/reporting-bugs-in-mac-os-x-apps.php)
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and are eager to do so.
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- Use a plain text editor that you know well. Not a word processor, a
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plain text editor.
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- Do not use your text editor for tasks other than editing text.
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- Use a [password
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manager](http://agilewebsolutions.com/products/1Password). You
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shouldn’t know any of your passwords save the one to your primary
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email account and the one to your password manager.
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- Do not use software that’s unmaintained.
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- Pay for software that’s worth paying for, but only after evaluating
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it for no less than two weeks.
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- Thoroughly delete all traces of software that you no longer use.
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2018-02-23 18:19:40 +00:00
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2018-03-03 09:35:28 +00:00
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## Hardware
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- Do not buy a desktop computer unless your daily computing needs
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include video/audio editing, 3D rendering, or some other hugely
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processor-intensive computing task. Buy a portable computer
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instead.
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- Do not use your phone/smartphone/PDA/UMPC for tasks that would be
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more comfortably and effectively accomplished on a full-fledged
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computer.
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- Use a Mac for personal computing.
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- Use Linux or BSD on commodity hardware for server computing.
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- Do not use anything other than a Mac at home and Linux/BSD on the
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server.
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- The only peripheral you absolutely need is a hard disk or network
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drive to put backups on.
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- Buy as large an external display as you can afford if you’ll be
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working on the computer for more than three hours at a time.
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- Use hosted services in lieu of hosting on your own hardware (or
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virtual hardware) for all but the most custom applications.
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## File Formats
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- Keep as much as possible in plain text. Not Word or Pages documents,
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plain text.
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- For tasks that plain text doesn’t fit, store documents in an open
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standard file format if possible.
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- Do not buy digital media crippled by rights restriction technologies
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unless your intention is to rent the content for a limited period of
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time.
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These are my rules and they make me happy. I hope they make you happy
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too. If you have computing rules of your own that make you happy, I
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encourage you to publish them.
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