Hacker News with Generative AI: Personal Computing

Best Linux distro in 2025 for non-experts (ycombinator.com)
This is about finding a good linux distro for my parents to use. Apparently, Windows now requires an outlook account in order to log into your computer. Well - his outlook account has been hacked. (In fact, it's the second time he's had a Microsoft account be hacked.
The Year on Linux (world.hey.com)
I've been running Linux, Neovim, and Framework for a year now, but it easily feels like a decade or more.
Commodore Invented the Mass Market Computer (every.to)
In 1980, Commodore opened its first computer factory in Germany. In just three years, the company had become the third-largest computer manufacturer in the world. With annual revenue of $680 million (more than $2.2 billion today), its success was largely due to its Polish-American founder, Jack Tramiel.
There Were Always Enshittifiers (04 Mar 2025): Daily Links from Cory Doctorow (pluralistic.net)
My latest Locus column is "There Were Always Enshittifiers." It's a history of personal computing and networked communications that traces the earliest days of the battle for computers as tools of liberation and computers as tools for surveillance, control and extraction:
Why fastDOOM is fast (fabiensanglard.net)
During the winter of 2024, I restored an IBM PS/1 486-DX2 66Mhz, "Mini-Tower", model 2168. It was the computer I always wanted as a teenager but could never afford. Words cannot do justice to the joy I felt while working on this machine.
Enjoying the Stability of Linux (paoloamoroso.com)
It's been seven months since my switch back to Linux in July of 2024 and, despite some early issues, my experience with Mint has been smooth and uneventful.
Building a personal, private AI computer on a budget (ewintr.nl)
As everyone is well aware, the world is still going nuts trying to develop more, newer and better AI tools. Mostly by throwing absurd amounts of money at the problem.
Building a personal, private AI computer on a budget (ewintr.nl)
As everyone is well aware, the world is still going nuts trying to develop more, newer and better AI tools. Mostly by throwing absurd amounts of money at the problem.
Whatever Happened to Unix Workstations? (howtogeek.com)
Personal Software (leerob.com)
Personal computers became mainstream in the 90s. Yet in a strange twist, the software they ended up running wasn’t very personal at all.
Ask HN: I have $5k to spend on a local AI machine, what should I get? (ycombinator.com)
I would like to run local models as large and as fast as possible for around $5,000 USD. Is an Apple machine the best choice with their shared memory or is there a particular GPU that would be more cost effective? Thanks!
The First Perfect Computer (celso.io)
This is a story about restoring and upgrading a Commodore Amiga 1000, the first model of the Amiga series.
Thanks to Nvidia, there's a new generation of PCs coming and they'll run Linux (zdnet.com)
I know, I know: "Year of the Linux desktop ... yadda, yadda." You've heard it all before. But now there's a Linux-powered PC that many people will want: Nvidia's Project Digits, a desktop with AI supercomputer power that runs DGX OS, a customized Ubuntu Linux 22.04 distro.
I will never need to buy a new computer again (82mhz.net)
If you’re in your early thirties or older, you remember the breakneck pace at which computers were improving in the 90s and 2000s.
Switched Back to Windows After over 10 Years on Linux (reddit.com)
After more than a decade using Linux, primarily Fedora, I’ve realized that in my current phase of life, everything needs to work seamlessly. The constant need to tweak and fix things when something breaks has become too frustrating, so I’ve switched back to Windows.
Evolving my ergonomic setup (or, my laptop with extra steps) (ntietz.com)
My computer setup attracts attention when I'm out and about. This has two effects: engineers1 ask me about it, and everyone else ignores me. These effects are not undesirable, but further testing is required.
I can now run a GPT-4 class model on my laptop (simonwillison.net)
Meta’s new Llama 3.3 70B is a genuinely GPT-4 class Large Language Model that runs on my laptop.
Microsoft built a PC that can't run local apps (techcrunch.com)
Prefer to offload all your Windows tasks to the cloud? Microsoft may just have the compact, desk-bound computer for you.
Now lie in it: an uxntal retrospective (xxiivv.com)
Autumn is just around the corner, and when the leaves begin to fall, it will have been four years since the early sketches of a personal computing system which became Uxn. I thought it would be interesting to look back and see what has happened since.
Virtual archaeology: Recreating the first PC I ever used (2022) (fabulous.systems)
There are some things in life you will remember forever. In case you are just like me, then the very first PC you ever used is most likely one of these things.
Ed Roberts created the personal computer industry (2023) (every.to)
In September 1974, Ed Roberts was sitting at the bank in a foreclosure meeting. His once-profitable calculator company, Micro Instrument and Telemetry Systems (MITS), had exhausted its $250,000 overdraft and was on the verge of bankruptcy. But Roberts wasn’t getting ready to shut down. Instead, he was soliciting a $65,000 loan. Not to spend on calculators, he explained to the bank, but for something completely different. Something nobody had done before. He planned to build an affordable personal computer.
A Bicycle for the Mind – Prologue (technicshistory.com)
“When man created the bicycle, he created a tool that amplified an inherent ability. That’s why I like to compare the personal computer to a bicycle. …it’s a tool that can amplify a certain part of our inherent intelligence. There’s a special relationship that develops between one person and one computer that ultimately improves productivity on a personal level.”
20 years of Linux on the Desktop (part 1) (ploum.net)
Twenty years ago, I had an epiphany: Linux was ready for the desktop.
20 years of Linux on the Desktop (part 1) (ploum.net)
Twenty years ago, I had an epiphany: Linux was ready for the desktop.
Refurb weekend: the Symbolics MacIvory Lisp machine I have hated (blogspot.com)
Every collector has that machine, the machine they sunk so much time and, often, money into that they would have defenestrated it years ago except for all the aforementioned time and money.
Refurb weekend: the Symbolics MacIvory Lisp machine I have hated (blogspot.com)
Every collector has that machine, the machine they sunk so much time and, often, money into that they would have defenestrated it years ago except for all the aforementioned time and money.
Uxn (100r.co)
The Uxn/Varvara ecosystem is a personal computing stack based on a small virtual machine that lies at the heart of our software, and that allows us to run the same application on a variety of systems.
What OS should I drive? (codefaster.substack.com)
You’ll spend more hours with your OS on your daily driver than your spouse. Think about it. Will you spend 8+ hours a day, 5+ days a week, for 30+ years with your spouse? If you will spend that much time with your daily driver’s OS, can you really afford to use a suboptimal OS? Can you waste your life away like that? Isn’t it worth investing some time in the best OS?
My MEGA65 is finally here (lyonsden.net)
Finally, after waiting patiently for over two years for my pre-order, my MEGA65 arrived a today! I bought and paid for this way back in May of 2022 but production was delayed first by Covid and then by the resulting chip shortage that followed. The tedium of waiting has all been washed away now that I actually have it in my hands though, so in this post I will share my initial experiences with it.
What Hath Woz Wrought (1979) (folklore.org)
In the summer of 1979, I abandoned grad school to start working at Apple Computer as a systems programmer. I was already thoroughly obsessed with their main product, the Apple II, so it was a dream come true to become an Apple employee and meet the amazing people behind the company.