Irony.

[swestrup]

I find it ironic that I tried for several weeks to rearrange my wake/sleep schedule so that I was waking up in the mornings, so I could increase my productivity. Now that I have finally succeeded at that, I have no computer with which to be productive.

On the other hand, I have been chanelling my need to do something into slowly cleaning up my office, which has been too big a mess for far too long. The biggest problem, of course, is that I need to find places to keep stuff, other than piled on desks or the floor.

Some of it is arguably old enough now that I can just toss it, or give it to anyone who wants. I mean, do I really need a VAX manual from the 80s?  Or a stack of Dragon Magazines from the same era? Some of it though, like ancient editions of roleplaying books, I still use for occasional reference.

I was also hoping to use my time in the mornings to get something done on my NaNoWriMo novel. Clearly though, this year it simply wasn't destined to be. What I have written is on the hard drive of the machine that's now dead, and even were I to recover it (which would not actually be all that hard), I do not have access to any of my writing tools.

The last time my computer died during NaNoWriMo, I tried to use this server computer one and OpenOffice to write it. I never succeeded because I have never found any way to globally tell Linux what the minimal acceptible font size for an application is. The results is that I can not actually read what I am typing now, and I keep having to hunt for ways to increase font sizes in every single application I use (and many provide no such way to change things). And, of course, I'm doing that while not able to read the menus because everything has defaulted to too small.

Actually, its worse than that, because the selected-menu-items have all defaulted to light-grey on light-grey, and I can't actually read any selected text either.

Comments

[joenotcharles.livejournal.com]

The Dragon magazines may be worth something on ebay, if they're in good condition.

[swestrup]

I managed to sell half my old Dragon magazines on eBay. These are the ones no one wanted (although they are in fairly good condition).

[rosy1.livejournal.com]

Clear the clutter!

It makes way for exciting new things...and not just material ones.

[(Anonymous)]

what the minimal acceptible font size for an application is

Failing that, you can reconfigure X to use a different resolution. Not an ideal solution, though.

[swestrup]

Yes, but much easier said than done.

[swestrup]

Every attempt I've ever made to reconfigure X has resulted in having NO VIDEO AT ALL, so I think I'll pass on that option.

[rosy1.livejournal.com]

It gets easier the more you do it!

[sps.livejournal.com]

I thought the X config file had a DPI setting, and everything derived from that....

[swestrup]

I've never even been able to figure out which of several dozen X config files is the one I'm supposed to edit, never mind managing to puzzle out its bizarre contents.

VAX Manuals

[pythonian.livejournal.com]

You ask the question:
---
I mean, do I really need a VAX manual from the 80s?
---

The answer is: Yes, you do. Note that I don't mean "you" in the generic sense as in "one needs a VAX manual" but instead I mean you specifically. Yes, Stirling Westrup needs a VAX manual from the 80s as sure as he needs sleep.

Why? One never knows. :-)

[sps.livejournal.com]

It's well documented in the man pages, last time I looked. The file is either 'xconfig' or 'xorg.conf' IIRC (depending which X distro you have), and the config file has its own manapage. There isn't usually a line in the config file anymore, since ddc is *supposed* to get the monitor's dot pitch without help, but it's overridable in the per-monitor config, I think.

Re: VAX Manuals

[sps.livejournal.com]

That's what I thought, too. Hendrik considers his important, as I do mine. Now, I will admit that my (genuine DEC) VT-100 and VT-220 manuals are probably nostalgia items at this point, but the VAX handbook? If nothing else you can stick it up people's noses (best if you put it in a plastic bag first) and say, see? see? If you're willing to have the complexity of an x86 ISA it is still possible to do it in a way that isn't unmitigated crap! They're morons, morons I tell you, drool drool froth.

[swestrup]

The problem is that there are screens, displays and monitors, and the manual info on what they do, what their relationship is, and so on, is totally incomprehensible.

At least, that's what I discovered last time I tried to fix the fact that X for root keeps dying, while it works fine for all other users.

[sps.livejournal.com]

Device = graphics card
Server = X windows instance; there's roughly one per login
Video adapter = just the video (TV) support

Monitor = physical display device
Screen = logical display device
Display = display *mode*
ServerLayout = geometric glue that binds together a multihead setup

You know, you're right; that is godawful, as is the syntax of the file itself. It is, however, also documented.

I think you want:

Section "Monitor"
DisplaySize width_mm height_mm

...where I'm certain you can safely lie, if you want.