*Draft. Please keep in mind I jotted this down after a brief conversation.
This article was written with a focus on modern technology.
Created in the December of 2022

On Bloat
========

"Who cares about bloat anymore? It's not a stupid question. I think not caring
about the bloat is part of growing up"... I find questions like these
confusing for the following reasons:

I always seek not to bother myself with anything bloated. Bloat is called
bloat because it's bloat. It's a drag to be involved with bloat.

Some may call managing bloat a balancing act. Perhaps that's true. In any
case, I simply know what I am looking for, and I am sure that a lot of bloat
out there is not that.

Bloat means "loaded with unncessary cruft". I feel like if you say
"I don't care about bloat", there is some functionality in bloat that you are
looking for. Now, what each person is looking for is going to be different,
obviously. Despite that, there are some typical evils, which a lot of people
would not consider to be part of what is necessary, or desirable. And it is
simply self-defeating to involve yourself with features, which you yourself,
would consider to be unnecessary and undesirable.

However, there is sometimes a disconnect between what is "Necessary" and
"Desirable". This brings this more personal version of the Eisenhower Matrix to
mind. I believe it's used in coaching:


           WANT    | DON'T WANT
      +------------+------------+
      |    WANT    | DON'T WANT |
      |    HAVE    |    HAVE    |
HAVE  |            |            |
      |            |            |
      |            |            |
     -+------------+------------+
      |    WANT    | DON'T WANT |
      | DON'T HAVE | DON'T HAVE |
DON'T |            |            |
HAVE  |            |            |
      |            |            |
      +------------+------------+


In spite of that, in my opinion, for this case, the Eisenhower Matrix isn't
enough. There is a sense of planning in computer usage as well; for example,
today you may be using Windows 10 LTSC and Discord, but you are planning to
gradually quit their usage.

I feel like many tools from coaching could help you to choose more wisely the
technology you will make use of. With the right set of tools, you could overcome
any bloatware you desire. I don't want to recommend any book in particular
on this topic (yet?).

Anything bloated can be unreliable for many reasons. Typically, anything
bloated is unstable and slow... But I believe you can understand, that I would
rather not try and guess what you want, or don't want, or have, or don't have. 
That is up to you. Nevertheless, I have added my own matrix for computing, and I
can tell you how I determined what would go in this matrix.

Before moving on to the matrix and how I pick alternatives... I think it's 
impossible not to care about the bloat. Rather, it seems to me, one
would be accepting it, as an act of stoic maturity. Like a cow calmly eating
grass in the rain.

Still, if you are to accept 'it', I believe it's a big mistake to accept
something when you have no idea what it is, or when you don't agree with it
deep down.

---

My Brief Software Eisenhower Matrix
-----------------------------------

H/W: UNIX, Blob-free BIOS, NON-DAW, [...]
H/DW: C++, GNU libc, Qt5, GTK+2, [...]
DH/W: Free-as-in-freedom Hardware, [...]
DH/DW: systemd, GTK+3, [...]


One example of a conflict
-------------------------

NON-DAW is written in C++. How would I solve this conflict?

* Look for alternatives

	* No alternatives? Then, do I really want to use this (type of) program
	at all? If I am capable enough, perhaps I should write one of my own.
	
	* Found any? If I try them and they suck, then, if the program's issues 
	really bother me deep down, I have to give the alternatives the best 
	shot I can. I should think whether I am trading one set of whimsical
	features for far more important ones, or if the alternative's issues are
	truly irreconcilable. If all of that fails, then you have no
	alternatives.