How big of a DB are we talking about?
You might need to recreate the whole DB schema / structure manually from scratch in PostgreSQL and then dump the data and load it in PG via standard SQL file exports in the correct table order to avoid failures due to FK constraints.
This is a gross oversimplification but you get the gist
In fact I don't get the gist :) but thanks for your reply. All I know about databases is following instructions to set one up as part of a LAMP/FAMP installation.
Unless you use stored procedures in MySQL, recreating the tables and schemas in Postgres should be straightforward. Postgres now offers a 'MySQL Adapter', a.k.a. Foreign Data Wrapper (https://github.com/EnterpriseDB/mysql_fdw), that makes it straightforward to load data from MySQL into Postgres.
I know you mentioned that all you know about databases is following instructions, but maybe the folks at EDB or Percona can give you a hand.
Postgres will be around for a long time, and I think it's pretty obvious that MySQL won't.
I would argue that the reason to stop using it is that is a pretty bad piece of software to begin with, not because it's not "true open source" but hey, whatever floats your boat, right?
Has any of the newer ThinkPad models been upgraded to use a metal case or they are still made out of plastic? Asking as that is the main deal-breaker for me
I read somewhere that in Shenzhen you can get metal thinkpad clones with any modern hardware you like, made to order, one at a time for a resonable price.
I've been a ThinkPad user forever, and I wouldn't buy another one if they "upgraded" to metal like everyone else. If I were to guess, most serious ThinkPad users would want the current shell, the dated appearance, and the keyboard to not change much or at all.
Any particular reason for avoiding the metal cases? I was under the impression that a metal case - making the laptops more durable and resistant to potential damage - would be a desirable thing.
It’s common that the right plastic can be more durable and resistant to damage (up to a point) than metal - the right plastic doesn’t show small marks as clearly as metal, and for larger impacts (again, within reason) plastic flexes, absorbs energy, and returns to its original shape, while metal dents and bends.
Personally I think hard plastic (like on ThinkPads) is more resistant to damage than metal cases. Also, the textured surface is less slippery. And - ThinkPad repair (especially old models) is usually cheaper because businesses by so many of them.
Imagine you drop your laptop from a standing height onto a hard surface.
Metal will bend and deform. Dent.
Plastic will yield, then crack.
You can then replace the cracked component, because the plastic took the vast majority of the force so the metal frame on the inside that holds everything together is fine. Same way you have squishy muscle to absorb impacts that might break your bones. Same way cars have crumple zones.
I've been a Mac user primarily for 20 years. I've had or used extensively every generation of PowerBook and MacBook since the G4. I have two Thinkpads (T420, A485) and they both feel as solid as anything I've had from Apple, except when my MacBook Air slid off my couch onto its back corner, it misaligned the lid permanently, and my Thinkpads bounced.
My aluminum X13 has taken that sort of fall, all that happened was it got a small abrasion on the corner it landed on. I know of a T14 which took a similar fall and did not survive. I think with either plastic or metal, that sort of accident is a matter of luck, exactly how it hits the ground, and if it was open or closed.
I have had generations of ThinkPad, since the x30 series. And the older older all had a very stiff metal (magnesium) frame as a core and usually a metal lid. Nowadays they went to very stiff plastic and carbon to save weight and thickness I guess. But they are much more portable because of this. I think Apple patented the "unibody design" at the time btw. The current company macbook pro I use for work is very heavy compared to other devices, because of all the metal and glass. It is quite a lot to carry around.
Me too, don't like it though. The x1 carbon felt sturdier. The keyboard is average and I already had to replace the touchscreen twice on warranty. Just went out while sitting on the desk.. Battery is OK even after 5 years of almost daily use (I keep it at 80%).
The flip feature is cool but I honestly haven't used it as much as I thought I would. Probably used the pen more to sign stuff. As a coder, the x series is probably the better choice. I've owned X and T series laptops over the years and one HP that was somewhere in the middle of the X range happiness wise.
TSMC is already producing at their first one in Arizona (N4 process), second one comes online for N3 in 2028, and third one (N2) broke ground in April 2025 (online date 2029-30)
The projects seem to go well and then union bosses threaten to shut the whole thing down.
Then the essential skilled personnel can’t come train people because the visa process was created by and is operated by the equivalent of four year olds with learning disabilities. Sometimes companies say fuck it we’re doing it anyway and then ice raids their facility and shuts it down.
I’d post the news articles about th above, but your googling thumbs work as well as mine.
I am not surprised at all, because instead of throwing their support behind the LibreSSL folks who audited the OpenSSL codebase after Heartbleed and found deep design and implementation issues, Linux Foundation and member orgs including most of Silicon Valley decided that OpenSSL just needed more funding.
The problem with the OpenSSL 3 codebase isn't security; many organizations, including the OpenSSL team itself, have been responsible for pulling out of the security rut OpenSSL was in when Heartbleed happened. The OpenSSL 3 problem is something else.
If I were cynical, I'd think that the inscrutable code and resultant security issues were a feature desired by those management and finance types, not a bug. The purpose of a system being what it does, and all.
Couldn't have said it better - you are 100% correct.
And yes - regarding a UK phone number: you can buy a pre-paid SIM in literally every single supermarket or corner shop / convenience store in the country like you would buy a can of Coke or a pack of chewing gum, this is a non-isue.
So wait - would this be something like... you trying to send a dickpic via WhateverMessenger, the content would be scanned first and you would be presented with a message along the lines of "This message cannot be sent as it violates our T&Cs"?
More likely it would just silently not be sent, and potentially a week later you get a visit from the cops. Censors hate drawing attention to their actions, that is why you never see a "this message censored on government request" as sender or recipient.
This is where someone conflates it with anti-spam and acts confused, because showing such a notice for every spam message would make a service unusable. As if spam is equivalent, as if users cannot be given the choice to opt in/out of however much anti-spam and other filtering that they want as recipients, and as if "This was censored" messages cannot be collapsed/shown per category, e.g. "Messages blocked: 12 spam, 4 unwanted sexual content, 5 misinformation/lacking context, 7 hate/harmful content". As a rule, when someone raises an objection that can be resolved with less than 60 seconds of thought, they are not being genuine.
But more importantly, it would make it illegal to provide any kind of messaging software without government approval, which is only given by letting government-designated censorship and surveillance services act as middle-men. And then the law can be more or less strictly applied, depending how much the government dislikes the general sentiment that is spread on your network, regardless of its legality, thus controlling discourse.
I am not speculating here - this is what the UK government has admitted they want:
First, we are told, the relevant secretary of state (Michelle Donelan) expressed “concern” that the legislation might whack sites such as Amazon instead of Pornhub. In response, officials explained that the regulation in question was “not primarily aimed at … the protection of children”, but was about regulating “services that have a significant influence over public discourse”, a phrase that rather gives away the political thinking behind the act. - https://archive.md/2025.08.13-190800/https://www.thetimes.co...
Don't buy into that framing either. Optional scanning - if a user wants to, they are free to download government spyware onto their phone/computer and do all the scanning they want, local or otherwise. No new laws needed.
I agree. If someone is happy for a government worker/algorithm to snoop through everything they send to anyone, feel free to opt in, just don't force us to participate.
If you use app A and that app is scanned for "malicious" content then I will message you on app B where there is no such scanning. If you don't want to use app B then I guess we can't be friends.
I mean at some point you need to make some choices.
But the beauty is that if anyone wants to talk through app A exclusively and their contacts are happy to respond on the same platform, then they can do that.
parents should have government issued tools for safeguarding their children's devices.
it's insane that we have so many standards and guidance for how to keep children safe.
but when it comes to the internet, it's either a wild west with no restrictions, or huge government overreach that negatively impacts the adult community.
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