this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2023
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Linux
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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I had never considered this as a valid purpose for ChatGPT. Well done you for being resourceful!
ChatGPT is a fantastic tutor. Even if it doesn't know already, you can copy a dense technical document and paste it into the chat, then ask it questions in plain english in subsequent messages
You can ask chatgpt pretty much anything and it answers you.
Not always truthfully, but it does answer. It is quite confidently incorrect sometimes.
Imagine chatGPT beliving trolls in its training data and suggesting users to sudo rm -rf /*
They've gone overboard in preventing troll behavior in this version. It constantly apologizes and refuses to say anything that could be considered even slightly controversial. It also spews morality lessons. But most importantly is that it understands the context of what it suggests, so it wouldn't recommend that unless you're trying to nuke your system. It probably wouldn't recommend that even if you're trying to nuke your system and would instead give you a lesson on why what you're doing is destructive.
It's works better as a conversation then just answering questions. The prompts you give it can also drastically alter it's accuracy.
I use it at work frequently instead of the docs nowadays.
Me too. It sometimes saves me hours and writes code that is better than I would write. Other times it recommends code that doesn't actually compile, but insists that it should. Often it provides working code that is about 3 times more complicated than it needs to be. But overall it is an amazing tool that massively improves productivity. If you use it for help with complex subjects that you already understand well, then it is a bad-ass advisor.
The weird thing about it is it often gives incorrect results for stuff like programming, but when you say that is wrong, it comes up with a correction. LOL Like, just tell me the correct thing from the start .
ChatGPT has probably trained on the bulk of the Internet's Linux support threads and manages for various commands now that I think about it.
I've basically stopped using google for tech support, a computer is now teaching me how to use a computer.
I was thinking the same thing. Maybe this year is the year I make the same jump. Really good, practical use of the tool.
Not to sound rude but isn't this like the main use of ChatGPT?
I basically use it as an interactive docs that I can ask questions.