Layoffs in EU happen all the same, they are just sprinkled throughout the fiscal year to avoid legal disputes due to the number of people let go.

Correct me if I'm wrong but for Meta/Google, past layoffs in France, Germany, Netherlands were done on a voluntary basis. It also took many months between the announcement and the actual layoff and the severance was competitive.

One may argue that salaries are lower and there are less opportunities in tech in those countries - because of stronger regulation - but I think the layoffs procedures are objectively much more favorable for employees.

Layoffs don't happen the same way they do in the US, at least in Germany. It's expensive to lay someone off due to dual-party notice period requirements. "At will" is a foreign concept here.

Obviously it happens but I think you’ll have a hard time arguing that worker rights are as bad in the EU as in the US.

ITUC Global Rights Index (2025)

Europe: 2.78 Nordics: 1.0–1.2 Western Europe: 2.0–2.3

Americas: 3.68 United States: 4

I couldn’t find per state US numbers but the difference is obviously huge.

> happen all the same

No. They happen, but with a significant difference

Everyone wants to be the One to rule them all.

I just want to retire in the Shire away from this AI non-sense (no jabs, just mild burnout).

It's B2B/Enterprise in the driver's seat to keep revenue coming. Usability and polishing of the products is locked in the trunk of the car.

source: been there.

I would go either with Ubuntu or Fedora. The entry barrier is lower, they work well and shouldn't be too troublesome to install/maintain.

Then check whether you prefer Gnome or KDE as the looks and go with what you find cooler.

I've used Ubuntu most of my career and it's solid, these days I'm testing Fedora at home due to some nitpicks I have, but both are good options.

Good that they got some money and a longer runaway, but I have my doubts the product will improve rather than be smothered to death.

Embrace, extend, extinguish. Time will tell.

I believe Microsoft biggest achievement is being capable to stay relevant for the past 50 years, largely due to enterprise.

If you take a close look as an user, all their products is half-baked in some way (inconsistent behaviors, dark patterns, poor support, etc.), good enough so they can lock you in and hold your data hostage with time.

> largely due to enterprise.

And government bribes, and piracy, and giving Windows for free to some Universities in exchange for being included in curriculum.

You either die a hero or live long enough to become IBM

Would you have a fusion menu tasting? We are celebrating tonight.

Helium is pretty tasteless.

Take any of these videos with a grain of salt.

In demos these robots only need to do well once and it can take hours to record.

In real life, a failure rate of 80% is unnacceptable, but perfectly fine to edit out in the final cut media.

I hope they do well, this area is incredibly hard, but it will take a lot more than what people imagine.

I just want the consumer grade robot dog so I can program it to chase the roomba around.

This whole hype cycle man. It's all shiny demos and no real products.

Robotics is hard and robotics companies fold as fast as flies die on a hot summer day.

I am not suggesting it is easy. I am saying, it is a lot more likely now than 10 years ago.

I believe some problems in the field are now easier, we haven't made a dent on the truly hard ones, IMO.

source: I work in the field.

I am not in the field, but I am trying to branch out a little so it helps to talk with someone who is.

LLMs probably help the same way they help with other stuff. They lower the barrier of entry for newcomers ( good and bad at the same time ).

That said, what are the current hard problems? I don't want to derail the thread, but this is of personal interest.

Gmail's +tag (and the .) is nice in theory, but terrible in practice. It's super easy for malicious actors to just drop them and there are a few services out there that simply are not able to work with the +tag, potentially getting you locked you out of your own account. Not gmail's fault, but I would recommend against using it.