7 ms·

My laptop hasn't had stickers since a CTO asked why mine didn't have any stickers like the ones on the laptops of his cool cloud team. Personally I've found lap

by grafelic 10mo ago

My laptop hasn't had stickers since a CTO asked why mine didn't have any stickers like the ones on the laptops of his cool cloud team. Personally I've found laptop stickers bad taste since then.

ahartmetz 10mo ago
It has become less fun since it has become common. My most recent laptop doesn't have stickers but I might apply some from my sizable collection before it becomes secondary laptop in 1-2 years. You can still "hipster it" and only use actually cool stickers. Community open source projects, hackerspaces, good conferences, EFF and similar organizations, weird funny stuff. Good: https://stickertop.art/content/images/2025/11/1762135251053-2.jpg https://stickertop.art/content/images/2025/11/1762135251053-... https://stickertop.art/content/images/2025/11/IMG_9222-1.jpeg https://stickertop.art/content/images/2025/11/IMG_9222-1.jpe... "Employee of the month": https://stickertop.art/content/images/2025/11/IMG_20200717_203521-1.jpg https://stickertop.art/content/images/2025/11/IMG_20200717_2...
- mkehrt 10mo ago
  I try to avoid stickers from tech products which seem to be the common thing to do. Instead almost all of my stickers are from my friend's art projects.
  - fencepost 10mo ago
    I've gone with a few branded ones (e.g. "Lock your fcking computer!" from Zorus), but more from conferences I've gone to, notably bsides conferences. Place of honor goes to a gift from my wife, a black cat staring at you with "Judging you. Quietly." It seems appropriate.
- SparkBomb 10mo ago
  The problem is that a lot of that has been ruined by corporate cringe and "weird funny stuff" is no longer weird and funny, especially when you have a bunch of influencers trying to either monetise it, sanitise it and/or attach their personal brand to it. e.g. One of the biggest people that does Debian content, does a bunch of absolute cringe behaviour associated with them where I almost want to die of second hand embarrassment.
  - ahartmetz 10mo ago
    From my POV (old?, never on social mass media), you live in a strange world if some influencer has any... influence on your opinion of Debian. I see little to no monetization of "the good stuff".
    - deleted 10mo ago
      [deleted]
    - SparkBomb 10mo ago
      They don't have any influence about what I think of Debian. What happens though is people outside will associate their (unbearably cringe in this case) behaviour with you, whether you like it or not.
      - klez 10mo ago
        I'm a long-time Debian user and I have no idea who you're talking about. How much weight do they actually carry? Who is this influencer you're talking about?
        SparkBomb 10mo ago
        Go on YouTube, Mastodon or any sort of social media that is bit techy orientated and you will find it easily.
        klardotsh 10mo ago
        What? I’ve been active frequently on Mastodon since 2018 and I have no idea who or what you’re talking about. A link would be helpful rather than playing the “oh you know who…” game.
        SparkBomb 10mo ago
        There are loads of tech influencers in the Linux space on Youtube and loads of techie platforms. There is various levels of cringe in the Linux space, some of it is honestly embarrassing. If you don't see it already, you are going to tell me it isn't a problem. There isn't one person doing this. There are plenty.
- timdiggerm 10mo ago
  Right, which tells us that what was fun about it was feeling cool for doing something unusual.
naIak 10mo ago
To me stickers on laptops are as tasteless and kitschy as tattoos. I would never get a tattoo for the same reason I would never put a sticker on my laptop. Besides nobody gives a shit about your stupid political opinions or the software stack you use.
- nbaugh1 10mo ago
  "Besides nobody gives a shit about your stupid political opinions or the software stack you use." But sure, tell everyone about your feelings on tattoos and stickers
  - dole 10mo ago
    I've always tried to apply "The Internet gives a fuck about what you don't like" when it comes to commenting, but it's also helpful to remember it's not just the Internet.
- Greamy 10mo ago
  Well, nobody cares about you're views about stickers and tattoos, but you still commented. Compared to you though, nobody here called you a retard; maybe that says something about how people are here or how you tend to use inflammatory language when it's not needed.
  - IshKebab 10mo ago
    I care! I dunno if I agree with him about all tattoos (surely some are tasteful even if it's a minority), but stickers are definitely all tasteless and kitschy.
    - neoromantique 10mo ago
      Hi! I find your opinion tasteless and kitschy.
- Tabular-Iceberg 10mo ago
  They won't give a shit about your political opinions as long as it's one of those in the linked gallery of corporate-friendly pre-approved ones. Anything right of center and suddenly people start caring very much.
teddyh 10mo ago
“We need to talk about your flair.”
- drob518 10mo ago
  Actual LOL for that comment. Thank you.
szundi 10mo ago
[dead]
Schlagbohrer 10mo ago
Cue the scene from Office Space where Jennifer Anniston's waitress character is required to have a minimum of 7 pieces of flair on her uniform, per corporate franchise policy. And that movie is from the 90s!
- garciasn 10mo ago
  15. But more is encouraged; they want their people to express themselves, after all. Do you just want to do the bare minimum? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ChQK8j6so8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ChQK8j6so8
mrweasel 10mo ago
Our CTO: If you add stickers to your laptop you need to keep it for four years, rather than two. We sell back our laptop to the company we get them from, they refurb them and give us a nice discount on the new model. Most vinyl stickers leave a mark on MacBooks that can't come off, hurting the resell value a lot. Some have protecting covers on their laptop and the stickers go on that instead.
- jijijijij 10mo ago
  > Most vinyl stickers leave a mark on MacBooks that can't come off Doesn't sound like a problem acetone/isoprop can't solve, especially on anodized aluminium.
- Caddickbrown 10mo ago
  Jeeze man… you get a new laptop after two years? I’ve had mine 5 and they ain’t looking to replace it any time soon…
sidewndr46 10mo ago
My work laptop has a company sticker on it. If I'm at a customer's office I'd like everyone to know I don't work for them. TSA also has this really neat trick where my laptop has gotten "lost" several times going through security. I have to describe the laptop in order to get it back. If I don't have an identifying sticker it's basically impossbile to uniquely identify it
davidw 10mo ago
Big "needs more flair" vibes.
Netcob 10mo ago
Yeah, that's the one problem I'd have with stickers. I'm personally not interested, but I also would never make fun of people expressing themselves. On the other hand... mandatory fun, mandatory self-expression, any anything that takes something very personal and turns it into official or unofficial company policy makes me sick. I'm glad it's not too common here in Germany. It's like HR forcing you to listen to punk songs because the company wants to promote a rebellious spirit as long as it's compatible with "disruption". It's also a bit like being asked "why are you so quiet" by someone who said everything worthwhile 5 minutes after getting out of bed but never stopped yapping.
thepryz 10mo ago
I usually just add a sticker to two so I can help make it easier to identify.
jijijijij 10mo ago
You are hanging out with the wrong crowd, if you can't get stickers the CTO would disapprove of. Visit a local squat, there are probably some which directly address the CTO job title. X-lube comes with collectible stickers too.
EasyMark 10mo ago
that's fine, I like putting things on my laptop that I'm enthusiastic about like earth day or zig or whatever. People can like it or not. I suppose of my CEO told me to rip them off I would, otherwise it's harmless. I won't put political stickers on though. I keep religion and politics strictly away from my work life, and walk away if that's the direction a conversation turns. I'm sure there are people at the office who think I'm a die hard conservative, and other that are 100% sure I'm a far left commie, because I simply peace out on political discussions.

My laptop hasn't had stickers since a CTO asked why mine didn't have any stickers like the ones on the laptops of his cool cloud team. Personally I've found laptop stickers bad taste since then.

ahartmetz 10mo ago

It has become less fun since it has become common. My most recent laptop doesn't have stickers but I might apply some from my sizable collection before it becomes secondary laptop in 1-2 years. You can still "hipster it" and only use actually cool stickers. Community open source projects, hackerspaces, good conferences, EFF and similar organizations, weird funny stuff. Good: https://stickertop.art/content/images/2025/11/1762135251053-2.jpg https://stickertop.art/content/images/2025/11/1762135251053-... https://stickertop.art/content/images/2025/11/IMG_9222-1.jpeg https://stickertop.art/content/images/2025/11/IMG_9222-1.jpe... "Employee of the month": https://stickertop.art/content/images/2025/11/IMG_20200717_203521-1.jpg https://stickertop.art/content/images/2025/11/IMG_20200717_2...

mkehrt 10mo ago
I try to avoid stickers from tech products which seem to be the common thing to do. Instead almost all of my stickers are from my friend's art projects.
- fencepost 10mo ago
  I've gone with a few branded ones (e.g. "Lock your fcking computer!" from Zorus), but more from conferences I've gone to, notably bsides conferences. Place of honor goes to a gift from my wife, a black cat staring at you with "Judging you. Quietly." It seems appropriate.
SparkBomb 10mo ago
The problem is that a lot of that has been ruined by corporate cringe and "weird funny stuff" is no longer weird and funny, especially when you have a bunch of influencers trying to either monetise it, sanitise it and/or attach their personal brand to it. e.g. One of the biggest people that does Debian content, does a bunch of absolute cringe behaviour associated with them where I almost want to die of second hand embarrassment.
- ahartmetz 10mo ago
  From my POV (old?, never on social mass media), you live in a strange world if some influencer has any... influence on your opinion of Debian. I see little to no monetization of "the good stuff".
  - deleted 10mo ago
    [deleted]
  - SparkBomb 10mo ago
    They don't have any influence about what I think of Debian. What happens though is people outside will associate their (unbearably cringe in this case) behaviour with you, whether you like it or not.
    - klez 10mo ago
      I'm a long-time Debian user and I have no idea who you're talking about. How much weight do they actually carry? Who is this influencer you're talking about?
      - SparkBomb 10mo ago
        Go on YouTube, Mastodon or any sort of social media that is bit techy orientated and you will find it easily.
        klardotsh 10mo ago
        What? I’ve been active frequently on Mastodon since 2018 and I have no idea who or what you’re talking about. A link would be helpful rather than playing the “oh you know who…” game.
        SparkBomb 10mo ago
        There are loads of tech influencers in the Linux space on Youtube and loads of techie platforms. There is various levels of cringe in the Linux space, some of it is honestly embarrassing. If you don't see it already, you are going to tell me it isn't a problem. There isn't one person doing this. There are plenty.
timdiggerm 10mo ago
Right, which tells us that what was fun about it was feeling cool for doing something unusual.

naIak 10mo ago

To me stickers on laptops are as tasteless and kitschy as tattoos. I would never get a tattoo for the same reason I would never put a sticker on my laptop. Besides nobody gives a shit about your stupid political opinions or the software stack you use.

nbaugh1 10mo ago
"Besides nobody gives a shit about your stupid political opinions or the software stack you use." But sure, tell everyone about your feelings on tattoos and stickers
- dole 10mo ago
  I've always tried to apply "The Internet gives a fuck about what you don't like" when it comes to commenting, but it's also helpful to remember it's not just the Internet.
Greamy 10mo ago
Well, nobody cares about you're views about stickers and tattoos, but you still commented. Compared to you though, nobody here called you a retard; maybe that says something about how people are here or how you tend to use inflammatory language when it's not needed.
- IshKebab 10mo ago
  I care! I dunno if I agree with him about all tattoos (surely some are tasteful even if it's a minority), but stickers are definitely all tasteless and kitschy.
  - neoromantique 10mo ago
    Hi! I find your opinion tasteless and kitschy.
Tabular-Iceberg 10mo ago
They won't give a shit about your political opinions as long as it's one of those in the linked gallery of corporate-friendly pre-approved ones. Anything right of center and suddenly people start caring very much.

teddyh 10mo ago

“We need to talk about your flair.”

drob518 10mo ago
Actual LOL for that comment. Thank you.

szundi 10mo ago

[dead]

Schlagbohrer 10mo ago

Cue the scene from Office Space where Jennifer Anniston's waitress character is required to have a minimum of 7 pieces of flair on her uniform, per corporate franchise policy. And that movie is from the 90s!

garciasn 10mo ago
15. But more is encouraged; they want their people to express themselves, after all. Do you just want to do the bare minimum? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ChQK8j6so8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ChQK8j6so8

mrweasel 10mo ago

Our CTO: If you add stickers to your laptop you need to keep it for four years, rather than two. We sell back our laptop to the company we get them from, they refurb them and give us a nice discount on the new model. Most vinyl stickers leave a mark on MacBooks that can't come off, hurting the resell value a lot. Some have protecting covers on their laptop and the stickers go on that instead.

jijijijij 10mo ago
> Most vinyl stickers leave a mark on MacBooks that can't come off Doesn't sound like a problem acetone/isoprop can't solve, especially on anodized aluminium.
Caddickbrown 10mo ago
Jeeze man… you get a new laptop after two years? I’ve had mine 5 and they ain’t looking to replace it any time soon…

sidewndr46 10mo ago

My work laptop has a company sticker on it. If I'm at a customer's office I'd like everyone to know I don't work for them. TSA also has this really neat trick where my laptop has gotten "lost" several times going through security. I have to describe the laptop in order to get it back. If I don't have an identifying sticker it's basically impossbile to uniquely identify it

davidw 10mo ago

Big "needs more flair" vibes.

Netcob 10mo ago

Yeah, that's the one problem I'd have with stickers. I'm personally not interested, but I also would never make fun of people expressing themselves. On the other hand... mandatory fun, mandatory self-expression, any anything that takes something very personal and turns it into official or unofficial company policy makes me sick. I'm glad it's not too common here in Germany. It's like HR forcing you to listen to punk songs because the company wants to promote a rebellious spirit as long as it's compatible with "disruption". It's also a bit like being asked "why are you so quiet" by someone who said everything worthwhile 5 minutes after getting out of bed but never stopped yapping.

thepryz 10mo ago

I usually just add a sticker to two so I can help make it easier to identify.

jijijijij 10mo ago

You are hanging out with the wrong crowd, if you can't get stickers the CTO would disapprove of. Visit a local squat, there are probably some which directly address the CTO job title. X-lube comes with collectible stickers too.

EasyMark 10mo ago

that's fine, I like putting things on my laptop that I'm enthusiastic about like earth day or zig or whatever. People can like it or not. I suppose of my CEO told me to rip them off I would, otherwise it's harmless. I won't put political stickers on though. I keep religion and politics strictly away from my work life, and walk away if that's the direction a conversation turns. I'm sure there are people at the office who think I'm a die hard conservative, and other that are 100% sure I'm a far left commie, because I simply peace out on political discussions.