> I'm still cleaning up multi-GB model weights floating around in hidden subdirectories under my user profile from months ago when I was experimenting with local models!
Are you trying to say that local models are hard to use because... you're having issues handling files properly? I am not sure I get the argument.
I get the rest of the comment: local models require an investment upfront, and it is less convenient. It doesn't say that it is not cheaper, though.
> you're having issues handling files properly?
I guess they were using ollama, which does not tell you where it puts the models it downloads.
Filelight / ncdu are my friends for finding random 30GB directories containing cached models.
Personally, I prefer QDirStat. I just tried to use FileLight to compare, but the package seems to be broken on Lubuntu.
You two have just listed several tools needs to clean up after another tool: not a strong argument for “simpler”.