Komunitas
hexbear.net
I will assume that as an appreciator of linux you are already knowledgeable on how to install an operating system. Here are my notes from installing windows literally just to play a single game that can actually run just fine on linux with an anti-cheat that fully supports linux should the developer decide to actually allow it for no additional cost or effort on their own part… The general philosophy of this guide is it’s just windows so I don’t care about it being usable outside of running one game and don’t care if it breaks I’ll just fresh install it again or again try to convince my friends to play less shit games. Some general dual booting advice Use ventoy, it’s great Contain windows on it’s own physical drive; this prevents it messing with the boot record. It is not necessary to locate the windows drive as far from your other drives as possible like a pariah but it can be emotionally satisfying. Avoid mounting the NTFS drive in linux. Windows has a tendency to throw a tantrum if it thinks someone touched it’s stuff. If windows can’t boot because of file system issues then ntfsfix on linux usually sorts it out. Shared data drives should use FAT I went with windows 10 because I don’t care about long term viability of this install and I heard there is no way around having a microsoft account anymore in windows 11. I didn’t bother confirming if this is true. 5 minutes later AMD decided to drop support for windows 10… cool . At least they got shamed into changing their minds shortly afterwards <-- imagine this but I dunno Steve Balmer flippin off AMD I guess General Ctrl + Shift when clicking on apps to run as admin, in Powershell can tell by “administrator” in title bar Often requires confirmations even when using force args Windows often requires reboots for installing things sometimes without saying anything Powershell there is no sudo but you can elevate permissions with Start-Process “powershell” -Verb RunAs this starts a new window though… Software Package manager Winget Install WinGet, Window’s “built-in” package manager that isn’t built in. Install-Module -Name Microsoft.WinGet.Client now use winget to install powershell. oh you thought you already had powershell because you just used it to install winget? ha you fool! You will need powershell 7 (or pwsh vs Windows Powershell, great naming scheme guys) in order to use many basic commands, which needs to be installed seperatley to the other 2-3 useless shell environments windows came with. (this might not be need on windows 11? I havent checked) winget install Microsoft.Powershell Now switch to powershell 7 from here on out Start-Process “pwsh” -Verb RunAs to allow windows updates from powershell Install-Module -Name PSWindowsUpdate Now that you have the official windows built in package manager you should install the third party package manager that people actually use Chocolatey Set-ExecutionPolicy AllSigned Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force; [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor 3072; iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString(‘https://community.chocolatey.org/install.ps1’)) Package search https://community.chocolatey.org/packages Utilities included redundant instructions for winget and chocolately to future proof for when microsoft decides to sunset winget for an AI packagemanager or someshit and for when chocolately goes bankrupt because who is paying for a packagemanager?? ::: spoiler Some basic apps winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id=LibreWolf.LibreWolf ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id=nomacs.nomacs ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e WinDirStat.WinDirStat ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id Videolan.Vlc ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id CodecGuide.K-LiteCodecPack.Full ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id Microsoft.PowerToys ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id Rufus.Rufus ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id Lexikos.AutoHotkey ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id Flameshot.Flameshot ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id 7zip.7zip ::: putty is no longer needed as powershell can support ssh now. Truly ground breaking stuff from windows here. ::: spoiler Apps that I use but you might not need winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id=MullvadVPN.MullvadVPN ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id Zoom.Zoom ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id Adobe.Acrobat.Reader.64-bit ::: ::: spoiler Runtimes that you will inevitably need winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id=Microsoft.VCRedist.2005.x64 ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id=Microsoft.VCRedist.2008.x64 ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id=Microsoft.VCRedist.2010.x64 ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id=Microsoft.VCRedist.2012.x64 ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id=Microsoft.VCRedist.2013.x64 ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id=Microsoft.VCRedist.2015.x64 ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id=Microsoft.VCRedist.2017.x64 ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id=Microsoft.VCRedist.2022.x64 winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id=Git.Git ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id=Python.Python.3.0 ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id=Python.Python.2 winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id=Microsoft.DotNet.DesktopRuntime.3_1 ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id=Microsoft.DotNet.DesktopRuntime.5 ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id=Microsoft.DotNet.DesktopRuntime.6 ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id=Microsoft.DotNet.DesktopRuntime.7 ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id=Microsoft.DotNet.DesktopRuntime.8 ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id=Microsoft.DotNet.DesktopRuntime.9 ::: Remember when I said you should get the 3rd party package manager? one reason is some versions of dotnet are not included in the winget package manager. Some MICROSOFT DOT NET packages are not included in the MICROSOFT windows package manager 'cmon Microsoft this should have been a home run, you’re killing me here. choco install -y python3 python2 git dotnet dotnet3.5 dotnetfx vcredist140 vcredist2005 vcredist2008 vcredist2010 vcredist2012 vcredist2013 vcredist2015 vcredist2017 visualstudio2019-workload-vctools visualstudio2017-workload-vctools visualstudio2022-workload-vctools–force --force-dependencies choco install -y librewolf 7zip PowerToys vlc flameshot–force --force-dependencies choco install -y mullvad-app zoom adobereader --force --force-dependencies couldn’t hurt to reboot Gaming Now the reason for this whole operation choco install -y directx steam itch librehardwaremonitor autohotkey.install mumble --force --force-dependencies ::: spoiler winget winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id=KhronosGroup.VulkanRT ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id=Microsoft.DirectX ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id Valve.Steam ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id Discord.Discord ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id=Mumble.Mumble.Client ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e LibreHardwareMonitor.LibreHardwareMonitor ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id OBSProject.OBSStudio ::: for the convenience of those with cursed taste in games choco install -y epicgameslauncher choco install -y ea-app choco install -y goggalaxy choco install -y ubisoft-connect ::: spoiler winget winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id=ItchIo.Itch ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id=GodotEngine.GodotEngine ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id EpicGames.EpicGamesLauncher ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id GOG.Galaxy ; winget install --accept-package-agreements --accept-source-agreements -e --id HeroicGamesLauncher.HeroicGamesLauncher ::: 2025-11-05 chocolatey discord not working, winget version is working, probably divergent versions but I couldn’t be bothered to check Hardware AMD Ryzen CPUs choco install -y amd-ryzen-chipset --force --force-dependencies https://community.chocolatey.org/packages/amd-ryzen-chipset AMD GPUs afaik you have to do this the old skool way https://www.amd.com/en/support/download/drivers.html there is an app that can debloat the GPU Driver installer https://github.com/GSDragoon/RadeonSoftwareSlimmer but the web installer I got off the amd site has a driver only tickbox that makes this redundant. could be useful if amd decides to start being even more annoying Nvidia choco install -y nvidia-app --force --force-dependencies https://community.chocolatey.org/packages/nvidia-app There is a way to debloat it but I haven’t messed with it https://forums.guru3d.com/threads/nvslimmer-nvidia-driver-slimming-utility.423072/ Intel choco install -y intel-dsa --force --force-dependencies https://community.chocolatey.org/packages/intel-dsa ::: spoiler python aside supposedly can install python scripts through chocolatey with --source python but I cannot get it to recognize it’s vc++ dependencies even though just using straight pip works??? eh whatever you probably don’t care pip --version py --list-paths $Env:PATH += “;C:\Python314\Lib\site-packages\pip” ::: Debloating There are a lot of debloating scripts floating around. I used this one, I don’t know if it’s better or worse than others. This runs arbritary code from …someone? it works but I’m not vouching for it’s trustworthiness & ([scriptblock]::Create((irm “https://debloat.raphi.re/”))) Ransomware removal I recommend using a VPN if you have one while running activation script or visiting associated website https://massgrave.dev/ This runs arbitrary code from …someone? it works but I’m not vouching for it’s trustworthiness The script is actually loaded from github though so I guess that means it’s legit and approved by Microsoft… irm https://get.activated.win/ | iex If the above is blocked (by ISP/DNS), try this (needs updated Windows 10 or 11): iex (curl.exe -s --doh-url https://1.1.1.1/dns-query https://get.activated.win/ | Out-String) Updates winget upgrade --all --force --accept-source-agreements --disable-interactivity --uninstall-previous ; choco upgrade all -y ; Install-WindowsUpdate -AcceptAll does windows updates last because there’s a good chance of needing to reboot only works if you installed PSWindowsUpdate earlier Sometimes claims Install-WindowsUpdate isn’t recognized but later works with no changes to system Mouse fix windows does dodgy stuff to mouse acceleration, important to fix if you play FPS especially when used to linux iwr -useb https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ballerhoss/Windows-11-Gaming-Performance-Scripts/refs/heads/main/MouseAccelFix.bat -OutFile ./MouseAccelFix.bat && ./MouseAccelFix.bat this repo also has a lot of performance tweaking scripts if interested technically for windows 11 but seems to have worked in windows 10 best run in old power shell (ie “Windows Powershell” not “pwsh”, “Microsoft Powershell” or “Powershell ISE”) will cause wear on your any key changes a lot of stuff which you might not want if you plan to use windows for anything other than playing literally just one videogame requires some inputs namely asking how much ram you have, which gpu vendor (nvidia/amd) and for thread quantum HEX value I went with 26 You can run these scripts with: git clone https://github.com/ballerhoss/Windows-11-Gaming-Performance-Scripts.git ./Windows-11-Gaming-Performance-Scripts/Standard_Install.bat Make the clock show the actual time can use these commands in sequence net stop w32time w32tm /unregister w32tm /register net start w32time w32tm /resync /nowait or copypasta them in a text file with the .ps1 extension and run it as a powershell script to run it as a chron job use Start-Process taskschd.msc Use the gui to create a task that starts your script on logon. After you’ve made the task open it’s properties and ensure you check the run with highest privileges box.
Komunitas
lemmy.world
Ship based piracy absolutely. Digital piracy: I remember Kazaa and LimeWire where you hoped the thing you were downloading for hours/days wasn’t a virus or a joke meme making fun of you for trusting someone. Getting an entire album of mp3s that were actually the band you hoped for and not missing any songs was a minor miracle. Now there are dozens of automated tools that talk to each other. I type the name of the movie into a search bar, look through a list of posters and click the ‘request’ button. It get’s torrented in the background and then shows up on my Plex server. If I paid for a usenet group all that could happen an order of magnitude faster. Search in one place, watch in one place. It’s not quite as instant as streaming, but at this point I have such a back catalogue to work through that that isn’t really an issue.
Komunitas
lemmy.ml
I downloaded a cracked install from tpb (haxnode). It was a loader exe that loaded the original exe and supposedly removed the drm in RAM. It required admin permissions, I didn’t trust it, but i ran in a vm and nothing happened. Then i told myself “i have microsoft defender and windows firewall control, they will warn me” and I ran it in my main laptop, and still nothing happened. Like, literally nothing happened. The original program would not start. It would simply exit. Nothing. The other 6 almost identical torrents from the same uploader but with a different program version had a similar result. I gave up. Then i reboot, and firstly i notice a couple DOS prompts flashing on the screen, and windows firewall control asking me if “aspnet_compiler.exe” is allowed to access the internet or not. Suspicious, i go to check that “aspnet_compiler.exe” and it’s located in the .net system folder, i scan it with microsoft defender and it doesn’t report as a virus. I do not pay attention to the fact that it doesn’t have a valid Microsoft signature, and i tell myself “probably just a windows update” and i whitelist it on the firewall. After a few hours I realize “wait a minute: it’s impossible that an official windows exe isn’t signed by microsoft!” I go back to scan it, not infected… or it looks like, defender says “ignored because in whitelist”. What? The “loader” put c:* in the whitelist! The “crack loader” wasn’t a virus per se. It dropped an obfuscated batch in startup, which had a base64 encoded attachment of the actual malware, that was copied in the .net framework directory with unassuming names… And this for a $60 perpetual license program that i should buy anyway because it’s for work
Komunitas
lemmy.today
Padmé may not realize that it’s not Anakin’s job if Padmé is coming off Windows, because if Padmé uses Windows, Padmé’s user workflow is “go to developer’s website, download binary installer”, and it’d be really weird for the developer to not provide a binary installer. Windows doesn’t have distros that distribute software (well, okay, I guess Windows has an app store or something these days and Steam, and that’s a bit analogous, but that’s not how things work traditionally). My assumption would be that it’s not that Padmé’s being entitled, just that Padmé doesn’t know how this works and is confused and thus frustrated.
Komunitas
lemmy.dbzer0.com
Does it have to be on F-Droid? I use Obtainium. (app configs) Edit: I was using photon and didn’t realize the post was not formatted until I checked regular lemmy and saw the mess it looked like to others. | Name | Description | | :— | :— | |LocalSend|An open-source, cross-platform tool for sharing files and messages securely between nearby devices over a local network without using the internet. |Obtainium|An Android app that allows users to install and update open-source applications directly from their source pages (like GitHub, GitLab, or Codeberg) instead of using an app store. |Aegis|A free, secure, and open-source app for Android to manage 2-step verification tokens for your online services. |CoMaps|An open-source Android application for collaborative, real-time editing of points of interest and maps. |Tasks|A privacy-focused, open-source to-do list and reminders app for Android based on the original Astrid source code. |ZipXtract|A specialized tool designed for extracting files from password-protected or encrypted ZIP archives. |disky|A storage space visualizer for Android that uses a sunburst chart to display file and folder usage. |WallFlow Plus (Alpha)|A wallpaper manager that allows users to create collections and automatically cycle through local images. |Droid-ify|A Material Design F-Droid client for Android that offers a modern interface for managing open-source apps. |Aves Libre|A comprehensive media gallery app for Android that focuses on handling a wide variety of formats and metadata. |Phone|A simple, open-source dialer and call management app featuring a clean interface and privacy focus. |OpenTracks|A privacy-respecting sport tracking application for recording GPS tracks and physical activity. |Eden|An open-source emulator project focused on providing a platform for playing various classic console games. |DAVx⁵|An all-in-one sync solution for CalDAV, CardDAV, and WebDAV to integrate calendars, contacts, and tasks. |Open Camera|A fully featured and completely free open-source camera app for Android phones and tablets. |Obsidian|A powerful, local-first knowledge base and note-taking app that works on top of a local folder of plain text Markdown files. |kitshn|A recipe management app for Android designed to help users organize, scale, and follow cooking instructions. |Calculator|A clean, ad-free calculator app that includes unit conversions and a detailed history of operations. |Jellyfin|The Android client for the Jellyfin media server, allowing users to stream their own movies, shows, and music. |Nextcloud|The official Android client for Nextcloud, providing secure access to files, photos, and documents on your private server. |WiFiAnalyzer|An Android utility to analyze Wi-Fi signals, identify crowded channels, and optimize network performance. |Thunderbird|The mobile version of the famous open-source email client, focusing on privacy, security, and multiple account management. |Breezy Weather|A clean, design-focused weather app that provides accurate forecasts from various open-source and professional providers. |addy.io|An Android app for managing your addy.io (formerly AnonAddy) email aliases and protecting your primary email address. |mpv|A lightweight, versatile video player for Android based on the powerful mpv media engine. |Paperize|A tool for creating high-quality, customized wallpapers from simple colors, gradients, or patterns. |M3U|A simple and efficient IPTV player designed to stream content from M3U playlists on Android devices. |FairScan|A privacy-centric QR and barcode scanner that lacks trackers and requires minimal permissions. |Harmonic|A feature-rich and beautifully designed Material Design client for browsing Hacker News. |SpamBlocker|A powerful open-source call and SMS firewall that uses rules and blacklists to block unwanted spam. |Material Files|An open-source Material Design file manager that supports multiple windows and advanced file operations. |FUTO Keyboard|A privacy-focused keyboard that offers voice input and auto-complete without ever connecting to the internet. |KeePassDX|A versatile multi-format password manager for Android that provides secure access to KeePass databases. |Signal|A secure messaging app that uses end-to-end encryption for private chats, voice calls, and video calls. |Bitwarden|An open-source password manager that allows users to store and sync sensitive login credentials across all devices securely. |Audiobookshelf|The mobile client for the Audiobookshelf server, used for streaming and downloading audiobooks and podcasts. |KDE Connect|A tool that enables seamless communication between your Android device and your computer (notifications, file sharing, etc.). |GameNative|A specialized launcher and performance optimizer designed for running native and emulated games on Android. |MJ PDF|A fast, lightweight, and open-source PDF viewer that focuses on simplicity and smooth performance. |Firefox Beta|The preview version of the Firefox web browser, giving users access to upcoming features and performance improvements. |Summit|A modern and customizable Android client for browsing the Lemmy fediverse. |Catima|An open-source loyalty card and coupon manager that helps you digitize physical cards to declutter your wallet. |ArrMatey|A companion app for managing “Radarr” and “Sonarr” server instances for media library automation. |OpenKeychain|An Android implementation of OpenPGP, allowing for encrypted communication and secure digital signatures. |NotallyX|A clean, minimalist note-taking app for Android that focuses on speed and simplicity without unnecessary bloat. |WG Tunnel|A streamlined VPN client for Android designed to manage and connect to WireGuard-based VPN tunnels. |Bluesky|The official mobile client for the Bluesky social network, built on the decentralized AT Protocol. |Mental Math|A training app designed to help users improve their mental arithmetic skills through various exercises and difficulty levels. |Calendar|A simple, open-source calendar and event management app prioritizing privacy and ease of use. |Moshidon|A modified Mastodon client for Android based on Megalodon, offering extra features and UI customizations. |Memories|A high-performance photo gallery specifically designed to work as a client for the Nextcloud Memories app. |AntennaPod|A popular, open-source podcast manager and player that gives users full control over their subscriptions. |Home Assistant|The official app for connecting to and controlling your Home Assistant smart home server. |Off Grid|An application that allows users to run AI language models locally on their Android devices for offline interactions. |Tubular|A fork of NewPipe that includes additional features like SponsorBlock and Return YouTube Dislike.
Komunitas
lemmy.fmhy.ml
After a quick glance over your post, I have some thoughts; Free: ProtonVPN ProtonVPN is good for torrenting on the paid plan, not the free plan. Proton doesn’t allow torrenting on their free plan. They will block your connection if they detect that you are torrenting, or they will disconnect you from their VPN tunnel - exposing your real IP on the torrent. Paid: Mullvad Mullvad is a decent choice, though they no longer support port forwarding. ~~You are still able to download, though you won’t be able to seed iirc~~ VirusTotal The problem with a virustotal scan is that pirated software is often false flagged for malware. It’s difficult to tell what is safe from what you’ve downloaded. It’s best to download from a trusted uploader, though that doesn’t always guarantee safety as they can always go rogue (As an example, FTUApps were seen as safe until one of their uploads to 1337x contained malware). Older uploads tend to have less false positives in my experience, though it can be very easy to become complacent. edit; score out comment about mullvad seeding, others have pointed out that it still works fine! oops
Komunitas
lemmy.dbzer0.com
So I don’t make the memes I post but I do make gifs out of boredom. I made a ton for The Blacklist that I could throw up on Tenor and stuff so that I could easily use GIFs of a show I quite like. Blah. But I just went to use a ‘I’m a role Model’ gif from TNG and it looked like shit. Bad text, bad quality, bad bad bad. It bothers me. Much like it bothered me that there were no Blacklist gifs. So… Want to see a specific GIF redone/remastered? Want a scenes would you like to see as a GIF? Or… Well… Please do me a favor though if you can. While I do have a pretty large array of knowledge on Star Trek, it isn’t infinite. A general idea of the episode and what time in it would help a ton. Also, looking primarily for TNG gifs at the moment. I’ve been running out of Hard Drive Space for months and I’ve had to start deleting stuff en-masse. I don’t have all Star Trek currently downloaded at the moment, as much as it kills me, so ideally stuff from TNG, Voyager, Picard, Lower Decks, Discovery, or Strange New Worlds. Can get DS9, TOS, etc again easily but just a bit more of a hassle. Alternatively, I will accept Galaxy Quest and Eureka requests too. As well as any general feedback or ideas. I can’t say I’m good at this but I am learning and adding in tips and tricks that I’m slowly figuring out. Making them a bit better and better. Hell, scroll down to the bottom of that first link I posted and you’ll see how fucking crusty it was originally. I just want some more Trek gifs that don’t look like this Gonna leave this up for a bit. I’ll make em as I make 'em <3
Komunitas
programming.dev
Rust adoption is stagnating Is it? I would like to see some evidence for that. When comparing crates.io statistics |Year|Crates| Yearly Crates Increase |Downloads| Yearly Downloads Increase | :–|:–|:–|:–|:–| |2018|21,162|-|688,268,999|-| |2019|29,757|8,595|1,457,578,834|769,309,835| |2020|41,539|11,782|3,079,874,235|1,622,295,401| |2021|64,658|23,119|8,235,327,111|5,155,452,876| |2022|86,776|22,118|17,546,769,164|9,311,442,053| |2023|119,145|32,369|35,556,469,191|18,009,700,027| |2024|149,970|30,825|72,083,950,414|36,527,481,223| By downloads, 2023-2024 has been Rust’s best year so far.
Komunitas
mastodon.uno
Il sito di Xubuntu è stato hackerato e fino a qualche ora fa cliccando sul download delle ISO veniva servito un archivio "Xubuntu-Safe-Download.zip” contenente un malware. Ora il download non è più disponibile, probabilmente stanno riprendendo controllo nel sito. Virustotal: https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/0f59f553fcfac3cac07aa7986eac914be069a6dd407b2d9f761f11d3e865b4f6 @linux #linux #xubuntu
Komunitas
sopuli.xyz
Jackify is a tool to install Wabbajack modlists on Linux and Steam Deck. Wabbajack is a Windows tool for installing modlists, but using it on Linux was painful. Jackify is an automated solution to downloading and installing Wabbajack modlists and configuring Proton prefixes for them. To download modlists, you need a Nexus Mods Premium subscription, which costs about 10 euros a month. It’s still in early phase, so some features are missing, but it seems to be actively developed. It supports the following games: Skyrim Special Edition Fallout 4 Fallout New Vegas Oblivion Starfield Enderal Other Games (Cyberpunk 2077, Baldur’s Gate 3, and more - Download and Install only for now) To use it, you need the game installed on Steam. Then just launch Jackify, choose your game and a modlist for it, configure a couple fields, and finally hit the Installation button. After that, just wait while Jackify does everything for you. At the end, it creates a new Steam shortcut, and the game/modlist is ready to play. I don’t have Nexus Mods subscription, but I tested Jackify with the Nordic Souls files I had on my disk. Nordic Souls is a modlist for Skyrim, which consists of about 1500 mods. Jackify successfully did what it said on the tin. I had to change ENB to Community Shaders, as ENB didn’t seem to work on my machine (it’s a Windows app), but I prefer Community Shaders anyway. With that tweak, the game seems to be fully playable. I don’t know how many hours I spent on my previous play through getting ModOrganizer2 and Wabbajack to work and install Nordic souls, and then fixing other problems like audio issues. In another recent post, I wrote a guide for modding Skyrim on Linux, but it got lost in the comments. Part of it is Linux/Jackify specific, and part is general Skyrim specific information, that also applies to some other Bethesda games, like Fallout. Here’s a copy-paste of it: ::: spoiler Guide to modding Skyrim on Linux by using a modlist You need Nexus Mods subscription to download modlists. You most likely want to have Anniversary Edition of Skyrim, otherwise modding will be challenging because many mods requires it. Launch Skyrim normally, and if you have Anniversary Edition, let it download all Creation Club Content (CC Content). Do not Alt-Tab out of Skyrim, or it will interrupt the download. The game will claim it downloaded everything, but you’ll miss some of the CC Content. If you get any errors about files that have the letters “CC” in them, this is your problem. Once the CC Content is downloaded, close Skyrim. Head over to Jackify Releases. Download the latest Jackify.AppImage. You might need to give it executable permission. You can typically do this by pressing the second mouse button over the icon, go to Properties -> Permissions and look for the option that says executable. Or use chmod +x /path/to/Jackify.AppImage. Place Jackify.AppImage where ever you want to and launch it. Go to Modlist Tasks -> Install a Modlist. Select Skyrim as the game, and pick one of the Modlists. If you are out of ideas, and you have a decent computer, try Nordic Souls. Note, that you cannot combine modlists, but you can install more mods if you want to. Change install and download directories, so that they have the name of the modlist in them (create new folders, for example). Under the Nexus API field, there is a link. Click it, scroll to the bottom to Personal API Key section, hit the Request API Key button and copy-paste it to the API Key field. You might want to read the warning on the Nexus site, and decide yourself if you want to trust Jackify. Jackify team is planning to implement a better way to do this, but it is what it is for now. Click Start Installation button, go brew some coffee, make a dinner, wash your clothes and come back to see if the installation is finished. Once the installation is complete, Jackify adds the modlist to your Steam Library and configures the proton prefix. Make sure you are using Jackify 1.6.2 or newer, or the prefix configuration will likely fail. When you start the modlist, it will launch ModOrganizer2. Hit the big Play button to launch the game. Nordic Souls defaults to ENB for its graphic improvements. On my old Nordic Souls, it doesn’t seem to start, or it takes a very long time. Nordic Souls also comes with Community Shaders, which does the same thing. In the latest Nordic Souls version, there is a separate profile for ENB and CS. Change it from top left corner of MO2. If you get “too many open files” error during modlist installation, you need to edit /etc/security/limits.conf and add this line to it: your_username hard nofile 524288 and then relogin, or restart. Once you start a new save file, avoid changing the mod and plugin load orders (left and right side lists) in MO2. Doing so might break your save file, and fixing it will be difficult, because you probably won’t remember the old order. Also, never uninstall or upgrade a mod, unless you are sure doing so is safe. This too can break your save file. Re-installing a mod once something has broken might not fix it. You can install more mods using MO2. Always read the instructions given by the mod author, and follow them to a T. Pay attention to things like dependencies, incompatible mods, load orders. If the mod author doesn’t mention which of the two load orders they mean, it’s most likely the mod load order (left side). If a mod comes with different versions for AE and SE (Anniversary Edition, Special Edition), you most likely need AE version of it, if you are using AE. Otherwise, SE and AE are the same, and both should work for AE. Some modlists, such as Nordic Souls, will downgrade the Skyrim version to something like v.1.5.97. If a mod has versions for different versions of Skyrim, pay attention to this. Check the Skyrim version from the main menu of Skyrim. :::
Komunitas
ibbit.at
When the microcomputer first landed in homes some forty years ago, it came with a simple freedom—you could run whatever software you could get your hands on. Floppy disk from a friend? Pop it in. Shareware demo downloaded from a BBS? Go ahead! Dodgy code you wrote yourself at 2 AM? Absolutely. The computer you bought was yours. It would run whatever you told it to run, and ask no questions. Today, that freedom is dying. What’s worse, is it’s happening so gradually that most people haven’t noticed we’re already halfway into the coffin. News? Pegged. There are always security risks when running code from untrusted sources. The stakes are higher these days when our computers are the gateways to our personal and financial lives. Credit: Screenshot The latest broadside fired in the war against platform freedom has been fired. Google recently announced new upcoming restrictions on APK installations. Starting in 2026, Google will tightening the screws on sideloading, making it increasingly difficult to install applications that haven’t been blessed by the Play Store’s approval process. It’s being sold as a security measure, but it will make it far more difficult for users to run apps outside the official ecosystem. There is a security argument to be made, of course, because suspect code can cause all kinds of havoc on a device loaded with a user’s personal data. At the same time, security concerns have a funny way of aligning perfectly with ulterior corporate motives. It’s a change in tack for Google, which has always had the more permissive approach to its smartphone platform. Contrast it to Apple, which has sold the iPhone as a fully locked-down device since day one. The former company said that if you own your phone, you could do what you want with it. Now, it seems Google is changing its mind ever so slightly about that. There will still be workarounds, like signing up as an Android developer and giving all your personal ID to Google, but it’s a loss to freedom whichever way you look at it. Beginnings Sony put a great deal of engineering into the PlayStation to ensure it would only read Sony-approved discs. Modchips sprung up as a way to get around that problem, albeit primarily so owners could play cheaper pirated games. Credit: Libreleah, CC BY-SA 4.0, The walled garden concept didn’t start with smartphones. Indeed, video game consoles were a bit of a trailblazer in this space, with manufacturers taking this approach decades ago. The moment gaming became genuinely profitable, console manufacturers realized they could control their entire ecosystem. Proprietary formats, region systems, and lockout chips were all valid ways to ensure companies could levy hefty licensing fees from developers. They locked down their hardware tighter than a bank vault, and they did it for one simple reason—money. As long as the manufacturer could ensure the console wouldn’t run unapproved games, developers would have to give them a kickback for every unit sold. By and large, the market accepted this. Consoles were single-purpose entertainment machines. Nobody expected to run their own software on a Nintendo, after all. The deal was simple—you bought a console from whichever company, and it would only play whatever they said was okay. The vast majority of consumers didn’t care about the specifics. As long as the console in question had a decent library, few would complain. Nintendo created the 10NES copy protection system to ensure its systems would only play games approved by the company itself, in an attempt to exert quality control after the 1983 North American video game crash. Credit: Evan-Amos, public domain There was always an underground—adapters to work around region locks, and bootleg games that relied on various hacks—with varying popularity over the years. Often, it was high prices that drove this innovation—think of the many PlayStation mod chips sold to play games off burnt CDs to avoid paying retail. At the time, this approach largely stayed within the console gaming world. It didn’t spread to actual computers because computers were tools. You didn’t buy a PC to consume content someone else curated for you. You bought it to do whatever you wanted—write a novel, make a spreadsheet, play games, create music, or waste time on weird hobby projects. The openness wasn’t a bug, or even something anybody really thought about. It was just how computers were. It wasn’t just a PC thing, either—every computer on the market let you run what you wanted! It wasn’t just desktops and laptops, either; the nascent tablets and PDAs of the 1990s operated in just the same way. Then came the iPhone, and with it, the App Store. Apple took the locked-down model and applied it to a computer you carry in your pocket. The promise was that you’d only get apps that were approved by Apple, with the implicit guarantee of a certain level of quality and functionality. Apple is credited with pioneering the modern smartphone, and in turn, the walled garden that is the App Store. Credit: Apple It was a bold move, and one that raised eyebrows among developers and technology commentators. But it worked. Consumers loved having access to a library of clean and functional apps, built right into the device. Meanwhile, they didn’t really care that they couldn’t run whatever kooky app some random on the Internet had dreamed up. Apple sold the walled garden as a feature. It wasn’t ashamed or hiding the fact—it was proud of it. It promised apps with no viruses and no risks; a place where everything was curated and safe. The iPhone’s locked-down nature wasn’t a restriction; it was a selling point. But it also meant Apple controlled everything. Every app paid Apple’s tax, and every update needed Apple’s permission. You couldn’t run software Apple didn’t approve, full stop. You might have paid for the device in your pocket, but you had no right to run what you wanted on it. Someone in Cupertino had the final say over that, not you. When Android arrived on the scene, it offered the complete opposite concept to Apple’s control. It was open source, and based on Linux. You could load your own apps, install your own ROMs and even get root access to your device if you wanted. For a certain kind of user, that was appealing. Android would still offer an application catalogue of its own, curated by Google, but there was nothing stopping you just downloading other apps off the web, or running your own code. Sadly, over the years, Android has been steadily walking back that openness. The justifications are always reasonable on their face. Security updates need to be mandatory because users are terrible at remembering to update. Sideloading apps need to come with warnings because users will absolutely install malware if you let them just click a button. Root access is too dangerous because it puts the security of the whole system and other apps at risk. But inch by inch, it gets harder to run what you want on the device you paid for. Windows Watches and Waits The walled garden has since become a contagion, with platforms outside the smartphone space considering the tantalizing possibilities of locking down. Microsoft has been testing the waters with the Microsoft Store for years now, with mixed results. Windows 10 tried to push it, and Windows 11 is trying harder. The store apps are supposedly more secure, sandboxed, easier to manage, and straightforward to install with the click of a button. Microsoft has tried multiple times to sell versions of Windows that are locked to exclusively run apps from the Microsoft Store. Thus far, these attempts have been commercial failures. Credit: screenshot Microsoft hasn’t pulled the trigger on fully locking down Windows. It’s flirted with the idea, but has seen little success. Windows RT and Windows 10 S were both locked to only run software signed by Microsoft—each found few takers. Desktop Windows remains stubbornly open, capable of running whatever executable you throw at it, even if it throws up a few more dialog boxes and question marks with every installer you run these days. How long can this last? One hopes a great while yet. A great deal of users still expect a *computer—*a proper one, like a laptop or desktop—to run whatever mad thing they tell it to. However, there is an increasing userbase whose first experience of computing was in these locked-down tablet and smartphone environments. They aren’t so demanding about little things like proper filesystem access or the ability to run unsigned code. They might not blink if that goes away. For now, desktop computing has the benefit of decades of tradition built in to it. Professional software, development tools, and specialized applications all depend on the ability to install whatever you need. Locking that down would break too many workflows for too many important customers. Masses of scientific users would flee to Linux the moment their obscure datalogger software couldn’t afford an official license to run on Windows;. Industrial users would baulk at having to rely on a clumsy Microsoft application store when bringing up new production lines. Apple had the benefit that it was launching a new platform with the iPhone; one for which there were minimal expectations. In comparison, Microsoft would be climbing an almighty mountain to make the same move on the PC, where the culture is already so established. Apple could theoretically make moves in that direction with OS X and people would be perhaps less surprised, but it would still be company making a major shift when it comes to customer expectations of the product. Here’s what bothers me most: we’re losing the idea that you can just try things with computers. That you can experiment. That you can learn by doing. That you can take a risk on some weird little program someone made in their spare time. All that goes away with the walled garden. Your neighbour can’t just whip up some fun gadget and share it with you without signing up for an SDK and paying developer fees. Your obscure game community can’t just write mods and share content because everything’s locked down. So much creativity gets squashed before it even hits the drawing board because it’s just not feasible to do it. It’s hard to know how to fight this battle. So much ground has been lost already, and big companies are reluctant to listen to the esoteric wishers of the hackers and makers that actually care about the freedom to squirt whatever through their own CPUs. Ultimately, though, you can still vote with your wallet. Don’t let Personal Computing become Consumer Computing, where you’re only allowed to run code that paid the corporate toll. Make sure the computers you’re paying for are doing what you want, not just what the executives approved of for their own gain. It’s your computer, it should run what you want it to! From Blog – Hackaday via this RSS feed
Komunitas
lemdro.id
Translation of the key fragment: ❗️To protect yourself, download apps only from trusted sources. RuStore is the official Russian app store, created with the support of VK and the Russian Ministry of Digital Development. Every RuStore app undergoes a security check to ensure it meets requirements before being published. Google Play, Galaxy Store, Huawei AppGallery, and F-Droid also conduct security checks. Of all these mentioned alternatives, the last one isn’t pre-installed and obviously has a smaller reach akin to fediverse, yet it’s there, so it’s a little win I guess. If that geeky obscure international FOSS appstore got cheered by national infosec persons who naturally enjoy localization, it says a lot. It’s a genuine praise from an unlikely place. I generally trust that channel, mostly for their simple guides you can send to your parents and kids about a recent scam scheme. Sometimes it reeks of propaganda, as you could’ve noticed with 90% of that quote being about the RuStore thing I personally can’t trust. But for ru-speaking fellas it’s probably worth bearing with it.
Komunitas
lemmy.dbzer0.com
Translation of the key fragment: ❗️To protect yourself, download apps only from trusted sources. RuStore is the official Russian app store, created with the support of VK and the Russian Ministry of Digital Development. Every RuStore app undergoes a security check to ensure it meets requirements before being published. Google Play, Galaxy Store, Huawei AppGallery, and F-Droid also conduct security checks. Of all these mentioned alternatives, the last one isn’t pre-installed and obviously has a smaller reach akin to fediverse, yet it’s there, so it’s a little win I guess. If that geeky obscure international FOSS appstore got cheered by national infosec persons who naturally enjoy localization, it says a lot. It’s a genuine praise from an unlikely place. I generally trust that channel, mostly for their simple guides you can send to your parents and kids about a recent scam scheme. Sometimes it reeks of propaganda, as you could’ve noticed with 90% of that quote being about the RuStore thing I personally can’t trust. But for ru-speaking fellas it’s probably worth bearing with it.
Komunitas
ibbit.at
Photograph Source: Kgbo – CC BY-SA 4.0 It’s always comforting to hear politicians reveal wisdoms and novel notions long known to those who vote for them. This tendency endears the dim rascals to you, showing an ignorance that remains, for the most part, unblemished. If we get democracy, as H. L. Mencken would put it, we are going to get it most deservingly hard. But that hardness will be veiled in fully fledged ignorance. The issue of how universities in Australia are governed is a case in point. A system corrupt, riven and sundered by rapacious bureaucratic arrangements, governed by a smug white collar criminal class that deserves abomination and execration, finally made it to Australia’s parliament for scrutiny. Politicians were made aware of a deep rot in higher education. They seemed shocked by the obvious. The interim report by the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee at least serves to point the finger at a particular administrative stratum that blights university education in the country. The words of the chair, Labor Senator Marielle Smith, should shock and disgust: “Universities are public institutions, established for the public good. Their governance arrangements, and the remuneration of their senior executives, should reflect that – yet we’ve heard that more than 300 university executives earn more than their state premiers.” Senator Smith would seem to have been born yesterday. The theme through the report follows the same beat of revelation. The committee finds itself transfixed by the idea of a “gap” or “gaps” between subsidised managers on the one hand, and the exploited students and work horse staff on the other. (The words appear no fewer than 23 times in the report.) “The gap between universities’ perceptions of their governance processes and the experiences described by university staff and students was striking.” Here, we have a glaring problem of terminology. The first stems from the plodding administrators who have appropriated the term and convinced those in Canberra that they are somehow part of an ancient lineage of teaching and learning. The university staff and students are, by definition, not the university. A true triumph of the marketer’s dark art. There is also “a gap between policy and practice” with regards “matters of transparency and the management of conflicts of interest across multiple universities.” Those submitting reports to the inquiry were particularly concerned “about the transparency of council decision-making and university finances (including the use of consultants), as well as the handling of freedom of information (FOI) requests by universities.” The submission by the University Chancellors Council, for its part, was coy. The committee noted “one allusion to problems in the sector”. The words of the UCC are hardly worth recounting, except to identify culpability. And the culpable always claim to be credible when found out: “Robust systems of governance, while an antidote to failure in process, are not infallible and UCC is committed to continuous improvement in governance systems.” No sycophantic hack could have said it better. The problems of the Australian tertiary system are profound. The committee received evidence from staff and students showing their near inconsequential role in the making of decisions of the university before the autocratic whims of University Councils. The corollary of such inconsequentiality lay in those 306 university executives with Himalayan salaries who have proliferated like fungi in moist climes. The committee specifically noted a submission by Dr. Lionel Page, who remarked that the number of senior management positions at Australian universities between 1997 and 2017 “increased by over 110 per cent, while middle management roles grew by 122 per cent.” The pool of support staff, however, dried up by 70 per cent over the same period. University vice-chancellors earn more money than Cabinet ministers, the Prime Minister and the Premiers of state. Ditto the fat clutch of acquisitive deputy executives with nebulous titles who have little to do with classrooms, teaching and research. To put it into context: political representatives can send people to their deaths, declare wars and emergencies and be voted out on relatively lower levels of remuneration; the supposed magistrates of education can, on a fatter package, enact dreadful policies with impunity and never fear a collective vote of the university body that might terminate their tenure. Things would not be quite so ghastly were some of the administrators capable. We know this not to be the case. These tertiary education plodders are a formidable example of the Peter Principle in grim action, one expounded in the book by that name in 1969: those in any organisational hierarchy rise to levels of “respective incompetence”. What we see in place is an oligarchy of oafs. How, then, does the report address this problem? The twelve recommendations include improvements to transparency and accountability (for instance, publishing the minutes of all council meetings and publicly disclosing the expenses for consultants, along with reasons for hiring them); greater involvement of staff and students in “meaningful consultation” before the making of important decisions; ensuring that governing bodies have a minimum proportion of elected representatives and those with “public administration and higher education expertise”; and giving the otherwise benign Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) necessary powers to investigate breaches of the Higher Education Standards Framework and enforce compliance. The fourth recommendation by the committee urges the Australian government to work with the Remuneration Tribunal and states and territories to create a mechanism that will assess the appropriate salaries for vice-chancellors and senior executives. Unfortunately, the report still approves of university councils setting that remuneration within the devised classification. History shows that university councils, unless they are utterly reformed, cannot be trusted with such a task. In her response to the interim report, the unchallenging Alison Barnes of the National Tertiary Education Union, more comatose inducing than threatening to university managers, approved something her organisation could do more about. “We strongly welcome the committee’s recommendations to boost transparency, cap vice-chancellor salaries, reform university councils, and strengthen the regulatory TEQSA.” The report, now written, risks suffering the lonely fate of others. The vice-chancellors and senior executives will drag their feet and ensure that change will be glacially slow, preferably non-existent. In the absence of regulations with true bite and an anti-corruption body with specific expertise on the wily, venal nature of the modern university, ideas for reform will suffer withering neglect. The post The Shock of the Obvious: Australia’s University Oligarchs appeared first on CounterPunch.org. From CounterPunch.org via this RSS feed
Komunitas
ibbit.at
Download this and other protest sign idea GIFs here. Hi, all, and happy Monday. Also happy Indigenous People’s Day! I recognize that, as it’s a federal holiday, not everyone wants to do activism today. If you do, however, I’ve got you covered! There’s a ton going on, as usual. The great news is that the hostages have been released and a ceasefire formally begun. Thank God for it. Aid is also flowing into Gaza, which is a huge relief. What happens in the weeks to come is less clear, and I’m not especially sanguine for the long-term safety of the Palestinian people, but we’ll take it as it comes. It’s a wonderful thing to see hostages returning to their families and starving people fed. We’ll leave it there for today. On the domestic front, which is where this newsletter is, after all, focussed, things are both chaotic and strangely static. First, the chaos: The Trump administration fired a bunch of CDC employees on Friday, then said it was a mistake and reversed the firings on Saturday. They fired thousands of other people, too, including hundreds from a key department at the Board of Education (more on that below). J.D. Vance went on the Sunday shows and absolutely humiliated himself. Adelita Grijalva still hasn’t been sworn in. We still haven’t seen the Epstein files. And so much more, of course. On the static front, no progress has been made—as in NONE—on reopening the government, because House Republicans are still “boycotting” Congress. Remind me next time I have a day job that if I don’t feel like working I’ll just declare I’m boycotting and put my feet up. It’s insane. Cracks are, however, starting to show. Marjorie Taylor Greene went on another rant about not just high healthcare prices, but our dismal economic state in general, and at least some Republican Congressmembers are now calling for Mike Johnson to swear Grijalva in. We’ll see where all of that leads. There’s so much more, but we’re here to do work, not to recap every nutty thing happening in the news. I will only say that the resistance is flourishing and expanding everywhere. Portland had a huge “Emergency Naked Bike Ride” in the pouring rain to protest ICE and the National Guard yesterday; inflatable animal costumes have made their way to Chicago, and everywhere we are hearing stories (I found this one particularly inspiring) of besieged communities standing up for each other. We’re going to get through this, folks. Make sure you do something nice for yourself today! Let’s get to work. Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲 and Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲 Hi, I’m a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______. First, I understand that the Trump administration conducted over 4,000 firings on Friday. Among them were the firings of almost everyone in the the office responsible for overseeing special education at the Department of Education. This is outrageous and very likely illegal. To decimate the office responsible for safeguarding the rights of infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities is unconscionable. I want these firings reversed and I want Congress to take its power back from this vicious, chaotic and inept Executive branch. Also, Republicans need to come back to work, sit down with Democrats, and pass a bill that permanently extends the ACA premium tax cuts, prevents any increases in our healthcare costs, and restores the power of the purse to Congress. Thanks. Extra Credit ✅ Let’s call Mike Johnson’s office. (202) 225-4000 or (318) 840-0309 or (337) 423-4232 or (318) 497-6610. Script: My name is _____ and I’m calling Rep. Johnson in his capacity as Speaker of the House. I am absolutely furious that he is refusing to bring the House back into session or negotiate with Democrats in any way, and I’m outraged that he hasn’t yet sworn in Adelita Grijalva. He needs to bring Republicans back from vacation, work out a deal to permanently extend the ACA premium tax cuts, swear in Ms. Grijalva, and end this Republican shutdown NOW. We’re tired of the lies, the deflection, and the Epstein coverups. Tell him to do his job. Thanks. Get Smart! 📚 Join BigTentUSA on Tuesday, October 14 at 7pm ET as they examine how media paywalls, profit models, and political timidity have left the public misinformed and disengaged—and what we can do to fix it. Donald Trump’s return to the White House has placed American businesses in the crosshairs of an escalating battle over democracy, speech, and public accountability. From the high-profile suspension and reinstatement of Jimmy Kimmel to the mounting backlash against companies perceived as caving to political pressure, the stakes for business leaders have never been higher. Daniella Ballou-Aares, Founder and CEO of Leadership Now Project, and Heidi Przybyla, Founder and President of Get Real News, will unpack the dynamics between political power, private media’s business interests, and civil society. They will also explore how media companies can—and should—rebuild the public’s trust, expand access, and create news that truly serves the people. Please use this link to register. Messaging! Messaging! Messaging! 📣 The awesome newsletter posted this excellent piece about what a protest sign should and shouldn’t convey. It has a long list of suggested messages—so helpful for those of us who never know what to write! These protests are, among other things, a massive messaging and recruitment opportunity. Let’s use it! Reframing AmericaThe Big List of Protest Signs for #NoKings 10/18We protest because we strenuously object to the illegal and unconstitutional actions of this administration, but we should try our best to frame our messaging in terms of what we are FOR instead of what we are against. It is more effective persuasion…Read more6 days ago · 2446 likes · 251 comments · Antonia Scatton Give 💰! We are halfway to our 25K goal in Virginia and y’all that money is needed SO BADLY! Abigail Spanberger has likely raised tons of money but statehouse candidates have a way harder time doing so, even though their races are so very important, too! Please give any amount if. you can, and please, please share this link with people who want to help but prefer giving money to taking action. Win Races! 🗳 Posting this one last time because this is SUCH an easy way to help! Help the fight for YES on Prop 50 with super-easy-to-do postcards that only require 3 words of handwriting (” Dear Sally” and your signature) and come with pre-printed address labels! Cards come in packs of 250, and can be completed by most people in less than 3 hours per pack. You provide postage of 78 cents per card. We will mail packs of cards anywhere in US. Contact me, Geri ([email protected]) if you can help! ➡️ Please note: Because these cards are jumbo size, they require a 1st class postage stamp—not a postcard stamp! ⬅️ Resistbot Letter (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.) 💻 [To: all 3 reps] [H/T ] [Text SIGN PVPIJA to 50409, or to @Resistbot on Apple Messages, Messenger, Instagram, or Telegram] (Note that for the most effective RESISTBOT it’s best to personalize this text. More about how to do this here. But if you’re short on time just send it as is using the above code.) I’m writing to urge you to oppose any move by the Trump regime to privatize or sell off federally held student loans. This plan would turn the futures of millions of Americans into a Wall Street investment product — and it comes at a time when the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been stripped of much of its power to protect borrowers. Selling federal student loans to private investors would wipe out vital protections like income-based repayment, forgiveness programs, and hardship relief. Once these loans are in private hands, collection practices will become profit-driven, not people-focused. Borrowers would be hounded for payments, interest rates could rise, and the same kind of predatory lending that caused the 2008 crash could return unchecked. It’s one thing to tighten budgets; it’s another to sell out Americans trying to better themselves through education. Strong nations invest in their citizens. We can promote responsibility without handing over our children’s debt to corporate speculators who care more about quarterly returns than the country’s future. Congress must act now to prohibit the sale or privatization of federal student loans, restore full consumer-protection oversight, and ensure that higher education remains a ladder up — not a trap. Protecting hard-working Americans from exploitation should never be a partisan issue. OK, you did it again! You’re helping to save democracy! You’re amazing. Talk soon. Jess Chop Wood, Carry Water is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Share Leave a comment From Chop Wood, Carry Water via this RSS feed
Komunitas
lemmy.ca
Deb packages can be built by anyone, including proprietary software makers. Installing .deb files downloaded from random web sites is like running .exe files downloaded from random web sites. Not safe or (as you discovered) ad-free. If you want to avoid ads and malware, I suggest installing only from a trustworthy distro’s software repository, using its built-in package manager.
Komunitas
lemmy.ml
I ignored a recent update that would give me some AI bullshit. After a few weeks, they just pushed the download to me and gave me a notification of a scheduled reboot to finish the install. Frustrating to say the least…
Komunitas
lemmy.world
Yeah pretty much, but it’s wayyyy faster. There’s times where it feels like dnf is hanging trying to download metadata that’s 25KB. I have 1Gb down and it takes like 2 minutes, its ridiculous. I know in the grand scheme of things I’m being petty. But it’s frustrating when the metadata step takes longer than downloading 500MB of packages lol
Komunitas
lemmy.zip
First off, what is generally understood as “AV”, are whole bloated suites, that scan surveil your browser usage, downloads, background processes, ip traffic, etc. They are not only over-the-top, often annoying with false positives (“I still exist, notice the good product!”), always a privacy nightmare and more often than not a mix of security theater and snake oil. But also a gaping security hole, because they need elevated privileges to do their tasks and are at the same time hastily cobbled together software ruines that do dangerous tasks like decoding media. While the professional “AV” is applying security practices and in some cases (like spam mails) running a heuristical AV scanner over it. You can of course do that on Desktop too; i’ve set up a ClamAV cronjob for my dads peace of mind. But keep in mind, that the heuristics are always a step behind: don’t trust them blindly. And btw, Firefox at least, has scans of downloads default enabled now (with a local list, no rivacy risk). Chromium too?
Komunitas
lemmy.world
I mean, I was able to figure out how MS-DOS worked as a child just be flailing on the keyboard and reading the errors. It was “easy” because now I know it while Macintoshes may as well have been alien technology. A “mouse”?, moving windows?, you have to find programs and click on them instead of just typing? You’re just used to Windows annoyances and not used to Linux annoyances, that’s all. For example: Installing and updating a program on Windows is a horror show compared to using a package manager. It expects average users to find, download and run executable files from the Internet and conditions them to approve elevation for anything that asks. If Windows breaks, how do you troubleshoot it? Maybe Google knows, maybe rebooting fixes it, if not then possibly re-installing the entire OS. It’s so bad that if you work with Windows clients you probably already have an image of a Windows install because troubleshooting is so much of a pain it’s easier to just completely re-image the machine. Don’t even get me started on how often Microsoft changes the layout of administration tools and system menus or their tendency to change the name of various system components for no logical reason. I don’t think Linux is for everyone, but only because most everyone already has years of Windows experience and forgets all of the frustration and learning. If you used Linux for just as long as you’ve used Windows, then editing fstab would seem as trivial a task as pinning an item to the ~~start bar~~ taskbar, or ~~launching a program~~ starting an app from the ~~system tray~~ ~~notification area~~ system tray.