I wasn’t asking for guidance, I’m just pointing out that these are all things that reduce usability.

I wasn’t giving you guidance, I was just pointing out that you are making it sound like some insane struggle to get and install programs on Linux. Usually it’s even more straightforward than in windows, especially if you already know what you are doing.

I’m just pointing out that these are all things that reduce usability.

Those are all examples of things that increase usability. Having multiple different ways to install a piece of software is only a problem if you allow choice paralysis to consume you. Right now you know just enough to know those options exist, but not their purpose or function. Literally less than 1/2 hour of googling would answer all of those questions, and with the benefit that you now better understand the useful functionality of your operating system. You only have to spend that 1/2 hour one time, and for the rest of your life you wouldn’t stress out over a flatpak vs a binary, or whatever. And again, for a new user they are probably best served by just opening the app store and hitting install. Easy, breezy, beautiful.

While you’re right that some of these issues also exist on the windows side, it’s not as prolific.

That’s just not true. Linux has had app stores for decades. Windows didn’t. Until recently, if you needed an app for Windows you had to trust ‘random online sites’ to get software. Now that Windows has it’s own app store, you can use both ways install apps in Windows- no different than in Linux.

I think that a lot of technical people forget that the average user is quick to give up and has a knack for breaking things. Many of the restrictive elements in Mac and Windows are to protect the average user, usually to the bane of the super user.

I just remember being a new Windows user and having to learn what a .dll and a .exe was. What the registry was, what installer ‘wizards’ were and how to properly use them, how to find the place in the control panel where you uninstall programs, how to update my system, what ‘fragmentation’ meant how how to solve it, how to not get viruses and how to remove them if you did, how the file system was set up and how to navigate it- There was a lot of stuff to learn, and you either learned it or you weren’t able to properly use your system. Same when I briefly switched to OS X.

It’s no different in Linux. People just don’t want to take the time to learn how things are done in Linux. The reality is it’s really not that hard to get up and running in Linux at all. And while you can always go deeper and learn more- its typically not necessary nowadays. I put Linux on my moms old computer when she was in her 70’s. She was not a techie person at all (extreme understatement). It took about 5 minutes max to get her up to speed. It was never an issue.

Many of the restrictive elements in Mac and Windows are to protect the average user

It’s simply a matter of readjusting your mindset. If you are about to do a simple and straightforward task that you already know how to do, chances are in Linux there are 10 other ways to accomplish the same thing- but you are in no way forced to know what they are or how to do them. If you are curious and want to know- that’s great. Take a little bit of time and learn them. If not- don’t.

Choice is good.

I’m a technical person and even I struggle with what/how the hell I’m supposed to even install applications on Linux:

On my distro it’s 1) Open App Store 2) Search for Software 3) hit “install”.

Should I download the binaries? Should I use snap/flatpak/etc?

That’s a matter of personal preference, but once you understand the difference, which is really not that complex, then the choice should be practically automatic.

If I do one vs the other which is more up to date?

You can check the version number.

If I can’t find it in the software store can I trust random online sites?

You have the same issue in Windows.

I think if you are paying to have a worse experience with a ICE car, and someone points out you can get a nice electric car for free and you think they are just being an annoying asshole- that’s an issue right there.

Sure, some people need dump trucks for work. If you don’t though I think switching to an EV is sensible.

It’s weird that this was something that Microsoft would have to admit, considering “The CLOUD Act” has made this mandatory for all US based companies anywhere they operate in the world. This has been a law since 2018.

I use cards, I don’t even have NFC on my phone, but it is nice to be able to check my bank account, lock/unlock the card, deposit checks, etc.

I may be able to do most of that on the website, idk. Guess I’m probably going to find out :)

I miss LineageOS so much, my last couple of phones haven’t had a build of it and my asshole banking apps wont work on it now.

For my next phone i’m just not going to buy one unless it’s already supported and if I have to skip online banking I’ll do it.

What’s going on with Europe lately? You all really want GOOGLE of all mega corps in control of your identity?

You’re going the opposite way, it should be your right to install an alternate OS on your phone. If anything they should be banning Google licensed Android.

It’s ok when he does it. There is no such thing as a Republican who is able to be shamed by hypocrisy. It’s their super power.

Ah, I see what you are saying. Thanks for taking the time to explain.

I guess I’m confused what that licence has to do with AI though.

I know onlinepersona put AI on the end of that link, but from what I can tell it’s just a normal copy left license.

I guess some conceivably could put such a licence on an AI generated thing, but I’m not sure they would be able to enforce it unless the model wasn’t trained on stolen data.

They might be able to copyright the prompt though.

Idk, we will probably have to rely on the courts to determine something like that, which means we will get the worst possible outcome.

Sure, but you have to remember that U.S. based corporations and Microsoft in particular are formed from pure evil out of the deepest darkest pits of hell and they love nothing more than sucking the asshole of the U.S. Government, who turns a blind eye to their monopoly and lets them get away with the most foul and disgusting business practices their little black hearts can think of.

They happily facilitate the U.S. Government to spy on U.S. Citizens when there isn’t even some heinous law that allows them to legally do so. If they don’t even give a single shit about their friends, family and neighbors- what are the odds they would go out of their way to protect Europeans, what with their love of ‘consumer protections’ and ‘anti monopoly’ laws?

You know they steal books by the library right?

Who steals books from the library? The Creative Commons Org? I tried looking it up online and can’t really find what you are referring to.

Do you mean that they literally take books from the library and never return them, or do they copy library books an slap a new license on them? Are the books that they do that to in the public domain?

Fuck Microsoft but aren’t there data residency laws that say French data must be stored in Europe?

The problem with U.S. companies operating in Europe is the CLOUD Act. It doesn’t matter where the physical servers are located, if the U.S. Government wants access to the data, U.S. Based companies are required by law to allow it.

Huh, TIL

I’m really glad that’s what it turned out to be.

God damn I love it :) I’ve been messing with Linux for 20 years now and there are some patterns that never seem to change.

In almost every thread about Linux there will usually be:

1 person bragging about 'Using Arch" btw (before that it was LFS or Slackware)

1 or 2 people saying this will be “The Year of the Linux Desktop”

2 or 3 people joking about it being “The Year of the Linux Desktop”

10 - 15 people explaining why it wont be or shouldn’t ever be “The Year of the Linux Desktop”

3 or 4 people complaining about how rude the Linux community is.

10-20 people saying that isn’t their experience and/or they always try to help people when they can.

1 or 2 people actually being rude (who are usually downvoted).

2 or 3 people saying how Windows/Mac OS is better in certain ways.

4 or 5 people complaining about one specific thing that doesn’t quite work for them in Linux, or one specific Windows/Mac only program they must use for work.

8- 10 people giving them suggestions about how to solve their issue or work around it.

Personally I love the Linux community. The people are mostly great, friendly, able to think outside the box, and willing to help others. I try to emulate that whenever possible. Sure you are going to get rude people in every scene, I just ignore them.

What’s up with your username homie?

I “only” have a 1TB SDD. If I wanted to download a new game I would have to delete one that’s already on here.

Capitalism isn’t about anything other than keeping the ruling class rich and in power. How it chooses to do that has varied throughout time. During the 20th Century the lie was that “American Style” capitalism was fair because the capitalists would promote Laissez-faire style economics (“Free Trade”) out of their mouths, while actually building monopolies.

With the rise of Trump-style ‘conservatives’ Republicans have adopted a new strategy, Mercantilism. Mercantilism doesn’t even pretend to be fair or free. The word ‘Competition’ doesn’t even appear anywhere in that article because competition is bad for Capitalists and they see no reason to continue to lie about that. They actively oppose free trade.

Even if ‘Capitalists’ possessed the ability to feel shame for being hypocrites (which they certainly do not), calling them out for not following along with the principles of ‘the free market’ does no good since they have abandoned advocating for that a while ago.

I’m not really sure that is the reason. I’m not saying I would put it past them, just that I really don’t think it’s necessary. Smart phone manufacturers have a million other ways they could spy on you if they wanted to. The U.S. Government already has the ability to know each and every thing you do on your phone, even if you never use Bluetooth. I think it’s greed pure and simple. It probably cost’s them a few pennies to add a physical jack and most people would lose their shit if a phone came out without Bluetooth capabilities, so they save those couple of pennies and put them into their greedy ass pockets.

That being said I have never bought a phone without one and never will as long as I have a choice. I do love my wireless headset though but I am also not too worried about being spied on (yet).

I’m 100% convinced that is why they stopped making batteries user replaceable though. In 2019 Edward Snowden did an interview with Wired magazine where he made the interviewer remove the battery from his phone as a condition of the interview. He explained that the U.S. Government can make it seem as if your device had been ‘powered down’ when in fact they can still listen to your conversations and transmit them back to the CIA or whatever other spooks that want to listen in. Shortly after than almost all manufactures stopped allowing you to remove the battery. Coincidence?

My current phone doesn’t have a removable battery, because I literally couldn’t find one in my price range that allowed you to do so.

The best advice if you don’t want to be spied on is not to use a smartphone altogether or just do whatever you want to be kept secret away from the phone at the very least. Buy a Faraday bag and keep your phone in there if that’s not an option.

I know this is a joke, but I would just like to take this opportunity to relate what I consider to be an interesting historical fact.

Many Americans think that Australia was the only British penal colony, and that America was founded by Puritans, Quakers and the like. In fact Brittan was sending prisoners the North America well before they started using Australia after the revolutionary war. From 1610 to 1766 Brittan sent between 50-120,000 prisoners to America. In 1717 with the passage of the Transportation Act and continuing up until 1776, Brittan sent between 30,000 and 50,000 prisoners and ‘indentured servants’ to America, most of whom were political prisoners. I’m sure that having such a large number of people persecuted for their beliefs by Brittan and shipped off to a foreign land had nothing to do with the colonists declaring independence.

Granted when they did start shipping prisoners to Australia (1787 to 1868), they ended up sending quite a few more there, approx 162,000, but still the U.S. can proudly claim to come from Outlaws, just like the Aussies :)

Please take note of MystValkyrie’s response to my post. I have no experience with Murena and I cannot vouch for them. In light of what MystValkyrie shared, it might be wise to proceed with caution and maybe look into it more before ordering.