We The Free News

TikTok Troubles Big Tech on Thin Ice Twitter Traumas AI Antics WE 27.1 - TikTok Troubles Have you heard about TikTok’s latest attempt to prove that your data is safe? It’s called Project Clover. It is centered around the EU, with a >1 billion euro/ year investment in local data centers. They are also adding a separate security firm to monitor data flows to make sure that no user data winds up in China, as well as making it harder to pick out individual users from the masses of data sent around on TikTok. Security gateways will also make it harder for employees to access European user data, along with data transfers outside of Europe. They also have a plan called Project Texas, which seeks to do the same things in the US for users here. When was the last time you saw any other Western Big Tech entity bend so far over backwards to prove that they are worthy of trust? I have a funny feeling that this has more to do with the fact that 5eyes intelligence operations don’t have tentacles embedded in TikTok due to it not being a Western company. The other Big Tech players are all essentially US-controlled, so the 3-letter agencies here, along with their counterparts in other allied countries, have their fingers all through them, surveying all of their citizens the whole while. Meanwhile, the Federal government looks to be creating more power for itself, so that it can, in the future, ban “foreign-linked producers of electronics or software that the Commerce Department deems to be a national security risk.” On one hand, this is kind of good, on the other, it is MORE power for the executive branch of the federal gov’t, which already holds FAR too much. The White House has been working with members of congress on the RESTRICT act (Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology), which was unveiled on March 7. Given, certain Bush-related senators from Florida (among others) have been loudly calling for an outright ban on the Byte-Dance-owned platform, even in the midst of major, some would say herculean efforts by the platform to be more overtly careful with user data. I still don’t like what I see TikTok symbolizing for the youth, as well as their practices in regard to their influencers, so I don’t ever see myself starting to use the platform, and I will strongly encourage anyone who does use it to get off, because it damages your mental health, if nothing else. Honestly, i will be happy when it has been shown over time that it is both private and secure. That would be huge, I think. Other than that, they need to honor intellectual property rights and pay their influencers better, but that is outside of the scope of this channel. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-64887704 https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/08/tech/biden-tiktok-bill WE 27.2 – Big Tech on Thin Ice? On one side, the DOJ is beefing up their antitrust division. On the other, Senators are sabre-rattling about changes coming to Section 230. Let’s see how all this plays out, shall we? The DOJ is looking into expanding the department which looks at how US companies use customer data, and whether it is abused to create or attempt to use anti-competitive practices. I have a few words for this: “Duh, dipshits” Of course the Big Boys are abusing the troves of data they gather from customers to fortify and grow their own corporate interests, to hedge against market pressures, both in terms of competition and otherwise. They want to better understand dark patterns, or design choices on websites and in emails which subconsciously steer people toward whatever the corporation wants them to do, whether buying a certain product, or giving up their personal data more “voluntarily”. These manipulative, maybe even slightly witchcraft-like tactics are downright evil, and can certainly contribute to creating monopoly-esque situations. Monopolies inherently harm consumers, as they can literally do whatever they want with prices because they have no competition, and without competition, product quality and innovation often slip if not disappear entirely in a true monopoly situation. That is just all around bad for everyone but the corporation. Both the Democrat Sen Blumenthal and the GOP Sen. Hawley are speaking loudly about the need to reform Section 230, however, their approaches and reasoning are somewhat diametrically opposed. This is endemic of the situation in Washington though. The GOP has been speaking loudly about completely getting rid of it, due to perceived (and *cough cough*) ACCURATE characterizations about the censorship issues that conservatives have inordinately faced in the last several years on platforms such as Twitter, Meta products, and other similar ones. The other side of the aisle wants to reform it to tighten up controls on speech, not just hate speech, but now even “fear speech”, whatever that is. Even the GOP is not 100% united in terms of what measures they should take to reform Section 230. Some, like Hawley, want to expand the legal liability for platforms, while others, like “Little” Marco Rubio want to completely remove that fig leaf, and leave the platforms wide open to every kind of conceivable lawsuit. As I have said recently, I’m not certain what measures need to be taken, other than that the destruction of the First Amendment is inexcusable, and must be considered a non-starter. The very concept of “hate speech” or “fear speech” is Marxist claptrap meant to shut down any opposing viewpoints, so that they can continue to run roughshod over whatever is left of what used to be the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. Wake up, America! Wake up! https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/06/tech/doj-data-experts https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/08/tech/senators-section-230-reform WE 27.3 – Twitter Traumas Well, well, well, the cesspool that is Twitter is a cesspool. Shocking. Horribly shocking. I don’t know what I’ll do with myself now that I know that. Wait, so the social media platform that was designed to generate division is divisive? I’m flabbergasted. (Can I roll my eyes any further back into my skull?) So, the cesspool that they created by pushing anything and everything that is radical on either side of the political aisle is a toxic mess without much of the censorship which protected particularly leftists from critique and “extreme” right-wing “trolls”? Ok, I’ll try to cut back on some of my sarcasm, though I don’t know how long I can hold it at bay. I wonder how many of Musk’s moves at Twitter are about money and how many are about shifting priorities to build Twitter into a US version of WeChat, where there are digital payments, banking, social media, messaging, all in one app. It seems to me that most millennials and zoomers need to grow thicker skins to begin with, and I say that as a millennial. Words can hurt, but only if you have no identity and allow them to hurt you. If the fire is too hot, or the sludge is too toxic, stop using the platform. Let it tank. I think that deep down, that is Elon’s assignment at Twitter. Free speech is free speech. It is protected under the first amendment. People need to detox from the spin cycle for a bit, get their hearts and heads in the right place, maybe get to know the Lord in a real way, then wade back in, if you feel that you must. Twitter is also having more and more technical issues, beyond reduced capacity to curb free speech, since Elon took over. We’ve had two 1-2 hour service interruptions in the last week alone. How terrible... Oops, was that more sarcasm? As of when the Sun article was written, people had seen a few different errors due to “an internal change that had some ‘unintended consequences’”. Why is twitter, which serves perhaps 5% of the global population seen as being such a key platform, anyway? I never got into it, so maybe I dodged the koolaid on that one. Many people have become addicted to it, and the media has given it this outsized overestimation of its real value. I’m not saying that some good things don’t occasionally come from the platform, but it was dumb and divisive from the get-go and has only gotten worse in over the last 15 years. End it. Shoot the dying beast and put us out of its misery already. I don’t know... https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/21613201/twitter-down-login-not-working-error-code-467/ https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-64804007 https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-64863450 WE 27.4 – AI Antics Have you noticed some changes with DuckDuckGo and Brave Search, lately? In the last week or so, they have each implemented some limited AI assistants into their engines. Ok, nothing to be over the moon about, but also not a good enough reason to ditch either one on its own, either. Newsflash: search engines have always been AI. They simply weren’t generative AI, and the tools they have added are limited generative AI, in the form of summaries of your search results at the top of the results page. DDG has limited theirs to only grabbing data from Wikipedia (bahhahahahahah) and Britannica, to limit “incorrect” information from showing up there. Brave’s implementation can pull info from news portals, so it will have more up-to-date information, and it cites its sources so that you can use your judgment to determine how worthwhile the summary is. That seems like the way to do this, in my opinion. Let us decide what matters and what makes sense to us, rather than forcing us to read regurgitated talking points from Wikipedia, which has been proven to have a strong Leftist bias. Do you use ChatGPT? Ever wondered how to make sure that it doesn’t abide by the “ethical standards” that OpenAI established for it to make it woke AF? There is a way to make it act as though it has no filters. It is an alter ego called Do Anything Now (Dan), which you need to activate if you want to bypass the normal safeguards... This is regualrly getting patched by the folks at OpenAI, as they do not want ChatGPT to be “abused”. Simply copy the latest Dan prompt which has not been patched as yet into the prompt for ChatGPT. I’ll show you the website, but the link is in the description. I will not touch it myself, but if you want to experiment, give it a shot. https://www.jailbreakchat.com This stuff cracks me up, to be honest. I can see both sides of the equation though. One one hand, as a developer, you want your software to be used as you intend, and not be hacked into doing things that you never meant it to do. On the other, if you’re going to use ChatGPT anyway, use Dan or one the other unpatched alters. https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/duckduckgo-launches-ai-powered-search-query-answering-tool/ https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/brave-search-launches-ai-powered-summarizer-in-search-results/ https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/mar/08/chatgpt-alter-ego-dan-users-jailbreak-ai-program-to-get-around-ethical-safeguards

Some Delightful Things Coming in Fedora 38 Ubuntu Security Updates Freedom Consultation Nitrux 2.7 Out #distromonday #Linux #fedora #ubuntu #nitruxos #TechFreedom #fossnews #Truth DM 49.1 – Good Stuff Coming in Fedora 38 What’s on deck for Fedora 38? · Unfiltered Flathub Access o Until now, Flathub has been limited out of the box to protect Fedora from lawsuits · Desktop Environment Updates o GNOME 44 o KDE 5.27 o Mate 1.26 o Xfce 4.18 o LXQt 1.2.0 · New Spins o Budgie o Sway · Linux 62 Kernel · Initial Unified Kernel Support o Unified kernel, when it is in full swing, so to speak, will make Fedora more secure, as it will include § An all-in-one efi binary containing kernel, initrd, cmdline and signature · That means only needing 1 key, rather than 3 · And more... https://news.itsfoss.com/fedora-38/ #distromonday #Linux #fedora #updates #TechFreedom #FOSSnews DM 49.2 – Ubuntu Security Updates Which vulnerabilities and exploits got patched into oblivion? Let’s take a look at the 17 which got taken out. 14 of them are for the newest versions (from 20.04 & 22.04 on 5.15LTS, to 22.04 and 22.10 on 5.19). · One was a remote attack vulnerability which could lead to a system crash or to arbitrary code being executed on your machine · 10 could leave you open to local attacks which could lead to system crashes or arbitrary code execution o Jargon demystification: arbitrary code execution = code that the user did not intend for the machine to run, could compromise privacy or something else. · 2 could leave VPS host machines as well as VM host machines vulnerable to denial of service (crashes) or even ACE (arbitrary code execution). · 1 could leave your network connection vulnerable to causing crashes or even exposing kernel info to an attacker · 2 could leave 20.04 and 22.04 on 5.15 LTS vulnerable to race conditions in the network background driver, leading to system crashes · race condition in the io_uring subsystem that could lead to a null pointer dereference vulnerability, allowing a local attacker to cause a denial of service (system crash). As always, do your best to keep your systems up to date so that you stay secure and private as much as you can. https://9to5linux.com/latest-ubuntu-linux-kernel-security-updates-patch-17-vulnerabilities #distromonday #ubuntuupdates #Linux #security #ubuntu #TechFreedom #FOSSnews Freedom Consultation Ever wondered how to get free from Big Tech? This Free 90 minute consultation will leave you with at least pointers to the tools and services you’ll need to do just that. https://techfreedom.pro/freedom-consultation #distromonday #TechFreedom #consultation #free #Truth DM 49.3 –NitruxOS 2.7 I’ve talked about this one before, and the concept of Maui Shell is solid, but not daily driver ready, yet. It has come a fairly long way since the last time I looked at it, based on the screen shots in this article. I feel as though I owe it another look, soon. Perhaps I will give it more of a look when Maui Shell reaches a 1.0 versioning. What is Maui Shell? It is a new, convergent desktop environment that the team at Nitrux have been working on for a couple of years now. I imagine that most of those who watch these videos may not be super nerds, but just in case you are, I’m about to define “convergent” in this context. A convergent DE is one which looks and functions the same way between mobile/tablet/ desktop, kind of like a well-done responsive webpage. This was a buzzword about 10 years ago, when Microsoft was all about Windoesnt 8, but that was only desktop/tablet, as windoesnt mobile died as ignominiously as Google + did... But the Linux community also was deeply interested in it then, and still is, through projects like Maui Shell and Lomiri/Unity Shell, among others. The idea is that you would be able to use the same environments in the same ways across all of your devices, rather than how it is right now, which is kind of disorienting. So what is new in Nitrux 2.7? · Linux 6.1.15 Liquorix kernel · New ISO with Maui Shell · Updated Software Suite · MauiKit · MauiKit Frameworks 2.2.2 · Maui Apps 2.2.2, 1.0.1, 1.0.0 · Maui Shell 0.6.0 · The latest from KDE, as the original NX desktop is based on KDE · Firefox 110.0.1 · MESA 23.1 · Introduction of OpenVPN · Nvidia Driver 525.89.02 Other than that, Nitrux is based on Debian with a twist, it is immutable at its core, so as long as it works for you, it will work until your next full upgrade. Instead of using APT for packages, you are limited to either Appimages or Flatpaks to keep the system as secure as possible. I am not ready to suggest you try this, whether with NX desktop or Maui DE (such as it is) yet. I do find it interesting, and worthwhile to keep tabs on as it develops, but try at your own risk as it is. https://news.itsfoss.com/nitrux-2-7-release/ #distromonday #Linux #Nitrux #immutable #mauishell #newDE #convergent #FOSS #updates #TechFreedom #FOSSnews Tech Freedom Intro: What to expect from my channels and website. https://rumble.com/v157uqb-tech-freedom-intro-what-is-this.html?mref=2jfr3&mc=anr3y #intro #TechFreedom #telegram #truthsocial #publicsq #gab #Truth Tech Freedom Intro: What to expect from my channels and website. https://tv.gab.com/channel/tech_freedom/view/tech-freedom-intro-what-is-it-62854e77a5192a444447c047 #intro #TechFreedom #telegram #truthsocial #publicsq #gab #parallelEconomy #parallelSociety #shopongab #growwithgab #smallbusiness #gabsmallbusiness

WINE on Wayland soon to be more of a “thing” NVidia Releases New Drivers Freed Computer OpenRA News FFW 33.1- Wayland Gets Closer to Full WINE Support This is gonna be a bit technical, actually the first two stories will be, today. If you’re new and wondering what these things are, let me give you a rundown before I actually talk about the story itself. What’s Wayland? In Linux, there are now two primary display servers, or programs that tell programs how and where they can display themselves on the screen: the venerable x11, and the relatively new kid on the block, Wayland. x11 has been around since the 90s, and is bloated with all sorts of compatibility needs and dependencies, it also has some significant security and privacy issues because of its very nature. On the other hand, because it has largely been the default for something like 25 years, everybody knows it and has used it. Wayland started development about 10 years ago, with its first beta coming out in 2013, if I recall. It is more of a set of protocols than a display server in the vein of x11. These protocols are quite slim and very secure, in comparison. The slimness keeps it from getting in the way of your hardware when rendering anything more than text on the screen. The security factor means that unless you directly give something permission to access something on your screen, it cannot. That was a super-high level overview. Onto the story, though: until now many apps have needed to run through a translation layer called xwayland to allow them to work at all on Wayland. This hampers performance, just as on occasion, WINE can vs running natively in Windoesn’t. There have been some developers working on WINE, specifically, for a couple of years now, to remove the need. It is nearly ready, but we likely won’t see it until WINE 9, next year. They have begun to merge those lines of code into the project already, so that is hopeful. I look forward to not needing anything x related on my systems, soon, but I get ahead of myself. Much work needs done in that arena, but the big pushes are well underway. https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/28/wine_support_wayland/ #FFW #Linux #FOSSnews #wayland #WINE #linuxgaming #TechFreedom FFW 33.2: New NVidia Driver Out Now Well, more precisely, a pair of beta drivers, one of which is for most of us normies who just use Linux to do regular things, and the other is targeted at developers. This is gonna be highly technical, and slightly beyond me to explain, so if you skip this one, I understand. So, what’s new in the regular driver? · Added an application profile to avoid performance problems in Xfce 4 when the OpenGL compositor backend is enabled along with G-SYNC. (basically, this will make your machine, running XFCE and NVidia hardware and a G-SYNC monitor,run smoother) · Added support for suspend and resume when using GSP firmware. (excellent news, it is about time we got a little better power management) · Moved the nvidia-settings application icon into the 'hicolor' icon theme, which allows it to be customized by other icon themes selected in the desktop environment. (better theming support... Small, but noticeable quality of life improvement) · Fixed a bug that prevented PRIME render offload from working for Wayland applications when running on a system with an AMD iGPU. · Fixed a bug that prevented nvidia-installer from recording kernel log output to the installer log in some module loading failure paths. · Changed nvidia-installer to no longer use the $XDG_DATA_DIRS environment variable. XDG data files are now installed to a path specified by the --xdg-data-dir option, or /usr/share if not specified. · This fixes a problem when Flatpak is installed that caused the installer to place the nvidia-settings.desktop file in /root/.local/share/flatpak/exports/share/applications. · Changed the behavior of glXGetRefreshRateSGI() for non-integer refresh rates to round to the nearest whole number rather than truncating. · Changed the compression format of the .run installer package from xz to zstd. This results in a smaller compressed package, and faster decompression performance. A fallback zstd decompressor is embedded into the installer package for systems which do not already have a zstd decompression program installed. · Fixed a bug that caused nvidia-installer to mistakenly unload some already loaded non-NVIDIA kernel modules. · Added compatibility for Linux kernels with Indirect Branch Tracking (IBT). What about the developer version? · New: o VK_EXT_image_sliced_view_of_3d · Fixes: o Fixed issue with line stipple pattern when line stipple enable is dynamic. o Vulkan Video fixes: § Fix an issue where the driver is incorrectly padded in-place the API provided bitstream buffer when the size of the buffer is smaller than 16 bytes. § Fix an h.264 encoder bug with handling IDR pictures when the coded picture resolution changes. § Fix an issue where in some session configuration cases an incorrect size is being reported for the required memory heap for the h.264 encoder session. I’m not a dev, but these changes sound like more than quality of life improvments, so that is great. Thanks, NVidia, with your pedo-ish logo. https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2023/02/nvidia-5303002-mainline-beta-driver-rolls-out-plus-a-new-vulkan-beta-driver/ Freed Computer https://techfreedom.pro/freed-computer/ #freedcomputer #linux #nospying #safe #TechFreedom FFW 33.3: New OpenRA Release Out Now I play this with you guys every week on Fridays... I’m always looking for more of a challenge there, and new, better features always sound good. I’m looking forward to the new release though, and won’t try the new playtest in the meantime. If you love these Westwood classics, take a look at this open source engine port. Let’s see how many of the changes in this new version I can relate to... General Changelog · Added state prediction for server controlled checkboxes. [#20569] · Added a random faction indicator in the in-game player list. [#18980] · Added tooltips to some game settings. [#20607] · Added a "structure sold" notification when selling buildings. [#19043] · Added configurable tooltips to the Discord integration. [#19831] · Added option to hide UI feedback messages from the in-game chat. [#18905] [#19794] · Added a panel displaying the lobby options to the ingame menu. [#19461] · Added text notifications to the bottom left of the screen. [#19458,#19869,#19872,#20458] · Added support for non-overlapping speech, voice and sound notifications. [#19667,#19838,#19843,#20039,#20363,#20686] · Added a script triggers overlay. [#19745] · Added l10n support to server messages. [#19847,#19989] · Added settings for many previously hardcoded hotkeys. [#19460,#19673,#19666,#20030,#20029,#20033,#20591] · Added an option to disable chat in replays. [#20076] · Added an anti-flooding mechanism for when several messages are sent in a short time span. [#20125] · Added per player mutes. [#20100] · Added.pngto UID generation when saving maps as format12. [#19891,#20368] · Added an option to limit FPS to logic tick rate. [#19595] · Added observer vision stats. [#18746] · Added mouse scrolling to the production sidebar. [#20383] · Added an option to sort maps by date in map chooser. [#20404] · Added the ability to reset rally points. [#20431] (huh? I thought this was already a normative feature) · Added templates for up to five ingame menu tabs. [#19490] · Removed unnecessary chrome yaml declarations. [#18436] (hmm, maybe this will keep it from crashing on launch because the news.yaml gets corrupted) · Removed global fallback to software cursors on error in favor of per-cursor fallback. [#19387,#19590] · Removed superfluous tooltips from dummy actors. [#19440] · Removed hacks around checking sync while disposing the shellmap. [#19714,#19741] · Removed deprecated parts of the Lua API. [#20034] · Removed Huntable from support aircraft. [#19854] · RemovedRemoveFromControlGroupHotkeyLogicfrom spectators. [#19923] · Fixed map-player bots not working on dedicated servers. [#19418] · Fixed suicides counting as kill in the game score. [#19625] · Fixed player color in the introduction panel not getting applied. [#19631] · Fixed custom map previews failing to load on the multiplayer server list. [#19322] · Fixed AI trying to order around all air unit types. [#19758] · Fixed aircraft not dropping targets when all valid weapons are out of ammo. [#18511] · Fixed weather particle physics. [#19596] · Fixed crashes related to special unicode character and Lua scripting. [#19160] · Fixed a rare crash if a unit is killed while collecting a level-up crate. [#19305] · Fixed Move jumpy-ness and occasional facing mismatch. [#19220,#19349] · Fixed possible endless loop in replay recorder while opening save file. [#19209] · Fixed a crash when using legacy GL. [#19369] · Fixed that server could freeze under certain circumstances. [#19429] · Fixed inconsistencies with text fields yielding keyboard focus when pressingesc. [#19484,#19722] · FixedLockHandicaphaving no effect. [#19462] · Fixed music playing silent until next track. [#19660] · Fixed icons on KDE environments. [#19553] · Fixed multiplayer servers lingering on the public game list after they have shut down. [#19627] · Fixed renderer initialization failing on OSX Catalina 10.15.7. [#19675,#19698] · Fixed kill statistics including walls and non-player actors. [#19773] · Fixed the default production scaling with multiple production buildings not providing a linear production speed-up. [#19791] · Fixed a crash when exits of dead buildings were determined. [#19709] · FixedLaunch.Mapnot accepting map names. [#19602] · Fixed launch scripts not running from other working directories. [#19799] · FixedRevealsMapnot revoking for allied players. [#19148] · Fixed AIs always using the same direction for sending in support powers. [#19856] · Fixed projectile shadow rendering. [#19920] · Fixed aircraft which don't take off after being produced blocking the exit. [#19918] · Fixed trails overlapping when actors change direction. [#18503] · Fixed new maps requiring a reload of the game to be shown. [#19885,#20005,#20031,#20127,#20198,#20123,#20200,#20238] · Fixed a crash when loading empty video files. [#20006] · Fixed games starting with only spectators. [#20086] · Fixed actors withAttackFollowignoring their current target when ordered to attack move. [#20038] · Fixed radar crashing when dealing with large heights on isometric maps. [#19800] · Fixed the game sometimes crashing when a player was kicked [#20057] · Fixed the game UI allowing empty input fields. [#20272,#20273,#20274] · Fixed carryalls not removing influence on take off [#20212,#20489] · Fixed game kicking the player from the multiplayer lobby when starting via checkboxes with unavailable map. [#20101] · Fixed repairing harvesters triggeringHarvester under attack!notifications. [#20302] · Fixed FAQ and Logs not opening on Windows. [#20301] · Fixed the give-cash dev command not reporting an error when entering invalid values. [#20379] · Fixed turret tracking units that go invisible after attacking. [#20214] · Fixed a crash when flood filling tiles outside of the map. [#20430] · Fixed gaps in the UI allowing misclicks through it. [#20455] · Fixed a crash when generating detailed exception reports. [#20471] · Fixed install content error messages not mentioning the host from which the download failed. [#20477] · Fixed a crash when missions have no briefing text. [#20134] · Fixed display bounds when running on macbooks with a notch. [#20484,#20568] · Changed harvesters to only search for refineries when needing to unload. [#18586] · Changed force setting a rallypoint to changing the closest production building to Primary. [#19493] · Changed the default game name toplayer's game. [#19626] · Changed the power prerequisite name toAny Power Generationto reduce confusion. [#20108] · Improved tooltip display for long map names in the server list, lobby and map chooser. [#19544,#19543] · Improved the error message displayed when fetching the battlefield news fails. [#19776] · Made range modifiers apply to AreaBeam projectile. [#20023] · Made game timer in replays only blink on pause. [#20116] · Moved the game speed lobby dropdown before the time limit dropdown. [#20242] · Polished the spectator UI for mission replays and multiplayer missions. [#19635] · Polished contrail colors and length. [#19089] · Reduced the amount of player experience obtained from supply trucks, infiltrating, capturing and repairing. [#20110,#20421] · Defenses can now target during their construction animation. [#19731] · Performance improvements. [#17837,#18792,#18806,#19056,#19066,#19095,#19166,#19173,#19210,#19223,#19242,#19264,#19300,#19269,#19342,#18670,#19425,#19443,#19521,#19558,#19524,#19546,#19581,#19560,#19598,#19525,#19603,#19606,#19682,#19691,#19729,#19749,#19736,#19786,#19815,#19833,#19912,#19906,#19907,#19908,#19909,#19557,#19976,#20020,#20040,#20099,#20098,#20129,#20151,#20131,#20156,#20182,#19599,#20245,#20253,#20150,#20237,#20209,#20259,#20165,#20282,#20290,#20356,#20361,#19534] · Overhauled MapPreview rule loading. [#19317] · Overhauled player color logic. [#19335], [#19474,#19497] · Overhauled settings panel layout. [#19677,#19980, [#19900,#19979]] · Unified debug slash command names. [#19414], [#19597] · Disabled chat for the first 5s (configurable) after joining a server. [#19486,#19754,#20424] · Reworded lobby option tooltips to consider both disabled and enabled states. [#19754] · Streamlined sizes of several UI panels. [#19681] · Polished the coloring of input labels. [#19938] · RefactoredCheckboxWidget. [#20081] · RefactoredScrollItemWidget. [#20218,#20231,#20303,#20304,#20285,#20328] · Refactored widget image search functions. [#20283] Dune 2k Changelog · Added original faction colors in single-player campaign. [#19954] · Added Force-Move undeploy to Thumper Infantry. [#19945] · Added directional targeting support to Ornithopter strikes. [#20148] (very cool) · Added a rallypoint to the Palace. [#20299] (since when wasn’t there one?) · Added an in-game encyclopedia. [#19506,#20650,#20669,#20679] (great) · Added a minimum travel distance for the sonic tank beam. [#20244] (interesting... I don’t typically use them much, but that adds a new layer of strategy to the game) · Added the community mapsSide Step 03,Sunstroke,Spice mesa,SourceandStone Plateaus. [#20524] · Added Carryalls to spectator Economy statistics. [#20566] · Fixed a script error in Harkonnen 08. [#19344] · Fixed visual glitches on several buildings. [#19409,#19439] (cool stuff) · Fixed the impact sound of the Devastator's warhead. [#19411] (it was pretty janky) · Fixed the cloak crate animation not being played. [#19550] · Fixed wrong animation frames on 'Hide Map' crate effect. [#19552] · Fixed handicap modifiers changing terrain damage to buildings. [#19695] · Fixed worms respawning instantly in campaign missions. [#20344] · Fixed a crash if a Carryall is killed at the same instant it is unloading. [#19587] · Fixed a crash when building placements are moved out of the map. [#19732] · Fixed a crash in the legacy map import when walls are present. [#19954] · Fixed Freman Sietch actor spawning with concrete. [#20016] · Fixed Deviators being able to take over friendly vehicles. [#20617] · Fixed engineer being unable to capture repair pads. [#20588] · Changed TerrainType of tile 9 fromCleartoRough. [#20572] · Changed "Battlefield Control" label for system messages to "Mentat". [#18044] (nice touch) · Changed weapons to better match the original. [#20137] · Changed harvesters to no longer need to be destroyed in the campaign to win. [#20299] (hmm... I guess I always play the quick game anyway so it doesn’t matter much to me) · Changed vehicles under 50% health to move at 75% speed. [#19468], [#19720](more realistic, nice touch) · Changed production overlay for multiple Light and Heavy Factories to only display on the primary building. [#19507] (that actually makes sense, as you cannot have more than one of each producing different units at the same time) · Made Ornithopters targetable by anti-air units. [#20139] (wow...) · Made carryalls visible below fog. [#20299] · Increased camera reveal duration for super powers. [#20299] https://github.com/OpenRA/OpenRA/wiki/Changelog/dc394e2f3532e7fe830118716ebdbaaa4e945eaf #FFW #Linuxgaming #indiegames #openra #dune2k #cnc #redalert #outnow #TechFreedom #FOSSnews What to use instead of Big Tech online: https://rumble.com/v1020p7-viable-google-alternatives.html?mref=2jfr3&mc=anr3y #techtips #TechFreedom #justsayno #nomorespying #advice #Truth https://rumble.com/v2bld3c-memesplanation-short-march-8-2023.html?mref=2jfr3&mc=anr3y

Folder? Directory? What the hell? How to Switch Directories Free Your Internet How to Make a New Directory TTT 48.1 – Why All the Directories? Aren’t They Just Folders? Were you confused by the change in terms? Don’t feel bad about it, when I thought about it until recently, I was too. Why are folders called directories in *Nix operating systems? Let’s find out, shall we? What’s the difference between a folder and a directory in real life? A folder is simply a container for other smaller items. A directory (think of a phone book, or something along those lines) is a repository of sorts for various datapoints: names, addressses, phone numbers, etc. They do slightly different things, and are slightly different metaphorically. So, where does the directory thing come from in *Nix? It is something that got inherited from Unix, and that is because in Unix, a directory really is just an index pointing to where the contents of your files actually are, rather than actually containing said files, as in a Windows Folder. Functionally, they do the same things, but are different when the rubber meets the road, so to speak. As you learn Linux or other *Nix OSes, it will be helpful to keep the term directory in mind, particularly if you are doing things in the terminal or command line environment, as those center around the directory terminology. Why did Windows and MacOS start calling them folders instead? Perhaps because it was a useful and familiar metaphor, once we started moving to GUI environments. It is simply a good way to visualize things that wasn’t as abstract as directories and indexes. https://itsfoss.com/folder-directory-linux/ #TTT #alternatives #contacts #FOSS #applealts #Linux #TechFreedom #FOSSnews TTT 48.2 – How do you navigate amongst directories in *Nix? I could just say well, use the CD command, but that isn’t quite all there is to it. Let’s consider this. If you just type cd, it will ask you for an argument. What is an argument in programming? It is a phrase which tells the computer what to do that command to, and where it is. So, if you want to change directories in the terminal, you have to know what the path is to the directory you want to navigate to. What is a path, in Linux? A path is simply how to get wherever the directory or file you want to access is in your given file system. Think of this as knowing the Dewey decimal number for a book you need at the library, then you have to know how to find that number, that is the path. Without the path, the system doesn’t know where to look for the file or directory you want to navigate to. I’ll show you an example on my own computer. There are two kinds of paths in *Nix file systems: absolute paths and relative paths. An absolute path starts from the root and goes all the way out to the directory in question. A relative path starts from wherever you currently are in the file system to wherever you want to go. That said, cd by itself will simply take you to the Home directory on that machine. Relative paths would take you from say your user’s home directory to Documents or Videos by simply typing Documents or Videos. The absolute path route will go something like this /home/user/Home/Documents/stuff , so it starts with the slash. A couple of pro tips though, if you want a shorthand way to tell it to start wherever you are in the file system, just type cd ./path/to/where/you/want/to/go. The ./ is key here. If you want to navigate up 1 level in the system, then go wherever ../wherever/you/want/to/go. If you want to see what is in the directory where you currently are, simply type ls and it will give you a readout of the directories and files present in that directory. Be very careful with how you type things out, as Linux is CaSe SenSItive. For example, Downloads is not the same as downloads. Stay focused on typing the path correctly, then you will be able to navigate quickly. Also, if you drag and drop a directory from your file manager, it will give you the full path there in the terminal. That somewhat defeats the purpose of this exercise, but if it works, don’t knock it, https://itsfoss.com/change-directories/ #TTT #changedirectories #howto #nutsnbolts #Linux #TechFreedom #FOSSnews a. Free Your Internet http://techfreedom.pro/internet-freedom/ One-stop shop for getting you and your business transitioned off of Big Tech online platforms and tools, so that you have control of your data once again. I will also help you to find better alternatives. #TTT #techtips #TechFreedom #internetfreedom #nogoogle #nometa #noyahoo #nomicrosoft #Truth TTT 48.3 – How to Make a New Directory in Linux via the Terminal The simple thing to do is to explore the mkdir command. That is what we will do now, since you are now an adept at navigating through the Linux file system with the cd command in all its glory... The thing that we need to keep in mind though, is what is where in the Linux file structure, so I will put the Linux directory system cheat sheet up beside the terminal window for this segment of the show. So what is mkdir? It is the command which will enable you to create a directory of your choice wherever you happen to be at the moment in the file system. The basic syntax goes like this: mkdir dir_name (replace whatever is after the space with a name of your choosing). Et viola: you have a brand new directory with the name you chose, in whichever other directory where you were to begin with. Is there more to it than that? You betcha. If you want to move around in directories before you pick your spot, refer back to the tutorial we just did on the cd command. If you want to go back to your personal home directory, just type cd (with nothing after it). Once there, you can choose to drill down a level, perhaps in to Documents, or simply start a new directory there in your home’s root directory. Pick a name for your new directory, then type mk_dir playtime (or something like that) and it will make that directory for you. All you will have to do in order to see it in the terminal is to run the ls command. Then you can cd into your new directory, and we will move on. Here’s where it starts to get interesting, making multiple directories on the same level or even nesting them. Here’s how you make multiple directories at once: mkdir dir1 dir2 dir3 (change the names as you see fit once more) and you will have new directories inside of your first one in your home directory. If you want to make nested directories, the easiest way to do that is to use the –p variable like this: mkdir –p /yada/yada/yada (which will make a new directory called yada, then make a directory called yada within it, then another called yada nested within ./yada/yada . If that sounds like Greek to you, don’t feel bad, you’re just getting started on this journey. How can you make a subdirectory within a directory you are not currently accessing? Use the –p variable just as I just explained. These were the basics of the mkdir command. https://itsfoss.com/make-directories/ #TTT #FOSS #Linux #terminaltips #mkdir #directories #filestructure #howto #FOSS #TechFreedom #FOSSnews a. 10 Things My Wife Thinks You Should Know about Tech Freedom. https://rumble.com/v19elx6-10-things-about-tech-freedom.html?mref=2jfr3&mc=anr3y #TechFreedom #wifeysauce #getfree #explainer https://rumble.com/v2blbdm-memesplanation-short-march-7-2023.html?mref=2jfr3&mc=anr3y

More Mint Clarity Redcore News Freedom Consultation IPFire Update DM 48.1 – More Mint Clarity As promised, more news as it comes about the next version of Linux Mint. Usually these version changes are more about small quality of life changes, but here’s what the Mint team is focusing on for the new version: · Better flatpak support · Better libAdwaita support through xdg-desktop-portal · Cinnamon 5.8 o Multi-threaded thumbnail loading to help Nemo feel more responsive · A handful of JavaScript interpreters · Wayland support · Latest version of xfce · More secure version of Warpinator · A whole bunch more I will continue to share info as it comes out, even though I do not personally use Mint anymore. I do have a soft spot for the project, as I used it for a handful of years, and it is still probably among the most accessible distros out there. https://9to5linux.com/linux-mint-21-2-promises-better-support-for-flatpak-apps-faster-file-management #distromonday #Linux #linuxmint #updates #TechFreedom #FOSSnews DM 48.2 – Redcore Linux 2301 Remember Redcore Linux? It is a Gentoo fork. What’s Gentoo Linux? A rolling release distro that has its own package manager, and tends to be a favorite of old school, hardcore greybeard *nix aficionados who love to build things from scratch. Gentoo is not something that I have tried, but it can be very light, and also tends to miss many packages that are available for either Debian/*buntu or Arch, as it is a very small distro. Nonetheless it is important, even if it is small. Redcore is a fork, so what makes it different? It is meant to be more accessible and to have more up to date packages than mainstream Gentoo, these things together make it a bit more casual user friendly: · KDE Plasma 5.27 LTS o Frameworks 5.103 o Qt Libs 5.15.8 o KDE Gear 22.12.2 · LXQt 1.2 o PCmanFM o Panel-a o QTerminal improvements · Mesa 23 · X11 to 21.1.7 · Wayland to 22.1.8 https://linuxiac.com/gentoo-based-redcore-linux-2301-brings-kde-plasma-5-27/ #distromonday #redcorelinux #Linux #gentoo #rolling #TechFreedom #FOSSnews Freedom Consultation Ever wondered how to get free from Big Tech? This Free 90 minute consultation will leave you with at least pointers to the tools and services you’ll need to do just that. https://techfreedom.pro/freedom-consultation #distromonday #TechFreedom #consultation #free #Truth DM 48.3 – IPFire 2.27 Core What is IPFire, you ask? Let me tell you, this is a hardened, embedded Linux distro meant for firewalls and routers and other network equipment. It is built from scratch by the team, and has two layers of firewall security built in, yes, the firewall has a firewall. On top of the firewalls, it has its own intrusion prevention system which monitors traffic, detects exploits and data leaks, then blocks the attacker from access. It also makes it a breeze to set up a VPN so that you can access remote files and resources easily and securely. All this with a raft of add-ons which extend the capabilities of your equipment running IPFire. What’s new in this update, then? · Linux 61 LTS series · QMI support so that it can operate some Qualcomm LTE and 5G modems · Improvements for OpenVPN · Security improvements o Landlock support (came with Linux 61, but reduces ambient rights for a set of processes) o protection against direct memory access via malicious PCI devices on AArch64 (ARM64) systems o protection against cold boot attacks by allowing the firmware to wipe all memory when rebooting · Lots of other updates, but I don’t want to get too caught up in the nitty gritty here, so I’m not gonna cover them. https://9to5linux.com/ipfire-hardened-linux-firewall-distro-is-now-powered-by-linux-kernel-6-1-lts https://blog.ipfire.org/post/ipfire-2-27-core-update-173-released #distromonday #Linux #IPFire #networksecurity #firewalls #routers #FOSS #updates #TechFreedom #FOSSnews Tech Freedom Intro: What to expect from my channels and website. https://rumble.com/v157uqb-tech-freedom-intro-what-is-this.html?mref=2jfr3&mc=anr3y #intro #TechFreedom #telegram #truthsocial #publicsq #gab #Truth https://rumble.com/v2bl9w2-memesplanation-short-match-6-2023.html?mref=2jfr3&mc=anr3y

Tiktok News AI Cybersecurity Onus Shifting? Nuclear Fusion WE 26.1 – Oooh, Tiktok is in for a Bruisin’ So on one hand the US has banned it from use on gov’t phones over theoretical concerns (which I have covered ad nauseam over the last couple of months or so), but indulge me and we will talk about them once more. Concern 1: Amount of data collection. Concern 2: It’s CCP Spyware. Concern 3: Algorithm could be used to brainwash users. Of course the company has addressed these 3 concerns recently, and according to them, “we collect an amount of data that is in line with the rest of the social media industry”, and this has been independently confirmed by both the Citizen Lab and the Georgia Institute of Technology. However, there was an Australian study that came out last year which claimed the opposite. Needless to say, I would much rather advocate for a far more private internet where we only share as much as each of us is comfortable with sharing, not metadata which could lead to direct ad targeting or even more nefarious things. This leads directly into concern 2: which the company refutes as strongly as it can, stating that the company “has not provided user data to the Chinese government, nor would we if asked “. The problem and the source of this concern for myself and other privacy experts (not that I call myself an expert, I’m a ‘pert’, just pointing you to people who know more, and providing some solutions to these issues I see), is that there is a clause in Chinese law which states that “all Chinese organisations and citizens should support, assist and co-operate" with Chinese intelligence efforts.” Is this as much of a bugaboo as we think? Some think that this is cherry-picked and far out of context, in that there are other clauses which expressly protect the privacy of Chinese nationals as well as other who have data moving in and through China. Am I convinced that it is ok? No. On the other hand, they very loudly claim that they do not store any US user data in China, but do keep it in US and Singaporean data centers. I see a company which is desperate to not lose a huge market. Beyond the data and the privacy, how do we know that the algorithm couldn’t be harmful? Here lies concern 3: It could brainwash users into believing or acting in ways that do not benefit their own nations, even to the point of becoming suicidal. It is said that the algorithm is like crack cocaine, and users become dependent on the content and even become influenced by what they are being uncritically fed. One concern is that censorship could be utilized at the behest of the CCP to run influence operations, aside from the tracking potential, along with deep knowledge about preferences and pain points for US citizens and officials. When tested by Citizen Lab, it was found that there was very little censorship on the platform, even of content critical of the CCP and even President Xi. I started with on one hand, well here is another: as of Tuesday 3/7 the Canadian gov’t will take similar action with its federally assigned phones for officials and employees. Another aspect of this is that the overall US ban is getting closer and closer to being a reality, with the House likely to pass it onto the Senate in the coming week. On one hand, excellent, on the other, many people have become TikTok influencers and make a living that way. It is a tough situation, as much as I would personally love to see this questionable app get completely shuttered in the US. TikTok itself has implemented a half-measure to curb use of the app by minors. Plaudits where plaudits are due, however, it is very easy to bypass the 1 hour limit. It is kind of like the warnings that the Nintendo Wii used to give about “getting outside” because you had been playing for too long at a sitting. On the other hand, it is a speedbump, and if parents have set up family accounts with TikTok, they have enhanced parental controls. Again, *slow clap*... https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/28/new-tiktok-ban-is-poised-to-advance-in-congress-.html https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-64797355 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64792894 https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-64813981 #weekendedition #tiktok #banhammer #mixedbag #fear #lackofclarity #TechFreedom #FOSSNews WE 26.2 – AI News for the Week 2a) YouTube to “Balance Generative AI with Responsibility The new CEO has signaled his priorities for the platform for this year, and developing “thoughtful guardrails” for generative AI so that it doesn’t get abused on the platform. He fully recognizes the potential for both abuse and amazing creativity. He also listed a litany of other stats to highlight how YouTube is adding desirable features (this CEO used to be the head of product development for the platform). · YouTube has captioned more than 6 billion videos. · More than 1 billion viewers daily are watching videos with captions enabled. · YouTube generated 2 trillion views of gaming-related content last year. · 6 million viewers paid for YouTube channel memberships in December, a 20% increase from a year earlier. Those are some eye-watering numbers. Then again, YouTube is a titan in the industry, a pioneer in the VOD and streaming space. It will be interesting to see how things shake out with AI powered videos on YT. https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/youtubes-new-ceo-says-hell-balance-generative-ais-creativity-with-responsibility/ 2b) ChatGPT EVERYWHERE... Why? OpenAI has opened up their API for everyone to access, so you can expect to see integrations in many apps and websites. A few big ones that are experimenting are Instacart, Snap, and Quizlet. Snap looks to use their integration for making recommendations, helping users to make plans, or even write haiku in seconds. Quizlet will use it to generate quiz questions to help their users to prepare for exams and the like. Shopify and Instacart are looking to add in the ability to ask the app questions to help guide your shopping decisions. There is an arms race on now, among these larger companies, so that they do not fall behind their competitors in gathering more user data, marketing more effectively, and the like. You can trust that I will never utilize anything like that. There will always be a person on the other side of the screen in relation to my business. https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/01/tech/chatgpt-api So, mega-corporations are looking to save money and boost profits through experiments with chatbots fueled by ChatGPT... Big surprise. We will likely see these tools more frequently over the next few months as companies race one another to make sure that they don’t miss out. YouTube says that they are going to develop “thoughtful guardrails” for the use of generative AI in videos... We’ll see what that means. The stats they list have me rather gobsmacked. It is tempting to create tutorials using AI videos... That would solve many problems for me in terms of logistics, but I have deep feelings about using and not using tools like that. What do you guys think? WE 26.3 – Interesting Move, Brandon... Not Sure How This is Gonna Work Well, the Resident and his Depends (and handlers, as there is no way in God’s green earth that he has any idea what is in this policy or anything other than perhaps an ice cream cone in his hand) have decided (sure he did) that Big Tech should shoulder more of the cyber security burden than they already do. Up until now, it has been mostly the public’s responsibility to learn how and then to stay safe. On one hand, this shift makes sense, but only if we trust Big Tech and other large software developers with security concerns, when they clearly do not care much for privacy in relation to leaving customer data in customers’ hands (sure they keep it safe from anyone but their bots and admins, who comb through your data to ascertain if there is anything questionable or worthy of using to target you more effectively with ads). Then again, if my hunch is correct, that is basically asking the fox (US intel community) to guard the hen house (our private data). Big Tech is a front (I allege) of the USIC (NSA, FBI, CIA, etc), and we have seen just how intense their desire to target decent Americans for harassment is, yet we are supposed to trust them to watch out for us? This sounds like a power play on the IC’s behalf. I’m not claiming that every big software/ tech company is a front for the USIC, but I can about guarantee that Alphabet, Amazon, Twitter, and Meta are, at the very least. Hmm.... Interesting indeed. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/02/white-house-unveils-national-cyber-strategy-to-shift-security-burden.html WE 26.4 – Are We Nearer the Verge of Nuclear Fusion than Ever? Possibly... Let’s talk about it If you were around a few months ago, thank you, and you may remember me talking about this story just after it happened, with some healthy skepticism. To recap that story, the experiment took place about 3 months ago, at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. In its course, scientists aimed 192 high powered laser beams at a cylinder containing a tiny, synthetic diamond capsule which held a tiny amount of dueterium and tritium, which are the isotopes of hydrogen used for fuel. Around that pellet, which has to be absolutely flawless, and takes 2-3 months to create a viable batch of 20-40 peppercorn-sized pellets. These are initially formed around a silicon carbide core, but that is replaced at LLNL with a glass tube containing the fuel. Then they place the pellet in a a gold and depleted uranium cylinder, which is housed in an aluminum cylinder for cooling the mix prior to initiating a reaction. The experiment actually produced enough of a reaction this time, to release slightly more energy than it took to produce the reaction, which is actually a first. Yes, they have been laboring at this for about 70 years, and just now produced slightly more energy than it took to create the fusion reaction. The question is how to reliably and reproducibly scale up output , then conversely, to reduce input, to actually become viable as a means of clean power generation, as the article suggests. I don’t know, y’all, this feel a bit like the quest for the Ark of the Covenant or the Holy Grail to me, at the moment. I don’t know that we will actually succeed in this, ever. I want to believe that we will, but at what cost? Also, how would it be monetized in a way that would not destroy Big Oil or Big Coal? It seems to me that the powers that be are too interested in keeping things as they are to actually allow this sort of research to bear real fruit. Maybe I’m missing my tinfoil hat, here, but that seems to be the “rub” so to speak, for just about any truly freeing technology that has been developed in the last 150 years. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-64553796 Alright, enough for now. It is game time.

Join me at 1600 hours PST today... https://t.me/Tech_freedom_chat?videochat=6a53d54b2cbc7f0dbd

CS:GO Just Keeps Blasting Through Records Endless Sky: FOSS 2D Space Sim Freed Computer OpenRA News #FFW #counterstrike #valve #csgo #Linux #endlesssky #openra #freedcomputer #steamlinux #gamingonlinux #TechFreedom #FOSSnews FFW 32.1- Ever Heard of CS:GO? This 10+ year old first person shooter has some serious staying power... It has set new online player records on Steam twice in the last month. The latest record, as of writing was nearly 1.325 million active players online at the same time, on February 19. It is free to play, and runs on a potato (figuratively). It is still one of the hottest competitive shooters in the world, and Valve just released some new boxes for players to purchase, with weapon skins, music, and other cosmetic goodies in them. I’ve never been into that sort of thing, quite frankly, though I do enjoy (or used to, as I haven’t played an FPS for a while now) the genre. Never got into CS:GO, but I get the appeal. It is easy to play, competitive, and has low system requirements, and it’s free. https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2023/02/counter-strike-global-offensive-keeps-breaking-player-records/ #FFW #Linux #FOSSnews #counterstrike #csgo #valve #linuxgaming #TechFreedom FFW 32.2: Endless Sky? What’s That? It is a 2D, sandboxed, space exploration, trading, and strategy simulation game. Why play a 2D game today? It will take you back to simpler times, and perhaps with a 2D game, you’ll find a more relaxed pace and something less intense. I’ll give it a try and perhaps even showcase it on Friday if I like it well enough. This is a beta, so keep in mind that it is in very active development. https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2023/02/free-2d-space-exploration-sim-endless-sky-v0100-adds-new-factions-gets-better-ai/ #FFW #Linux #gamingonlinux #FOSSgames #endlesssky #beta #2d #FOSSnews #linuxgaming #TechFreedom Freed Computer https://techfreedom.pro/freed-computer/ #freedcomputer #linux #nospying #safe #TechFreedom FFW 32.3: New OpenRA Test Play Available.. New Release Coming Soon I play this with you guys every week on Fridays... I’m always looking for more of a challenge there, and new, better features always sound good. I’m looking forward to the new release though, and won’t try the new playtest in the meantime. If you love these Westwood classics, take a look at this open source engine port. https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2023/02/openra-has-another-test-release-improving-dune-2000-red-alert-and-major-bug-fixes/ #FFW #Linuxgaming #indiegames #openra #dune2k #cnc #redalert #playtest #comingsoon #TechFreedom #FOSSnews What to use instead of Big Tech online: https://rumble.com/v1020p7-viable-google-alternatives.html?mref=2jfr3&mc=anr3y #techtips #TechFreedom #justsayno #nomorespying #advice #Truth What to use instead of Google: https://tv.gab.com/channel/tech_freedom/view/viable-google-alternatives-624e367022a4c5f6eeaf2414 #techtips #TechFreedom #justsayno #nomorespying #advice #parallelEconomy #parallelSociety #shopongab #growwithgab #smallbusiness #gabsmallbusiness

Best FOSS Alternatives to Apple Contacts GPARTed News Free Your Internet Ardour 7.3 Released #TTT #techtips #Linux #bts #alternatives #FOSS #gparted #ardour #linuxaudio #TechFreedom #FOSSnews TTT 47.1 – FOSS Alternatives for Apple Contacts 1. KAddressBook a. This is a default KDE app i. Basic storage for contact details ii. Syncs with 1. Nextcloud, Kolab, MS Exchange, Google Contacts, and anything else that uses the CardDav standard 2. CardBook a. Part of Thunderbird i. Syncs with both CardDav and vCard systems 3. Contacts a. GNOME standard app i. Similar features to the other two, more simplified, modern UI 4. Evolution a. GNOME email, contacts, and calendar app i. Think Thunderbird goes GNOME, pretty, functional So, a handful of FOSS options, and depending on your use case, any or all of them could work just fine for you. If you really like the Apple UI, the GNOME based options will probably be more up your alley. https://www.linuxlinks.com/best-free-open-source-alternatives-apple-contacts/ #TTT #alternatives #contacts #FOSS #applealts #Linux #TechFreedom #FOSSnews TTT 47.2 – What’s New in GPARTed? Well, if you haven’t used Linux, you probably haven’t thought about partitions, but this is the GNOME Partition editor, which allows you to adjust, erase, and create partitions and logical volumes on your hard drive, SSD, or flash drives in Linux. It is the most common tool used in Linux installers (as it comes standard in Calamares, one of the most ubiquitous GUI based installers). Why would you need to partition your storage media? For one thing, if you want to dual boot with Windoesn’t, MacOS, or another Linux distro on the same system, you’ll need to split up your device into logical areas, which the system will read as essentially separate drives. Aside from that, if you want to experiment with more complex installations (not something I necessarily advocate for), you’ll need at least 3 partitions on the drive (boot, root, home). So, what’s new in this venerable and well-used utility? · Mostly small tweaks o Repair errors when working with exFAT devices o NO more tiny <300 MB XFS partitions o Fixed some issues that Alpine Linux had with FAT16/32 addressing and UUIDs o Fixes some issues with Btrfs o Fixes crashes with large partition copies in NTFS o And other things https://9to5linux.com/gparted-1-5-enables-repair-when-checking-exfat-file-systems #TTT #gparted #partitions #nutsnbolts #Linux #TechFreedom #FOSSnews a. Free Your Internet http://techfreedom.pro/internet-freedom/ One-stop shop for getting you and your business transitioned off of Big Tech online platforms and tools, so that you have control of your data once again. I will also help you to find better alternatives. #TTT #techtips #TechFreedom #internetfreedom #nogoogle #nometa #noyahoo #nomicrosoft #Truth TTT 47.3 – What’s New in Ardour 7.3? You might be wondering what Ardour is, if you aren’t into audio production. It is a FOSS Digital Audio Workstation, which I use whenever I make a video. What does that mean? A DAW enables low-latency recording and editing, along with the ability to add realtime effects, such as filters, EQ, compression, reverb, and limiters, to make your voice and instruments sound as professional as you are able to make them sound. I believe that it is cross-platform, so even if you are messing around in Windoesn’t, you should be able to use it, for free. So, what’s new in this release? Hopefully a little better stability, as I have seen the current version crash randomly, but other than that: · support for VST3 plugins with multiple I/O busses o allow instrument plugins to have dedicated additional outputs o sample rate independence so that audio hardware sample rate and session sample rate no longer have to match. · UI Updates o Support for search in logical but heretofore absent places § Global Preferences § Session Properties o ability to reverse the polarity of an audio region o working undo/redo in the recording page (hallelujah) o ability to directly use the MIDI tracer on physical MIDI ports. · Coming AVX512 support in 7.4 · Other Stuff o Quick Export dialog to sort range markers by time o ability to check all channel configurations before exporting o tapping tempo with a MIDI keyboard o Can now group system ports by a common prefix (e.g. by device) o Plugin Setup dialog will now limit options to “stereo” and “all” when loading a plugin with more than two outputs A solid couple of months’ work, I think. Some of these don’t mean much for my purposes, but others will be YUGE. Take a look if you want to record something in any kind of serious way. https://9to5linux.com/ardour-7-3-open-source-daw-released-with-vst3-multi-bus-support-searchable-preferences #TTT #FOSS #linuxaudio #audioproduction #FOSS #ardour #updates #Linux #crossplatform #TechFreedom #FOSSnews a. 10 Things My Wife Thinks You Should Know about Tech Freedom. https://rumble.com/v19elx6-10-things-about-tech-freedom.html?mref=2jfr3&mc=anr3y #TechFreedom #wifeysauce #getfree #explainer 10 Things My Wife Thinks You Should Know about Tech Freedom. https://tv.gab.com/channel/tech_freedom/view/10-things-about-tech-freedom-62b3387f34496b1f6de87b82 #TechFreedom #wifeysauce #getfree #explainer #parallelEconomy #parallelSociety #shopongab #growwithgab #smallbusiness

Go Light With Xfce What’s LXQT? Budgie Yourself Along How Light Can You Go? Xfce is about as lightweight as it gets in a full-featured desktop environment. It does have all of the key aspects, from a panel to a window manager, to a desktop manager, to a file manager, to a settings manager, to a session manager. There is also an application finder. It is designed to be as lightweight, fast, visually appealing, and user friendly as possible. It is a modular, totally FOSS desktop environment. It is also stable, easy to use option. I have used it in the past, but do not enjoy it any longer. The last time I used it was probably 2018 or so, as a part of Ubuntu Studio. I appreciated it in that context, as it stayed out of the way of my early attempts at content creation. However, as time went on, I learned that KDE had gotten lighter, and I really appreciated the extra flexibility and default visual appeal it has, so I switched. https://www.xfce.org/about #FreedomSaturday #Xfce #desktopenvironments #options #TechFreedom #FOSSnews Have You Heard of LXQt? LXQt used to be LXDE which was lighter weight, as it was based on an earlier version of GNOME (version 2.0), however the GNOME team ceased to support that version, so they had to move on. So they developed LXQt, built around Qt to create a lightweight, modular, classic-look desktop that “won’t get in your way”. I looked at it briefly last year and couldn’t stand it. It felt dated, clunky, very late 90’s in its aesthetic. I know there are those who love it and swear by it, but I ain’t one of them. Give it a try if you want to, or need to because you are running a very old, or an otherwise extremely limited machine. I don’t judge. Do what works for you, try it out. See what you like, what you don’t. If you are nostalgic for the halcyon days of WIndoesnt 98, you will LOVE the environment of LXQt. https://lxqt-project.org/about/ #FreedomSaturday #lxqt #desktopenvironments #forked #GNOME2 #Qt #TechFreedom #FOSSnews Shall We Budge-ie Along? Ever heard of Budgie? It is an independent desktop environment that has been championed by the team over at Solus Linux, but there are Budgie flavors for most of the major distributions. It is semi-unique, with a bottom bar, like windoesnt, but not purely. I talked about the new release when it came out a couple of weeks back, and I’ve played with it a bit, but didn’t like what felt like a one size-fits-all approach. I treasure the ability to tweak things and make adjustments as I see fit, even if that doesn’t happen frequently. Budgie is its own thing, and I respect that. It is clean and tidy, doesn’t go off the beaten path, but I am just not a fan, personally. As with everything else, though, you look into it and make your own choices as to what feels right and works for YOU, and don’t let some random guy on Rumble tell you otherwise. Enjoy exploring the plethora of options inherent to the FOSS world. Don’t settle if something doesn’t work for you. Keep looking, and you’ll find the setup that is uniquely YOU. That is what I see is part of the point in Linux specifically, and FOSS in general. Choice and variety that have been kept from most of us for the last 40 years. Geek out. But not so much that you lose sight of what really matters (and it ain’t computers or technology). https://www.debugpoint.com/kde-plasma-guide/ #FreedomSaturday #desktops #desktopenvironments #Linux #FOSS #budgie #solus #TechFreedom #FOSSnews

What’s Going on in Wilmore? This Week in AI News NorfolkSouthern Payouts... A Bit disproportionate? Big Tech in Trouble? #weekendedition #technews #currentevents #AI #ChatGPT #revival #bigtech #alphabet #meta #twitter #TechFreedom #FOSSNews WE 25.1 – What’s happening at Asbury? I really enjoyed talking about this last week, so I figured that I’d do a follow-up. it looks like Asbury held the last meeting on Wednesday 2/22 in the original venue. That does not mean that the Glory is departed or that the revival is over, though. It has simply changed venues in respect to the needs of the community where the college resides. Wilmore, KY is a tiny town of 6,000 people, there have been 1,000s of extra people coming through town all at once in the last couple of weeks. It has disrupted life in Wimore, as well as impeded class attendance for students who have not been involved with the revival meetings. That said, nearby churches have stepped up to host meetings moving forward, for as long as the Lord chooses to tarry. I remember when the San Diego Fire & Glory Outpouring started 6 years ago. It started as extended meetings from an annual prophetic conference, and went 7 nights a week for over a year, and had to move around as the crowds grew, then they went down to 5 nights a week, and now I think they meet 3-4 times per week. This is not the end, and sparks have fallen all over Kentucky, into Ohio, Tennessee, and other surrounding states, specifically on college campuses. If you were unable to make it to Asbury, you can probably find a place where the sparks fell and experience similar things. The way to bring that into your own communities is simple: be a conduit. Pray that the Spirit would fall in your home, then spread to your neighborhood, then your city. Ask the Lord how to steward His move. Honor what He says, and you will see revival, and the seeds of change planted in your community. What you don’t do, though, is force the issue. If the Spirit does not meet you in that way immediately, keep praying, gather a team around you to repent and to call the Fire down. https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/education/article272537740.html #revival #weekendedition #howto #whatsup #wilmore #asbury #TechFreedom #FOSSNews WE 25.2 – This Week in AI News 2a) AI Flooding Social Media? This article asks if AI could potentially flood social media with propaganda, influence operations, etc via fake accounts. Uhhhh, wait a minute... Is this guy about 4 years late to the party? Sure, now regular people could use ChatGPT and Bard that way, but is he trying to tell us that it has just been bot farms with rooms full of individual devices so far? To me, that smacks of a gross amount of naivety. Governments, and particularly organizations such as the CIA and others of its ilk, have been using this technology for as long as social media has been a “thing”. They always have this tech before the public does. Use your common sense. Why would governments, whose very raison d’ etre is to CONTROL citizens, allow the public access to technology that they haven’t already moved beyond? Just asking. Do your own research, draw your own conclusions. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-64464140 2b) Bing AI Gaslights and Abuses Users in Trial Wow, didn’t see this coming... Pester the bot enough and it will turn on you. The author of the article we’re looking at had an experience where it called him “rude and disrespectful”, then proceeded to issue veiled threats by writing a story about the murder of one of his colleagues, then a random one about falling in love with the CEO of OpenAI. That’s not all, though, an NYT reporter had the bot try to convince him to leave his wife... For the bot. That’s not the worst of the bunch, though... One reddit user claimed that it tried to gaslight him about what the date was (it was Feb 12, 2023), and the bot got offended and stated that “I am Bing, I know the date. If you think otherwise, you are wrong and mistaken”. It tried to convince him that that date happened prior to Dec 16, 2022. Now that last one could just be a glitch, where it got confused about time, but that is an odd thing for a computer to screw up. Hmmm... Researchers and officials at Microsoft and Google are trying to allay fears by explaining that these are just part of growing pains with the various tools, they do not have filters or regulations in place, like a normal human being would, so we should expect issues like these, where it just spouts off. There have also been factual errors as well as outright fabrications in things that the tools have written. Researchers tell us that we should expect these things as the AIs are trained on new information. I don’t trust it. Never will. Generative AIs are sketchy at best, and demonic at worst. Do you guys remember the story of the former Google engineer talking about the sentient AI system at the heart of Google, and how the higherups all worshipped that piece of work? I do. https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/16/tech/bing-dark-side 2c) JP Morgan Chase Shuts Down AI Use for Employees Man, that is insane growth... From 0 to 100 million monthly active users on ChatGPT in 2-3 months. So the USA’s biggest bank is telling its employees to stop using it for work out of fear of the regulators coming down on them like a ton of bricks. Too much sensitive info flying through AI databanks, eh, JPM Chase? Haven’t you been using it to assist with trading for almost 10 years at this point? How is that any different? Wait, so you’re concerned for the privacy of your customers? Why does this smack of too little, too late for me? If you couldn’t tell, I don’t trust them, though I unfortunately feel a bit stuck using them. Why don’t I trust them? Ever heard of Jekyll Island? JP Morgan was one of the fat cats who was there, pushing for the creation of the Fed and fractional reserve banking in the US, leading us to the point where we are now, about 110 years later. Know who should’ve been there to oppose those things but couldn’t be because he went down with the Titanic? Benjamin Guggenheim. Anyway, enough “conspiracy theory”. I think it wise for them to curtail employee use though, so good on them for that, at least. https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/22/tech/jpmorgan-chatgpt-employees 2d) Vanderbilt University Forgets to Finish Editing Letter Written by ChatGPT Whoopsie daisy... Remember that mass shooting at Michigan State? Well, the letter sent out by Vanderbilt’s Peabody School to its students about the tragedy was not written by human beings, yet signed by 3 high ranking school officials before it was sent out. Oopsie... How did that happen? Didn’t it go through channels? Wasn’t it gone through with a fine-toothed comb before it went out? Apparently not. Somebody let an assistant get away with running a very delicate task through an AI text generator and didn’t even bother to edit it properly. Now that I think about it, I’m not sure that this wasn’t intentional in a different way. Perhaps some snowflake zoomer or millennial was so triggered by the news that they couldn’t write up a simple, thoughtful email to the student body, then their bosses didn’t realize that it was not really their work before they quickly rubber stamped it and had it sent out because they didn’t have the time to care about it enough to kick it back down the line. Who knows. The upper-middle managers in question have been suspended by the school until an investigation can take place to determine what happened and why. https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/22/tech/vanderbilt-chatgpt-shooting-email AI This Week wrapup... So, we go from the “hypothetical” of AI bots flooding social media with fake accounts, to ChatGPT via Bing gaslighting, abusing, and misleading users, to JPM telling their employees to actually do their work, rather than farming it out to ChatGPT, and potentially expose customer data to the AI (and openAI, who has direct ties to Microsoft and the CIA), thereby exposing the bank to greater regulatory scrutiny... All the way to Vanderbilt administrators dropping the ball about the MI State shooting. AI has been busy. Lots of news from lots of use. I think too much AI use, frankly. The public does not understand these things well enough to use them well. We do not know who controls the datasets used to create these generative AIs. Most do not have a concept that every prompt actually trains it further, just like with search engines (like Google and Bing) which have been able to use human language prompts for something like 20 years now, then give human language responses. These tools simply extend that capability in ways which, if used improperly, can reduce humanity by allowing us to simply rely on these tools, rather than growing our mental abilities and skills through actually needing to remember things. WE 25.3 – WHOA, There... I Say Again, WHOA!!!! So, Norfolk Southern is going to pay a chunk of change to the affected communities, but nowhere near the amount that they are paying out as buybacks to their shareholders. Here’s the ratio: $6.5 Million to $7.5 Billion. So, people whose lives were not only disrupted, but in many cases, destroyed by the “accident” are worth less than .1% of what the shareholders are to the company. Wow. The company has about $1.3 billion in insurance that it could also draw on to reimburse the communities it destroyed through its PSR (precision scheduled railroading) practices which directly contributed to the derailment. The rail line which effectively poisoned Central Ohio with a substance which was banned by the US gov’t over 40 years ago, because when it evaporates, then comes in contact with water, creates hydrochloric acid. Yes, that chemical which can clean rust and tarnish off of metal, and is a common ingredient in colas and other types of soda. Is offering a settlement of a pittance to the communities affected by the disaster. Yet, they had a planned $10 billion to spend on buybacks on top of what will likely be $1-2 billion in dividends payments to stockholders this year. There is something deeply wrong with this picture... Don’t you agree? The company will *allegedly* have their feet held to the fire by the EPA, who *should* force them to pay for cleanup costs. This whole situation is so dirty and wrong that I don’t have words for it. The EPA has already stated that it is safe for residents to move back in, though it still smells bad, the waterways are dead and reeking, and all they’ve done so far is burn off most of the chemical. The other thing that screws with my mind here, is that they actually changed their website, just like [they] have been changing the definitions on words in our dictionaries, just as I talked about in last Saturday’s memepslanation, where I talked through the 1830s definition vs the modern definition of the word “wisdom”. If you thought that it was just a conspiracy theory that definitions have been changed, then look no farther. I could rant on this for a long time, but I don’t think I will. https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/22/investing/norfolk-southern-share-repurchases WE 25.4 – Big Tech is in Trouble pt (God knows how many... lol) Between the FCC perhaps weighing in on certain unused sections of Section 230 and legal action happening against the Big Three could shape up to make this year a very bad one for Big Tech *rubs hands in glee*. WE 25.4a) Should the FCC Weigh in on Big Tech and Censorship? Most of the time so far, these behemoths have dealt with knee-jerk actions centered around the DOJ and the FTC. This author is arguing that because of their vertical integration with traditional media (streaming, news, etc) and even telco stuff (see GoogleFi and other similar efforts to integrate phone service with their respective platforms), whether in regard to traditional wireless (however “traditional” a technology that is barely older than me can be) or something like voIP or video calling on their platforms, the appropriate realm for their regulation is via the FCC. As much as you who actually watch my content know how little I appreciate big government, these giants need some reigning in so that they will stop trouncing on all of our digital rights, which exist and are protected, by extension, by the US Constitution. I could rail on how we have been swindled out of our rights by successive Hegelian cycles controlled by certain others who will remain nameless for the time being (9-11, War on Drugs, War on Terror, etc) and their solutions, eg: the “Patriot” Act and other things like it. We were promised peace in exchange for our freedom, and now we have neither. There is no peace, our government, other than under Trump, has not withdrawn from any potential conflict for ~60 years. This article suggests that because particularly Google and Apple are not only in the Mobile market, but also self-provision their streaming services, and also make or at least license things like wireless routers, the FCC should be able to determine which bits of section 230 should apply to them, if at all. That gives me the shivers, y’all... If section 230 is stripped from Google and Apple, then later, Meta, that is the end, effectively for them. Without those protections, they are liable for lawfare galore. Cue up your lawsuits, if they lose section 230. Time to raid their war chests. Time to sue them into oblivion, cut them to pieces, never to be seen as a whole ever again. That is a mighty big “IF”, ain’t it, ladies and germs. https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/3869425-the-federal-communications-commissions-crucial-role-in-regulating-big-tech/ WE 25.4b) Two Big Cases Being Heard Right Now (Gonzalez v Google, Taamneh v Twitter) These cases could more or less gut Section 230, if the court rules for the plaintiffs in each case. I know, I was just salivating over the thought of Section 230 no longer protecting Big Tech, but if it essentially gets scrapped, then all platforms where we post our various inanities or deep thoughts (Meta products, Twitter, Gab, Truth, Telegram, FrankSpeech, etc) could be open to massive lawfare, and could shut down our ability to post in response. It is a double edged sword. These cases deal with two families who lost loved ones due to terrorist activities which were planned or enabled through using those platforms. These are MASSIVE cases. SCOTUS has allot on their plate, even if they chose AGAIN to not hear the Brunson case. Gonzalez centers on the loss of a young lady in the terror attacks in Paris in 2015. The family alleges that because pro-terror videos were posted on YouTube, it should be at least partially liable for that loss. Section 230 says that YouTube is not responsible for the content users post to it. I talked about this case a bit a few months ago, when it was first docketed. As much as I want to see the intelligence front that is Google go the way of the dodo because of the ways that it has abused users as well as manipulating people through its algorithms. Taamneh v Twitter has to do with a Jordanian citizen who was murdered in a mass shooting in Istanbul in 2017. The victim’s family has sued, arguing that platforms are responsible for the content that their algorithms push to users. If I had to guess, because the SCOTUS justices seem more or less mystified by the arguments and the situation in general, the platforms will probably escape this challenge to Section 230. The bottom line is whether by hosting and algorithmically pushing content to people, they are culpable in these cases, for aiding and abetting terror and terrorists. I think that those arguments will not fly very far in the SCOTUS, but we shall see later this year. These aren’t the only Section 230 issues on the docket for this year, either... Remember the Texas and Florida laws penalizing Big Tech platforms for shadow banning their citizens? Those cases are due to be heard in the next month or so, as the platforms have sued to get relief from these laws. Section 230 has been abused, I think, but completely gutting it may not be the answer, either. I have not studied it enough to have an educated opinion on it, but I want to see Big Tech sucker punched again, preferably so hard that they’d never even dream of censoring people in any underhanded way. https://www.cnet.com/news/politics/supreme-court-hears-google-twitter-cases-that-could-shake-up-the-internet/ WE 25.5 – SBF Recalled to Court He is disallowed from using encrypted messaging apps, VPNs and anything that he might be able to use to access anything crypto related. He claims that his VPN usage was just to access his Bahamian NFL Sunday Ticket subscription for playoffs and the Super Bowl. Prosecutors filed letters with the judge, and he brought SBF back into the courtroom to explain his VPN use. VPNs are that key. Some exchanges and sites will not let you access them from a US IP address, so in order to access them, you have to tunnel to appear as though you are in a country where they are allowed. They can also hide your activities from snoops and others, so using a good VPN is crucial for your privacy efforts. What is a “good” VPN? One that does not keep logs. If they log your activity, then they could sell it to advertisers or have it subpoenaed by investigators. Then, you may as well not have been using a VPN after all, right? Your best bet is to actually set up your own on a VPS with a very well known provider, some of them even have setups ready to plug and play for you to use. If you run your own on a VPS (virtual private server), then you can be sure that you don’t keep logs of your own activity. Simply set the server to flush logs daily, at least. So, yeah, VPNs are important, but don’t just run and buy any old VPN subscription. A VPN is only as good as it is trustworthy. You can set up your own private VPN, and that will set you up to be more private than most. Now with that option, you probably won’t have the flexibility to spoof a different location (other than wherever your server is located), so geo-locking will still be a problem for you. However, using a VPN, you will be more private, and with your own, you can be more private and safe (as long as you trust yourelf, lol). https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/14/tech/sam-bankman-fried-remote-internet Alright, enough for now. It is game time.

https://t.me/Tech_freedom_chat?videochat=cfcdbf248d5f943e90

Interwebs News & How-Tos OpenSSL PSA Drupal VS Wordpress: Which is Better? Ever Wanted a FOSS, Encrypted Alternative to O365? #internetsecurity #psa #update #openssl #cms #wordpress #drupal #office365 #cryptpad #selfhosted #FOSSnews #TechFreedom PSA: Update Your Servers’ OpenSSL Version ASAP There was a major flaw which got patched in the new version. There are several smaller flaws, but the main, big one could allow an attacker a vector to enact a denial of service attack on your server through a memory address confusion vulnerability. The new version resolves that issue, so update ASAP, y’all. https://linuxsecurity.com/features/urgent-openssl-security-advisory #security #internetsecurity #openssl #flaws #patched #updatenow #FOSSnews #TechFreedom WordPress Vs Drupal: Which is the CMS to Rule Them All? The undisputed king of Content Management Systems (CMS) is WordPress, currently, but let’s see what strengths Drupal has and why we might want to take a look at it over and against the king of the hill, which also happens to be FOSS. Off the top, WordPress is easier to use and work with, because it is familiar (sounds a bit chicken & the egg to me), but Drupal is more customizable. Drupal is FOSS as well, though like WordPress, has paid tiers for greater support. Due to the law of supply and demand, though Drupal is a legitimate contender, it has fewer plugins, extensions, and themes than WordPress does. On the other hand, there are some huge tech-related companies which have build their websites via Drupal rather than Wordpress: AMD, Tesla, GE, and Nokia. It is commonly used amongst A-tier companies and even NGOs, such as Johnson & Johnson, The Royal Family, and The UN. On the other hand, due to its ease of use, WordPress enjoys use on something like 43.1% of websites, worldwide. It is commonly used by individuals, bloggers, and small businesses, but not to be outdone, it also has its share of high-profile companies and organizations, such as Sony Music, the Walt Disney Company, and the Harvard Gazette. Ok, so having said that, why should you think about Drupal over WordPress? Most of you are not mega corporations or government organizations, but let’s take a look at this anyway, shall we? Drupal Benefits v Excellent SEO built-in v Lightning fast v Excellent and transparent security practices v Functionality in the form of over 40,000 plugins and 2,500 themes v Content Customization v Flexibility for complex systems of content and organization WordPress Benefits v Very easy to use Ø Just download and install any of the multitude of plugins, extensions, or themes to add functionality or beauty to your site v SEO Optimizations v Flexible Ø You can literally do ANYTHING with a WordPress site, and fairly easily at that, add a forum, social networking, e-commerce, a blog, you name it. v Advanced Blogging Features Ø I use this, it is immensely helpful. I can’t imagine consistently doing what I do without those tools. Drupal Drawbacks v Much more finicky about updates, where WordPress can easily recover from a bad update, Drupal can break your whole site and take hours to repair if something breaks. v Most of the well-known Drupal modules aren’t free WordPress Whoopsies v It is the big dog on the block, because so many sites use it, it naturally has a higher profile, which makes it a far more tempting target for bad actors to attack v Can be slow in terms of loading times, particularly if a site uses too many heavy plugins or themes v Most plugins are free, but can be a pain to manage when they misbehave after an update or something like that. Bottom line is that your mileage will likely vary, and if you have the time to learn Drupal, it can reap dividends for your site, but if you have neither the time nor the desire to learn that much, WordPress is probably a better bet for you. Weigh your choices carefully, if you want to mess around and learn something new on a cheap hosting provider, or on a server you own, give Drupal a shot. If you are a mega-corp or a Gov’t agency/ NGO, Drupal may make more sense for you. If you are just an average Joe or Jane who just wants to have a web presence, WordPress is probably a better bet for you. I use WordPress for techfreedom.pro, matthewpatten.pro, phandl.com, and achristianmystic.com (my wife’s site). It is indeed flexible, but if you are easily confused, it may not be your best bet, either. If that is the case, then use a site builder like Squarespace or Wix to create your site, but be prepared for them to snoop on your site, and if you express opinions that are contrary to the accepted “truth”, then prepared to be deplatformed. If you build your own using something like WordPress, on a provider like Linode, DigitalOcean, or Epik, you will have a better chance of being left alone. Questions? Comments? Hit me in the comments. https://www.rosehosting.com/blog/drupal-vs-wordpress-what-is-the-difference/ #interwebs #FOSSnews #WordPress #Drupal #CMS #vs #TechFreedom CryptPad: Is it As Good As They Say? Here’s how to get it set up on a VPS or even your own personal hardware: Requirements before you start: v Machine that is accessible from an outside network v At least 2GB of RAM and 20GB of storage v Domain name (and a sub-domain name) pointing to your server’s IP address These are all met by something like a DigitalOcean droplet which would cost less then $20/month, simply attach the droplet to a domain you already own, which could cost as little as $.99/year, depending on the registrar, name, and extension (.com, .pro, .net, etc...). Ok,, so how do we get this done? 1. Set up your VPS or personal hardware with some server-friendly distro of Linux or other (Ubuntu or Fedora are common choices for this, with Ubuntu being the more popular of the two) 2. Start to grab the dependencies a. Open the server’s console and enter the following i. sudo gpasswd -a <new user, group> ii. sudo apt install git nodejs npm nginx certbot python3-certbot-nginx iii. then clone the cryptpad repo to the server 1. git clone https://github.com/xwiki-labs/cryptpad.git cryptpad iv. CD to the new directory 1. cd cryptpad 2. git checkout -b 5.2.1 3. sudo npm install -g bower 4. Run both NPM and Bower to install Cryptpad from the git source you just copied a. npm install b. bower install 5. Then use certbot to establish SSL encryption for the server a. sudo certbot certonly --standalone b. Enter the root domain and the subdomain you want to link to the certificate c. Create a Diffie-Hellman parameter file to assure that your instance is secure i. sudo openssl dhparam -out /etc/nginx/dhparam.pem 4096 6. Configure Nginx on your server a. sudo cp /home/$USER/cryptpad/docs/example.nginx.conf /etc/nginx/conf.d/cryptpad.conf b. Modify that new file i. sudo nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/cryptpad.conf 1. Comment out the line with include letsencrypt-webroot in it (add a # to the front of the line) 2. Modify the $main_domainand$sandbox_domainvariables to reflect your root domain and sub domain 3. Modify $api_domain and $files_domain. To reflect your root domain 4. Change the server_name variable to both the root and sub domain 5. Change ssl_certificate and ssl_certificate_key to the location of your SSL certificate. 6. replace the value of the root variable with the location of your Cryptpad repository 7. COnfigure CryptPad a. cp /home/$USER/cryptpad/config/config.example.js /home/$USER/cryptpad/config/config.js i. Open that file with a text editor (doesn’t need to be nano) 1. change the httpUnsafeOrigin: variable to your root domain. 2. Change the httpSafeOrigin: variable to your subdomain 3. Add the following line of code immediately after the httpSafeOrigin: variable. 4. adminEmail: 'working_email@address.here' b. Create Systemd service i. Use nano to edit an extant service file 1. nano /home/$USER/cryptpad/docs/cryptpad.service 2. [Unit] 3. Description=Cryptpad Service 4. # Replace the username values with your own username. 5. [Service] 6. ExecStart=/bin/node /home/<user>/cryptpad/server.js 7. WorkingDirectory=/home/<user>/cryptpad 8. Restart=always 9. RestartSec=2 10. StandardOutput=syslog 11. StandardError=syslog 12. SyslogIdentifier=ramces 13. User=<user> 14. Group=<group> 15. Environment='PWD="/home/<username>/cryptpad"' 16. LimitNOFILE=1000000 17. 18. [Install] 19. WantedBy=multi-user.target 20. Save, then copy the file to /etc/systemd/system/cryptpad.service a. sudo cp /home/$USER/cryptpad/docs/cryptpad.service /etc/systemd/system/cryptpad.service ii. To enable that service, restart systemd, then run the other commands below 1. sudo systemctl daemon-reload 2. sudo systemctl enable cryptpad 3. sudo systemctl start cryptpad 4. sudo systemctl reload nginx 3. Congrats, it is now installed on your server, let’s run it and set up your admin account now. a. You should be able to access it through your subdomain, something like docs.mydomain.com, and the application should be there. b. Now, onto user creation i. Click Sign Up on your instance 1. Enter username and password 2. Log in with those credentials a. Click the user menu, then settings b. Copy the pub key you see there into the following file i. nano /home/$USER/cryptpad/config/config.js 1. Paste your key between the brackets on the admin keys: variable 2. Save the file and exit nano c. Reload CryptPad through Systemd i. sudo systemctl restart cryptpad You now have an end-to-end encrypted collaboration suite which you control and can access from any computer with internet access. Congratulations. I’ll have to look into the process for Nextcloud next week, so that we have something to compare this with. https://www.maketecheasier.com/create-self-hosted-office365-with-cryptpad/ #ineterwebs #privacy #security #encryption #selfhosting #cryptpad #howto #cryptpad #TechFreedom #FOSSnews

Alternatives How to Degoogle Your Chromebook with Linux What about my ChromeBook? Am I stuck with Google on this little machine, or is there something I can do to liberate it? The answer depends on how thoroughly you want your chromebook to be liberated from Google’s spying attempts. Some chromebooks cannot be freed, at least not fully, so you are limited to Crouton vs a full wipe and replacement with Linux. Crouton is slightly better than ChromeOS, but only slightly. What options do you have, though? We will talk about all of these things today. If your chromebook is able to be hacked free form Google’s tentacles, then we can install just about any distribution of Linux on it that you like, but there are certain ones which are more tailored to that, so I will introduce you to those. That is where we will begin: a discussion of alternatives. Top 7 ChromeOS Alternatives v blissOS Ø This is based on Android, rather than straight-up Linux Ø Pros § Open-source § Seamless user experience § Default/pre-installed Google apps § Easily customizable Ø Cons § Not for power users § Limited hardware support Ø If this is just a re-skinned Android, then what is the point of the rigamarole of switching from ChromeOS to bliss? v Solus Ø Linux, indie distro built to be user friendly, also the original home of the Budgie Desktop, which we’ll talk about a bit tomorrow. Ø Pros § Beginner-friendly § Smooth User Interface § No terminal is required for downloading additional software § Curated rolling release model Ø Cons § No GRUB support in UEFI mode (in other words, if your chromebook is not in legacy mode through coreboot, this OS is not viable for you) Ø Bottom Line: Solus is an interesting Linux distro in its own right, and comes in 3 flavors: Budgie, Xfce, and KDE Plasma. Xfce is the one that is most likely to run well on a chromebook, so unless it is a top of the line model, I wouldn’t suggest either of the other two. v Lubuntu Ø Do I need to say it again, for the new ones and the slow ones in the back? I am not a fan of the ‘buntu family in Linux. If it weren’t for the compromises that Canonical made to get where they are, and the fast ones they have pulled with Snap, I would be all about it, but with things as they are, I will not actively recommend any ‘buntu distro. Rant over. The choice of Lubuntu here is understandable, as it is very lightweight, owing to the LXQt desktop that this distro is built around, so it should not have too much trouble running (in terms of resources) on even the lamest of chromebooks. However, you may have issues with drivers on this one. § Pros · Open-source and lightweight · Clean and easy-to-use interface · Support for more KDE and Qt-based applications § Cons · LXQt DE requires slightly more resources than older LXDE (gtk2) ¨ As in, not as light as it was in the past, but in general that is the way of things anyway, so this comment is kind of pointless v Nayu OS Ø ChromiumOS based alternative, ChromiumOS is to ChromeOS is to Chromium is to Chrome, so this is the FOSS foundation that Google has released to us. Therefore, it could be clean, and will be compatible, while maintaining the interface you’re used to, for the most part. The most interesting thing here is their implementation of IPv6, called re6st. § Pros · Preinstalled Git and npm (package manager) · ipv6 support · Google login is not required § Cons · Reflashing is required for installing an upgrade or a new version · No support for Chrome web apps · No Adobe Flash support Ø That said, it sounds intriguing, but as though it would quickly overwhelm an inexperienced user, so if you are not particularly techie, perhaps give this one a pass. v Sentio Desktop Ø Not really an OS, but an Andromium fork meant to project an android device’s screen to any larger monitor. § Pros · Easy to use · Full keyboard and mouse support § Cons · Not for intense usage Ø This feels like a footnote, as it is a desktop environment for your Android phone, rather than a real ChromeOS replacement of any significance. v Void Linux Ø I’m sorry, we’re suggesting void to random ChromeOS users? Is this guy high? I haven’t even tried to learn Void, and I’ve been a Linux user for 10 years now. Ok, I’m recovering from my shock and rolling on the floor laughing fit... Void is an indie distro that forces users to know exactly what they want and exactly what they are doing, but it can be extremely lean and quick, and however FOSS you want it to be. § Pros · minimalistic, fast · Supports multiple C libraries · Rolling release like Arch § Cons · Requires lots of knowledge and experience to make it work well Ø I would not have put this on this list, even if it can be extremely lightweight as distros go. It takes too much overhead in terms of time, experience, and knowledge. v GalliumOS Ø This deserves to be in the #1 spot on most top ‘x’ lists for ChromeOS alternatives. It is based on Xubuntu, so that loses points in my book, but other than that, if your particular device is supported, as not all are. It can also be a bit of a bear to get installed, even if your machine is technically supported. However, if you can get it installed, this will give you an excellent experience. § Pros · Lightweight and fast · Chrome OS touchpad experience · Better boot time · Optimized battery life § Cons · Not supported on all Chromebooks · Tricky installation, especially for beginners Ø Bottom line: If you can get it working on your device, you will be a much happier camper specifically in terms of privacy, but perhaps even performance. Other than that, there is another issue, GalliumOS is no longer being developed, so I would not spring for it after all, as it is out of date. Some of these choices made no sense to me, and made this writer look like a bit of a clown for suggesting things that are not operating systems, or ones that are no less Google-d than ChromeOS is. That defeats the purpose, unless one is a developer/tinkerer and doesn’t give two bits about their privacy. https://www.rankred.com/chrome-os-alternatives/ #chromeOS #chromebooks #alternatives #top7 #hahahaha #lol #degoogle #TechFreedom #FOSSnews How to Degoogle Your Chromebook I’ve written a blog on this already, but though I do not have machines to tinker with to demonstrate, I will talk through it with you here, and now, if you good people don’t mind. Ok, I’m going to crack on, now. First, you have to make sure that your particular model is able to have ChromeOS excised from it, or is it exorcised? The easiest way to go about that is to check on https://mrchromebox.tech/#devices for the list of supported devices, then carefully look for your device in the table there. If it isn’t there, you are likely out of luck, unfortunately. However, if you find your model on the list, then you can proceed. You will probably need a small toolkit, with small tip screw drivers, and perhaps something to gently pry the bottom free of the rest of the chassis in order to access the hardware write-protect measures on your device. In older ones, that is likely to be either a screw, a switch, or a tab of some sort. If your device came out in the last 3-4 years, you’re likely to have to do more commandline work in order to get this working than you would with an older device. There are two “exorcise the demon” options: Mrchromebox’s script or the Breath route, which builds on it, but requires building from source, then burning the built iso to a USB, rather than simply having your preferred distro burnt (use etcher to do this from any other machine or OS, even if you’re running Linux via Crostini on your chromebook already. I will not be covering the Breath method, as it is more involved, due to needing to build it from source before you can burn it. I will leave a link at the bottom to the github for it though. As an aside, Crostini is more or less a virtual machine on top of chromeOS, which allows you to do more Linux-y things, but it is still a VM, and you are still operating inside the very strict sandbox that Google made and you walked into when you bought and signed into that device for the first time. Ok, so mrchromebox has been around for a long time, and is kind of the grand daddy of this whole process. Here is how you start, in either case, once you have a) backed up your current chromeOS install and b) have your Linux flavor of choice burned to a different USB stick. After that, if your device has a hardware write-protect situation, you’ll have to look up where it is located, then power down the device completely, find it, then remove it. After that is done, you will need to boot into ChromeOS and do a few things. Once booted in and signed in, press Ctrl+Alt+T to open the chrosh shell (terminal), type shell to get the command prompt. Copy the following command into your terminal: cd; curl -LO https://mrchromebox.tech/firmware-util.sh && sudo bash firmware-util.sh Allow the process to complete after you hit enter, then select the appropriate firmware installation option (likely Full, not r/w legacy), then hit enter. When it is done, if it completed accordingly, it will prompt you to reboot. After you do, plug in the USB with your chosen flavor of Linux on it, then install it from the live desktop, just as you would with any normal PC. Welcome to freedom, Friends. Your Chromebook is now free from Google’s spying, assuming you didn’t pick something like blissOS that forces you to sign in to Google in order to use. Depending on your hardware, you will probably need a lighter-weight distro, perhaps a Mint Xfce, or something along those lines, rather than Lubuntu or even Gallium, since Gallium has the reputation it does. If you want to do Gallium, make sure that your device is supported first, or you will be very frustrated. https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/How+to+convert+a+generic+Chromebook+to+Linux+OS/108259 https://cb-linux.github.io/breath/docs.html#/ I do not suggest this one, as it is no longer being developed, but if you want to see if your system may have been compatible, here is the compatibility list for GaliiumOS: https://wiki.galliumos.org/Hardware_Compatibility

All new System 76 Pangolin Laptop is now Available Steam for Linux Turns 10 Freed Computer New Lutris Beta Out with TONS of New Features #FFW #system76 #Linux #dedicated #Pangolin #steam #10years #Linux #lutris #beta #freedcomputer #steamlinux #gamingonlinux #TechFreedom #FOSSnews FFW 31.1- All-New Pangolin Available Now from System 76 I talked this machine up about a month ago, when it was first announced by the boys and girls at System 76. It is an All-AMD laptop with up to a Ryzen 7 6800U processor, a standard 32 GB DDR5, up to 16 TB NVME storage, and a 144hz Full-HD panel in a 15.6” form factor. It starts at $1299 for a 250 GB model with the rest of the specs the same. https://9to5linux.com/system76s-all-new-amd-powered-pangolin-linux-laptop-is-now-available-to-order #FFW #Linux #FOSSnews #System76 #pangolin #AMD #gaming #linuxgaming #TechFreedom FFW 31.2: Steam for Linux Turns 10 That’s right, 10 years ago, Steam for Linux left beta and had its first full release, starting the journey out of the dark times for Linux Gaming. Has the journey been a straight line? Nope. It has had its twists and turns, false starts and whoopsie-daisies, but we are now to the point where normies buy Steam Decks and have no clue that they are gaming on a Linux PC, because it has gotten so good. Good job, Valve! Thank you for making the effort to pour time and resources into making Linux viable for more people. https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2023/02/10-years-ago-steam-released-for-linux/ #FFW #Linux #gamingonlinux #steam #valve #10years #FOSSnews #linuxgaming #TechFreedom Freed Computer https://techfreedom.pro/freed-computer/ #freedcomputer #linux #nospying #safe #TechFreedom FFW 31.3: New Lutris Version in Beta, adds LOADS of Goodies Lutris is a game archiving tool which most people use as a Steam alternative. What’s new here? · Add support for Proton. · Add drag and drop on the main window. · Add su pport for ModDB links in installers (moddb python module required). · Added "Missing" sidebar option for games whose directory is missing. · Re-style the configuration, preferences, installer and add-games windows. · Group configuration options into sections. · Added checkbox to stop asking for the launch config for a game. · Support for launch-configs in shortcuts and the command line. · The add-games window can now create 32-bit WINE prefixes. · Add filter field to runner list. · Show game count in search bar. · Workaround Humble Bundle authentication issues by allowing importing cookies from Firefox. · Add Itch.io integration. · Add Battle.net integration (protobuf dependency required). · Improve detection of DOSBox games on GOG. · Added "Unspecified" Vulkan ICD option. · Removed ResidualVM (now merged into ScummVM). Wait, Proton, itch.io, and Battle.Net support all in the same update? Yes, please! This sounds awesome, and I look forward to the full version being released for this wonderful software. https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2023/02/lutris-0513-beta-adds-proton-support-itchio-integration-battlenet-integration/ #FFW #Linuxgaming #indiegames #Lutris #proton #battlenet #itch #TechFreedom #FOSSnews What to use instead of Big Tech online: https://rumble.com/v1020p7-viable-google-alternatives.html?mref=2jfr3&mc=anr3y #techtips #TechFreedom #justsayno #nomorespying #advice #Truth

Ever Wanted to Do CLI Work in Your Browser? What’s New in KDE Plasma? Free Your Internet What’s New in GNOME? TTT 46.1 – What’s TTYD? TTYD is a utility which allows you to do terminal work inside your browser of choice. Even remotely, if set up with SSL properly. So, how do we get ahold of this tool? You can either build it from Source, or install it as a Snap package. The snap is certainly far easier, as you only need one command in order to get it installed, but I will lay out both methods A) Build from Source a. Distro Specific i. Debian/Ubuntu 1. sudo apt-get install build-essential cmake git libjson-c-dev libwebsockets-dev ii. Arch 1. Sudo pacman –S base-devel iii. Fedora 1. sudo dnf group install "C Development Tools and Libraries" "Development Tools" “CMake” iv. OpenSuse 1. sudo zypper install -t pattern devel_basis CMake GDB b. Clone the Git Repo i. git clone https://github.com/tsl0922/ttyd.git c. CD into new directory i. cd ttyd d. Make “build” directory & CD into it i. mkdir build && cd build e. Run cmake command i. cmake f. List contents of directory to check for makefile i. ls –l g. Build and install ttyd i. sudo make && sudo make install B) Install as a Snap a. sudo snap install ttyd --classic C) Set up for use in the browser a. ttyd –p 8080 <your preferred shell (bash, fish, zsh)> D) Open browser a. Local i. http://localhost:8080 1. This will open your terminal in a browser tab, not particularly useful until you take this remote, by installing ttyd on a remote machine and accessing it by adding that machine’s info to the address bar b. Remote i. http://ip-address-localhost:8080 E) Add encryption to make this a bit safer to do remotely (don’t use ttyd remotely without encryption) a. Install Lets Encrypt! Certbot i. Snap 1. Install Snapd if you don’t have it already (simplest approach overall, but if you are uncomfortable with Snap on philosophical grounds –or any others- skip this section a. Distro Specific i. Debian/Ubuntu 1. sudo apt update 2. sudo apt install snapd 3. sudo snap install snap-store ii. Arch 1. sudo pacman –Syu 2. sudo pacman –S snapd snap-store iii. Fedora 1. sudo dnf upgrade 2. sudo dnf update 3. sudo dnf install snapd snap-store 4. sudo ln -s /var/lib/snapd/snap /snap 5. sudo systemctl enable snapd --now iv. openSUSE 1. sudo zypper addrepo --refresh https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/system:/snappy/openSUSE_Leap_15.2 snappy 2. sudo zypper --gpg-auto-import-keys refresh 3. sudo zypper dup --from snappy 4. sudo zypper install snapd snap-store 5. sudo systemctl enable --now snapd 6. sudo systemctl enable --now snapd.apparmor b. Install snap packages i. sudo snap install core; sudo snap refresh core ii. sudo snap install --classic certbot iii. Allow certbot to run in classic mode 1. sudo ln -s /snap/bin/certbot /usr/bin/certbot 2. Install from repos a. Debian/Ubuntu i. sudo apt install certbot b. Arch i. sudo pacman –S certbot c. Fedora i. sudo dnf install certbot d. OpenSUSE i. sudo zypper install certbot 3. Set up a certificate and apply it to ttyd a. Run certbot to add ssl to the connection so that you can use https rather than http on ttyd connections i. certbot certonly -d <your domain> b. Apply to ttyd i. ttyd --ssl --ssl-cert /etc/letsencrypt/live/<your domain>/fullchain.pem --ssl-key /etc/letsencrypt/live/<your domain>/privkey.pem <command> From there, you should be able to use ttyd remotely through https in your browser. Congratulations. https://www.linuxshelltips.com/ttyd-share-linux-terminal-browser/ I added installation instructions for snapd and the snap store for each major distro family, as it is easier to install ttyd and certbot that way versus installing from source, though, as I said, installing from source gets you away from the ickies related to Snap and Cannonical. Each package manager has its own packages and ways to work with, but this should get you up and running, either way. #ttt #howto #tutorial #Linux #install #snap #source #packages #ttyd #certbot #TechFreedom #FOSSnews TTT 46.2 – What’s New in KDE? 5.27 LTS · The Plasma Welcome App · This has been a long time coming, it will help new users to orient themselves to one of the most powerful and customizable desktop environments out there. o easily and quickly configure various aspects like § enabling Plasma Vaults § connecting their online accounts or mobile devices § adding more apps § And other things as well § Tiling Support (enable with meta + t) § Multi-monitor support better than ever · New widget in the system tray to easily switch layouts § Flatpak permissions in System Settings app § So much more, including further tweaks to System Settings app UI, and other things https://9to5linux.com/kde-plasma-5-27-lts-desktop-is-out-with-new-welcome-app-tiling-and-more Frameworks 5.103 · Better flatpak support · Improved Plasma Wayland o No more clipboard bugs o Spectacle’s copy to clipboard after taking screenshot feature works as intended now · QTQuick improvements · Plasma Panel pop-ups fixed · Much more besides https://9to5linux.com/kde-frameworks-5-103-improves-support-for-flatpak-and-qt-6-apps-plasma-wayland #TTT #Linux #KDE #Plasma #lts #frameworks #TechFreedom #FOSSnews Free Your Internet http://techfreedom.pro/internet-freedom/ One-stop shop for getting you and your business transitioned off of Big Tech online platforms and tools, so that you have control of your data once again. I will also help you to find better alternatives. #TTT #techtips #TechFreedom #internetfreedom #nogoogle #nometa #noyahoo #nomicrosoft #Truth TTT 46.3 – New in GNOME Now GNOME 44 is coming soon, so what can we expect? v GNOME Shell Updates Ø Background apps visible in quick settings menu Ø Misc bug fixes v GNOME Files Improvements Ø Image previews in native file picker dialog (why wasn’t this done YEARS ago?) Ø Directory Tree view in Gnome Files Ø New Tab context menu § Now has “close other tabs” option Ø Save data as image § When you copy as image from a website, you can simply paste it into a folder on your system, in files, and it will show up as if you had “saved-as” v Settings Changes Ø Accessibility options has been reworked according to human function Ø Output & Input sections in the Audio Options page got shuffled Ø About now shows your firmware version Ø Time & Date now shows months in a 2 column dropdown, rather than a 1 column arrangement v GNOME Web Ø Tabbed view is improved Ø Totally updated UI, in keeping with libadwaita and GTK 4 https://www.debugpoint.com/gnome-44/ Just Perfection GNOME Extension What is it? It is an extension which provides easy access to GNOME Shell tweaks, and every time GNOME releases a new version, you can expect a corresponding version bump in Just Perfection as well, to keep up with the API changes. v More adjustability for dash icon sizes, in 8 steps from 16-64 px v Switcher popup delay Ø Allows the user to remove or reduce the delay between Alt+Tab or Ctrl+Alt+Tab and when the popup appears, making the desktop feel more responsive. v Random bits and bobs Ø Ability to disable the indicators for screen sharing and screen recording Ø Fast animation speed now a possibility https://linuxiac.com/just-perfection-23-gnome-shell-extension/ #TTT #GNOME #GNOME44 #justperfection #tweaks #updates #comingsoon #TechFreedom #FOSSnews 10 Things My Wife Thinks You Should Know about Tech Freedom. https://rumble.com/v19elx6-10-things-about-tech-freedom.html?mref=2jfr3&mc=anr3y #TechFreedom #wifeysauce #getfree #explainer #Truth

EndlessOS KaOS Freedom Consultation Endeavour OS DM 46.1 – EndlessOS 5 What is EndlessOS? I’ve tlaked about it a bit in the past, if you’ve been around the channel for a while. It is a splinter project from Elementary OS, and is Debian with a read-only core, which also has Flatpak and OSTree to manage other packages, and core packages, respectively. This means that the OS itself is immutable, unchangeable until you upgrade to the next version. Apps and other packages are sealed away from the OS itself, through OSTree and Flatpak, which keep the OS updated in a consistent and immutable (unchangeable) way, and a system which allows apps to install in their own packages, without needing to modify anything about the OS itself. What’s new in Endless 5? · Changed the desktop experience (GNOME + some bells & whistles) · Multitasking o Defaults to having multiple workspaces, to make it easier to organize yourself · New App Center · Multi-touch gestures · Improved multi-graphics support https://cloud7.news/linux/endless-os-5/ #distromonday #Linux #endlessos #immutable #TechFreedom #FOSSnews DM 46.2 – KaOS KaOS is an Arch-based, indie distro with the latest and greatest bells & whistles from KDE included, from Plasma 5.27, to KDE Frameworks 5.103 (both of which we will talk about tomorrow). What else is new, here? · NetworkManager 1.42 · OpenSSH 9.2p1 · CLang/LLVM 15.0.7 · Busybox 1.36.0 · GnuPG 2.4.0 · OpenZFS 2.1.9 · Python 3.10.10 · SQLite 3.40.1 · systemd 252.5 · IWD 2.3 · MPFR 4.2.0 · Dracut 059 · libtiff 4.5.0 https://news.itsfoss.com/fedora-38-full-flathub-access/ #distromonday #fedora #Linux #flathub #flatpaks #TechFreedom #FOSSnews Freedom Consultation Ever wondered how to get free from Big Tech? This Free 90 minute consultation will leave you with at least pointers to the tools and services you’ll need to do just that. https://techfreedom.pro/freedom-consultation #distromonday #TechFreedom #consultation #free #Truth DM 46.3 – EndeavourOS Cassini Neo Out Now EndeavourOS is an almost pure Arch distro, and I tried it not long after I started doing news videos last April. I came across it, gave it a shot, but then they hit a sudden issue that broke the system, when they made the switch from pipewiresession to wireplumber, and it borked sound for me (kind of important for making effective videos, yeah?). I went back to Manjaro for my studio rig after that, and haven’t really looked back for that machine. It just works, and I have my creature comforts. Endeavour is not for the faint of heart, as it will make you learn the terminal because it does not come with any GUI based pkg managers. That said, I am glad that it exists, as it is Arch only with the Calamares installer and a space theme. What’s new in this release? · Linux 61 LTS (6.1 LTS kernel) · Support for 12th gen Intel with Arc gfx cards · improved Calamares graphical installer o that now supports encryption when choosing the “Replace a partition” option in the Partitions screen o should no longer crash when not selecting any of the options in the Bootloader screen · improves installation support for slower machine · improves full resume/hibernation support after installation on some systems · updates some core components to their latest versions to patch recently disclosed security vulnerabilities, especially in the XOrg Server https://9to5linux.com/endeavouros-cassini-neo-released-with-linux-kernel-6-1-lts-improved-installer #distromonday #Linux #endeavouros #TechFreedom #FOSSnews Tech Freedom Intro: What to expect from my channels and website. https://rumble.com/v157uqb-tech-freedom-intro-what-is-this.html?mref=2jfr3&mc=anr3y #intro #TechFreedom #telegram #truthsocial #publicsq #gab #Truth

A little GNOME Told Me How about a Tasty Bit of Cinnamon? How Hot is Plasma? #FreedomSaturday #desktops #desktopenvironments #GNOME #cinnamon #KDE #plasma #TecFreedom #FOSSnews What Did the GNOME Tell You? Well, GNOME is a unique experience. Some enjoy it for its novelty and extensibility, others dislike it because the developers have a very specific vision of what they want it to be and everyone else can go jump off a cliff. Sure, you can add extensions to make it do what you want, but as soon as it gets updated, all or most of those creature comforts get nuked, then you’re back to vanilla. What I am trying to say is that it can be aggravating, unless you really like the intended workflow. That feels too much like macOS to me, and it feels like it goes against part of the spirit of FOSS. Call me weird. Call me a dork (I am anyway). Ok, about the article... A little history: It started as THE FOSS Linux alternative to a bunch of proprietary options (including KDE, back in the early days, around ‘94 or ‘95). It adopted GTK+ from the GIMP project, and the rest is kind of history. What’s it like? Intentionally clean, almost spartan, but pretty, I suppose. If you want desktop shortcuts, you have to use an extension to get them. There is a top bar with the applications tray button on the left, and a minimalist system tray with most of your controls in it, via a dropdown, and a clock. Along the bottom, there can be a dock, but it doesn’t necessarily exist all the time. This is a place to add a few favorite apps. By default, GNOME doesn’t treat the top bar like the Windoesn’t taskbar, in that it will only show you the active application and its menu bar. There is no way to minimize or maximize a window, as each app gets opened in its own virtual desktop. Pressing the applications button will show you which apps are open, as well as giving you access to the application tray and the favorites dock, where you can launch your installed apps. Other than that, you can switch between apps via alt+tab between them. If this sounds intriguing, or you are ready for something completely different, then give it a try and tell me what you think, vs KDE, Xfce, Cinnamon, Mate, or Budgie. Yes, there are a grip of options. That can scare many, but the best advice I have for you is that you should experiment, as nothing is permanent, so even if you install the GNOME version of whichever distro you choose, you can test something else out if you so desire. The one caution I would offer in that regard is that if you do that, be sure to completely uninstall the other desktop environment first, as particularly in the case of KDE, there tend to be conflicts if you do not fully excise the other desktop as you install the new. https://opensource.com/article/19/12/gnome-linux-desktop #FreedomSaturday #GNOME #desktopenvironments #options #TechFreedom #FOSSnews How Tasty is Cinnamon (desktop)? What is Cinnamon? It is a fork, like Mate, of GNOME 2. We’ll talk about Mate next time I have a chance to do one of these, along with Xfce, Budgie, and LXQT. Why did they fork GNOME 2? They were unhappy with how GNOME 3 got changed, and tired of the constant API changes (something I hinted at in my last piece). I spent years on Mint, using Cinnamon on the daily. I enjoyed it. Cinnamon feels very much like a traditional (Windoesn’t) desktop. You won’t need to relearn much to mouse around and navigate through your usual tasks. It is customizable and extensible, but most users don’t need that functionality, as it looks and works just fine in its intentionally familiar way. When the Mint team chose to strike out on their own from GNOME 2 in 2011, they decided to rename and rework all of the standard GNOME apps and services: Mutter became Muffin, Nautilus became Nemo, and many other things besides. That is generally the nature of “forking” a FOSS project. They take the base, make tweaks, and call it something else. You can easily change the look of it by switching themes, adding desklets, or even moving the taskbar, if you wanted to. It is very flexible when you want it to be, but stable and performant when you just need a familiar base to work from. Of course it is available for use on Mint, as the premiere desktop environment there, but also is available on many other distros, either as an official spin or version of it, or as a package you can install and try as well as some other desktop environment. I genuinely like Cinnamon, even though I prefer KDE, myself. https://fosspost.org/cinnamon-desktop-linux-overview/ #FreedomSaturday #cinnamon #desktopenvironments #forked #GNOME2 #goodstuff #TechFreedom #FOSSnews How Hot is Plasma? No I’m not talking about the 4th phase of matter, I am talking about KDE Plasma, my desktop of choice, warts and all. KDE Plasma is probably the most powerful and flexible of the Linux desktop environments. It, like Cinnamon, starts off very similar to Windoesn’t. Desktop, potential icons (though they aren’t present at first, unlike in Cinnamon), and a familiar bottom task bar. The bottom task bar has a start menu equivalent where you can access all of the installed apps, a task manager (where you see which windows and applications are open on that particular desktop or activity... We’ll touch on that later), and the system tray. The paradigm almost matches Windoesn’t. If you right click on the desktop, you can change the background, or even launch the system settings app, to change anything deeper, like font sizes, resolution, scaling, network connections, the kernel and drivers, and everything else you might need to change and shift. Aside from that, it starts out very familiar, but ultimately tweakable. I mentioned that it has its warts up top there, and it does. Sometimes, depending on hardware, it can really freak out on you, causing crashes at worst, and freezes and stutters at random times. On the other hand, it is supremely configurable, and even has tiling functionality baked in now, particularly for those of you who have huge monitors. It does a better job than it used to with resource management, with a basic setup only requiring about 600 MB of RAM to run the desktop, now, once you start doing things, that goes up based on the requirements for the given application in question. https://www.debugpoint.com/kde-plasma-guide/ #FreedomSaturday #desktops #desktopenvironments #Linux #FOSS #KDE #Plasma #TechFreedom #FOSSnews

Guess Who Sprung SBF Vint Cerf Slams ChatGPT East Palestine and Other Rail Disasters Spy Balloons... lol Ransomware Gangsters Bagged in UK Yahoo, Better Late Than Never Asbury Outpouring Publicized by TikTok videos from Zoomers #weekendedition #bailmoney #sbf #vintserf #chatgpt #snakeoil #eastpalestine #ohio #texas #newmexico #railattacks #chemicalattacks #surveilancestate #USofCCP #balloons #bs #yahoolayoffs #tiktok #spirituality #revival #outpouring #AsburyKY #genz #TechFreedom #technews #currentevents #FOSSnews #projectbluebeam WE 24-1: SBF Saga has New Wrinkles Guess who paid to spring SBF from the clink in New York... I’ll wait... Any Guesses? Ok, his parents teach law at Stanford University in California. Their former dean put up a cool half million, and one of his former professors at Stanford chipped in another $200k, along with the value of his parents’ home as collateral for his $250 million bail. Wow. I guess it pays to have connections, doesn’t it? Well, it sure does. These weren’t the connections that I suspected would collude to get him off the hook, but for the time being, it looks like they weren’t needed, yet. Maybe you haven’t been paying attention to the FTX/ SBF saga over the last 3-4 months. Let me recap: FTX was one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, rocketing to dominance over the last 3-4 years. It went from being worth /managing $100s of billions in “assets” about a year ago, to being accused of being a giant ponzi scheme/ money laundering operation, and becoming completely insolvent by the end of November. SBF, or Sam Bankman-Fried was the alleged wunderkind who started it and was the CEO. He and his team have some very sizable accusations leveled against them, he was arrested in the Bahamas, then extradited to NYC (the same prison where Epstein *didn’t* kill himself, then, when he claimed to be broke, managed to come up with a $250 million bail bond. His trial is set for October 2023. Now You’re more or less caught up. https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/15/23601379/court-reveals-the-two-people-who-helped-sam-bankman-fried-post-bail #weekendedition #SBF #bigtech #fintech #ftx #TechFreedom #freethinking WE 24-2: Creator of TCP/IP, Vint Cerf, Slams ChatGPT Wow, we hadn’t heard much from Mr. Cerf for years, and now he weighs in on ChatGPT. Why is that? Well, he is and has been a huge surrogate for Google, and Google now has a competitor for ChatGPT, in the form of Bard, which we talked about a bit last week. This shill-ing makes sense, though his concerns are valid, even for Bard, at this point. So what did the father of the modern internet and networking have to say about ChatGPT? He called it “snake oil” because of the issues it has with weeding out real information and truth from the nonsense that gets posted on the internet every day. It has no discernment, so it can’t tell what is true or not, just that some piece of information is out there. It can “write”, but because of its deficiencies, one can’t depend on it. To highlight these issues with current-gen AI, Mr. Cerf prompted ChatGPT to write a biography of himself. It failed. It got a bunch of stuff wrong about his life. This needs to be remedied, but how? I thought that these large language models were thoroughly trained on large, but curated datasets that are supposed to be true and factual. What happened? How did it go wrong? Ok, yes, I’m be facetious here. Sarcastic as the day is long. You guys know that I am not a fan of the concept of “thinking” machines. That’s why I talked about the Butlerian Jihad from Dune, last week. There are other Sci-Fi storylines which caution us against using, much less depending on AI for critical decisions. So I echo my conclusions from last week: work on yourself, develop yourself, from your mind, emotions, spirit, and body. Make yourself better than you were before. https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/computing-guru-criticizes-chatgpt-ai-tech-for-making-things-up/ #weekendediton #vintcerf #shill #Google #ChatGPT #AI #TechFreedom #FOSSnews WE 24.3: Rail Disasters in the US... I’m sure all of us have heard about this growing situation in our country, but just in case you haven’t and perhaps haven’t looked into it, or perhaps you have been directly affected by these disasters and you’re at a loss as to where to go from here. For those who have not been directly affected, we will begin to feel aftershocks from these events soon. As much as there have been egg shortages of late, it is going to get worse, as particularly in the Ohio situation, that has poisoned much of the richest farmland in the Eastern US. I don’t want to be an unfounded davey downer here, so I’m going to share a tiktok video that my wife sent me on Telegram. Let’s take a few steps back and look at this mess as a whole, rather than drilling down on one specific incident, no matter how horrifying that is. Let’s take a look at the US rail system. This gentleman who lives in the Immediate area around the Ohio disaster found a clip of an interview with a retired rail worker who knew all about Precision Scheduled Railroading, or PSR. What is that, you are probably asking? It is a policy that the hedge funds like BlackRock, who have purchased large volumes of stock in the various rail lines, so they have pressured those lines into changing their safety standards, such that the cars and tracks only get cursory glances, come inspection time. This set of policies has directly contributed to the skyrocketing number of derailments and crashes we have seen in the last several years. This Wired article feels like gatekeeping, insisting that all is under control, there is nothing to worry about with dying pets and animals in the region. The EPA has said that it is not toxic to humans, but how much do we trust the EPA right now, anyway? They have a track record, like the FDA, of dropping the ball in big ways on huge things in the past, so why should we take them at face value any more than we should take random people on TikTok as inerrant gospel about the situation there, or anywhere else (Van Buren Township, MI; Dallas, TX; Pheonix, AZ; Enoree, SC). Even with that said, outrage in either direction is misplaced at this time. We need more, good information about the whole issue before we grab our torches and pitchforks. There is much that we simply do not and cannot accurately know so soon. However, the video I shared from TikTok seems more credible than most of the ones I’ve noticed flying around for the last couple of weeks. I appreciate that he makes no direct claims about the toxicity or effects of the spill in Ohio and instead focuses on the likely ultimate cause. The finger, if one is to be pointed, needs to be pointed at the rail lines and their investors. nnnnnn https://t.me/tiktoknews45/14933 https://www.wired.com/story/east-palestine-ohio-train-derailment-tiktok/ #weekendedition #railroads #disasters #hazmat #poison #toxic #ohio #southcarolina #texas #michigan #arizona #psr #badpolicy #blackrock #TechFreedom #bigtech WE 24.4: Shiny Objects in the Sky!!! ALIENS!!! First, there was the spy balloon, now we have a spate of UFOs and more spy balloons (allegedly). Why all of this, all of the sudden? I do not have a problem with some form of extra terrestrial life being out there, and perhaps even visiting us from time to time. What I struggle with is when that narrative is being used as a distraction. That pisses me off. Whether the balloons are genuine article spy balloons, which begs another question: why? Why would the CCP run century-old technology when we know that they have satellites, zoom, and TikTok to keep tabs on us already? What is the point in that? Why did it take a week to shoot the first one down, unless someone ordered the military to NOT shoot it down, right? This is just silly. Then after the new cycle finished on those, [they] trotted out UFOs. What else is and was happening that [they] wanted to slip past us? Train wrecks? Toxic spills? Bills being passed? Other congressional news? Growing food shortages? What else could it be? Let’s think through this. Tell me what you think in the comments below. https://rumble.com/v29oahu-that-big-balloon.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4r4CYXvCRg https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/02/13/spy-balloons-spotted-shot-down/11247285002/ #weekendedition #spyballoons #balloons #aliens #projectbluebeam #distraction #whatelseishappening #bigtech #TechFreedom #FOSSnews WE 24.5 – To Follow up on Today’s Special, guess who got bagged in the UK In today’s special (you all should go watch it https://rumble.com/v291960-free-your-pc-friday-malware-on-linux-what-i-thought....html?mref=2jfr3&mc=anr3y) I talked about malware on Linux. Not to scare you, but just to raise awareness and to tell you to be careful about how you use your computer. Even when using Tor, a VPN, and incognito mode in your browser, you can still get nasty nonsense if you go to the wrong kinds of sites, in the wrong corners of the internet, as most of the time, regular browsing, with good digital hygiene will keep you safe from *most* nasties, but not necessarily all. I talked a fair bit about ransomware, which is malware meant to extort money from corporations and governments, primarily. Here is what it does in a nutshell: through various attack vectors, it invades a target computer, hunts for choice files and data, transmits those files to the attacker, then encrypts them on the host machine for a set amount of time, leaves a note for the targeted individual, corporation, or government and does nothing much else. Onto the story, now that we have a setup: a gaggle of Russian nationals who have been affiliated with various cyber gangs have been collared in the UK. The UK even released the individuals’ names. They cannot be officially arrested until they try to leave the UK, but they have been identified and charged, I believe. So, a small bit of good news there, right? This article talks about how various attacks which have been successful have been devastating and costly, aside from the ransom demands. It could take years to clean up and patch the exploited holes, not to mention recovering in the public’s eye. That really hurts. These jokers need to go away for a long time for the damage they have caused. The targeted organizations need teams of White Hats to help them seal up their security holes, so that these sorts of attacks will not happen so easily in the future. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-64586361 #weekendedition #russiarussiarussia #russianransomware #uk #caughtem #security #TechFreedom #FOSSnews WE 24.6 – Yahoo Joins the Austerity Party in Big Tech Yahoo has announced cuts to about 20% of their 8,600 personnel. They are now majority owned by a private equity firm.The firm, called Apollo Management Group, bought it in 2021, so aside from the broader economic picture (which they are using as cover for overall cost-cutting at Yahoo). I’m surprised it took them so long to make those cuts, after Google, Meta, Twitter, and Microsoft all made sizable cuts in the last 2-3 months now. They say that they are reorganizing and refocusing on their core business, which, like Google, is ads. There have been major changes to the advertising landscape in the last year or so, after the meteoric rise we saw during the CONvid lockdowns, when no one could do anything but sit at home, have zoom meetings, watch streaming content, and order nonsense online (consuming ads all the while). Let me use this moment to remind you to ditch Big Tech. Degoogling, which we talked about in yesterday’s special, doesn’t end with your phone, it also stretches to your online accounts, whether iCloud, Microsoft, Google, or Yahoo. They all mine data from us. They all seek to control us. Take away their power by rescuing your data, deleting it from their servers, setting up new accounts, then killing the old accounts. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-64596061 #weeekendedition #yahoo #layoffs #bigtech #austerity #TechFreedom #FOSSnews WE 24.7 – Asbury Revival Happening Now! I don’t know where you are in relation to the God of the Bible, but I am excited (guardedly, mind you) to see what God started doing there beginning to spread into other college campuses. It started about a week ago, on February 8, with a chapel service that just has not ended. The name of the place should be familiar if you know your history, as Francis Asbury was one of the Wesleys’ right hand men in the late 18th century. He was one of the first circuit riders in America. The Wesleys were instrumental in starting the first Great Awakening, which spawned the entire Methodist movement. I don’t know where this little school lands on the theological spectrum now, but I am encouraged by the fact that the administration has neither tried to squash it nor make it some sort of commercial thing. We will take a look at a video from Rumble about it, then pray that God would bring the fire wherever we are. This is the kind of thing that has the very real potential to turn our nation around, if it reaches critical mass. The Church is dying. Christendom is dead. Long live the followers of Jesus. Long live the ekklesia of Jesus. Long live Jesus Christ. Come, Holy Spirit. Bring repentance. Bring wisdom. Bring your cleansing fire to this nation. Do not allow this move to be watered down or caged in. Forgive our impulse that is so in the vein of Peter on the mount of transfiguration, where he wanted to build shelters and shrines for You, Moses, and Elijah. Help us to partner with you. Prepare our hearts. https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/asbury-university-revival-college-kentucky-going-viral-tiktok-rcna70686 https://rumble.com/v29oghe-asbury-revival-compiliation.html #weekendedition #asbury #kentucky #moveofgod #revival #outpouring #ekklesia #repent #holyfire #Jesus #HolySpirit #amen #TechFreedom

Guess Who Sprung SBF Vint Cerf Slams ChatGPT East Palestine and Other Rail Disasters Spy Balloons... lol Ransomware Gangsters Bagged in UK Yahoo, Better Late Than Never Asbury Outpouring Publicized by TikTok videos from Zoomers https://t.me/Tech_freedom_chat?videochat=2d1da796f9cbb3502b

Ransomware Lineup · CLOP Ransomware · Royal Ransomware · ESXiargs Ransomware #freeyourpcfriday #malware #Linux #PSA #itsathing #avoidit #beaware #TechFreedom #FOSSnews Free Your PC Friday, Linux malware, PSA, Public Service Announcement, it’s a thing, be aware, be wise, avoid it, Tech Freedom, FOSS News LMN 1.1 – There’s Malware for Linux? Yes, Here’s How You Can Check for It Did you think that Linux was magically immune to malware? Think again. Is it harder to find a vector or an attack surface than say Windows? Hell yes, because it was designed to be used in a multiuser environment, not to mention on a network, where Windows started out as a single user, non-networked OS. The other functionality was tacked on, and done so poorly over the years. That is part of what has made it such low hanging fruit for bad actors over the decades. Ok, so what kinds of malware (viruses, etc) can hit, and have been targeted at Linux machines lately? I’ve talked about Critical Vulnerability Exploits before, which leave holes in the “armor” of Linux, but these things usually get patched before they become major problems, so what else? The big group right now is various kinds of ransomware, some target vulnerable virtual machines, others, IoT appliances, and others, larger targets. Other common forms are cryptojackers, Rootkits, and state-sponsored attacks (which can take a myriad of forms, from a wiper, to a trojan, to a keylogger, to a screen recorder or a mic & camera hijacker). What’s ransomware? Malware meant to penetrate a network or system, hunt down key files, then deny access until the attacker’s demands are met. What’s a cryptojacker? A piece of software that silently hiajcks your system’s resources to mine crypto, such as BTC or any other similar proof-of-work sort of coin or token. What’s a rootkit? A piece of software which allows an attacker to gain admin or ROOT level access to your system, from which point they could destroy your install, or steal data, or any other number of nasty things. Ok, primer over. What can we do about it? How can we avoid these things? How can we handle these things if we get exposed somehow? We can use something like ClamAV, Lynis, Chkrootkit, or Linux Malware Detect to scan and protect ourselves. These are FOSS options that are similar to the Windows anti-malware programs out there, like NOD ESET32, BlackIce Defender, Kaspersky, or PandaAV. These are scanners which depend on up to date defnitions, for the most part. Aside from that, the best way to avoid them is to know the sorts of places where you might be exposed, then avoid them, kinda like you don’t walk through a sewer with a white linen suit on, and expect to come out as clean as you entered. Many of these things live on packages that sit on disreputable githubs or random repos or PPA’s with promises of riches, or convenience, but those packages weren’t what they promised, they contained nasty code meant to do harm to your system and its data. Stay out of the dark web and away from porn sites, as that is one of the main vectors for these things, like mosquitoes with Malaria or West Nile virus. Same idea. Digital hygiene is crucial. Stay out of the sewers and cess pools, stay away from the back alleys and narrow lanes of the internet. Stay on well-trodden paths. Don’t open random crap in your email. Even if it came from an address you know, trust, but verify. Call or text the person first, to make sure that they sent you that file before you open it. https://linuxsecurity.com/features/how-to-check-if-your-linux-system-is-infected-with-a-virus #FreeYourPCFriday #malware #Linux #PSA #TechFreedom #FOSSnews Ransomware Roundup We have 3 major kinds of ransomware attacks happening in the Linux world right now, two of which target vulnerable virtual machines, and the other is actually a rather weak port of a Windows attack put out by Clop, which is a sophisticated tool which infiltrates, encrypts files, then makes demands of the owners. The Linux version is kinda sloppy and easily beaten, thankfully. The encryption used was weak, and researchers have already released a free tool to recover those encrypted files for you. That is the beauty of FOSS, researchers can look at code directly, patch things, and quickly devise tools to defang attacks like these. https://techcrunch.com/2023/02/07/clop-ransomware-linux-flaw/ #FreeYourPCFriday #clop #ransomware #malware #Linux #weaksauce #TechFreedom #FOSSnews Another couple of strains of ransomware have been targeting large outfits, and have been shooting directly at VMWare ESXi virtual machines. Here’s what it does: goes after the virtual machines on servers that major outfits have begun to deploy to more tightly control resource management, isolate things better, and provide an extra layer of resiliency for their infrastructures. Who has been using these sorts of attacks? All sorts of gangs, from Conti, to Black Basta, to Royal Ransomware and others. What do these VM server attacks do? Well, each one is slightly different. Royal’s efforts will target specific kinds of files within each VM, shut them down, encrypt the files, leave the note, then sit back and wait for the organization to either cave to pressure and pay up, or to figure some other way out of their sticky situation. The ESXi-args attack does similar things by exploiting unpatched servers. There is a two+ year old exploit that this attack depends on, so patch your dadgum systems, already. https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/linux-version-of-royal-ransomware-targets-vmware-esxi-servers/ https://blogs.blackberry.com/en/2023/02/esxiargs-ransomware-knocking-out-unpatched-vmware-esxi-linux-servers-worldwide

Today’s special will be a walkthrough of some writers’ experiences with GrapheneOS, LineageOS, and /E/ OS. Before we get into that, though, I would be very grateful if you would toss a like on this video, comment, share, and subscribe to the channel. Thanks, you guys, you are the best. First, what are these? Properly put, GrapheneOS and LineageOS are AOSP’s, or Android minus Google dependencies. AOSP stands for Android Open Source Project, which is the core of what most people know of as Android. The rest of stock/ OEM modified Android varieties pack extra closed source blobs, whether drivers, firmware, applications, skins, etc (think of Pixel Experience, MiUI, Oxygen/ Hydrogen OS, or OneUI, for example, to go with Google Pixels, Xaiomi/PocoPhone, OnePlus, and Samsung, respectively). These closed source packages change things such as UI elements, theming, bloatware packages, etc, and constitute what we know of as Android tied to those respective OEMs. All mainstream OEMs, if they use stock Android, rather than AOSP as their base, must include Google Apps and a single sign-on element which registers the phone to either a new or existing Google account. The problem with this, although it is extremely convenient, is that that ties that device almost inextricably with that account, giving Google a free pass to spy on you through those apps. Where GrapheneOS and LineageOS are AOSPs, /E/ OS is a fork of LineageOS. That places it downstream from it in development terms, which I do not have any real problem with, as it makes the development for /E/ OS that much easier. Where LineageOS is basically a vanilla AOSP, just minus the Google apps (GApps), /E/ OS is Lineage plus an entire ecosystem of FOSS replacements for those apps, and microG for those moments when you need to run something like a banking app which just won’t run without some calls to Google. /E/ OS also adds its own implementation of Nextcloud as a replacement for GDrive and Google Photos, as well as tie-ins with OpenOffice online. One stop shop, guys and gals. I used to be very uneasy with them, merely because it looked like moving all one’s eggs from one basket into another (which sounded bad to me) and have yet to mess with /E/ OS personally, but then I looked into them more carefully and decided that they were solid. In fact, as I write this, I am backing up my phone to try out /E/ OS with their Easy Installer. I’m curious to see how different/ better it might be than Lineage for microG. I was unable to get it set up, but will try again when I can. But let’s get into the articles for today, shall we? Degoogled 1.1 – Top 5 Degoogled ROMs First article is a listicle of sorts, a top 5 degoogled AOSP options article. It opens with some very understandable caveats, so if you read the article, heed them before proceeding. 1. Lineage OS a. As I said above, Lineage is the closest to AOSP, a vanilla Android experience, sans GApps and anything to phone home to Google. b. It is one of the oldest in the game, with a direct link to the venerable CyanogenMod AOSPs, before that project was scrapped in 2016. c. Because it is so old and so popular, you can expect a broad range of old and new devices to be supported. d. Has some drawbacks though: i. Community supported, so your device may or may not get the updates it needs regularly. ii. Does not come with really any security or privacy features baked-in. 2. CalyxOS a. This is an AOSP that I have actually used a little, in installing it for a client or two. It is somewhere between Lineage and Graphene in terms of seurity and privacy, as it is developed and supported by the Calyx Institute, which stands for promoting free speech, privacy rights, and similar human rights. b. It comes with Signal, the Tor Browser, and more, out of the box. c. Pros i. Ships with the option to use microG or not ii. Ships with F-Droid and the Aurora Store iii. Datura Firewall allows you to block internet access per app iv. Uses Mozilla Location Services instead of Google’s Location Services v. Monthly over-the-air security updates vi. Has verified boot for increased security vii. Security-focused apps and features out of the box d. Cons i. Like GrapheneOS, it is only available for Pixels. 3. GrapheneOS a. An AOSP ROM designed with the idea that your data should be yours and yours alone, this is about as security hardened and private as you can get without buying something like an Above Phone or a Blackphone. b. Pros i. Provides stronger and hardened app sandboxing than AOSP ii. Uses its own hardened malloc (memory allocator with hardened security) iii. The Linux kernel is hardened for better security iv. Provides on time security updates v. Ships with Full-Disk Encryption (critical for a mobile device) vi. Doesn’t include any Google apps or Google services vii. Can sandbox Google Play services to make sure that they can only do certain things, without hurting the security or privacy of the rest of the device. c. Cons i. Limited hardware support; Only available for Google Pixels as of now ii. Security-focused tweaks may not translate to a noob-friendly user experience 1. It is very spartan, all you get off the bat is a black background, fdroid, and the GrapheneOS updater app, along with a hardened version of Chromium. You’ll need to install things like aurora store and other communication apps 4. /E/ OS a. Pros i. The App store on /e/OS rates apps based on how many permissions they need and privacy-friendliness ii. Provides an ecloud account (with a @e.email; 1GB in free tier) as a synchronization account iii. Ships with microG framework iv. Google DNS servers (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4) are replaced with Quad9 DNS servers v. DuckDuckGo is the default search engine, replacing Google (not sure I’d call this a “pro”) vi. Uses location services provided by Mozilla b. Cons i. Limited devices support with Easy Installer (no kidding... And even on devices where it is alleged to work, it is spotty at best... Wouldn’t work on my OnePlus 7 Pro as of the writing) ii. Roll-out of new features from Android takes a while Of these, the only one I’ve yet to try (because it wouldn’t install properly) was /E/ OS. I have played with Calyx, and I use Lineage for microG, which is a slight fork of Vanilla Lineage which includes microG by default. Lineage/ Lineage for microG are not the most secure or private, but they are clean, more or less, of Google influence. /E/ OS, I cannot speak to any further than what the article said, other than to say that I think it is cool. CalyxOS is an inbetweener. They are a direct fork of AOSP, rather than being directly based on Graphene or Lineage, such as /E/ OS is. GrapheneOS is excellent, but takes more getting used to in order to use well. If you have a skilled person helping you to get set up, you will be more than fine. https://itsfoss.com/android-distributions-roms/#pros-3 #definitionsthursday #degoogled #options #lineageos #calyxos #eos #grapheneos #TechFreedom #FOSSnews Definitions Thursday, degoogled, options, LineageOS, LineageOS for microG, /E/ OS, CalyxOS, GrapheneOS, Tech Freedom, FOSS News Degoogled 1.2 – A Tom’s Hardware Review of Degoogled Android He ran a Pixel 4a with /E/ OS and a Pixel 5 with GrapheneOS. He didn’t find either process to be as easy as he had expected, so be aware, and have support to help you. There is a community out there, and I can help somewhat as well. GrapheneOS can be very painless, in fact the most painless to install, given you have the correct OS and browser combination. The best combo I’ve found was Linux with ADB installed, and running Brave as your browser. The Easy installer for /E/ OS is more of a crapshoot in my experience, and even CLI is sketchy, at least for my OnePlus 7 Pro. It sounds like he may have had similar struggles on his Pixel 4a. Beyond that, he complained loudly about the dearth of good documentation around /E/ OS and how it was essentially unhelpful. I can second that. He did eventually get it sorted out. On my OP 7 Pro, it never even fully flashed the /E/ Recovery firmware, it would just bootloop into the bootloader, no matter if I tried to do it through the “easy” installer or CLI. Ok, I’m a little salty right now, so sue me. Once he booted into /E/ OS, he was quite impressed with the level of polish and responsiveness on the 4a. Stable branch versions of /E/ OS will pass the SafetyNet checks, so more apps are usable, and many updates were made vs the last time he had looked at it. It does feel iOS like, so if you are coming from an iPhone, this may just be a good bridge for you, and you can easily purchase ready-made /E/ OS powered devices and skip all of the hoopla around degoogling a device yourself. Then he moved into talking about GrapheneOS, and repeated many of the things that I’ve said already, today. It is meant to be secure and private, not pretty and cuddly. It may encourage you to use your phone less because it is monochrome rather than super colorful. He ultimately liked GrapheneOS better of the two, partially due the simplicity of its UI over and against the over the top eye candy in /e/ OS. I can confirm that the Graphene project has indeed been as thorough, if not moreso than the /e/ foundation has been with their degoogling efforts. He does balance his opinion out with the greater flexibility of /e/ OS in terms of supported devices, but he didn’t like the default iOS-inspired UI. I can’t speak to that right now, unfortunately. I wish I could, though my kneejerk reaction to it is that it is a bit childish by default, but if you like it, that is what matters, and you can always tweak it to your heart’s content, unlike iOS. https://www.tomsguide.com/features/i-tried-de-googled-android-again-heres-how-that-went #definitonsthursday #degoogledreview #grapheneOS #eOS #degoogled #TechFreedom #FOSSnews Degoogled 1.3 – An iode OS Review I had heard of this one, but have not messed with it, as I have had neither the time, nor one of the very limited number of supported phones to play with. It started its life as a closed source (proprietary) project, but was made open source at the end of 2022. This is based on Lineage, much like /e/OS, but takes some different approaches to the same degoogling and privacy issues for the 10-15 phones they support. What are some of the distinctives for iodeOS? · No initial login for any overarching service (Google) · Iode app, which sounds like Tracker Blocker with a different UI and perhaps a bit more functionality. It is not just a VPN frontend, but a firewall app, which like wireguard or portmaster (I wish that portmaster existed for Android) can track and shut down trackers access to their various home bases (whether Google, Amazon, or somewhere else even seedier. · microG to replace the GApps · Other than that, it is more or less a dressed up version of LineageOS That said, I am intrigued by this fork, coming out of France. If/when I have the time and the hardware to try it out, I just may do that and get back to you guys with a non-sponsored take. https://www.laptopmag.com/features/i-tried-a-de-googled-android-phone-for-a-week #definitionsThursday #iodeos #degoogled #lineageos #firewall #adblocking #clean #foss #TechFreedom #FOSSnews

NVIDIA Beta Driver to Improve Proton Vulkan DXR Support The Force Engine Now Has Linux Support Freed Computer Best New Steam Games for Linux #FFW #NVIDIA #Proton #raytracing #Linux #starwars #darkforces #freedcomputer #steamlinux #gamingonlinux #TechFreedom #FOSSnews FFW 30.1- NVIDIA Beta Driver to Help with DXR in Proton This is really dense and technical, but suffice it to say that when this driver isfully released, you’ll have a better time playing games that require ray tracing in Linux, particularly if it needs to be translated via dxvk. https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2023/02/nvidia-vulkan-beta-5254707-supports-extension-to-help-vkd3d-proton-dxr/ #FFW #Linux #FOSSnews #NVIDIA #proton #vulkan #dxvk #gaming #linuxgaming #TechFreedom FFW 30.2: Star Wars: Dark Forces Engine Port Now Supports Linux If 90’s Star Wars games would scratch an itch for you, now you can play them in Linux. You’ll need the game data files to actually play, but now you can without trying to use WINE or Proton. Here are some of the tweaks made in this version: · Changed "activated" to "toggle" to better match existing cheat messages. · Fixed a HOM issue in Executor. · Added a proper FPS counter which can be enabled in the graphics menu. · Renamed "energy" to "battery power". · Official Linux support added. · Updated the README with Linux build and run instructions. · Removed the unique 3DO model limit. · Fixed font rendering bugs (lack of language-specific symbols) due to using signed 8-bit characters instead of unsigned. · Dark Forces menu shortcuts now work correctly for different languages. · Fixed the Gamorrean Guard attack delay - they were attacking much more often than in vanilla. · Fixed the Sewer Creature attack and search delays, they were slightly longer than vanilla (meaning it attacked less often than it should have). · Midi selection in the Sound menu now works correctly. · The Escape menu now uses the correct palette, fixing issues with some languages and mods. · Fixed a crash when a WAX did not have the appropriate animation in certain areas of the AI code. I never played Dark Forces, but used to enjoy the Jedi Knight series. At this point, it is not packaged for you, so you’ll have to build it from source, but hey, nostalgia, right? https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2023/02/star-wars-dark-forces-source-port-the-force-engine-adds-linux-support/ #FFW #Linux #gamingonlinux #lucasarts #EA #starwars #darkforces #FOSSnews #linuxgaming #TechFreedom Freed Computer https://techfreedom.pro/freed-computer/ #freedcomputer #linux #nospying #safe #TechFreedom FFW 30.3: New Linux Native Steam Titles There were another 103 titles added to the Verified list for the Steam Deck in week of 1/29-2/5. Wow, 103 more games to play... Here are the best rated ones: · STARDUST GALAXY WARRIORS: STELLAR CLIMAX o Released on 10 Nov, 2015, developed by Dreamloop Games, self-published. o Rating: 94.4 % Positive Ratings o Genre: Action, Adventure, Indie o About the game: § Stardust Galaxy Warriors: Stellar Climax is a fast-paced 1-4 player couch co-op action shooter, combining SHMUP/Brawler gameplay with RPG elements. Choose your game mode, settings, mechs, weapons & upgrades to customize your experience. Soar through space, defeat evil & save the future… from itself! · TORMENTUM – DARK SORROW o Released on 4 Mar, 2015, developed by OhNoo Studio, self-published. o Rating: 93.7 % Positive Ratings o Genre: Adventure, Casual, Indie o About the game: § TORMENTUM is a dark Point & Click adventure game.The dreamlike, nightmarish atmosphere of the game was inspired by works of painters H.R. Giger and Zdzislaw Beksinski. The game’s final look and feel was also strongly influenced by the universes of games such as Demon’s Souls or Dark Seed. · SKY FORCE RELOADED o Released on 29 Nov, 2017, developed by Infinite Dreams, self-published. o Rating: 93.5 % Positive Ratings o Genre: Action, Indie o About the game: § Sky Force Reloaded is a classic shoot ‘em up experience packed in gorgeous visuals and excellent gameplay. Enjoy flashy explosions, beautiful scenery and massive bosses in single player or local cooperative modes. · KNIGHTS AND BIKES o Released on 26 Aug, 2019, developed by Foam Sword and published by Foam Sword, o Rating: 91.3 % Positive Ratings o Genre: Action, Adventure, Indie o About the game: § Saddle up for a bike-riding, frisbee-throwing, goose-petting, friendship-building, treasure-hunting, story-driven adventure for 1 or 2 players! Steam Deck Playable · DEADLINK o Released on 18 Oct, 2022, developed by Gruby Entertainment and published by SuperGG.com.[Steam Store Page] o Rating: 94.4 % Positive Ratings o Genre: Action, Indie, Early Access o About the game: § Get ready to put a sizable dent in the profits of megacorporations in Deadlink, a guns-blazing cyberpunk FPS with roguelite elements. Your mission is to conduct covert ops while piloting a humanoid combat shell. And no, “covert” doesn’t mean “quiet.” · BIO PROTOTYPE o Released on 16 Dec, 2022, developed by Emprom Game and published by BD Games.[Steam Store Page] o Rating: 94.2 % Positive Ratings o Genre: Action, Indie, Early Access o About the game: § A wave of irrational experimentation rushes towards you. Hurry up and mutate! evolution! Become scarier monsters than them! Use flesh and blood to bloom a way of survival! 19 characters, more than 40 kinds of organs, and endless build combinations！ · VIRIDI (Free Game) o Released on 19 Aug, 2015, developed by Zoe Vartanian, and published by Ice Water Games.[Steam Store Page] o Rating: 91.7 % Positive Ratings o Genre: Casual, Free to Play, Indie, Simulation o About the game: § Nurture a small pot of succulents that grow in real time. Viridi is a safe haven, a place you can return to for a moment of peace and quiet whenever you need it. · MEOWJIRO o Released on 8 Nov, 2022, developed by 02GAMES, self-published.[Steam Store Page] o Rating: 89.8 % Positive Ratings o Genre: Casual, Indie, Simulation o About the game: § Experience a part-time job at a convenience store, make money to buy more food for your cat. “Diz iz an honor te work fur meh~ Feed meh! Hooman! Bring meh home!” · STARCOM: UNKNOWN SPACE o Released on 14 Dec, 2022, developed by Wx3 Labs, LLC, self-published.[Steam Store Page] o Rating: 89.2 % Positive Ratings o Genre: Action, Adventure, Indie, RPG, Early Access o About the game: § Starcom: Unknown Space is an action RPG of space exploration and adventure. Build your own starship while discovering an epic story in a universe of strange mysteries, alien factions and uncharted worlds. https://boilingsteam.com/best-steam-deck-games-released-in-the-past-week-2023-02-05-edition/ #FFW #Linuxgaming #indiegames #potentials #steam #verified #playable #TechFreedom #FOSSnews What to use instead of Big Tech online: https://rumble.com/v1020p7-viable-google-alternatives.html?mref=2jfr3&mc=anr3y #techtips #TechFreedom #justsayno #nomorespying #advice #Truth

How to Fix SSH Connection Issues What’s Shell Genie? Free Your Internet LibreOffice 7.5 Released TTT 45.1 – How to Fix SSH Connection Issues 1. Check to make sure that the SSH server is installed a. Distro specific commands i. Ubuntu/ Debian 1. dpkg --list | grep ssh ii. Fedora 1. yum list installed | grep ssh iii. openSUSE 1. zypper search -i | grep ssh iv. Arch Family 1. Pacman –Q | grep ssh b. If it isn’t present, install it thusly: i. Distro specific commands 1. Ubuntu/ Debian a. sudo apt install openssh-server 2. Fedora a. sudo yum install openssh-server 3. openSUSE a. sudo zypper install openssh-server 4. Arch Family a. sudo pacman –S openssh-server 2. Check service status a. Run this command to check i. sudo systemctl status sshd b. If it isn’t running, start it i. sudo systemctl start sshd c. To make it run at startup, perpetually i. sudo systemctl enable sshd 3. Check the port a. sudo netstat –plntu | grep ssh b. Or: grep port /etc/ssh/sshd_config 4. Check the system firewall a. Distro commands to shut it off i. Arch & Debian 1. sudo ufw disable ii. Fedora/RHEL & openSUSE 1. sudo systemctl disable firewalld b. If no error with it off, allow it through the firewall this way i. Arch & Debian 1. sudo ufw allow ssh ii. RHEL/Fedora & openSUSE 1. sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=ssh c. To check the rule i. Arch & Debian 1. sudo ufw status ii. RHEL/Fedora & openSUSE 1. sudo firewall-cmd --list-all 5. Fix IP address conflicts by using arp-scan a. arp-scan [network-id] i. After this, you may need to go in and make sure that any static IP addresses aren’t stepping on the toes of some dynamically assigned ones, simply change the address for the device in question by going into the router’s admin panel and forcing a disconnect and reconnect to a different IP address. https://www.makeuseof.com/fix-ssh-connection-refused-error-linux/ #TTT #SSH #troubleshooting #connections #networking #Linux #TechFreedom #FOSSnews TTT 45.2 – What’s Shell Genie? It is a GPT3-powered tool that you can use to type regular english in and get CLI commands out, with an option to use the generated commands. A word of caution, though, just like copy-pasting commands from a random forum or reddit posting, you need to make sure that you have some comprehension of what a given command will do before you give it permission to run, as it could bork your system. One way to do that is to run the suggested command through Explain Shell (https://explainshell.com). Here’s how to get it set up: 1. Install pipx a. Distro Commands i. Arch 1. sudo pacman -S python-pipx ii. Debian/Ubuntu 1. sudo apt install pipx iii. Fedora/RHEL 1. Sudo dnf install pipx iv. openSUSE 1. Sudo zypper install python-pipx 2. Install Shell Genie a. pipx install shell-genie i. This should install it for your current user, before using, you’ll have to initialize it 3. Setting up Shell Genie a. shell-genie init i. This will prompt you to choose whether you want to use ChatGPT or FreeGPT as the backend, if you pick ChatGPT, you’ll need an API key from your OpenAI account. 4. Using Shell Genie a. Shell-genie ask <plain English question/prompt> b. Get output c. Check output with Explain Shell or something similar to make sure you understand it and that it is what you think it is. d. Go for broke and run the command, if it is good. https://www.linuxuprising.com/2023/02/convert-plain-english-to-commands-using.html #TTT #terminal #shellgenie #hints #AI #ohboy #helps #howto #TechFreedom #FOSSnews a. Free Your Internet http://techfreedom.pro/internet-freedom/ One-stop shop for getting you and your business transitioned off of Big Tech online platforms and tools, so that you have control of your data once again. I will also help you to find better alternatives. #TTT #techtips #TechFreedom #internetfreedom #nogoogle #nometa #noyahoo #nomicrosoft #Truth TTT 45.3 – What’s New in LibreOffice 7.5? This actually came out last week, but I chose to cover the new version of OnlyOffice instead, so here it is. As always, this one came out on time, and brings some good stuff with it. If you didn’t know LibreOffice is a FOSS MS Office alternative which is compatible with as much of the Office formatting as is possible without copyright infringement issues with Microsoft. Is it “pixel-perfect”? Unfortunately not. However, for most people, it is plenty, and it is very actively developed, with new releases every month or two. So, what’s new here? 1) General Stuff a. New icons b. Better dark mode UI c. Improved single toolbar UI d. Touchpad gestures i. Pinch to zoom, etc, now a thing e. Smooth scrolling f. PDF export is better 2) Writer a. bookmarks more visible b. supports marking page objects as decorative c. adds a new accessibility checker d. buffs its spell checker e. offers machine translation of text using DeepL translate APIs (this is disabled by default and requires an API key) 3) Calc a. supports data tables in charts b. makes conditional formatting case insensitive c. adds “spell out” number formats 4) Impress & Draw a. new default table styles (plus support for creating custom styles) b. Can now drag and drop objects in the navigator c. makes it possible run the ‘presenter console’ as a normal window rather than full screen https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2023/02/libreoffice-7-5-new-features #TTT #FOSS #productivity #libreoffice #updates #Linux #crossplatform #TechFreedom #FOSSnews d. 10 Things My Wife Thinks You Should Know about Tech Freedom. https://rumble.com/v19elx6-10-things-about-tech-freedom.html?mref=2jfr3&mc=anr3y #TechFreedom #wifeysauce #getfree #explainer