Not the person you were replying to, but you can use Obtainium to check for and install updates from the github releases in a similar way to F-droid.

That sounds awesome! I might have to try that out for my archived podcast eps or audiobooks that aren’t in an audiobook with chapters format already. Shit is annoying to lose my place just because I had friends in the car and needed to put on music.

I think that your example of the App Store and the Microsoft Store is helpful! I work on both systems at my job fixing computers for consumers. The only thing I dislike about the App Store is that it doesn’t let you install things without first signing in with an Apple ID (the spam levels of pop-up messages trying so freaking hard to make you sign in is infuriating). But the MS Store feels like all the worst parts of the Play Store and really fucks things up if it breaks. I will likely remember your reply the next time I think about Flatpaks and Snaps though. lol

I wasn’t aware of Snaps being used in-place of regular installs with apt. Are they shown to be Snaps in the name of the program when using apt search? And if there is a Snap and a regular deb, do they both show up (again if using apt search)?

I am currently only on Linux on my Steam Deck and I do have two RPi’s (though I don’t actively use them) so I don’t have personal current knowledge of differences between Snap, Flatpak, and App Image beyond that A: Snap always brings up lots and lots of hate in comments and B: is from Canonical.

But is it possible that they might choose to use Snap for having more program options due to Ubuntu being such a “mainstream” distro? I know lots and lots of programs do release Flatpaks, but are there more of them or does Snap have more? Real question since I am aware of how heated some threads get with folks being really “fuck Snap” or “it is fine.” Mostly just curious since I am more and more likely to move my main PC to Linux as my main OS after Windows 10 is dead.

Anyone know if they plan to add other parts of the desktop version to the Android version? Would be nice to see at least the calendar. The RSS stuff would be cool too.

If the other main Chromium based browsers can figure out (or keep in the instance of having their own extension stores) how to support for V2 extensions. Then it would be easier to recommend replacing Chrome to normies and other folks with those options. As one of the main issues comes down to lots of sites (especially stuff like school or work) doing the modern version of IE and are coded to really only work with Chrome.

I was advising customers to just use Edge if they needed Chrome for those reasons. And a lot of them did since it meant not installing extra programs. Though it is currently hard to recommend Edge due to MS seeming to find more and more “features” to add that make shit really annoying and scummy. It is like they are trying so hard to make it not worth using at all. So Brave and Vivaldi are the new options I tell people about.

Brave’s main downside (IMO) is the crypto stuff maybe confusing/pointless for folks. Vivaldi’s main downside (and upside for users that love it) is how overwhelming levels of customization settings. But they both don’t have their own extension stores. Opera could also work since they have their own extension store. I hate how it and the GX version love to automatically set themselves to launch on Windows startup (fuck all of them that try to do this as well).

Good to see those Cuda Cores finally getting used.

I imagine that most nations would have started doing that extra stuff. Still good to be aware of it since it isn’t something I think about often. And since my friends over there have a different process and might not know off-hand to mention.

That does sound like a pretty big difference, but I guess it makes sense given it has been so long since I went. The only other nation I have visited was Canada, and that was back when you just needed a valid US driver’s license/state ID. I believe they now need a passport. Interesting to see how things like that change over time. Kind of like how we could go all the way into airport terminals to greet people you were waiting to arrive back in the 90s. The “war on terror” really pushed a lot of extra shit into travel.

What are they doing these days that is invasive (I have been wanting to go back to visit friends)?

The only time I have visited Japan was back in 2012 and all I remember was just waiting in a line and handing over my passport to a customs/foreign visitors person. I also might have had a paper slip with my dates of arrival and departure, that I wasn’t bringing in more than $9999.99 in cash, and the address I was officially planning to be staying for the bulk of the time there (and name of my friend that was already living there on work visa). I don’t remember ever being stopped to check my bags or answer addition questions. Though I might have just been lucky to have not been picked for additional checks.

I have been interested in trying out LoRA and just need to get some devices built. Though I am not as concerned about the super privacy part (thought that is nice). I am thinking that it would be good for emergency situations like shit that has happened with the south-east. Even if the communications would be limited to text, shit is good as long as I can use simple solar panels and battery banks.

Kind of limited due to there not being an iOS version, but Briar is pretty decent. It was made to be usable in repressive areas by press and other groups, as well as in areas where bad weather has taken out cell and regular wifi. Can be used with phone data, but also offline via ad-hoc wifi and bluetooth. But stuff like Signal and SimpleX are more overall useful to more people (and I think SimpleX also supports offline local immediate area of each other like wifi and bluetooth but I don’t remember atm).

I was seeing that brought up in many of the other comments, and I had apparently installed it at some point. So I have finally signed into it and even added some info one some road types around me! Even if I don’t find a replacement for the community reporting of cops and hazards like Waze. I am jazzed to be helping OSM get just a bit closer to being a great option to recommend to friends and normies! Lots of them will only try other options as long as it is close enough to what they already use.

Just installed and signed into my OSM account! Been meaning to update more of my area.

I am looking to try moving away from Waze too. Are there any good open projects that have support for reporting cops and the other stuff like Waze? When I was looking last year, I came across Navmii since it does have some level of reporting stuff. However the app itself is very glitchy and I don’t think it is really actively being worked on. Or is popular enough to even know if literally anyone around me is reporting things. When I have tried to report a cop being parked waiting for speeders, it doesn’t show anything even on my map.

They use OSM data which I think is also not being actively scraped, as I personally added my entire street’s addresses and doesn’t show on Navmii (but does show up on the main OSM site and on Organic Maps).

I also went completely to FF on my phone the moment it had uBlock Origin and some other extensions. Now that I learned how to force other ones, it has been game over for other browsers aside from just seeing how they are every now and then (I work with general public and need to be aware of how they work). The only thing I would really really advise in addition to FF on a non-rooted device is setting the Mullvad ad-blocking/tracking blocking DNS for the device.

It helps even if I need to use a different browser (not as good as also having uBO), and has really good chances of blocking ads in many apps. For example, I kind of treat the Microsoft Solitaire app since it keeps games and stats from my PC. However they have lots of video ads that play after a couple of games. With the DNS it just kind of glitches when an ad should run and just goes on to the next round instead. The only odd thing I see with other apps is that it can cause my bank app to take a little longer to load when signing in (I am guessing due to tracking it is trying to do). But after like ten seconds it goes through like normal.

This is the DNS address to add if you want:

https://base.dns.mullvad.net/dns-query

And here is the main site for all their options and tester to make sure whichever one you pick is working:

https://mullvad.net/en/help/dns-over-https-and-dns-over-tls

Since it is FOSS, couldn’t they just take the source code and just re-compile it with different naming? Like how Debian did with Iceweasel naming and branding, though I know in their case it wasn’t due to not liking the Firefox name/branding.

I never had a WP, but I do have a few Zunes. The Live Tile main screen for WP is a bit too busy for me, but I would love to have the slightly cut-off styles in settings and menus that it and the Zune models had. Just really vibed with the look for some reason.

OneUI is much much better than Touchwiz was. It has been nice to see Samsung actually putting effort into their main launcher and having the options to add things (and that they can augment stuff while using other launchers). I was using Nova on both my phone and my old Tab S2, but found OneUI to “feel” more correct on my Tab S8+ than Nova. Though Nova has seemed better for my phones over the years.

Ah, good to know. Though wouldn’t it still at least make it easier for people to install overall? The last time I messed with Nvidia on Linux gave me issues even with using a named supported distro on their site. Would error out about “missing headers” or something like that. Given this was many years ago and before distros would offer an Nvidia specific iso. Mostly just curious in the event that I needed to help someone that is all-in on having one of their cards.