Look what they need to mimic a fraction of our unshittified experience
:::spoiler alt-text
I can't believe a paid OS needs a tool like this. Here's a GUI tool called OFGB (Oh Frick Go Back) to remove all the ads in Windows 11. It's understandable if a free OS or app needs ad support, but this is just crazy github.com/xM4ddy/OFGB
[Screenshot Of a GUI Tool To Removes Ads From Various Places Around Windows 11] :::
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Conditioning everyone to see their computers as media consumption kiosks instead of the powerful, productive machines they are. That's where MS OSes are headed. They tried too early with Windows 8 Metro, but they haven't lost sight of that concept.
"My TV shows ads so it's only natural my computer does too." - I bet a lot of people already think like this.
Pretty soon it'll want to use your idle cpu net and disk for undisclosed purposes as part of the EULA.
The Telemetry collection service does a good job of that already, especially on laptops where it wakes them from sleep, and eats through the battery while idle in a backpack. I've been stung by this many times since Windows 8 - I now unplug then hibernate my last remaining Windows laptop, work-issued.
Also moved as much personal gear as possible over to various Linux distros a while ago, except my PC where some games cannot detect my sim peripherals & freetrack emulation under WINE
Ick
Pretty insightful, and quite possible as people are being trained on the “app experience” vs computing proper.
I want to make a script for Linux that adds ads everywhere. It would be tricky with Wayland but not impossible. It could start by installing browser extensions.
There is a special place in hell for you lol.
If they were fake ads like in GTA and Cyberpunk, it could be fun, provided you could turn them on and off anytime.
I'll use the Google Ad platform
From there I'll encrypt all your files and make you watch an ad per file to access your data
Uh sorry, this is a big file. Here's the second, unskippable ad.
It has a 1 in 500 chance of serving you a 300 hour ad you cannot skip, and if you attempt to restart the system to get rid of it, it'll make a note of that and restart the ad from the beginning after the next reboot.
If you try it twice, it will delete the file you were about to access.
Super-hell now.
Now I wish there was an advertising studio where, like, they specialized in shitty ads for real things. Like "I made a game on newgrounds, you WON'T LAST TEN SECONDS" but it's just a flappy birds clone or something
And call the script "Windows"
I was thinking more along the lines of "optimizer"
Na just throw ads into system logs. Or do what Ubuntu does and throw an advert every time you run apt upgrade.
Have you tried installing any packages from NPM recently?
9474733 packages are looking for funding
I think that is the better case. That is just NPM aggregating the metadata. There are lots of packages that print their own ad.
Make it for Hannah Montana Linux plz!
Like this? What would an ENSH*TTIFIED Linux distro look like?
Makes me wonder how long till video game load screens are sold as ad space.
Thanks for putting this idea forward to the industry.
Oh, please, do you really think they didn't have this idea already?
Delete this comment
NBA 2K has had ads in it for a while, though I can't remember if they're specifically in the loading screen or not.
I think EA also did this with the ad boards around the pitch in FIFA one year IIRC
It's EA, what do you expect
I mean there does have to be something there and while I prefer charities, fake companies or promoting your own products, if they're not targeted and realistic so you see eg. Ethiad ads while playing as City I don't think that's too bad... But on loading screens, menu screens or as popups gtfo, even if it's your own product
you ever play a mobile game on an android phone?
"loading" screens
Artificial delay periods that are used to show ads, yeah
Slightly better than artificial delay periods used to discourage behaviors to save costs.
Mr. Zuckerberg, if you think I’m referring to reporting spam messages on Facebook desktop, you’re correct.
Honestly, who really uses Facebook (except for boomers)?
Work :(
Damn
Just dont look at Ubisoft. 💀
Ad/promotion appeared in offline games whenever you opened the map...
Makes me wonder how many seconds till they realise the users won't be able to tell if the game is still loading or it's just monetised delay. Bonus points if a user finds out, lobbies to get it banned and then they just include bullshit extra processing to justify it.
The future looks so bright.
If its a pc game people will just find a way to turn that off and tell everyone else how to do it.
You can turn off stuff that the programmers allow you to through a settings menu (that they wrote), configuration files (that they make their program to read) or fiddling 3rd party stuff that it's using (like your driver settings, external libraries, etc.).
Similarly to how GTA V's (could be GTA Online) extreme loading time was caused by a very inefficient way of loading data. Users couldn't change the algorithm themselves; they could investigate what was going on, but the developers were the only ones being able to actually change it to a recommended version.
Obviously the story is a bit different with an open source code which you can compile for yourself.
https://finalfantasyxv.fandom.com/wiki/Cup_Noodles
They also had a bunch of Coleman camping gear as a major feature of the game.
As ad placement went, I thought it was kinda charming and cute. More like a goofy Superbowl ad than an obnoxious "BUY ME NOW!!!" splash screen or pop-up insert. But I'm glad the latest FF7 Remakes didn't continue this trend.
they used to call this malware
"It's okay when we do it."
If its pre-installed, its typically called "Bloatware".
And I remember having bloatware on my machine going back to the 90s. The first really high quality gaming computer I got was a Sony Vaio and it had tons of bullshit excess software I had to mop out of it before I was ready to really use it.
Is it actually malicious, though? Ads by themselves aren't malicious.
Adware then, which is generally unacceptable in a large full featured paid product.
How the heck did those tools developers figure out how to remove those various ads in windows? Did they do it the hard way, fired up a debugger to reverse engineer how those ads were displayed? That takes some dedication. We in the Linux land have it easy because the source code is available to mess with.
It's not difficult. Corporations won't put up with this shit and MS knows it, so there are (almost) always documented registry entries or GPO policies you can set to disable this crap.
But you shouldn't fucking have to. Which is why I'm now on Tumbleweed instead of Windows for my daily driver.
Most likely this IMO, with all the driver and executable signing/integrity checks nowadays I doubt they can get away with patching the system files a la Windows XP style.
Couldn't M$ make corporations deal with it anyways? It's really not like they could just switch to Linux or Mac with their very specific BS piece of software of which every company has their own that runs on Windows only.
They could try but anything over a medium size business likely has a specific contract with Microsoft and they probably have language preventing this kind of thing. I know my company does. And there would be a ton of pushback from any security org that knows what they are doing, since ads are a common vector for security incidents.
Microsoft is already getting their money from the corpos, it's the 'freeloading' public they are trying to squeeze revenue from.
Yeah, those bums who only paid for the software once.
If you saw an enterprise licensing agreement you'd know just how true this is. We pay for this shit over and over and over.
Pro, Enterprise and Education SKUs have less of these "features" enabled
This is the third reference to the tumbleweed distro I’ve read today. Sounds like I have a new VM to set up!
I think you'll like it! I sure do. Been on it about a month now, maybe 5 weeks. No complaints.
Hell yeah brother!) tumbleweed ftw! P.S my top 3 distros is debian tumbleweed gentoo because of WIDE architecture support meaning you can launch it on almost ANY pc out there
Great question!
But how do I stop all the ads in Linux for penguins and wildebeest?
Plays unskippable FSF anthem by Stallman
Join us now and share the software,
You'll be freeee hackers, you'll be FreEEeeEeEeeee....
At this point it would be easier to install a new user friendly linux distro...
I love Linux as much as the next guy, but installing a new OS is not easier than downloading a single program and clicking check boxes. No need to be hyperbolic, Windows is bad enough as it is.
Yeah it is easier dude. with windows you have to install the new OS and then open edge and download Firefox then go download the program and check the boxes. With linux mint you install the OS. Idk sounds easier to me
Well, that's fair. I thought you meant easier to install Linux over an existing Windows 11 install.
Maybe, but Windows has the advantage of being preinstalled on the hardware most people are buying (meaning they get to skip the install the OS step for Windows).
I wouldn't call forced adoption an advantage. if anything they are taking away your freedom of choice by making it harder for you to switch, Because you have to remove the windows OS to switch. Why dont you get the option for linux at the store they are open source licensed so there is no issue distributing for free and giving people the option.
Sure sure, but we're talking ease of use for a typical end user. Also, Firefox isn't mandatory for the other app, so you technically don't need to add that step even if getting away from Chromium in general and Edge in particular is a good idea as regards avoiding advertising.
It boggles my mind how many Windows users refuse to switch to something else and insist on patching together Microsoft's intentionally broken excuse of an operating system...
The usual, I would but games (and proprietary software for work)
I run a Linux machine literally next to my Windows desktop and yeah it's 98% for my daily usually but that's still a week worth of "Not working" for my year.
Fallout 3 was hard enough to get working on Windows many moons ago but even with all the "Use Lutris" or "Use Heroic" cries, it'd be easier to run a whole Windows VM than to get it running natively and in the forty minutes of time I have to game, I'd rather just play the game sometimes.
So, if I have to play in their Sandbox, I'm gonna shit in it first so they don't try to come play too.
Plus, VR and all that.
Sometimes you don't know how bad your ex really is until you're in a new relationship
😔 ain't that the truth
For me it's simply laziness, and the fact that I don't use the OS apart from explorer. I think that's the thing for a lot of people the actively use so few parts of the OS that the question wether the OS is intrusive, bloatware free or efficient isn't part of their concern. They, me included, don't tinker, don't optimize, don't script etc. I just start the programs thati use. I probably will give Linux another go with my next PC build though.
The truth is that most people don't really care. A lot of them don't even know what an OS is, they just need a machine that lets them browse the internet, write documents, and maybe play some games. An ad is maybe an annoyance to them, but not one that's going to make them install a new OS. It's not because they're dumb or ignorant, it just doesn't rank that high on their list of priorities (even if we think it should). I think being in these communities kind of makes us forget that a lot of people don't think that much about tech.
I do think that easy to install/use Linux distros could one day start changing some minds, but that distro won't be one that's popular with current Linux users. You'd basically need something that very rarely requires you to touch a terminal, even for troubleshooting, because that's where people will nope right out.
On the other hand, this is why stuff like that "look at all the data Google has on you" video are important. For us it's a yeah duh moment, but the average Chromebook user probably has no idea and is rightly surprised about it. Reach people in terms they can understand.
Absolutely this. 99% of people I know never want to touch a terminal, and I don't blame them. They've been shown that what they want to do can be simple, why would they settle for less? Something really big needs to happen for them to change browser, let alone a whole OS.
The devil you know vs the devil you don't, I guess. Comfort etc.
Lol right I saw a post about tiny11 iso I was like wtf thats way harder then just installing linux. Microsoft got people brainwashed
I have win11 on my gaming pc and i don't see any ads. Maybe because i use local account.
Don't you have any news, and other suggestions on the taskbar, lock screen etc? Also, are you in the EU?
No. I am from asia
Is it possible that the suggestions Windows is giving you don't perceive them as ads?
Asia is a continent
I think I finally found it. There aren't (officially) any ads in windows 11 yet, they just changed the wording of the toggle for the start menu to add ads as part of the toggle.
https://www.xda-developers.com/windows-11-start-menu-ads-avoid/
Same. I main a Manjaro mini-PC but have a separate Windows gaming rig. No ads. I did use a reg key to disable start menu web search a while back but otherwise haven’t made any system changes.
Can't play warzone and siege on linux. Windows gaming just works.
You never heard of Rainbow 6: siege?
Some people don't play competitive FPS games exclusivesly, shocking I know.
I'm one of those people. And not only in fps, I started avoiding pvp in every game altogether.
I don't need any gaming integration in windows. I turn on my pc, steam opens on startup and i click play. Nothing in windows gets in my way. I don't update my drivers unless i am playing a new game on launch day.
This is just a bad windows install. The overlay problem happens if you remove edge/gamebar without preserving webview2. I am curious what system settings do you change in the middle of a game apart from one click shutdown.
I have some games I play that do not play nice with Proton. In particular, my wife and I are pretty obsessed with Solasta: Crown of the Magister (over 500 hours and counting), which has poor compatibility in wine and proton to my understanding.
Besides, for now I don’t need the hassle. I boot up gaming PC, Steam launches, I play, then I shut down. I don’t need an excuse to leave the gaming rig powered on when I’m not using it. Maybe if and when I end up rebuilding it.
That was just one example. And I’d you review that page you linked, they don’t all disagree, there were more than a few reporting issues with it. It’s gold rated, but not platinum.
I’m glad you’re enjoying the experience, but either way the point I was making is that my gaming PC is just an appliance. It works and I have enough other things to do that I don’t feel like reinstalling the OS and a butt-ton of games.
When I need to do a rebuild/upgrade in the future I’ll likely revisit Linux with it, but until then I don’t see the point. I only turn it on a few hours a week to game and otherwise it’s off. And when it is on, I just want to game, not potentially spend time fiddling or troubleshooting if something isn’t as expected.
People are constantly pushing others toward Linux, because its nothing like it used to be. Id never touched a terminal screen besides a run command in Windows. I still haven't had to touch when, except for making monecraft work a long time ago. (Which was as easy as copy pasting the commands by the way, and I was not at all doing something typical. Yet the guides were there.)
I can say however, finding a fix on Linux is significantly easier than it can be on windows. Just like any os, you're gonna find times where you're alone.I don’t need a push, a Linux machine is my daily driver (and has been for something like 8+ years now), and I’ve worked in IT doing virtualization/automation/data management and compliance for several years. I spend a lot of time in the terminal.
To me the Windows gaming PC is essentially a console, no different than a PS5 or a Switch is to someone else. It’s been up and running as such since before Proton was fully viable and for its use case I don’t see a need to change it until it’s due for a rebuild/replacement/upgrade.
Id say a steam deck is like a console. You turn it on, and you play games. A windows machine at the start is nothing like a console. Updates, forced updates, intrusive AI's, constant suggestions, nothing is straight forward to me.
Maybe that's just because I haven't had to use Windows in the last 5 years, but thats been my experience any time I fire up my desktop.
I don’t see any of that. Cortana is disabled via settings toggle, no AI stuff, start menu web search is disabled. Updates are set to automatic download only and are only run upon shutdown if I choose “update and shutdown” instead of just doing shutdown.
I dunno, there are legitimate things to complain about with Windows, but none of this really fits.
In my case I power on, Steam launches, and I run a game. When done, I press the power button and it shuts down. That’s it.
the more you use the native implementations of stuff, the more you see it. if you for example, dont use edge, dont use the native task bar/start bar, dont use the microsoft store, dont use any of the built in AI tools, then AD visibily would be minimal.
A good chuck of the Ad problems is usually fixed by using 3rd party software, be it completely switching OS, or using non native software.
its like trying to use old internet explorer and complaining about ads, when 3rd party alternatives exist, and of the subset who complains, a chunk refuse to get off IE, and look for ways to mod IE instead of just going 3rd party from the get go.
I mean not using the native taskbar is a bit further than fixing stuff by using third party software. The taskbar is an integral part of the OS. If you’re switching it out then you’re making significant, deep rooted changes to the OS.
its less rewriting the entire task bar, but overriding the functionalities of the start button (in which most of the Ads are displayed in)
Same but I setup my install by pretending I'm from the UK and that's the only difference I can see
It's kind of embarrassing to see so many linux nerds talk about ads in Windows 11, like navigating the settings menu is difficult.
I use linux and Windows. I haven't seen an ad in windows since i installed and disabled them.
1: you shouldn't have to
2: you have to go to like 6 different places to get most of them and there are still ads for microsoft products baked into the settings menu
It isn't hard but it is tedious because each of the ad settings is in a different location. Like taskbar has its settings which aren't configured in the Settings app where you can turn off the ads. Settings has places in search and another in privacy. Look at the OP image. It's 9 different settings that need to be found and turned off.
9 settings all easily accessible via the search bar in settings.
Idk im not seeing the absolutely gigantic issue that anti-windows people make it out to be - at worst, it's a minor nuisance.
The issue is ads are for supporting free software. Windows is not free therefore should not be showing ads.
Look, I agree, but let's not kid ourselves on our experience not being shitty too 🤣. We're capable of using it only because we're really good at computers, but there are literally millions of people who don't even know or care about knowing how to change desktop background
I'll cede "know", but I heavily dispute "care".
Plenty of Boomers are painfully aware of how awful the internet has become over the last decade. Hell, they got to experience it before the rest of us precisely because folks who never knew how to migrate off AOL or Yahoo got enshitified first.
My own mom hates using the computer in no small part because she takes too much of what she sees at face value and ends up with tons of spyware, bloat, and scams rampaging across her laptop. I have to clean it out for her every few months, and I'm constantly fighting with her over what's actually garbage and what she's convinced she needs.
But the end result is that she just... won't check her email because she hates it. She won't answer her phone because she's afraid of scam callers. She won't trust ANY website, so she doesn't use Amazon or Uber or Netflix.
It isn't that people like my mom don't care. They care immensely, because modern technology has become unusable for people like her.
Put linux on her computer, i think it would make her a lot less annoyed
I've never tried to install linux on an Apple before.
If it is an intel based machine, it's no really much different than any other machine. The only difference would be in how you get to the boot menu. That's about it.
I'd have to check the specs, but I believe its an M1 or M2.
If it is M1 or M2 Asahi Linux is the way to go, but it is still in development and probably not ready for your mom
Does lemmy have any communities for unintentional "yo mamma" jokes?
leg stretches
cracks neck
This is the moment I have been training for...
Linux on an Intel-based MacBook Air was my daily driver for years. It worked perfectly fine; battery life was lower than on macOS though.
I have. It mostly works, but the network drivers are a pain at best and simply non-existent at worst, often forcing you to add a USB dongle.
I think this is a too much pessimistic point of view. People with difficulties will be people with difficulties, but the fact is that the boomers actually are a little incompetent at it, simply hecause they had to deal with many more pressing things. They wouldn't be stupid to learn as much as your average person wouldn't be, they're just understandably lazy. I too am lazy, so I'll never cook as well as my grandma.
It's not too bad. They probably wouldn't have Windows either if they had to set it up themselves. My dad has been using Ubuntu for years, but he doesn't know it. It's just a laptop that works as far as he's concerned.
I would argue there are facets to many people's life that they leave "at default" because they "don't care enough to fix it how they want".
Take random Linux User XYZ; They still have to nudge their front door to get it open after unlocking, because they're not a home improvement afficionado that wants to look up door repair videos on YouTube and attempt to put a stabilizer of some kind on the hinge. Or, they might accept the terrible interface in their car because they don't know of easy ways to get it replaced with something simpler. Or, they don't have their money invested anywhere because they don't like/trust researching investment tips.
For us, it's just that computers are something we'll always tune to our preference. For others, it's other things.
I just saw a post the other day from a guy who dumped fedora because it couldn't be installed with a Bluetooth mouse.
Allegedly the installer requires a mouse click, and he had no other pointing device. They also said the keyboard navigation was not helpful and was also unable to switch to a console to manually pair his mouse.
I think it might be possible to get around all their menus with just tab and enter, but it's less of a pain with a mouse last I tried.
He's right, the installer should either make mice work or have a GUI that doesn't expect them.
I think I vaguely remember something about that, but I would be pretty upset if the keyboard navigation was unusable. It is almost as bad as the stupid mouse enabled BIOSs that never work. It doesn't even work on the Dell laptop I have for work. The keyboard navigation is always extra special in those cases and involves a lot of button mashing to get to the correct thing, if I can figure it out at all.
I don't use wired mice either and had to dig the old gaming mouse out recently so I could get to some menus on a new machine to pair the mouse. I have done the mouse pairing thing through console and it isn't the best experience, especially if you are trying to figure out if things are working in the first place. For me, I could figure it out. For a new user, you are asking a lot.
Just give me an old school OS installer with simple menus, easy keyboard navigation, and the bare minimum guidance needed to not entirely fuck it up.
Settings ads? I had no idea it got THIS bad.
When it's against the law to not maximize profit for shareholders we get into some really disgusting territory when you can't innovate anymore and need to squeeze every dime out of everything.
What the hell is microsuck going to do in another 10 years? Infinite growth is more of a fantasy than working Communism yet we swear it will work somehow...
Genuinely where is the line for people still putting up with this stuff?
I think that it's one of the benefits of monopoly. People don't think "I wonder if I should start checking out alternatives?" but instead "Damn, that's annoying. I wonder if there's a way to fix this?" Alternatives never even enter their head. See, there's already a tool for the problem in the post!
Yeah sadly, whenever you say PC / Laptop people associate it with windows. You buy one of these, its windows. People dont even know what else is out there.
Yeah that went out the window when American corpos found out during the pandemic they can literally just keep raising prices for shittier product and Americans just… keep buying it
Welcome to the end of human society, we’re just getting started. Should have chosen a birthdate a few decades earlier, too bad!
The worst thing about the future is that everything is fucking data mining and ads. Yes, EVERYTHING, from cars to fucking refrigerators.
Follow this simple tutorial to get root access to your fridge and install a foss OS ...
And subscriptions. Once hyper capitalism got its whiff of subscriptions there was no turning back.
For bullshit like spinning rims or golf clubs that wouldn't surprise me but it's not like I can just choose not to eat. I HAVE to buy food.
I think for many people, me included the OS is more or less invisible bc I use so few OS elements. File browser and that's it. Hardly any other gui feature comes to mind that isn't a third party program.
Putting up with the ads or putting up with the workarounds?
Since I've been running debloated windows since win 7 it has never bothered me to run a few scripts after install or use a modded iso. But if that wasn't an option I'm not sure if the last few games holding me to windows would be enough.
Lol. I was on 11, haven't seen the ads, probably due to nextdns, even ran the beta versions. But 24.04 came out and upon testing it seems my WiFi isn't crapping out like if used to so I guess I'll stay.
Man win11.. Wtf...
I don’t think it comes with man pages.
I mean, technically powershell "get-help" but... yeah.
most people pay for it when they buy their computer.
Just because they aren't as punitive anymore doesn't mean its free.
Its "free" to install. Still a pain in the ass and needs to be unlocked with MAS lol
Agreed, they don't even have the cash cow that some other free OSes have in their app stores.
MacOS is free and has been for years. Still no bullshit.
I have used the Chris Titus debloat tool before and it works pretty well.
Really the fact that this is necessary at all is disgusting. Start Menu ads are straight up AIDS. Not to mention curated news feeds in Start and other places. Why not just tell me what my opinions and purchasing habits should be, and eliminate the middleman?
I feel like even novice Windows users would be better off with Pop! OS and Wine at this point.
Sure, but Microsoft has favorable ESG reporting. Your move Nix.
Does anyone know if the EU protects against this? I am in Europe (well Switzerland, so technically not EU, but GDPR etc. nonetheless) and using windows 11 as my daily driver on two machines (one with beta) I have never seen ads.
EDIT: except for the 'finish setting up' stuff after bigger updates, those I do get.
EU gets Windows 11 'N'. It's gdpr compliantnane doesn't include the ads. I don't know about the telemetry though.
Anyone can install Windows N, just select it during the installation
I'd still recommend debloating it using some script though
Does that actually work?
Yes, if I need to install Windows I always pick the N version. Just make sure to install the Media Feature Pack from the "optional features" area in the Settings app, otherwise some apps like Spotify might not work correctly. It took me days to figure this out, I was incredibly frustrated (that's often the case with Windows lol, that's why I switched to Linux).
Yes, until you install an update. Then it's best practice to run it again.
I live in North America, I happen to have bought a Windows 10 license from Microsoft's website.
If I install the "N" version of Windows 10, my license key doesn't work.
That being said, give it a try, if it works, great, if not, just install the non-N version and debloat.
GL everyone.
Someone actually downvoted this. That person is a loser and a bootlicker. Sucks to be you!
Maybe cuz it’s a Windows meme?
But totally also a Linux meme :) so maybe that was Nadella
Ok this is just absurd if there's really file explorer ads
If you absolutely MUST use Windows, use it with AtlasOS.
Otherwise, Debian w/ KDE Plasma is your panacea.
It disables security features!
That was what I read.
I’ve read about that one
https://atlasos.net
Then there was a similar tool and some discussion about one or the other being either buggy or problematic?
Also - I remember NTlite or similar was out there and lots of talk of Chris Titus’ debloater - haven’t used any at least not in over 5 years
That was it!! Thank you!
I hadn't heard of Atlas... Looks like it's a debloating tool? Does it work well?
Debian FTW
Does anyone happen to know what Mastodon client this is? I'm assuming this is on iOS
TIL you can view and reply to lemmy posts from mastodon
That's the point of the fediverse and activitypub - posts from one platform are federated to other compatible platforms. I know this also includes kbin, but there's probably other platforms.
Yah, Ivory
Unfortunately requires a subscription :(
Only for using basic features 😉
Acceptable workaround workflow:
Share icon -> open in Mastodon on the off chance there’s something to reply to
Expect you want something free but a little more fully featured!
I just found Ice Cubes, it looks promising. It's also open-source on GitHub.
I like that one too!
Nice :) I really like it so far, it also seems to have a macOS version, I'm definitely gonna have to compare it to Mona.
Y'all I fucking hate windows but running linux went fine until I had to do some video editing for classwork. Premiere pro, which I had a student license for, obviously out. I go looking for FOSS alternatives because hey i'm sure there's a good linux video editor. I think I ended up settling on Kdenlive. I tried installing it from the ubuntu app store and that version was missing features. I tried installing it with apt-get and then proceeded to spend the next 5 hours trying to fix a missing dependancy that seemed to have just vanished off the face of fhe earth. I'm sure there are workarounds but "able to look through the error logs of the apt-get and track down the problem" apparently wasn't tech-savvy enough to have a video editor, one of the most important types of professional software IMO. (also i spent so much money on games cause proton doesn't play nice with piracy very often). I think lonux is perfect for thw really basic user or for the hyper advanced superuser types, but when you're in the middle it can be a real bitch to work with.
DaVinci provides Linux binaries
Blender is low key the best video editor on Linux for future reference
Ooh, I didn't know you could edit videos in Blender. I've been looking to learn how to do editing and Blender's already a little familiar. Thanks!
Blender does fucking everything lol, insane how much is packed into that amazing piece of FOSS
Try DaVinci Resolve.
Also I don't know where you're getting you're piracy from because the only game I've ever found where a crack was confirmed not playing right in Wine was Codex's Denuvo Crack for Puyo Puyo Tetris 1
While I agree with you that video editing under Linux is seriously lacking, I think that your conclusion
is not justified. There are not that many people who need to use a video editor.
The problem is it's not just video editing, like I would daily Linux if fusion 360 ran natively on Linux, if steam VR wasn't broken, if Adobe apps were made for Linux, and if the slicer I use for 3d printing wasn't such a pain to get running on nix. As things sit now I use Linux for my laptops but for my main desktop I feel pretty stuck with Windows for now, I dual boot but 90% of the time it's in windows.
Again, none of the things you listed are that commonly used. Most of the PC users don't do 3D modeling or VR.
Those are both very popular things as of the last 5 years, but basically the point is that everyone has hobbies and quite a bit are PC focused and require software that is not made for Linux and it kinda sucks that devs aren't making Linux builds of their software because it stands in the way of daily driving Linux on our main PCs
Did you try flatpak?
About the piracy part - try using Heroic or Lutris. Lutris has worked for me every single time without fail, but I did need to take some effort into understanding how wine/proton works on the surface level. Try using GE (glorious eggroll) versions of proton/wine too.
Skill issue + Ubuntu kinda sucks these days
If you need something in a pinch to substitute a tool you memorized, skill issue is a valid excuse to reject Linux.
or maybe you should try to push yourself harder out of your adobe comfort zone and make some fucking lemonade, and btw do yourself a favor and switch to something else that doesn't have snaps built-in, something like Fedora or linux mint
I would love another plug and play experience like I get with windows so I can spend my very limited time on playing the games I like out of the box. Any ideas on how I would do that please?
Get a Steam Deck.
No seriously, Steam Decks run on an immutable Arch (edit: I thought my steam deck was a Ubuntu distribution until just now when someone corrected me, see how much of a fool I am and yet I still find my steam deck easy to use when I am exhausted and don’t want to troubleshoot/learn new shit!) distro of Linux. Immutable means every update addresses the core of the operating system in a way that you can’t fuck up anywhere as easily as a normal operating system.
The desktop UI is great, there is a flatpak App Store pre-installed, I mean you can search for Xonotic or any other utility you need and install it in 30 seconds flat. It is just a Linux desktop with decent presets.
The thing is the Steam Deck doesn’t boot to desktop, it boots to a big picture mode where the UI looks like a console. It is easy to browse your games and it feels like you are using a very focused, locked down device from the likes of Apple or Nintendo, not a full blown portable Ubuntu computer running a slick wrapper around one of the most extensible constructions of software ever made (no unfortunately the Steam Deck isn’t a LISP machine).
The clever bit though is that SteamOS (basically a Ubuntu distro) has Proton which is designed to emulate windows (closely related to the other windows emulator WINE). This allows you to play the vast majority of windows games on your Steam Deck and because the windows games are ran in a virtual environment…. when you press the power button to sleep your Steam Deck it just pauses that virtual environment which means that ALLL kinds of games old and new that were never designed to be abruptly paused and resumed end up with wayyyyyyy less issues on the Steam Deck than they would if you were running them in Windows natively and trying to do the same thing (with say a microsoft Surface or something).
I regularly play Steel Panthers WinspWW2 on my Steam Deck. I run it on dosbox which either comes preinstalled on the Steam Deck or is available on the “app store” I can’t remember (not really a store because no one is selling anything).
https://www.shrapnelgames.com/Camo_Workshop/WW2/WW2_page.html
^look how shit this website looks, this is an ANCIENT game running on DOS and it honestly barely runs on native windows anyways, you can’t full screen it without it crashing on windows.
All I had to do was add the launch file to steam and now I can open up my steam deck, scroll down to WinspWW2 and start playing the best turn based tactical strategy game ever made… on the go….. that came out in 1995 and has been updated continually since and is basically being kept functioning by an elaborate janky lifesupport system that most people with windows computers don’t even want to bother with because the experience of playing the game is too annoying….
It just runs on my Steam Deck tho!
The virtual dos environment lets me not have to worry if the game will crash when I pause and alt tab to a different program or abruptly put my device to sleep without giving the game time to save or something…. the Steam Deck just suspends the virtual environment and from the perspective of WinspWW2 no change needs to happen. The program just sits open and frozen waiting for me to press the power button on my Steam Deck and keep playing.
Not saying you have to do nerdy shit with your steam deck, what I am saying is that you can do whatever you want to with your steam deck and not have to worry that a company like Microsoft is going to take a dump on a nice thing you had worked out between you and your gaming setup.
Get the Steam Deck it is the best of both worlds, slick and polished when you want it to be, customizable and extensible when you need it to be.
Arch not Ubuntu
Hahahaha well I am an idiot
I do love that this is basically like being a devout worshipper of a cult but realizing 5 years in that I got the wrong address, showed up to the wrong cult, but then everyone was so dark and moody and only spoke in deceiving rhymes so that nobody realized the administrative mistake, including me AND the innocent villagers going about their day outside the cult complex who I continually tried to convert to worship a god which was quite obviously in fact not the god lovingly illustrated on the sign atop the cult mansion’s roof either in name or description but in point of fact the god worshipped by the other cult mansion two blocks south on Michael Street not Michel Street (? Is that even a name?).
An understandable mistake for a citizen passing by from the other side of the city, but when you are actually in the wrong cult and don’t even know it? Oof that is some next level shit.
I'd say literally any distro other than Ubuntu.
I even avoid downstream distros now.
I've mostly settled comfortably on Debian due to it's stability. Nothing whatsoever against Arch, though.
I was correcting op about the steam deck. Although I do agree with you, personally I run nixos for stability while still being fairly bleeding edge
I haven't gamed on Windows since buying my Deck, but you're testimonial here isn't very convincing. It's a portable gaming device that requires a dock (or hub) to even play on a monitor. It's underpowered by design. Not even all top Steam games run on it.
Damn sorry I can see why you don’t like it and those are valid points about doing a bad job with my testimonial, I don’t really know that much about any of this I just type things into google and yell excitedly at the words that pop up most of the time when I am programming (I am looking to learn how to automate this with AI).
Also ok my confusion in thinking WINE is a virtual environment and an emulator when it isn’t, is something anyone could get confused about, if they wanted to make sure everyone knew they should have Put It In The Name and instead they named it after that sour grape drink I would always see my parents friends drink who think the New York Times is a genuinely progressive news organization.
But whatever, I am a fool as I keep telling people and if anything my post should be more convincing because I love my steam deck and find it easy to use even when I am downloading and installing utilities in desktop mode like Qutebrowser and tailoring custom keybindings to use it. I can still figure this out, which is a miracle if a very mundane one at that.
You are clearly right here, and if I was going to make a good argument for the Steam Deck I should have come off as someone who evidently loves their Steam Deck and wants to chat with people about it in a critical fashion where commenters with various different perspectives acknowledge the ups and downs of the device and it’s inherent limitations while refraining from the need to correct newbies sharing their love for the device on incorrect technical details that other newbies aren’t going to care about.
Wait
I haven't looked at a steam deck but will have to see about it. I am keyboard and mouse though I have tried control pads before and I cannot use them
I understand, you can use the steamdeck docked liked a normal desktop of course.
You just have a fairly hardware limited extremely lightweight gaming desktop that you can throw in your backpack, but it still does a damn fine job of that too so shrugs. I mean get a Logitech k780 or whatever Bluetooth keyboard you like, a mouse too, Bluetooth works just as fine on the Steam Deck as any other laptop.
I like plenty of indie games and I have a deep love for entire genres of video games that categorically don’t require any computing muscle to work (cataclysm dark days ahead I love you) so I don’t care as much about having a super powerful gaming computer at this point in my life but it is definitely a valid criticism of the deck.
Interesting I will definitely take a look. Thank you!
I never considered old DOS games until now. Thank you!
Check out this tutorial if you are interested, it is a good quick visual run through of how to get a game running on your steam deck with dos box.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jiIDEfznP6g
The main tutorial is only 6 minutes, the rest is the person showing how to do it several different ways and talking through the process. Something I also appreciate is how they immediately transition to talking about Decky Loader which is a utility that allows the steam deck to run plugin utilities in Gaming Mode/inside the steam overlay in gaming and specifically one of its plugins, SteamGridDB.
https://github.com/SteamGridDB/decky-steamgriddb
https://github.com/SteamDeckHomebrew/decky-loader
See when you add your random DOS game to steam it just looks sad and blank next to all your official steam games. That doesn’t inspire you to play the game! SteamGridDB comes to the rescue though by making it take a matter of seconds to browse the steam community for artwork banners and icons themed for that game and painlessly spruce up how your favorite non-steam games look when browsing through your library in Gaming Mode (basically “console mode”).
You can search for the game name or just rename the launcher file you added to steam as the original game (i.e. in steam rename the game My Favorite Old Game not MyFavOldGame_launcher_V2) and the automatic search in SteamGridDB should pull up any artwork made by the community for custom game banners and such.
It seems like a small thing, but it isn’t.
(You can also use your own custom artwork with SteamGridDB which you have to for most obscure games but you would be surprised what other people have uploaded for niche games it definitely surprises me).
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://m.piped.video/watch?v=jiIDEfznP6g
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
First, I'd take a look to see if there are any games you really want to play to make sure they're Linux compatible. ProtonDB is a great resource for this. The amount of games that work on Linux is actually pretty great, and the coverage is only increasing. That said, the biggest gap comes from games that require anti-cheat software, since that tends to require Windows. It sucks, since it's a one-sided decision from publishers, and there's not much to do besides keep Windows around, at least in a dual-boot. If you're mostly a single-player gamer, you're probably good to go. If you play AAA competitive multiplayer games, you're probably out of luck. Best to check before getting started.
Secondly, I'd take a look at Nobara. It's designed from the ground up to deliver what you want: a plug-and-play, out-of-the-box experience geared towards gaming. I can't speak from personal experience, but I've heard good things. I've also heard good things about Pop_OS, which I think makes gaming a priority, too. Linux Mint is also great for offering a smooth transition, but I'm just not sure if there are any hurdles for gaming specifically.
I'll also add that, while you might need to do some tinkering on Linux, even the regular distros don't actually have it that bad. For the most part, it's enabling an option on Steam, maybe downloading a package, maybe some settings here and there. Yeah, Windows still has it smoother, but it might be worth it to not have to fight Windows elsewhere, like with all the ads and privacy invasions. YMMV. For me, the juice is worth the squeeze, because the squeeze isn't actually that hard once you get a little know-how. :P
Also... you can dual boot. Say you need Windows for some games, or don't want to futz at all to get them running. You could do that to game or use whatever software only works with Windows, then reboot into Linux for more basic computing. Maybe it's not worth the hassle of rebooting for you, but it's yet another option if you don't want to compromise on gaming, but also don't want to deal with Windows the rest of the time.
I installed pop_os after Ubuntu murdered itself for undisclosed reasons, quite a nice experience and my setup is notorious for windows because of my mismatch of components. (10+ years of difference in components)
I will take a look thank you
I solved this by getting an Xbox. I start a game, and it works (as long as there's no mandatory updates...). No worrying about system specs, graphics drivers, or anything like that.
I was all about PC gaming in my teens and 20s. These days, I work all day and have much less free time, and want a gaming system that just works with minimal effort. Consoles handle that nicely.
Not sure if my AdBlock is responsible for not knowing about any of these ads even existing or EU.
If only they knew how badly recived ads are inside of a free OS and how careful KDE's devs had to be to ask for donations once a year in a permanently dismissable standard system notification.
lol windows
I have never seen an ad. I've not put any effort into debloat. It's this all just bs?
Edit: Plenty of down votes for asking a question. Great community guys.
Not BS but you're probably from EU. Microsoft cannot do this shit there.
That may be it.
Perhaps you just have a different view on what is or is not an ad. For example when I see a link in the start menu for an app that I did not install, I consider that to be an ad. The most common time this happens is for Office. (Or Microsoft 365 or whatever it is called now.) Also, when I see a 'suggestion' to sign into a Microsoft account to use OneDrive - I consider that an ad. Microsoft aren't telling me about OneDrive to improve my life. They are telling me to improve their profits. And when I type something in the start menu to launch an app, any result that comes up that is not something I put on my computer is an ad. It often will suggest particular websites for example.
These are the kinds of thing that we're talking about. I'm sure if you're using Windows on a home computer you will have seen these things. (I assume you're talking about ads in Windows. It would be quite something else if you'd never seen any ad anywhere.)
Like muhyb says it's likely because EU don't allow this.
This is my start menu in Windows 11, so I'm also curious about all the hubbub. I will admit I had to get rid of a load of unwanted links when I first got the computer but I've never seen adverts beyond that and that it suggests Microsoft Edge in certain contexts.
You in EU?
Yes!
Always fucks me up when I use someone else's computer and immediately get assaulted by the fucking candy crush ad in the start menu, start grumbling about it and/or ask if they want me to disable it, and the person goes "idk I never noticed it lol"
I'm in the same boat. USA here and only the initial start menu tiles had junk but removed them long ago. Next time I go on my computer I'll look closer. Maybe my brain just auto filters ads out at this point.
I haven't paid for windows since like 2014. The fuck are you guys doing that you haven't gotten a free legitimate license?
i use windows 11 without that tool and i never get ads like that
clickbait posts are awful
I think it's just for the cheap version of Windows, like "Home" or whatever.
"I've never died, so death is just a myth"
How dare people post about Linux in /c/linuxmemes
I read it as a joke, like to think lemmy doesn't need that dumb /s nonsense