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flatbield

@ furrowsofar @beehaw.org

Posts
11
Comments
390
Joined
3 yr. ago

Interests: News, Finance, Computer, Science, Tech, and Living

  • Question about Antivirus

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  • Antivirus is not the begin all and end all. I do not specifiically have AV installed and have had 0 issuses over the past 26 years of Linux use.

    On the other hand I do only install software from trusted sources. I keep my system updated. I do scan things with VirusTotal if there is a question. I have wine installed but not the exe handler. I have a firewall. I do sometimes harden my systems and use security scanners to help with that. Probably biggest attack vectors are email attachments and the web browser. I am careful about attachments. In the brower I use uBlock Origin at a minimum. I segregate sensitive things too so even compromising my general user account would not be fatal. I also have good offline and offsite backups.

    As for AV like stuff. I do sometimes install ClamAV or a rootkit scanner and sometimes do a manual scan but have never found anything. Same with my IDS. My WS for example has Tripwire but not all my systems and have never found anything.

    My point really, I view security about process and defense in depth then AV specifically. Keep in mind that AV introduces attack vectors too.

  • Where is Linux not working well in your daily usage? Share your pain points as of 2026, so we can respectfully discuss

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  • The 4 year upgrade cycle is too short on one hand. On the other, critical software like Firefox is too old even then so I have to use a flatpack for that which does not integrate well. I am using Debian 12. The other option is that Mozilla does have a debian repo but that is harder to setup.

  • How do you manage your dotfiles?

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  • Besides. What is there to really mange. There are only a few that one are likely to change. Every thing else is in /etc. Besides all of thia is in whole system backups and snapshots anyway.

  • People online say old computers are prime candidates for repurposing into routers, is that actually a good idea security wise?

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  • Which means using them as an always on device is expensive and not very eco.

  • Need hearing aids to work on Linux mint

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  • For what it is worth, my Bluetooth hearing aids just work on Ubuntu. Have not tried BLE.

  • What are some of your most useful or favorite terminal commands?

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  • Various uses of "find" in particular. "xargs" sometimes too. The capabilities of "bash" in general including scripting and the whole redirection, piping, and multiprocessing capabilities in particular.

  • Americans are holding onto devices longer than ever and it's costing the economy

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  • Such a crazy title. Should say "Longer device lifetimes reduce waste".

    One reason I use Linux. My workstation was puchased back in 1998 and I do a partial but fairly major update about every 10 years.

    Same reason I have a Pixel with Graphene. Should get 6 years maybe a bit more.

  • Becoming unblockable

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  • Yes humans are terible at multitasking.

  • My Car Is Becoming a Brick: EVs are poised to age like smartphones.

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  • Not at all. The Volt is great. No major issues. Not sure why your loosing your shit over something you seem to know nothing about.

  • My Car Is Becoming a Brick: EVs are poised to age like smartphones.

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  • Over bloan. Software does not age but security does. Other things that do not age well is specialty tech hardware components. Batteries are a question too.

    I know my volt at 10 years does not have a viable oem battery replacement (back ordered and nutty price). I can get a reasonable after market battery though.

  • Why is the western left so anti-communist?

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  • I agree. The Chinese are the most interesting. Trying to integrate a more flexible market economy into their social system is a huge accomplishment and what is needed.

    The reverse is needed in the US. The other big challenge in the US is quality of leadership. Democracy requires an educated and engaged electorate, access to true information, honest fact based debate, good decision making, and a willingness to make it work. All in short supply these days.

  • Why is the western left so anti-communist?

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  • I absolutely agree. Have we ever seen that in the wild though especially at scale?

    It may be in fact mutually exclusive in that it may conflict with human nature and most cultures. US is of couse extremely individualistic for example though not uniformly so.

  • Why is the western left so anti-communist?

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  • Yes I agree that these guys are not fully socialist and what they can accomplish is limited. The more interesting point is first how the capatalists loose their shit over it on one hand and on the other I do not think socialist as an attribute is considered negative these days in general.

  • Why is the western left so anti-communist?

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  • Then you come up with better word.

    In my definition, any system where the general public cannot throw out the bums without violence is authoritarian.

    The is the fundamental reason communism is not viable. It just swaps distributed power for the even bigger problem of bigger concentrated power.

    Just look at happyness indexes. We know the solutions that tend yield best results. They tend to be democracies with a fairly homogenious population and a socialist bent. Capitalists hate this and I assume communists do too because it shows neither is the way.

  • Why is the western left so anti-communist?

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  • Actually in the US socialism is more popular then you might think. Bernie Sanders was very popular a few years ago and showed significant support in the presidential race. Mamdani just won the NY mayors race.

    What we do not care for in the US is authoritarianism which seems to be the result of any extreme either libertarianism or communism, and we are too damed independent for our own good. I makes me both laugh and cry when the current situation is not good for 80% of people but with minor exceptions they still vote for it.

  • Does it ever bother some of you that "I'm switching to Linux!" is just more of a way to appear rebellious than actually committing to the choice?

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  • No. People do what they do.

    What I find more laughable is people complaining profusely about windows but doing nothing about it.

    Using something different is hard too. Most people are somewhere between cows and idiots. I have been using Python since the late 90s even on Windows and at work too. I got some strange reactions and push back over the years. You just have to not care. We see now how that turned out. Now everyone agrees Python is useful.

  • Ukrainian victory over Russia a ‘fantasy’ – Vance

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  • Yes, I have wondered about the partial support too.

    Might be true. However never under estimate the indecisiveness and incompetence of US leadership and take it as a plan. Russian propaganda and the MAGA crowd too have had big effects also. By in large too the west wants Russia stable. Besides Ukraine is not a core issue in the US.

    Nuclear weapons are useless. No one can use them.

  • Ukrainian victory over Russia a ‘fantasy’ – Vance

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  • I have no idea how all this will end. However you might want to consider that west has put very little effort into helping Ukraine. Both Russia and the US have not lived up to their obligations. Both guaranteed the intergity of Ukraine by treaty. Russia invaded and the US and the west did not stop it though we could have at any time.

  • Ukrainian victory over Russia a ‘fantasy’ – Vance

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  • So there is no way the Taliban beat both Russia and the US in Afghanistan?

  • Free and Open Source Software @beehaw.org
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    Linux Many IPv6 Connections SYN-RECV State

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    Social Media Censorship

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    Trump to Wire Himself a Quarter Billion In Taxpayer Money!

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    Power Loss but Still Online with Fiber Connection

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    Google Gemini deletes user's code

    mashable.com /article/google-gemini-deletes-users-code
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    Cybersecurity Impacts of US Government Cuts - Security Now

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    Air India Accident Update - Mentor Pilot

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    Personal Experience Installing GrapheneOS

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    US Email Providers - Other then Google, MS, Apple, ...

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    Question: Alternative tax forums?

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    OLT Tax Service Experience

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