cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/3770297

I think I've finally found it: The elusive Firefox fork for my day-to-day needs. It needed to have sane defaults like Librewolf but also as user empowering as Vivaldi (as well as not being proprietary which is cringe).

Zen I believe accomplishes both of that. It's a relatively new project but it does have active development with new changes added every release. Here's the rundown:

• Licensed under the Mozilla Public License 2.0, the same as Firefox. So enjoy that warm feeling you get when using open source software that won't pull the rug from under you.
• Follows Firefox release cycles: If a new Firefox version comes out, Zen is not behind.
• Instead of horizontal tabs, Zen only uses vertical tabs for navigation. If this is a deal breaker, then Zen isn't for you :(
• Supports split view, workspaces, browser profiles, side panels, tab unloading (saving memory by deactivating a tab), theming, mods and everything else that base Firefox supports (like firefox sync).
• Cannot play DRM-protected content as of yet on Windows and MacOS (rare Linux W?) due to license fees. This is your netflix, your disney+, your spotify.
• No mobile version (nor does it seem to be planned), though firefox sync is still supported.
• Looks GORGEOUS. I never realized how ugly Firefox looks by default, esp on desktops like GNOME and KDE where it tries to integrate itself into the system theme.
• Performs FABULOUSLY: Optimizations from the firefox level to even providing an optimized binary executable for modern CPUs.
• SANE defaults like HTTPS everywhere, no link prefetching (where the browser loads links that it thinks you're going to go to), uncluttered Firefox home.
• Probably more I'm not listing

Download here: https://zen-browser.app/download

How do I use Zen?

Well firstly, Zen doesn't come with any extensions by default. So I made sure to chuck in my Ublock Origin, Privacy Badger, ClearURLs, LibRedirect, etc. It also uses secure DNS by default with Cloudflare so you might want to turn that off (I have a DNS homeserver that does encrypted DNS through other means).

I also really like using the side panel to put my wiki sites and dictionaries in. I've only been using Zen for a week now and it seems to be my forever browser of choice.

I think I've finally found it: The elusive Firefox fork for my day-to-day needs. It needed to have sane defaults like Librewolf but also as user empowering as Vivaldi (as well as not being proprietary which is cringe).

Zen I believe accomplishes both of that. It's a relatively new project but it does have active development with new changes added every release. Here's the rundown:

• Licensed under the Mozilla Public License 2.0, the same as Firefox. So enjoy that warm feeling you get when using open source software that won't pull the rug from under you.
• Follows Firefox release cycles: If a new Firefox version comes out, Zen is not behind.
• Instead of horizontal tabs, Zen only uses vertical tabs for navigation. If this is a deal breaker, then Zen isn't for you :(
• Supports split view, workspaces, browser profiles, side panels, tab unloading (saving memory by deactivating a tab), theming, mods and everything else that base Firefox supports (like firefox sync).
• Cannot play DRM-protected content as of yet on Windows and MacOS (rare Linux W?) due to license fees. This is your netflix, your disney+, your spotify.
• No mobile version (nor does it seem to be planned), though firefox sync is still supported.
• Looks GORGEOUS. I never realized how ugly Firefox looks by default, esp on desktops like GNOME and KDE where it tries to integrate itself into the system theme.
• Performs FABULOUSLY: Optimizations from the firefox level to even providing an optimized binary executable for modern CPUs.
• SANE defaults like HTTPS everywhere, no link prefetching (where the browser loads links that it thinks you're going to go to), uncluttered Firefox home.
• Probably more I'm not listing

Download here: https://zen-browser.app/download

How do I use Zen?

Well firstly, Zen doesn't come with any extensions by default. So I made sure to chuck in my Ublock Origin, Privacy Badger, ClearURLs, LibRedirect, etc. It also uses secure DNS by default with Cloudflare so you might want to turn that off (I have a DNS homeserver that does encrypted DNS through other means).

I also really like using the side panel to put my wiki sites and dictionaries in. I've only been using Zen for a week now and it seems to be my forever browser of choice.

TL;DR:

The Windows File Explorer is now dependent on Microsoft Recall being installed on Windows 11 24H2 editions and likely later.

This means that if you wish to use newer versions of the Window file explorer, you have to install recall on your system. Recall is a deeply-rooted, non-negotiable feature on all modern versions of Windows.

Solution

If you wish to strip out recall from your system, you are no longer able to use the built-in graphical file explorer and must use a third-party tool, and if you're not allowed to do that on the machine, then you are forced to have recall running on the system as it doesn't appear on any graphical settings pages.

The other solution is to prepare for transitioning into a free operating system such as GNU/Linux with distributions such as Linux Mint which is designed specifically for that transition. You can also run an older version of Windows and refuse to update.

Errata

Turns out that this issue has been exaggerated and that there are ways to disable co-pilot on Windows machines (or at the very least, command Windows to do so). Also it's debatable whether this program does any harm on non "copilot" computers but you can be the judge of that.

• Context: https://www.phoronix.com/news/Russian-Linux-Maintainers-Drop
• Source: https://lore.kernel.org/all/CAHk-=whNGNVnYHHSXUAsWds_MoZ-iEgRMQMxZZ0z-jY4uHT+Gg@mail.gmail.com/ CW: Russophobia, Finnish man speaks on politics

A group of maintainers with a ".ru" top level domain have been removed for "compliance issues" and that if they met those requirements they would be brought back in. People noticed and started voicing their concern.

• https://lore.kernel.org/all/20241023080935.2945-2-kexybiscuit@aosc.io/

This reverts commit 6e90b675cf942e50c70e8394dfb5862975c3b3b2.

An absolutely no-one-ever-reviewed patch, not even by the maintainers who got removed themselves - at least not on the mailing list. Then the patch just got slipped into an unrelated subsystem pull request, and got pulled by Torvalds with not even a comment.

What about the next time? Who next would be removed from the MAINTAINERS file, the kernel.org infrastructure? What if the compliance requires another XZ backdoor to be developed without further explanation? Is the kernel development process still done in public?

Are the "compliance requirements" documented on docs.kernel.org? Who are responsible for them? Are all that are responsible employees of The Linux Foundation, which is regulated by the U.S. legislature?

This specific email, (noticeably not from a .ru domain) elicited a negative reaction from Linus Torvalds, the leader of the Linux kernel

Ok, lots of Russian trolls out and about.

It's entirely clear why the change was done, it's not getting reverted, and using multiple random anonymous accounts to try to "grass root" it by Russian troll factories isn't going to change anything.

And FYI for the actual innocent bystanders who aren't troll farm accounts - the "various compliance requirements" are not just a US thing.

If you haven't heard of Russian sanctions yet, you should try to read the news some day. And by "news", I don't mean Russian state-sponsored spam.

As to sending me a revert patch - please use whatever mush you call brains. I'm Finnish. Did you think I'd be supporting Russian aggression? Apparently it's not just lack of real news, it's lack of history knowledge too.

The Linux Foundation is a 501c non-profit organization based in San Francisco and is therefore under US jurisdiction. The Linux Foundation also receives support from the leading oligarchs of the US digital empire (Intel, Qualcomm, AMD, Microsoft, etc.).

Going from Linus' rash response to the foundation being stationed in the heart of the digital silicon valley empire, it's more than likely that the Linux Foundation and the kernel maintainers are abiding by US-led sanctions against Russia. The Linux kernel's lead developer aligns himself with the imperial core, and it seems he has no regrets doing so.

With the recent Israeli terrorist attack on Lebanon via remote detonated pagers (which have maimed children), the US is now cashing in its unchecked dominance on computer technology in its vain attempt to keep its empire afloat. The threats have now become actions. The Russian SMO has not gone well for the US-led NATO forces as the war begins to enter its 3rd year and the recent rise of the Chinese digital power has spooked the Silicon Valley oligarchs into acting.

What does this mean for GNU/Linux users and others using the Linux kernel?

The development of the kernel is fundamentally decentralized via the version-control program that Linus himself spearheaded: git. Most orgs keep their own git tree of the kernel and have their own development branches. The GNU Guix project also maintains/ships a completely libre kernel that removes all form of binary blobs (mostly for enabling yankee-made hardware, go figure). Unfortunately, it seems like all the people who lambasted the GNU Hurd project for being too slow and idealistic didn't realize the danger of a singular monolithic kernel (pun not intended).

I doubt this means the introduction of backdoors (because why now? If backdoors were implemented they wouldn't do it just now).

TL;DR

Linus Torvalds had the feds knock on his door and ask him to remove certain Russian maintainers, Torvalds, being a millionaire finnish neckbeard, gladly granted this request. Too bad he hasn't gotten over his anger issues because his furious response only confirmed the yankee involvement and that Torvalds is not allowed to discuss this issue.

It all started because he was shitting on the NY Times for being an ad-ridden mess where you have to call a human in order to cancel your subscription. Someone called NY Times woke communist propaganda and Linus went nerd rage on them.

original post

An increasing number of videogames are sold as goods, but designed to be completely unplayable for everyone as soon as support ends. The legality of this practice is untested worldwide, and many governments do not have clear laws regarding these actions. It is our goal to have authorities examine this behavior and hopefully end it, as it is an assault on both consumer rights and preservation of media. We are pursuing this in two ways:

TL;DR this is an EU petition aimed at making sure that companies are obligated to distribute binaries of the server code of their multiplayer and live service games. Currently, video game companies of online/live service games use a form of SaaSS (Service as a Software Substitute) model where the "game" someone has purchased is simply a license to run the game in only the way the company sees fit (their servers, their platform, their rules). If a company were to go under or simply not run the servers required for the full game to function, then the user is out of luck as they've effectively had the game taken away from them.

This is just another example of why ALL leftists must strive to fight for free software. If we don't consider software which respects your freedom an important endeavor to uphold, then we make ourselves vulnerable for further and further exploitation. If you're reading this, this includes you as well.

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/3207959

We first need to obtain a blocklist of all possible Israeli ip addresses. This can be obtained from two sources.

1. https://www.ip2location.com/free/visitor-blocker
2. https://www.iblocklist.com/

Due to the nature of how IP addresses are distributed, these blocklists have to be updated, but that isn't a huge concern for us right now.

When you downloaded the file for Israel from either site, it should look something like this:

Israel:2.16.36.0-2.16.36.255
Israel:2.22.233.0-2.22.233.255
Israel:2.52.0.0-2.55.255.255
Israel:2.57.228.0-2.57.231.255
Israel:2.58.33.0-2.58.33.255
Israel:3.2.42.0-3.2.42.63
Israel:3.5.56.0-3.5.59.255
Israel:5.22.128.0-5.22.135.255
Israel:5.28.128.0-5.28.191.255
Israel:5.29.0.0-5.29.255.255
Israel:5.100.248.0-5.100.255.255

If you wish to add more nations to the list such as TERF island or the 4th Reich, then you can append the files on top of each other into one file.

Once you have the file, rename it with the .p2p extension so that qbittorrent will use it. Then, in your qbittorrent client, go to Preferences -> Connection. At the very bottom you should see a section labeled IP Filtering. In the Filter Path checkbox, select your .p2p file. You may also check the box to block trackers as well.

In other bittorrent software (hopefully you're using one that's libre) there should be a similar option for ip filtering.

There you go! You have effectively banned Israel from being your peer while you're doing p2p transfers. This won't stop Zionists from peering with you using a VPN or other undetected server, but this has done wonders for my mood.

Always remember to port forward and seed when torrenting (A non-Zionist VPN like AirVPN or ProtonVPN can allow you to do that). Only a Zionist does a download and run.

Resources

1. https://github.com/qbittorrent/qBittorrent/discussions/17457

We first need to obtain a blocklist of all possible Israeli ip addresses. This can be obtained from two sources.

1. https://www.ip2location.com/free/visitor-blocker (choose peer guardian format)
2. https://www.iblocklist.com/

Due to the nature of how IP addresses are distributed, these blocklists have to be updated, but that isn't a huge concern for us right now.

When you downloaded the file for Israel from either site, it should look something like this:

Israel:2.16.36.0-2.16.36.255
Israel:2.22.233.0-2.22.233.255
Israel:2.52.0.0-2.55.255.255
Israel:2.57.228.0-2.57.231.255
Israel:2.58.33.0-2.58.33.255
Israel:3.2.42.0-3.2.42.63
Israel:3.5.56.0-3.5.59.255
Israel:5.22.128.0-5.22.135.255
Israel:5.28.128.0-5.28.191.255
Israel:5.29.0.0-5.29.255.255
Israel:5.100.248.0-5.100.255.255

If you wish to add more nations to the list such as TERF island or the 4th Reich, then you can append the files on top of each other into one file.

Once you have the file, rename it with the .p2p extension so that qbittorrent will use it. Then, in your qbittorrent client, go to Preferences -> Connection. At the very bottom you should see a section labeled IP Filtering. In the Filter Path checkbox, select your .p2p file. You may also check the box to block trackers as well.

In other bittorrent software (hopefully you're using one that's libre) there should be a similar option for ip filtering.

There you go! You have effectively banned Israel from being your peer while you're doing p2p transfers. This won't stop Zionists from peering with you using a VPN or other undetected server, but this has done wonders for my mood.

Always remember to port forward and seed when torrenting (A non-Zionist VPN like AirVPN or ProtonVPN can allow you to do that). Only a Zionist does a download and run.

Resources

1. https://github.com/qbittorrent/qBittorrent/discussions/17457

From the discussion post:

I was talking on my part, don't know about others. I'm a constant seeder (7+ years) and monitor peers from time to time or when downloading something. During these years I've never seen a single Israeli seed on a rare torrent, or high download traffic from them. I'm being completely honest, the only time I see them is when they are downloading something from me.

Desktop state is neatly organized using freedesktop standards. Since components are so modular, it's trivial to replace or modify any of them using any client program you wish.

This is peak "Year of the Linux Desktop" behavior

COSMIC by System76 and POP!_OS 24.04 just reached its alpha stage. You can try it out by downloading the POP!_OS 24.04 ISO from the posted link.

Previous COSMIC posts here:

• https://hexbear.net/post/3111581
• https://hexbear.net/post/2506169
• https://hexbear.net/post/2499316

Tldr: Bangladesh 🇧🇩 not doing so hot right now. Thoughts as a diaspora imperial core desi who lives a very comfortable life.

I feel really immature right about now. For a good while I just kept denying the color revolution hints to the point where even my very lib Dad was able to point them out. Feel like such a complete jackass, it just feels so fucking different when you're in the moment and it's your country down the line. That doesn't mean I don't have the same solidarity for all global south nations but this one just felt so personal. What's happening in Bangladesh right now seems like nothing compared to the horrific struggle that West Asia has endured, but I guess I'm joining the club.

But yeah, they literally took over my country and there's nothing I, a diaspora bengali, can do about it. Sometimes it feels like I have survivors guilt, that I got out of the country and immigrated to the imperial core (well my parents did) where I could live a far more comfortable life while a lot of my peers even here in the US are living much harder lives.

This is also compounded by the fact that I live in a white picket fence neighborhood where every neighborhood family are Trumpers or respectful Kamala-ists who are just "simple folk" out raising their family. My dad recently hanged up an American flag and a Bangladeshi flag on our lawn and now I'm just sick even thinking about it. I might just tell my dad to take it american flag down if not both (he keeps telling me there's some homeowner association "law" that you have to have the USian flag alongside other flags). The only thing that really cheers me up besides treats is Yahya Sinwar and the axis of resistance taking Israel down screw by screw.

Fuck the USA. I will never forget this moment in my entire fucking life. I just feel very off right now and this was my vent post. Part of me wishes that this wasn't a takeover, but that part of me is slowly going away every passing second.

Abridged Version

Wayland is a set of protocols that govern how a compositor draws stuff on the screen, and how apps interact with the compositor’s drawing-stuff-on-the-screen infrastructure. It’s similar to the HTTP and SMTP protocols that govern how web browsers and email clients send and receive web pages and data.

Why does Wayland exist?

In a nutshell, because X11–the thing it’s replacing–is dead

The fundamental X11 development model was to have a heavyweight window server–called Xorg–which would handle everything, and everyone would use it. Well, in theory there could be others, and at various points in time there were, but in practice writing a new one that isn’t a fork of an old one is nearly impossible. Everyone strongly preferred to standardize on a single X server and migrated in unison from one to another when a better fork became available, because it was convenient. And it was convenient because because it centralized limited development resources, and when a feature was added to the X server, everyone gained access to it automatically.

In essence, Xorg became too large, too complicated, and too fragile to touch without risking breaking the entire Linux ecosystem. It’s stable today because it’s been essentially frozen for years. But that stability has come hand-in-hand with stagnation. As we all know in the tech world, projects that can’t adapt die. Projects that depend on them then die as well.

The fact that Wayland’s minimal core protocol made it unable to fully replace the thing it aimed to replace was a bad architectural design decision on the part of its authors that crippled the prospect of its rapid adoption when it was released in 2008. We didn’t see the same problem with other newer projects like Systemd and PipeWire which were adopted much faster.

A lot of app developers became accustomed to tuning out Wayland news while it was still a toy, and didn’t do the porting work. Well, it’s not a toy anymore, and now many are now feeling blindsided by the sudden urgency to port their apps to use Wayland. That’s understandable. But this time it’s for real, and the time to port is now. For any protocols that still aren’t good enough and need revision, app developers’ input is needed to revise them or even propose new ones. This process takes a long time, so better to start sooner rather than later. But it’s not just gonna go away.

Putting it all together

Wayland is a replacement for X11, which is dead. Despite a rocky development process, it’s ready enough for Plasma and KDE apps that Fedora KDE is pushing it pretty hard. Many 3rd-party apps are already Wayland-native, but many are not, and they need to put in the work to port to Wayland. If anything they need is still missing, they need to step up to be part of the process of adding it. This process is happening, and isn’t going to stop happening. We need to work together to make it happen faster and more smoothly.