totm nov 2023 Thread to discuss negative things in a very general way, just see where it goes y'know?

[Lisias]

4 hours ago, Nuke said:

i think this ultimately comes down to permissions. the default user doesnt even have access to sudo, which i quickly rectified. these devices use serial over usb, which means i need permission to use the ttl devices. this is one area the ui still fails at. something so fundamental to the linux system still cant be handled in the desktop environment. if i cant make headway in the next 3 days im just going to install win10 ltsc.

Problem on Linux is that people trying to make money from it still believes on the "one size fits all" model used by Windows. It doesn't works - Linux would not exist at first place if it did.

Steam Deck is an excellent example on how someone needs to tailor the thing to a finality to make Linux useable for the average end-user. What you really need is someone tailoring Debian to be used by people like you.

Anyway. On a blind guess, I think that your programs need to have the setuid configured to root.

https://www.liquidweb.com/kb/how-do-i-set-up-setuid-setgid-and-sticky-bits-on-linux/#:~:text=This is primarily used to,in Linux is 'sudo'.

It's really a bad idea from the security point of view, but still… It may help on your problem.

Edited September 16, 2023 by Lisias
Hit Save too soon.

[DDE]

On 9/14/2023 at 12:52 AM, Lisias said:

I'm going to side with Squad, it's their pockets being picked.

Assuming this krapness sticks (apparently they are backpaddling on this - hopefully), first we need to know what happens if "bootleg" copies of KSP are detected by Unity. Are Squad liable to pay for pirated copies installed?

If no, so damn Unity - KSP¹ at least is extremely friendly for modding and we have authorisation to tinker with the API as long we don't touch private entities. I paid Squad, and so my legal obligations is to them. They had authorised us to have multiple installations as long we run only one at once, and we have the right to use firewalls. Linux and Mac users have already user configurable firewalls, a simple external Mono executable can be made to download a list of IPs to be blocked from somewhere and automatically configure the machine. Some of us already do it, anyway.

Windows, on the other hand, will be a problem (as usual).

We will have an issue if somehow Squad would be fined by these actions. We, users, may not have signed any contract with Unity, but Squad did - and, as we can see, Game Publishers and Developers are now suffering the same abuses some of them inflicted on us, end users: licensing terms can be turned against them as easily as it can be done with us.

Problem is that this will prompt Squad to remove all previous releases from the Stores and publish a 1.12.6 with DRM as a measure to cut losses, what will shut down modding on KSP¹ for good unless creative (and probably illegal) measures are taken by us.

It's absolutely hilarious that I just took notice of this:

Well, if RockStar can do it, perhaps Squad can do it too? Releasing "cracked" copies of their own products, with all possible telemetry turned off?  

P.S: Yeah, I know Unity Tech said that only new installations counting from 2024 will be taxed - but they didn't said that only new games will be affected, so you can bet your mouse KSP¹ would be affected too.

In a way or another, we have 4 months to "crack"  this nut. (pun really intended)

 

Sorry…

 

— — POST EDIT — — 

Just found this one:

https://www.gamesradar.com/viral-developer-says-their-free-survival-game-and-squid-game-parodies-would-have-cost-them-dollar56-million-under-new-unity-rules/

Suddenly the several vanilla versions of KSP I've kept on a detachable drive look very prudent.

[DDE]

The poor guy must've paid for this cover

Spoiler

 

[Lisias]

33 minutes ago, DDE said:

The poor guy must've paid for this cover

"Tiger, Tiger, Tiger" (tygah,. tygah, tygah)

 

1 hour ago, DDE said:

Suddenly the several vanilla versions of KSP I've kept on a detachable drive look very prudent.

There're alternatives, but it's nothing that one vendor can accomplish alone.

 

[ColdJ]

@Lisias. Sorry for my ignorance, but I am trying to understand your concerns with Unity.

I have a 1.12.5 install, that was bought directly from Squad/Division, running on the Zorin OS (Ubuntu with a friendly interface) using WINE ( a layer that translates windows calls so that a Linux system can understand them). I only ever use the direct executable, never the launcher, to start a session.

Would I be in any way affected by what you are referencing or is it only a worry for people who code and make use of the Unity system?

[Lisias]

1 hour ago, ColdJ said:

.Would I be in any way affected by what you are referencing or is it only a worry for people who code and make use of the Unity system?

You are not going to be directly affected. Squad will.

Suppose you buy a Windows notebook and a Steam Dexk too for Christmas, and you have installed KSP on them too. Now Squad will be taxed by 2 installs if you do it after January 2024.

Now imagine the you decided to upgrade the Deck's SSD and reinstall everything from scratch.  Squad will probably be taxed by another install (probably because theoretically only new installs are taxed, but Unity openly says they don't track individuals, they will infer the count by aggregation).

Now your Linux machine's HDD dies and you replace it with an SDD and reinstall the World. Guess what? A new Install for sure,  because the previous install wasn't counted because it happened before 2024 but this one will count for.sure.

Squad will pay a fee every time an SDD or HDD with KSP installed is replaced.

[Nazalassa]

@Lisias wouldn't Steam's download_depot thing still allow to get old versions?

Spoiler

If no then it may be safe ("may be", "safe", depends) to download all manifests listed there.

[Lisias]

9 minutes ago, Nazalassa said:

@Lisias wouldn't Steam's download_depot thing still allow to get old versions?

Yes, or at least it worked last time I tried. As long the depot is not removed from the system, it's available for downloading by using the Steam Client's console or an 3rd party tool like 

https://github.com/SteamRE/DepotDownloader

 

14 minutes ago, Nazalassa said:

  Hide contents

If no then it may be safe ("may be", "safe", depends) to download all manifests listed there.

I recomend doing it anyway. As well any other Unirt game you had bought there.

Or in GoG. 

[ColdJ]

@Lisias

Ok. From what I read I will not be affected at all, nor will Squad in my case, as I have the installation program, legaly downloaded from Squad/Division, which I keep safely separate in case of disaster. So I can reinstall as many times as I like on my machines because I am not going online to redownload. I am simply repairing if something goes wrong and they have no way of knowing what is going on in my system as I don't use an online subscription service.

[Lisias]

13 hours ago, ColdJ said:

@Lisias

Ok. From what I read I will not be affected at all, nor will Squad in my case, as I have the installation program, legaly downloaded from Squad/Division, which I keep safely separate in case of disaster. So I can reinstall as many times as I like on my machines because I am not going online to redownload. I am simply repairing if something goes wrong and they have no way of knowing what is going on in my system as I don't use an online subscription service.

Nope. Squad will be taxed everytime Unit detects you installed the game again, with or without downloading it.

Unity has telemetry embedded, and remember they merged with IronSource last year, gaining access to a whole set of tools.

Things are that bad.

You will need to keep your game installations completely isolated from the Internet by firewalls,  but I suspect that the merge with IronSource will allow them to cross reference data by other means - like other programs installed using InstallCore being able to search your system for copies of Unity Runtime and reporting. 

Do you know all that tracking mechanisms used to spy on users? They are going to be used against Developers and Publishers too. 

They had a whole year of planning before announcing the stunt - the tools they need should be already deployed by our backs.

I said before and I will say again: these guys are not stupid.

Things are really that bad.

---- POST EDIT ---

@ColdJ, I think you will (NOT) like to read this:

Sorry.

Edited September 17, 2023 by Lisias
Post edit

[Nuke]

10 hours ago, Lisias said:

Problem on Linux is that people trying to make money from it still believes on the "one size fits all" model used by Windows. It doesn't works - Linux would not exist at first place if it did.

Steam Deck is an excellent example on how someone needs to tailor the thing to a finality to make Linux useable for the average end-user. What you really need is someone tailoring Debian to be used by people like you.

Anyway. On a blind guess, I think that your programs need to have the setuid configured to root.

https://www.liquidweb.com/kb/how-do-i-set-up-setuid-setgid-and-sticky-bits-on-linux/#:~:text=This is primarily used to,in Linux is 'sudo'.

It's really a bad idea from the security point of view, but still… It may help on your problem.

im not really asking that much of the system, just to run at most four applications that are natively supported by linux. they are even available to the default package manager without having to add a bunch of extra repos. idk why those packages cant set up my security settings to use the parts of the system they need to function, or at least prompt me with what the extra steps are to make it work, in the event that the package manager cannot. linux is pretty solid once its set up to do the thing you want it to do, but getting there is a damn nightmare. 

i dont really want to poke too many holes in security though, that's one of the things linux is good at. certainly keeping the root password in the clipboard is not the answer (especially considering its persistent after a reboot).   

i also have no problem with open source developers finding creative ways to feed themselves. if that means selling disks or providing a support plan, so be it. reminds me of this.

except the critical piece of infrastructure is written by a homeless man living under a bridge, tapping power from a light pole and stealing internet from a poorly secured convenience store router to push their github commits all while surrounded by people using their code. just one semi truck driver oh his cell phone away pulling a john galt.

Edited September 16, 2023 by Nuke

[Lisias]

10 hours ago, Nuke said:

im not really asking that much of the system, just to run at most four applications that are natively supported by linux. they are even available to the default package manager without having to add a bunch of extra repos. idk why those packages cant set up my security settings to use the parts of the system they need to function, or at least prompt me with what the extra steps are to make it work, in the event that the package manager cannot. linux is pretty solid once its set up to do the thing you want it to do, but getting there is a damn nightmare. 

Yes, you are. 99% of the users don't even know that devices you are willing to install on your rig even exist.

Linux is about a tricky equilibrium between necessity and availability. We have good (nowadays) GPU drives because a lot of people pressed for gaming on Linux, but there's no many people like you pressing to have seamless support for oscilloscopes .

No one has any obligation to write such drivers. So usually your case are tackled down by people that had bought these devices and coded the support themselves, by people that had funded such development or by people that had peskyied the manufacturers to do so - or all the alternatives altogether, there're cases in which users and manufacturers collaborated on writing the support.

There's no free lunch - Linux is Free as in Speech, not as in Beer.

 

10 hours ago, Nuke said:

reminds me of this.

except the critical piece of infrastructure is written by a homeless man living under a bridge, tapping power from a light pole and stealing internet from a poorly secured convenience store router to push their github commits all while surrounded by people using their code. just one semi truck driver oh his cell phone away pulling a john galt.

AH, XKCD.

You know what's more interesting? This problem usually is worst on software licensed on MIT or similarly permissive licenses - because everybody can use them on their proprietary product without caring to give back anything back to the Open Source community that maintain these code.

As Linus Torvalds said once: "I give you some source code, you give me some source code and we are even".  MIT licenses doesn't promotes the "give back" part of the deal, and so most Companies don't care to do it.

Edited September 17, 2023 by Lisias
Kraken damned Autocompletes

[Nuke]

im more a beerwear kind of guy. i have a hobby and want to share that with others, i dont want to become a lawyer to do that.  but its different when writing code is your livelihood. 

also the ossiliscope software is built in to the package manager, it supports my model scope. the thing is probibly just serial over usb (i know the 3d printer is) and as such linux sees it as a ttl like any arduino. this should be part of the default usb driver stack. its part of the spec (under the cdc-data device class). the software speaks the command set and interprets the data, but the interface is as generic as it gets. 

i made some headway on the 3d printer. i got it to print. however the software has a bug in it that causes it to spawn  endless window popups during the process. and since its linux i dont know what the shortcut key is to kill the process and i cant get to a terminal. pulling the power cable works as usual, linux is good at surviving that. and yes it was a permission issue, i didnt have access to the tty group, the internet said i should use the dialout group. consistency is not linux's strong suit.  90% of the problems i have with linux are permission issues.

Edited September 17, 2023 by Nuke

[DDE]

Back to my high horse, phone scammers.

Apparently, there's a really huge cybercrime industry in Myanmar and Cambodia, naturally mostly targeting China. Its peculiar aspect is that people are forced into criminal activity.

We're talking up to a quarter million slaves.

 

As well as at least one Chinese and one Korean feature film covering the phenomenon.

[Nuke]

i got pulseview to function at least. unresoved dependency. silly linux. this was kind of an extra. i was pretty sure there were metal filings in the computer due to me using my room as a makeshift machine shop. so i broke it down cleaned it thoroughly and rebuilt it, with some (more!) mods. i devided i wanted to mount the fan in the bezel rather than in the case, this required some modifications. i also cut out the fan grill which i found kind of redundant, so once the case was stripped i dremeled it out and cleaned it up with a file. i really wish case manufacturers would stop putting those in there, especially if there is another grill that goes on top of it. and since i had space in the bezel i added a couple extra usb2 ports and moved the power button. their choice of an illuminated badge button was kind of questionable, because it blocked placement of a large fan. nibbled at the whole assembly with some flush cutters, sanded it clean, and removed the coolermaster badge. i figure il just print a new badge that doesnt recess an inch and a quarter into the bezel. i moved the button to the top, put in a nice chrome panel mount button right next to the new usb ports. i just took the power light out. there are so many lights in the case, mostly just on the mobo and video card, that it kind of looks like a borg ship.

Edited September 18, 2023 by Nuke

[SunlitZelkova]

12 hours ago, DDE said:

Back to my high horse, phone scammers.

Apparently, there's a really huge cybercrime industry in Myanmar and Cambodia, naturally mostly targeting China. Its peculiar aspect is that people are forced into criminal activity.

We're talking up to a quarter million slaves.

 

As well as at least one Chinese and one Korean feature film covering the phenomenon.

There are at least some similar activities in Thailand too. I recall an NHK report last year on a scam calling center that got busted, and a lot of the people were Chinese immigrants who were forced to work there.

They were targeting Japan.

Edited September 18, 2023 by SunlitZelkova

[AlamoVampire]

Why do some fastfood workers cut you off before you fully complete your order? Im at taco bell right now as i type. I just want 3 crunchy tacos with no lettuce and sour cream added. I get as far as: “3 crunchy tacos” before she tries to complete the order. I instantly am put off by this. I need to take a bloody breath to finish what im TRYING to say… i said in response to her question of anything else by saying no BUT on the tacos no lettuce add sour cream.

i asked the guy that i just paid about it and his excuse? They (store) having a bad night and times were terrible. I told him i understood but things like that cause mistakes. I offered a piece of advice from the marine corps scout sniper school: fast is slow. Slow is quick. Quick is good. Then i said i understood places can get slammed but dont pass that chaos onto customers. Its not a good look.

225309202023

[razark]

Just wondering, have you ever worked fast food? 

 

To quote a previous thread:

Quote

You stand in a spot, listen to people say the same things over and over for hours, and automatic mode kicks in and you start punching the buttons while putting as little thought into it as possible.  Not to mention there may be other things going on, especially when it's busy.  When I worked the window, I also had to make sure the cooks were cooking what we needed, side items were prepped, keep an eye on the front counter, make sure the lobby was kept up, handle customer complaints, talk to one customer at the window and one on the speaker, count change,  keep 4 or more different orders straight so I could verify my packer was doing it correctly, and make sure the order I was handing out the window was the right one.  While filling drinks, too.

Pay as little as the law allows, and what level of giving a damn about the job do you really expect?

  

1 hour ago, AlamoVampire said:

i asked the guy that i just paid...

You didn't pay him.  You just paid the company, which does as much as it can to pay him as little as it can.  He doesn't care.  He just wants a complaining customer to shut up and go away.  He'll tell you whatever he can to get you to leave and let him get on with his night.  He's not going to get a bonus for helping.  He's not going to get anything except yelled at by management if he doesn't do the bare minimum to keep you from calling in and complaining later.

  

1 hour ago, AlamoVampire said:

I offered a piece of advice...

And it went right in one ear and out the other, because you're just one more customer in a long line of people that pass by.

 

1 hour ago, AlamoVampire said:

Its not a good look.

And exactly why does that matter to the lowest guy on the ladder?  He shows up, does the bare minimum, gets paid the bare minimum, and that's it.

 

Just out of curiosity, how much do you usually tip the guy at the window, and how much less did you give this time for the poor service?

Edited September 21, 2023 by razark

[Nuke]

im still not sure why anyone would want to eat at taco bell. id rather eat at one of those no name hole in the wall places where nobody speaks english. the food is better and they are less likely to screw up your order, at least if you learn a little spanish. there was this one little taco stand in phoenix that would serve you a ginormous encherito with everything on it. it was hard to finish in one sitting.

Edited September 21, 2023 by Nuke

[SunlitZelkova]

3 hours ago, Nuke said:

im still not sure why anyone would want to eat at taco bell. id rather eat at one of those no name hole in the wall places where nobody speaks english. the food is better and they are less likely to screw up your order, at least if you learn a little spanish. there was this one little taco stand in phoenix that would serve you a ginormous encherito with everything on it. it was hard to finish in one sitting.

My mom calls it Taco Hell.

[TheSaint]

4 hours ago, SunlitZelkova said:

My mom calls it Taco Hell.

Our full name for it is: "Taco Hell: The place bad tacos go when they die."

[DDE]

On 9/21/2023 at 6:53 AM, AlamoVampire said:

the marine corps scout sniper school

I feel it's a misplaced ad ice because the pressure points for this job are entirely different.

[AlamoVampire]

@DDE from my experience as i trained as a chef its actually fairly solid. Heres why: a kitchen can be a fairly chaotic environment. If you start rushing to try to get ahead or catch up you will start making mistakes, those mistakes will result either in immediate remakes if caught fast enough or more likely (especially in fast food where the level of training is minimal) it gets sent back by the customer. Either way you have loss of product which can mess with bottom line (yes some loss is expected and accounted for, but, excess is excess) in longer runs. Short terms you will get more backed up which starts tipping into a self feeding cycle. If however you slow down and stop rushing you can focus more clearly. If you can do that you can clear the back log easier and with fewer mistakes/losses. Netting less loss and better efficiency. Its wildly counter intuitive for sure, but its what my chef instructors drilled into us. Its why if you watch most chefs, at least the good and beyond ones doing their thing its almost as if they have ice in their veins and look preternaturally calm in the chaos. Yeah they get snappy at the sous chef or prep chef or line cooks but they are orchestrating and controlling major chaos and reigning in that chaos into focus. Hope that makes sense. And yeah i know im hoping for too much outta fast food folk but it is what it is i guess.

023909222023

[Gargamel]

I used the same basically philosophy as a medic.     Take your time and do it right.    Don’t compound mistakes, and everything gets done quicker.    
I don’t know how much it can apply to fast food workers , as it’s a management thing.   The managers are the ones who should be coaching the slow is fast mentality.    Without proper management, those kids don’t stand a chance.  

[Nuke]

12 hours ago, AlamoVampire said:

@DDE from my experience as i trained as a chef its actually fairly solid. Heres why: a kitchen can be a fairly chaotic environment. If you start rushing to try to get ahead or catch up you will start making mistakes, those mistakes will result either in immediate remakes if caught fast enough or more likely (especially in fast food where the level of training is minimal) it gets sent back by the customer. Either way you have loss of product which can mess with bottom line (yes some loss is expected and accounted for, but, excess is excess) in longer runs. Short terms you will get more backed up which starts tipping into a self feeding cycle. If however you slow down and stop rushing you can focus more clearly. If you can do that you can clear the back log easier and with fewer mistakes/losses. Netting less loss and better efficiency. Its wildly counter intuitive for sure, but its what my chef instructors drilled into us. Its why if you watch most chefs, at least the good and beyond ones doing their thing its almost as if they have ice in their veins and look preternaturally calm in the chaos. Yeah they get snappy at the sous chef or prep chef or line cooks but they are orchestrating and controlling major chaos and reigning in that chaos into focus. Hope that makes sense. And yeah i know im hoping for too much outta fast food folk but it is what it is i guess.

023909222023

i have to agree here. my mom likes to turn the burners all the way up, because she is possibly the most impatient person i know. electric burners do not change temperature quickly. so turning it down when it starts to burn is already too late to save the contents. this has ruined meals and irreparably scorched some good cookware to the point where it needed to be replaced. low and slow. the only time those burners should be cranked, other than boiling water, is when you need to carnalize something, which has to reach a sufficiently high temperature. low and slow those onions and you get mush. and when you do use such high temperatures, you need to control it by lifting the pan off the burner periodically. so when mom uses the giant fire hazard burner for the little sauce pan, glowing bright as the sun, i cringe a little inside. she is going to need to get burned before she stops doing it, you cant tell her anything. this is why ive been cooking since i was 13 or so.

Edited September 22, 2023 by Nuke