A BBC investigation reveals that Microsoft is permanently banning Palestinians in the U.S. and other countries who use Skype to call relatives in Gaza.

Reportedly, Microsoft has been banning and wiping the accounts of users who have leveraged Skype to contact relatives in Gaza. In some cases, email accounts over a decade old have been locked, destroying access to banking accounts, OneDrive storage, and beyond.

United States resident Salah Elsadi lost his account of over 15 years in the dragnet. “I’ve had this Hotmail for 15 years. They banned me for no reason, saying I have violated their terms — what terms? Tell me. I’ve filled out about 50 forms and called them many many times.” Eiad Hametto from Saudi Arabia echoed the report, “We are civilians with no political background who just wanted to check on our families. They’ve suspended my email account that I’ve had for nearly 20 years. It was connected to all my work. They killed my life online.”

Many of the users affected by the bans expressed that Microsoft may be falsely labelling them as Hamas

  • vga@sopuli.xyz
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    2 months ago

    What confirmation do we have that Microsoft did not have a good reason to ban this person? There seems to be just this single report going around the net.

    • Linkerbaan@lemmy.worldOP
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      2 months ago

      What confirmation do we have the person did deserve the ban? Microsoft refusing to respond does not absolve them from guilt.

      Also this happened to multiple people that called their family in Gaza, it’s not one instance.

  • YTG123@sopuli.xyz
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    2 months ago

    Surely the US government won’t like that if they’re US citizens, right?

    • bamboo@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      They’re brown citizens though, so the US won’t do anything to help.

  • smb@lemmy.ml
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    2 months ago

    one does not become dependent on tech giants without a critical loss at some day, no matter whats the “reason” for it and they tend to do weird stuff within or without laws…

    For others or for a new start and how to avoid such in the future (maybe “migrate” your relatives to secure services “before” you get ripped off):

    • get your own domain like somestupidtext.info make sure the toplevel (.info .com .net or whatever) has laws that let you effecticely reclaim your domain if one of the providers block something or fail to do their job. also make sure you do not fall into only-first-year-very-cheap traps for domain prices. maybe check that the toplevel domain is not one regulary found to be used by spammers and thus maybe blocked by some providers.
    • use one company only for DNS related things, maybe name.com, but there are plenty others and lots of generic hosting providers also provide dns-only hosting.
    • get some provider to host email for your domain or run your own emailserver and set mx records to that mailserver.
    • configure and change valueable services to your email addresses under your domain
    • make sure you have a local(!) copy of all your emails that automatically updates itself, if you can, at least daily, offlineimap checked in into a git repo could do a good job
    • if one provider sucks, change it and leave the rest as is.
    • the setup alone already shows the provider, that only gov (of that toplevel domain) can effectively block you, as when the email provider tries to block you, you find a new one and change MX records (and obviously cancel and stop paying the blocking one), if the DNS provider tries to block you, you get a new provider and transfer the domain to it, if that fails a lawyer could help) also the small providers have usually no way to know what you do on another account at another company, only if you put your whole life into the hands of the few known big evil ones, you are that vulnerable to the chaos they produce.

    also setting up recovery addresses (if possible) is a good idea, like when one email is unusable for whatever reason, the provider already has a known email address from you to start a recovery process, of course that second email address MUST be out of reach of the provider of the first one, that is, if you have somemailprovider.com address and one at microshits, then microshit buys somemailprovider.com, you have to change everything from that somemailprovider.com to a new one just to stay secure. due to this, your own domain with a connected email service of a random hosting provider comes in handy as you would not have to change all the email adresses but only that random email provider. also if skype/zoom etc does not work for you, there are plenty of other ways to do video talks on the internet. i prefer to be independent for same reasons even though i haven’t been blocked yet, i just saw the signs of possible approaching evil because of the shitflow big evil tech produces all the time just to flush their believers view of what would be possible down the drain and choosed independence ahead of losses. following signs like leaving companies with red flags (like just too big, like already robbed their users, like give a shit on their users security, like give a shit on their bugs and blame users while their own big-tech-company-network is pwned by someone unknown for month and such) a more privacy aligned messenger that supports videocalls would be for example matrix, there are multiple clients to choose from and lots of providers to choose from (also self hosting or becoming a provider is possible while for talking to each other it is NOT necessary to use the same provider, but again self-hosting of course is most-secure) one cannot do things securely without knowing a bit about what it is. to learn more about dns, email, matrix or other topics the internet is full of informations, sometimes wikipedia is very helpful and linux user groups exist for talking about stuff and helping each other. the type of support is different and -as i see it - much more efficient, but different, there is no one to do it for you (or you get into the very same dependency trap again) but you are encouraged to learn what it takes to do so and do it yourself.

    example prices from a random dns provider: .de 10€ / year .eu 16€ / year

    random mail provider imap email 100GB storage 3 € /month

    that is having more control over your email than when using big tech, may cost you more or less 4€ per month (and maybe the learning time to set everything up). for matrix server one might use managed services, looking around i found etke.cc with 5€ as a base minimum when you provide your own VPS for it, but with many other options too. maybe the free hosting announced by element.io where i did not look into yet is an option too. i prefer my own domains and servers, but just using separate hosting companies for dns, email and matrix gives a whole lot more control while still beeing a simple and adjustable setup. while matrix does not lock you in into one instance from the beginning (i can chat/call from/to my own account/server to any other account on other servers while beeing able to try this out using a multi-account-client that connects to all acvounts/servers at the same time) they now have bridges so one can use the same client to chat with others on telegram or whatsapp (and others) too, so this is rather the opposite of vendor lock-in. while a matrix hoster could still block your account in error and if you did not use your own domain for your matrix account at the hoster, you could connect to your friends again from another account at another hoster as you would still have their matrix adresses stored in your client. however to securely use matrix one should read about its security mechanisms and what backup keys are and why one should validate new connections.

    if you had the loss, at least take advantage of the message/lesson: big tech is too powerful and thus insecure. maybe do three steps in parallel: choose and migrate to smaller providers, more providers each for different things, if one f**ks up, everything else stays in place, thus less stressful on problems. second step in parallel: get yourself into DIY your digital life. every little step into independence is a step more powerful while removing the very same power from big tech to attack the stability of your digital life. third step in parallel: share your problem including the possible solutions, which you choosed and how it went to those you think might take advantage of that information ;-)

    • recapitated@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      I love these ideas but self hosting is simply not a solution for average citizens who aren’t skilled at such things. To them it would be like paving their own highway with bridges and also maintaining and policing them. It might be easy for you and me, but that’s because we have training and experience and we chose this way. It’s not a justifiable opportunity cost for most people.

      I think a different kind of org than the googles metas and Microsofts of the world is in need, like a compute & communications co-op that can actually compete on that level of capability offerings, accessibility, performance and security.

      • smb@lemmy.ml
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        2 months ago

        i think it should not be too difficult to compete with m$ security, that is at least true for the state of the last 30 years or maybe more.

        But something like a non-profit organisation - or a bunch of them- that make self-hosting for essential services (like email, messenger, video calls) a charm could be a big win for billions of peoples.

    • Tja@programming.dev
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      2 months ago

      Microsoft is a private company and they can ask you to leave, no reason given, anytime.

      And they have a history of over 30 years of being evil, manipulative and anticonsumer. If you base your online life on the good will of Microsoft you will be very disappointed sooner or later.

      • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Uh so where do we go for email that’s not a private company and not something that requires tech knowledge to setup your own email server?

        • Tja@programming.dev
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          2 months ago

          Where do i buy a car that’s not a private company? Where do I get internet service?

          You can’t. Choose a reputable one. And pay for it, so you are a customer, not the product. Aaaaand I lost 95% of lemmy.

      • KillerWhale@orcas.enjoying.yachts
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        2 months ago

        Why do people sprout this bullshit. You can’t discriminate against a protected class that includes race, gender, age, disability, national origin, religion,

        • Tja@programming.dev
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          2 months ago

          They aren’t. The are discriminating “for no reason at all”. Feel free to sue them. Godspeed.

          • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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            2 months ago

            Unfortunately, I don’t have standing as I’m not a Microsoft customer or Palestinian, nor do I have relatives or any contacts for that matter in Gaza.

              • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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                2 months ago

                Surely if I have relatives that are a protected class, I’d also likely be a protected class as well, no? Especially if I was kicked from their platform specifically because of the protected class…

                But that’s irrelevant because I’m nowhere close to having standing to sue. The closest thing is that my SO is an naturalized citizen from another country, but that country is only marginally closer to Gaza than where I am.

        • rottingleaf@lemmy.zip
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          2 months ago

          What’s the funniest (and saddest) is when people who are supposedly against private discrimination repeat this when it fits them.

    • smb@lemmy.ml
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      2 months ago

      i am sure that only affects the data YOU can ever access, but never the data already stored for later abuse ;-)

    • z00s@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Why wait? Install it now. I would recommend Mint as a beginner distro.

      • djsaskdja@reddthat.com
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        2 months ago

        Why do people keep recommending Mint as a starter distro? Maybe if your computer is a toaster, but it lacks tons of modern features. Seems like a one way track to people thinking Linux sucks. Fedora KDE edition is a way better beginner distro for a halfway decent PC.

        • Krzd@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Because the UI is similar to windows, so it will feel more familiar to (ex-)windows users

          • Todd Bonzalez@lemm.ee
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            2 months ago

            The UI is similar to Windows.

            Which UI? Linux Mint comes in three flavors: Cinnamon, XFCE, and MATE.

            Nobody has suggested a specific flavor, and those desktop environments vary quite a bit.

            • Krzd@lemmy.world
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              2 months ago

              True, I meant cinnamon, which (IIRC) was the default/suggested to you when you went to the website.

              • Todd Bonzalez@lemm.ee
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                2 months ago

                It isn’t default or suggested. It says that it is the “most popular”, but my point is that if you’re making a beginner choose a desktop environment before they even install Linux, you’re setting them up to be overwhelmed.

                • oo1@lemmings.world
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                  2 months ago

                  who are these adult humans who can’t face choices? I don’t really understand how or why they even chose their PC in the first place.

                  It sounds like such people will be a lot better off with android or mac, or windows or chromebook. If they want to do games get a console.

                  It’s sort of like if a person has no enthusiasm for or interest in cars, they might be better off with a rental.

                  if you really want to make another version of something like chromeos for this audience, there is nothing stopping you. But the free/foss open source world is always going to have choices that bamboozle these people who can’t look at the mint website and pick one, or just resolve to test all three.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          I use Mint and I like it. It does everything I need it to do.

          What keeps people away from Linux, or at least it helped keep me away, were people arguing with each other about distros like a mini-OS war within the OS wars and it makes the whole thing sound like it’s a lot more trouble than it’s worth.

          Most people’s computers are “toasters” because most people’s computers are used for things like web browsing, word processing and maybe a few games. They don’t need the modern features, they need something that works better than a Chromebook and isn’t super bloated.

          • Todd Bonzalez@lemm.ee
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            2 months ago

            Do you know what also keeps people away from Linux? Being told that Linux Mint is a good distro for beginners, and then going to the Linux Mint website and finding that there are three different flavors, Cinnamon, XFCE, and MATE, and not knowing what any of that means because you’re a beginner. Beginners don’t benefit from incomplete information that requires prior knowledge, and every time I see “use Linux Mint” without any clarification on Desktop Environments, I see a jerk who doesn’t know what “beginner” means.

                • Excrubulent@slrpnk.net
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                  2 months ago

                  I remember when I was first learning linux, I found this super evangelistic website explaining how totally easy it is to use linux nowadays (this was about 15 years ago, so that was a fucking lie).

                  They gave some basic task as the first example of something you might need to do, and they said, no shit, “It’s easy! Just open up the terminal and type…” and I closed the website.

                  Not because I couldn’t do that instruction, I was working in IT and I already maintained multiple linux servers, but because of how utterly unhinged that instruction was. I didn’t know if their information would be useful, but I did know that I couldn’t trust their judgement anymore. You cannot tell people an OS is “easy” and “for everyone” then transition straight into “open up the terminal” in the same goddamn breath. They didn’t even explain how to open up the terminal, because of course it’s different everywhere and they wanted universal instructions.

                  I really, really want to make linux work for me. I have four linux machines in my home, although three of them are raspberry pis, and i have tried it in laptops and on my main machine many times over the years, always finding it more trouble than it’s worth. But I have never seen any indication that the community has ever moved on from, “It’s easy! Just open up the terminal…”

                  Statements dreamed up by the utterly deranged.

        • uis@lemm.ee
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          2 months ago

          Or OpenSUSE Thumbleweed. Or OpenSUSE Slowroll.

            • uis@lemm.ee
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              2 months ago

              I did not use mint, so it is hard to compare for me. But people say that it is easier to use than mint.

              To be honest I used Tumbleweed long time ago(around 6 years), I’m using Gentoo for last 6 years.

        • ripcord@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          It’s not personal. I’ve just seen hundreds of people claim “that’s it, I’m installing Linux on my system tonight/this weekend!” In response to one of these articles. Very rarely do people seem to actually follow through.

          If you do, great! Although already putting it off until your next system isn’t a good sign.

          • Leate_Wonceslace@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            2 months ago

            I’ve been vassilating on it for a couple years, actually. I was going to do it when I built a PC (I just had a laptop for college) but then my parents bought one for me while I was in the middle of figuring out what parts to get with my sister’s help. It’s probably my fault for telling them about it around my b.day, tbf. 😂 I used a partitioned system that she helped set up for me 10 years ago or something like that, but I wanted to make one that was just a Linux PC, and for the past few years the idea of installing Linux on my current computer just never occurred to me because my plan became obsolete. The brain is a funny thing.

    • zippythezigzag@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      I just switched one of my PCs to Linux mint. I am not that smart with computers. I have never used Linux before. I have no experience in changing operating systems. All I did was buy a flash drive stick and used my phone to go to Mints website and follow their directions. That was a month ago. It was a great decision. Mint is amazing and im glad I did it. I am currently getting ready to switch both my wife and my gaming computers over to Mint as well.

      • Leate_Wonceslace@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        2 months ago

        The last time I used a Linux PC was around 2012 with something called “Egyptian Hax” that my sister set up because she wanted me to play NetHack, so a guide would be a great start. I’m aware that WINE has gone through some vast improvements, but beyond that I don’t really know where to start, what distro would be good for me, or anything else.

        Edit: not getting mocked for admitting my ignorance would be a huge encouragement as well, tbh. It’s hard not to be resentful when a community is hostile to new members. Calling someone a slur for not already being a part of the in group is a great way to keep people from joining. 👍

        • MehBlah@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Don’t listen to people who mock you for asking a question. They are never the people whose advice is worth listening too. Start small. Get 8gb or bigger thumb drive. You can even use an external SSD. USB C would be the best. Follow the guide below or find a guide of your own. Start with Ubuntu. It isn’t perfect but it is the most popular distro out there. Be aware this installation is going to be laggy due to it being on a slower thumb drive. This will allow you to see that it just works. Games might be slower loading due to the thumb drive. I use steam daily and only have seen a few games I couldn’t play. Everyone was due to the ham-fisted drm the games had implemented.

          https://itsfoss.com/ubuntu-persistent-live-usb/

          Alternatively you can install a second hard drive in a PC and use both safely without fear of problems. I’ve been running linux as my daily driver for over ten years. I still have a windows installation that I can boot into if needed. Usually for firmware updates that only can be performed in windows. Currently I haven’t needed it in over a year.

            • MehBlah@lemmy.world
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              2 months ago

              I will probably get a lot of hate from this but Ubuntu is simply more mature than mint. I’ve used mint and it works. The main gripe with Ubuntu is its use of snaps for many applications. They are not ideal but they do work. The main problems you may run into with snaps is the same problems you will run into with flatpak, appimage or docker.

              Its a little more complicated to get persistence but my current main boot flash drive I carry with me daily is a 128gb thumb drive running ventoy. Ventoy is great because all you need to add a iso to the thumb drive is simply copy the iso over to it. Getting persistence is a little more complicated but the ventoy installer has a web gui that makes it easier. The ventoy installer is available for windows and linux. https://www.ventoy.net/en/download.html

              On my bootable flash drive I have Debian, Ubuntu, Mint , kali, tails and even a arch installation with persistence. I also have several other utility iso’s including hirens_PE. I have installers for windows as well. I mainly use the linux installations for rescue and diagnostics on windows PC’s. I have however ran machines with no hard drive at all for weeks at a time without any problems at all.

              So using rufus to make a bootable thumb drive is okay for a single OS with persistence but you can use ventoy and test several distros to find what you prefer.

              • Leate_Wonceslace@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                2 months ago

                When it comes to computers I’m an average nerd.

                The main problems you may run into with snaps is the same problems you will run into with flatpak, appimage or docker.

                This means nothing to me other than “there are some things that are more complicated with Ubuntu compared to Mint”.

        • z00s@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Don’t let the gatekeepers put you off. The Linux community is quite helpful if you can get past their garbage. Every guru was once a noob 👍

        • emergencyfood@sh.itjust.works
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          2 months ago

          Write down a list of the software you use (e.g. web browser, office suite, notepad, image viewer, video player, … ). Download Linux Mint from here and use Balena Etcher to write it into a pen drive. Switch off your computer, plug in the pen drive and switch on. DON’T INSTALL YET. Run Linux ‘live’ for a couple of hours, see if everything (speaker, printer, webcam, all the software you listed above) is working correctly.

          Once you have confirmed that all is well, copy your files into an external hard drive, confirm that everything important has been backed up, and then install Linux from the pen drive. (You can have both Windows and Linux on the same computer, but then Windows should not be given internet access or it will ‘update’ and mess up everything. This can be repaired using, for example, this software, but why bother?)

          • Leate_Wonceslace@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            2 months ago

            Saved. I’ll look at this Sunday if I have time (I’m making that PCM developed by NightHawkInLight to use for a few planned events).

            Ty very much!

        • drcobaltjedi@programming.dev
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          I’m also going to recommend Linux Mint, its a really friendly beginner distro. I’ll presonally recommend you do Linux Mint Debian instead of normal linux mint since regular linux mint is Ubuntu based and really loves snaps.

          The default user env is cinnimon which is going to look a lot like Windows 10 making the transition easier. If you want to install steam its literally a command line away from installing and then its ready to go. That and Steam personally pushing for Linux as a viable gaming platform there are a lot more games now that work out of the box now on steam.

          • Leate_Wonceslace@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            2 months ago

            I’m saving this to note down that the flavor I’m most likely to want is “Cinnamon”. I didn’t really understand the rest, but thank you!

            • drcobaltjedi@programming.dev
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              2 months ago

              Would you like an eli5 for some stuff you’ll see in the linux community/forums/etc?

              I’d personally be happy to give you a quick rundown of some stuff.

        • smiletolerantly@awful.systems
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          Start with Linux Mint. It should be a very pleasant and straightforward experience right out of the box, and is just in general very beginner friendly. I recommend to create a live USB (basically, download the ISO from the Mint website, then use something like Balena Etcher to put it on a USB stick). You can then boot off that stick, and try Mint out to your heart’s content, without risking your Windows install or data at all.

          Can I ask, what are the programs you wager you’ll have to emulate through wine?

          • Leate_Wonceslace@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            2 months ago

            I’m saving this so I can look at it again this weekend.

            I’m not one for making bets unless I know something that I suspect someone else doesn’t, but I wouldn’t be surprised if most of the games I have on steam need wine to run on Linux. My understanding is that wine is a compatibility layer, hence the name, correct?

            • smiletolerantly@awful.systems
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              2 months ago

              Ah, good news in regards to gaming, esp. Steam gaming!

              Steam invested quite a bit of energy into “Proton”, essentially a new kind of compatibility layer. If you remember tinkering around with wine and winetricks from years ago, that’s basically gone nowadays.

              For most games, just go into the Steam settings for that game, and under “Compatibility”, check the box.

              Then click download, and play. That’s it for most games 🎉

              Also check out protondb.com - it’s basically a community-sourced database cataloging how well Steam games work on Linux.

              Good luck on your Linux journey, and feel free to ask questions if something comes up! :)

              • 5too@lemmy.world
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                2 months ago

                And if you’ve been letting Steam store your save data, you should find that your save files for most games will still be available in Linux! Mileage will vary per game of course, but jumping between OSes has been pretty seamless for me!

                • ditty@lemm.ee
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                  I got a steam deck last fall and so far the only game I’ve run into that doesn’t work with my windows cloud save is Dark Souls 2

      • Jrockwar@feddit.uk
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        2 months ago

        If only I could install it on the Surface Pro X…

        Damn, they worked so hard to gain goodwill in the last few years and it seems they’ve set out to destroy it in record time.

        WSL and WSL2, Android Apps, working with Qualcomm to get their ARM computers to a credible state, the new Powershell and the push to open source so many things…

        And in the past 12-18 months they’ve been crashing and burning, either backtracking on those things or by starting new initiatives to become scummier and scummier. TPM, Copilot, the ad situation, abusing their position of power with office/teams, the giant safety holes in the Recall feature… But it seems every day there’s something new in the news. It’s never ending.

          • Jrockwar@feddit.uk
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            2 months ago

            That’s a nice project, but the last update was from 2 years ago and it needs way too much work to be close to usable. Windows 11 might be getting ads but at least audio works…

            To be Done:

            Support for Audio Subsystem #21
            Support for LTE/Modem #22
            Support for Webcams #23
            Support for External Display Ports #27
            Support for Suspend #29
            Support for TrEE Services #37
            Support for Sensors #38
            Support for GNSS/GPS #39
            UEFI ResetSystem() crashes #41
            

            Various other issues can be expected, see the issue tracker for details.

            • Gingernate@programming.dev
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              2 months ago

              Yeah I kinda figured that, just did a quick Google search and found that.

              I’ve got a dell xps15, awesome Linux experience no issues with any hardware. Also think pads are great as well.

              • Jrockwar@feddit.uk
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                2 months ago

                The problem I have is that this covers a very niche use case for me. I want it to be a tablet - lightweight etc, but not be constrained by mobile apps. I don’t want iOS’ version of lightroom, I want to have Darktable and Rawtherapee and a full fledged Visual Studio code, and well, you get the picture.

                I don’t need a laptop because I also have a MacBook Pro - I went this way because Apple’s processors are too far ahead to ignore. So I can take AMD but my opinion is that intel’s offerings are just not competitive and I’m not buying any of them.

                This leaves me with very few options - I’d be keen on buying an AMD-powered Ubuntu tablet but they don’t seem to exist.

                And also my surface works perfectly fine, so spending a non-trivial amount of money and ewaste just to change OS seems rather silly. I’m sticking to that one for now.

        • Todd Bonzalez@lemm.ee
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          2 months ago

          they worked so hard to gain goodwill in the last few years

          I have no recollection of this.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          If only I could install it on the Surface Pro X…

          I’m not surprised that you can’t, but I’m still disappointed.

      • I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Installed? Sure, you can do that by lunchtime.

        Getting it set up? Making sure all your drivers are working right? Troubleshooting issues? Finding alternatives to programs you need that don’t work on Linux? Especially for someone who has never used Linux before? That will take much longer.

  • Kyrgizion@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Remember: today it’s “just” the Palestinians and you may not be affected or care. But tomorrow, it could be you.

    • smiletolerantly@awful.systems
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      2 months ago

      I have always been pro-privacy, but in a kind of lukewarm, “I wish someone would do something about this” way.

      What has finally pushed me to ditch services from large corporations over the past couple of years is not really a concern for privacy, its a drive for self-sufficiency.

      As basically the last stepping stone, as of a couple of weeks ago, my email, calendar and contacts are self-hosted, and it’s just… So freeing.

    • BassTurd@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Yep. If you ever shared a political opinion, that could put you on someone’s naughty list. If that someone gets a position of power and decides they want to attack, well, you could be the next metaphorical Palestinian.

      • Deebster@programming.dev
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        2 months ago

        Voting on Lemmy isn’t private (and is probably for sale on closed platforms) so just upvoting an opinion might be enough to get you on some lists.

        • brbposting@sh.itjust.works
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          2 months ago

          Downvoted your comment just to be safe

          Man, messed up innit. & how could it be made private without enabling a whole different set of bad actors (astroturfers, marketers, political axe grinders)

    • /home/pineapplelover@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
      
      Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.
      
      Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
      
      Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
      
      —Martin Niemöller
      
    • CeeBee_Eh@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      What the fuck, MIcrosoft.

      Ok, honest question. Are you surprised?

      If it was any other company I would be. But it’s Microsoft.

      • A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Yes.

        I’m no microsoft fanboy, but I am shocked that they would do this. Everyone should be shocked. To be anything but shocked is to be complacent.

        This is the kind of shit google does on the regular, Never heard of Microsoft doing anything like this before.

        And as I’ve said in response to instances of google doing this, I’ll say it again here. This continues to highlight the dangers of having all your eggs in one companies basket, by choosing comfort and convenience you’ve given your entire digital life over to a company that has no compunctions against metaphorically guillotining it for any reason they want.

    • archchan@lemmy.ml
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      2 months ago

      No, it’s standard corp level behavior that’s beholden to government censorship and propaganda when it doesn’t fit the narrative. You can substitute any big tech company in the US for Google. They all do this. It’s why the government is not a fan of TikTok, they don’t have that same level of control over the flow of information.

      • DeVaolleysAdVocate@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        that and it is quite literally spyware that sends all the consumer data to the CCP where they can adjust their own algorithms to show things that can sway the minds of people too young to think critically

        • pop@lemmy.ml
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          2 months ago

          they can adjust their own algorithms to show things that can sway the minds of people too young to think critically

          Ironic. You’re literally commenting on companies adjusting their algorithm to create a narrative and censor something your government doesn’t like.

          Think critically next time. You’re not smart as you think you are.

        • ඞmir@lemmy.ml
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          2 months ago

          it is quite literally spyware

          So are Facebook and Instagram, which are apparently not a problem. Remember Cambridge Analytica?

          where they can adjust their own algorithms to show things that can sway the minds of people too young to think critically

          Every social media platform does this for maximum retention

          to the CCP

          What’s the CCP gonna do with it that’s worse than what Western companies do with it?

        • SSJMarx@lemm.ee
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          2 months ago

          the cpc adjusts the American version of an app operated in Singapore to propagandize Zoomers

          This only happens in the minds of the paranoid. China has their own version of TikTok, Douyin, which operates under their media restrictions.

        • generichate1546@lemmynsfw.com
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          2 months ago

          The hell do you think the data from American companies goes‽ Snowden literally told us the US govt is doing the same thing…not saying they should, just asking where is the outrage that we’re being spied on by our own government… It’s plenty there when we’re being spied on by China… And quite frankly I feel like China can do a lot less to me than home can.