'Blatant Attempt to Bust Our Unions': Trump Admin Moves to Gut Labor Protections at VA | Common Dreams
cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/34329656
Julia Conley
Aug 07, 2025
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins notified the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and several other unions that he was implementing an executive order signed by President Donald Trump, which required the termination of collective bargaining agreements for agencies whose missions are related to national security.
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'Blatant Attempt to Bust Our Unions': Trump Admin Moves to Gut Labor Protections at VA | Common Dreams
cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/34329656
Julia Conley
Aug 07, 2025
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins notified the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and several other unions that he was implementing an executive order signed by President Donald Trump, which required the termination of collective bargaining agreements for agencies whose missions are related to national security.
'Blatant Attempt to Bust Our Unions': Trump Admin Moves to Gut Labor Protections at VA | Common Dreams
cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/34329656
Julia Conley
Aug 07, 2025
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins notified the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and several other unions that he was implementing an executive order signed by President Donald Trump, which required the termination of collective bargaining agreements for agencies whose missions are related to national security.
'Blatant Attempt to Bust Our Unions': Trump Admin Moves to Gut Labor Protections at VA | Common Dreams
Julia Conley
Aug 07, 2025
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins notified the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and several other unions that he was implementing an executive order signed by President Donald Trump, which required the termination of collective bargaining agreements for agencies whose missions are related to national security.
'Blatant Attempt to Bust Our Unions': Trump Admin Moves to Gut Labor Protections at VA
"This administration wants to break the spirit of working people in this country, but we will not be broken," said National Nurses United.julia-conley (Common Dreams)
Lula slams Trump over Brazil tariffs, accuses Bolsonaro of betrayal
cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/34316429
Thursday, August 7th 2025 - 10:33 UTC
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva harshly criticized U.S. President Donald Trump following the implementation of a 50% tariff on Brazilian exports. Lula called Trump “authoritarian” with “anti-civilizational” behavior and accused him of creating “problems where there were none.”“A president must not humiliate himself before another president. I respect everyone and demand respect in return,” Lula told Reuters, rejecting the idea of a phone call with Trump. “He doesn’t want to talk, and I have no intention of doing so.”
how is linux for gamers?
i know that some games arent compitable and been to the site that shows which game is and which is not, and i also know most mods dont work on linux version which is a boomer (skyrim and rimworld mostly)?
so for gamers, why did you change to linux being a mostly a gamer?
Palantir: As Revenues Rise, Controversy Grows
Palantir, an emerging tech company that was founded by Peter Thiel in 2003 with support from In-Q-Tel, the CIA’s venture capital arm, is a central player in the fight between the old guard and the up and coming weapons firms of Silicon Valley.
“The company’s transformation from an awkward Silicon Valley upstart trying to make it as a government contractor has also emboldened it. Some of its recent and prospective deals toe the lines of what even some of the company’s current and former employees consider a violation of ethical applications of AI and moral uses of software by the government—and Palantir is unapologetic.”
“Unapologetic” may be an understatement. At the height of the Israeli bombing campaign in Gaza, in January 2024, Palantir president and CEO Alex Karp held the company’s board meeting in Tel Aviv to show solidarity with the Israeli war effort and to goad other pro-Israel business executives to openly support that country’s campaign of mass slaughter in Gaza, which many independent experts – including independent human rights groups based in Israel – have described as a genocide.
Palantir also has extraordinary influence inside the Trump team, beginning with vice president J.D. Vance, who was employed, mentored, and financed by Palantir’s Peter Thiel before joining the administration. And former Palantir employees are hard at work inside a variety of executive branch agencies. At least a half dozen former company employees worked inside the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, making recommendations for deep cuts in a variety of federal agencies. And a senior counselor at Palantir has close ties to White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller.
Palantir is aggressively pursuing business with Saudi Arabia, a move that the Journal article describes as “a departure from the company’s stated focus on Western democratic values and freedom of speech.”
The emerging military tech firms and the venture capital firms that invest in them see themselves as more than just business people. They believe that they are a special breed of human being, the “new patriots” who are willing to take risks to restore America’s position in a place of global dominance, so far ahead of China that Beijing will never catch up, or so Karp and others have said.
Palantir: As Revenues Rise, Controversy Grows
Palantir is on a roll, experiencing record growth through government contracting. But its activities have raised ethical concerns from former employees and the larger public.Forbes
adhocfungus likes this.
Recommend some open-source tools for privacy!
cross-posted from: reddthat.com/post/47032660
Discover Hidden Gems: Open-Source Software You Should Know AboutWe all love open-source software, but there are so many amazing projects out there that often go unnoticed. Let's change that! Share your favorite open-source software that you think more people should know about. Here’s how you can contribute:
- Single Option Per Comment: Mention one open-source software per comment to be able to easily find the most popular software.
- No Duplicates: Avoid duplicating software that has already been mentioned to ensure a wide variety of options.
- Upvote What You Love: If you see a software that you also appreciate, upvote it to help others discover it more easily.
Check out last year's post for more inspiration: Last Year's Post
Let's create a comprehensive list of open-source software that everyone should know about!
I advise you to post any recommendations to the original post, I was just sharing it here so others can find it! I also wanna see those recs myself so that's the motive for posting this 😅
like this
FlorisBoard
An open-source keyboard for Android which respects your privacy. Currently in early-beta.FlorisBoard
FUTO Keyboard
FUTO Keyboard is a modern, privacy-focused keyboard that runs fully offline. Enjoy swipe typing, autocorrect, predictive text, and more—no internet connection required.keyboard.futo.org
correct me if there is something wrong with the app
It's proprietary (source available non-commercial license)
Fintiv's Apple Pay suit failed in Texas, but they are trying again in Georgia
Fintiv's Apple Pay suit failed in Texas, but they are trying again in Georgia
After losing a suit that took seven years to resolve, Fintiv is trying to sue Apple again, and is again alleging the company built Apple Pay using stolen mobile wallet technology.Amber Neely (AppleInsider)
In NOAA Cuts Fallout, Private Companies Fill Weather Data Gaps: As the weather agency struggles to maintain forecasting, some experts worry about relying on private companies instead.
In NOAA Cuts Fallout, Private Companies Fill Weather Data Gaps
As the weather agency struggles to maintain forecasting, startups are launching more tech to gather critical data.Meg Wilcox (Undark Magazine)
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Instagram Maps feature raises privacy concerns among some users
Instagram Maps feature raises privacy concerns among some users
The rollout of a new Instagram Map has prompted confusion among some users of the app, who voiced their privacy concerns online after Meta unveiled the featureJennifer Nehrer (NBC News)
How to make physical PC GOG games
video is in Arabic but there are high quality english subtitles!
a note: for burning BDXL discs on Linux, i've seen conflicting reports about K3b, some say it works, others say it doesn't... if someone has had any luck burning BDXL discs on Linux, i'd love to know what setup you used!
like this
- Some games on Steam are DRM-free, so you don't have to buy these games twice. You could either burn just the game files, or you could create your own setup wizard using Inno Setup or some similar software.
- Is a blue-ray (or optical media in general) more lasting/durable than an SD card? Archiving my games library in Switch-like jewel cases would be pretty cute.
- that’s a very good point! personally I always buy on GOG first but there are still some DRM-free games on steam (or itch.io) that aren’t on GOG
- SD cards are typically rated to retain data for 10 years, which for preservation is pretty bad, tho some high quality cards could last longer. archival-grade optical media is way more durable if kept in good storage conditions; in the video he uses M-discs, which are rated for 1000 years (even tho let’s be honest that’s more marketing than anything)
SD cards are one of the most volatile mediums for data storage. Flash memory in general runs the risk of discharge over time. Being powered every now and then can help IIRC.
I've looked into long-term data hoarding and found that there's not too much consensus on the best mediums. They all have their problems. Most turn their noses up at the idea of a set-it-and-forget-it system, preferring laboriously maintained arrays of HDDs. These fail somewhat regularly so they maintain multiple backups and plan/build around that.
I like optical media, but its problems include high cost per GB, taking up significant physical space, the inability to rewrite data, slow speed, and the waning availability of disk drives. Its longevity also depends on the specific technology the disk uses. Some disks are chemically active and the chemicals can break down over time. These can have comparable life to just storing it on a USB drive or something, so I wouldn't bother with those.
I've been using discs specifically made for longevity called M-DISCs. They are supposedly chemically inert and can last for hundreds of years. They're expensive compared to normal BDXLs, you need a bluray drive rated for burning them, and some people say they're hokey...their lifetime claim is pretty lofty, to be fair. I also use archival gold DVDs (4.7GB) for smaller files.
☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆ likes this.
Dictators aren't immediately bad and democracies aren't immediately good.
Since most people are dumb as shit and are being herded like sheep, it requires individuals who can resist the influence of the crowd to fix problems the crowd has been conditioned to allow.
In the case of El Salvador, since whatever they were doing before wasn't working, they now need to deal with an alternative that works better.
They only have themselves and the people sucking off their gang members to blame.
pitonanza impossibile con i moduli di serpente
Certo che è incredibile che più passa il tempo e più mi accorgo di quanto infinitamente Python sia pestilenziale, sempre più di quanto avrei finito per pensare in un momento precedente… E ok, non che gli altri linguaggi non siano comunque terrificanti, per carità, ma Python è una roba grave. Purtroppo, ahinoi, l’ecosistema è comodo, […]
China’s Manufacturing Share to Hit 45% by 2030 as U.S. Falls to 11%, Report Warns
China’s Manufacturing Share to Hit 45% by 2030 as U.S. Falls to 11%, Report Warns | Coalition For A
China is forecast to account for 45% of the world’s global industrial production by 2030. That growth comes at the expense of the West, which is projected to drop to 11% of global production in the next five years.Kenneth Rapoza (Coalition For A Prosperous America)
How Instagram’s new ‘Friend Map’ feature puts your privacy at risk – and how to turn it off
Instagram's new 'Friend Map' puts your privacy at risk | Proton
The new 'Friend Map' feature on Instagram might be sharing your precise location without your knowledge. Here's how to turn it off — and why you might want to.Proton
'Largest civilian flotilla in history' to set sail for Gaza
cross-posted from: hexbear.net/post/5774306
Activists from 44 countries plan to launch the largest civilian flotilla in history at the end of August in an effort to break Israel’s siege on Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid to the starving population of the enclave.The Global Sumud Flotilla, along with three allied initiatives, will send dozens of boats from Spanish ports on 31 August and Tunisian ports on 4 September, aiming to establish a humanitarian corridor and confront what organizers call Israel’s genocide against Palestinians.
“This summer, dozens of boats, both large and small, will set sail from ports across the world, converging on Gaza in the largest civilian flotilla of its kind in history,” said organizer Haifa Mansouri at a press conference in Tunis hosted by the Joint Action Coordination for Palestine.
The mission brings together four groups: the Maghreb Sumud Flotilla, the Global Movement to Gaza, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, and Sumud Nusantara.
'Largest civilian flotilla in history' to set sail for Gaza
Organizers say the mission aims to open a sea route to Gaza after repeated Israeli seizures of civilian aid vessels in international watersthecradle.co
Importing Lemmy settings seems to do nothing
This used to work and I exported from PieFed and imported into another PieFed instance just yesterday. Maybe Lemmy changed the JSON structure.
We'll look into it.
I think I know the problem - I fixed an issue with the settings import a week ago but piefed.ca hasn't updated to the latest version yet.
If you're not committed to piefed.ca then check the footer of any other instance. You want it to say PieFed v1.1.0 instead of PieFed v1.0.x. piefed.zip, feddit.online, quokk.au and piefed.social are all on 1.1.
Meta supported phishing?
Hello
Long time lurker, first time poster etc etc...
Interested what you guys make of these WhatsApp messages I just received...
...I have no such booking...
Obviously this sort of scam/phishing nonsense is nothing new to me, but a few things stood out...
- They have my full name and phone number 😕
- I do use booking.com (but I suppose many do so they could assume...)
- This WhatsApp message has been marked as "using a secure service from Meta"... So this isn't just a random phone (I have anonymous messages blocked) they have some sort of privilege on the platform... WTF
- They even have some special reply buttons at the end of the message.
- I just don't get it... Like, what are the odds they guess the dates and hotel accurately that I would bite...? And having gone to this length, why then fall at the last hurdle by having a weird sender name like "Rus Education"...?
like this
All the message means is that whoever it is is using a business account.
faq.whatsapp.com/6434609272832…
"You’ll see the following messages, when a business chooses to:
Use a partner: You’ll see “This business works with other companies to manage this chat.”
Use the WhatsApp Business Platform Cloud API (Hosted by Meta): You’ll see “This business uses a secure service from Meta to manage this chat.”
If a business is using the WhatsApp Business app or managing and storing customer messages themselves, you’ll see: “Messages and calls are end-to-encrypted. Only people in this chat can read, listen to, or share them.”"
So, hypothetically, if I were running a scam, yeah, I'd set up a business account using the Platform Cloud API to get that sweet, sweet "secure service" note.
like this
US demands for Hezbollah disarmament may force Lebanon into dangerous choice
In recent weeks, the US has been pushing for the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah. The government had already been moving in that direction, but not at the pace the US wanted. Lebanese media began to fill with warnings from unnamed sources that if Hezbollah’s arms were not confiscated soon, a second war with Israel could be on the horizon.
Near-daily Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon, in violation of the November ceasefire, have also undermined the Lebanese government’s claims that only the state can protect sovereignty.
The day after Lebanon announced it would draft a plan to disarm Hezbollah, an 11-year-old child was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon.
The Lebanese army has not responded to any of the thousands of Israeli airstrikes on the country since November – nor does anyone expect it to. The under-equipped, under-staffed army can do little in the face of an Israeli military equipped with US fighter jets, which drop the latest US munitions by the thousand.
“The US, Saudi and EU are in agreement on this point: the question is no longer if Hezbollah should be disarmed, but how to do it,” the diplomat said.
US demands for Hezbollah disarmament may force Lebanon into dangerous choice
There are fears that pressure for quick results is threatening the Lebanese effort to gradually build a stronger stateWilliam Christou (The Guardian)
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Japan’s Re-militarization: Another strategic misstep
Japan’s Re-militarization: Another strategic misstep
In the contemporary world, Japan is again following its policy of remilitarization and is endlessly arming its armed forces. Japan is also a part of theСаймон Вествуд (New Eastern Outlook)
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Hubei Leads Robotics Revolution at CISCE 2025 in Beijing
14th Shanghai International New Energy Auto Technology and Ecological Chain Expo (NEAS CHINA 2025)
The 14th Shanghai International New Energy Auto Technology and Ecological Chain Expo (NEAS CHINA 2025) will take place from August 13 to 15, 2025, at the Shanghai New International Expo Center, China.China Business Forum
European Commission launching #Wifi4EU initative, 93k high-speed private access points across the EU, free of charge.
cross-posted from: slrpnk.net/post/25779751
The intative promises to be privacy-friendly with no tracking. Stating:
Your privacy is important. The WiFi4EU app ensures a private online experience with no tracking or data collection. Simply connect and enjoy free public Wi-Fi without concerns.Source: digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/…
Will be interesting to see how this spans and plays out in reality. Looks promising too, did a quick scan of their builtin permissions and trackers and looks good too. (Scanning tool is called Exodus)
Report for eu.europa.publications.wifi4eu 1.2.3
Known trackers, permissions and informations about this specific version of this applicationεxodus
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geneva_convenience likes this.
Never negotiate with a terrorist.
If he loses, you lose. If he wins, you lose. You NEVER win.
Android 16 now has support for running GPU accelerated graphical Linux applications
androidauthority.com/android-1…
This is Doom running on Android 16's Linux Terminal - Android Authority
Android 16’s Linux Terminal will soon be able to run graphical Linux apps, so we fired up Doom to show this feature off.Mishaal Rahman (Android Authority)
like this
Honestly even though I'm fully invested in desktop/laptop Linux. I kinda don't get the buzz for a fully Linux phone, When de-googled Android exists and is already optimized for phone/touch use.
Only argument I have in favour of it is, it's less dependant on Google.
But outside of that I don't get the hype for running desktop apps (that normally aren't designed for small touchscreens) on a phone.
You aren't meant to use it on the small screen. We have increasingly powerful computers in our pockets that we use to watch TikTok, wouldn't be nice if you didn't have to buy a laptop/desktop for school/work and could just dock your phone and have a full desktop experience?
You could already do that with a lot of use-cases, but we can't yet fully utilize the power of our phones when docked.
Help me figure out a skateboard graphic
Hi, all!
I love Linux. I LOVE open source. I suck at designing anything artistic.
I just got into skateboarding and I am going to order a new deck for this old board we have. The deck is a cruiser style with a fish tail.
What FOSS characters or designs/references would be cool to see?
I was just thinking of Tux, but I need some more ideas. Especially for the griptape.
Thanks! This is truly the year of the Linux desktop.
like this
like this
Trump calls for Intel boss Lip-Bu Tan to resign over alleged China ties
Trump calls for Intel boss Lip-Bu Tan to resign over alleged China ties
The unusual demand adds to challenges facing the firm, which has been seen as falling behind in the chip race.Natalie Sherman (BBC News)
It's a good idea to check the community first... For example, this is the memes community on lemmy.ml. definitely worth appreciating a bit of self aware humor here.
It's honestly a good parody of TPUSA
The US's bourgeois "democracy", genocided an entire continent, and committed countless atrocities across the globe.
The "authoritarian" label never gets levelled at the US, great britain, france, or other imperialist powers who carved up the global south and bled it for hundreds of years. It only gets used against their enemies, who dared rise up and fought back against colonialism.
Even fascism is far less effective than bourgeois parliamentarism at killing millions of innocent people. The nazi's failed to accomplish in eastern europe, what the US successfully carried out and its liberal democracy is still carrying out in north america.
The U.S. and the West Are Direct Participants in the Genocide of the Palestinian People
The U.S. and the West Are Direct Participants in the Genocide of the Palestinian People
Washington has financed the Israeli war machine for decades, ensuring Tel Aviv’s impunity. Since October 7, 2023, with the direct support of the U.S. andВиктор Михин (New Eastern Outlook)
Team Leader at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites Belongs to Anti-“Jihad” Motorcycle Club, Has Crusader Tattoos
A lead contractor for a company providing security at the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s controversial food distribution sites is a member of a Crusader-inspired motorcycle club that touts its opposition to the “radical jihadist movement.”
Johnny “Taz” Mulford belongs to a Florida chapter of the Infidels, a biker group for veterans of U.S. wars and private military contractors like Blackwater. In May, Mulford began recruiting among his Facebook network for an unspecified job opportunity, asking anyone who “can still shoot, move and communicate” to contact him.
Reached by phone on Friday, Mulford confirmed to The Intercept that he is currently in Israel, adding that he was “on his way to a checkpoint,” but declined to comment further. Two sources directly familiar with the Gaza operations of UG Solutions, including former contractor Anthony Aguilar, confirmed Mulford’s employment to The Intercept. Mulford’s ties to the motorcycle group were first reported by Zeteo.
Team Leader at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites Belongs to Anti-“Jihad” Motorcycle Club, Has Crusader Tattoos
Johnny Mulford, who works as a contractor for GHF in Gaza, is a member of the “Infidels” motorcycle gang and has Crusader-style cross tattoos.Sam Biddle (The Intercept)
copymyjalopy likes this.
‘Unprecedented’ wildfire burns area size of Paris in southern France
‘Unprecedented’ wildfire burns area size of Paris in southern France
Advancing blaze scorches 16,000 hectares near Spanish border, destroying homes and forcing people to fleeAngelique Chrisafis (The Guardian)
N.E.P.T.R
in reply to Edvard • • •like this
osaerisxero likes this.
seralth
in reply to N.E.P.T.R • • •GenderNeutralBro
in reply to Edvard • • •Seems like most mods work fine on Linux, but I'm sure it depends on the game. For games with built-in mod managers like Baldur's Gate 3, it all just works. For games with manual mods that involve replacing or editing game files, they should generally work since you're running the same game files to begin with.
I haven't had any big compatibility problems recently, though again, I'm sure it depends on that game. Proton (built into Steam) works very very well nowadays.
Just a few years ago I found the experience frustrating. It seemed like everything had something wrong with it, even if it wasn't big. Lots of games had glitchy input, whether using a controller or keyboard/mouse. But somewhere down the line it totally flipped, and everything I play runs great now. I still have a bootable Windows 10 system, but I haven't actually booted it in...two years, maybe?
Jumuta
in reply to GenderNeutralBro • • •mnemonicmonkeys
in reply to Jumuta • • •Jumuta
in reply to mnemonicmonkeys • • •cmnybo
in reply to Edvard • • •Edvard
in reply to cmnybo • • •Demonmariner
in reply to Edvard • • •cmnybo
in reply to Edvard • • •Client Challenge
pypi.orghamms
in reply to Edvard • • •Aside from some occasional glitches with SteamVR, it's been several years since I encountered a game which didn't run as good if not better on linux than on windows, and I don't think I've ever had a linux-specific issue with mods. My understanding is that anti-cheat software compatibility can still be an issue for some people, but I haven't run into that yet.
For me, switching to linux was a no-brainer; I prefer it in every way.
Godnroc
in reply to Edvard • • •Ek-Hou-Van-Braai
in reply to Godnroc • • •Sad to hear Hell Divers doesn't work.
Odd that they'd be so strict, it's CoOp
I switched to Linux at the start of this year, and it's been great, some small hiccups but nothing I couldn't solve in a few min
Whostosay
in reply to Ek-Hou-Van-Braai • • •Ek-Hou-Van-Braai
in reply to Whostosay • • •F04118F
in reply to Godnroc • • •Tell your buddy you can play Helldivers with him!
Helldivers 1 and 2 are platinum and gold rated on ProtonDB with recent reports on both confirming they work well.
protondb.com/search?q=Helldive…
FauxLiving
in reply to F04118F • • •For a more recent report:
I'm literally playing Helldivers 2 right now, on Wayland with HDR, and an Nvidia graphics card.
I just assume games work now and rarely need to check protondb. All of the games with kernel Anticheat are just as scummy as Microsoft with their microtransactions and FOMO systems intended to manipulate their players... so, I don't care to play them anyway.
pyssla
in reply to Edvard • • •Honestly, we've been eating pretty good fam. See protondb.com/ for game compatibility on Linux.
The only remaining pain points are (see the provided links for databases on what does and doesn't work):
- Anti-cheat; areweanticheatyet.com/
- VR; db.vronlinux.org/
VR GAMES
db.vronlinux.orgFisch
in reply to pyssla • • •orenj
in reply to Edvard • • •vortexal
in reply to Edvard • • •It works pretty well. I don't currently play any pc games with anti-cheat, so most games work well without having to do anything special outside of running them in Wine or some other application and there are some games that actually work noticeably better on Linux than Windows. Some games have required some additional setup but it's pretty rare for games to just not work at all. Something I find kind of funny though, is that most of the games I haven't been able to get working on Linux aren't working on Windows either.
I should also mention that I don't really use mods for games. I have used mods for the Linux version of SRB2 but the game is designed to be easily modable, so it makes sense that the mods would just work.
ScientifficDoggo
in reply to Edvard • • •I've swapped to linux mostly due to aging hardware and low disposable income. I'm still running A PC that was lower MID a decade ago.
So far its a blast, nothing short of shotty anticheat gets in my way. ProtonDB is a great resource. Wine and the proton layers basically give you parity (and in some cases better performance than windows).
CountVlad47
in reply to Edvard • • •As far as I know, all Rimworld mods will work with Linux. You can either subscribe to them on the Steam Workshop (and enable them from the mod menu in-game) or download them manually and put them in the mods folder in the installation directory. I've played with modlists that had more than 100 mods in them and never had a Linux related issue.
To answer your other question, I dual booted Linux for a while, mainly because of privacy concerns, but switched to Linux full time around the time Windows 10 came out. The thing that gave me the final push was Windows 10 on my new laptop telling me it couldn't open a zipped folder and I would need to pay for that feature! There was also a backup copy of W10 on a second drive that I didn't know about which automatically overwrote Linux when I tried to install it.
adrianu161999
in reply to CountVlad47 • • •Edvard
in reply to CountVlad47 • • •warmaster
in reply to Edvard • • •Because it's easier, it just works and it doesn't nag me.
I use Bazzite, it's been the best computing experience I had.
Ask anything you want.
Edvard
in reply to warmaster • • •warmaster
in reply to Edvard • • •I tried my first linux distro: Mandriva
Every year I chose a distro and spent a month with it. Mandrake was a an eye opener. Then Ubuntu was the easiest, but it was not ready for me yet.
Linux is now ready for work & gaming, so I switched and tried these major distros and their downstream forks:
Debian
Arch
Fedora
I recommend Bazzite for gamers and Aurora, for everyone else. They are as if not easier to use than a smartphone.
I use Aurora on my work laptop, and Bazzite on my gaming desktop. Both have been great with no issues.
Edvard
in reply to warmaster • • •warmaster
in reply to Edvard • • •Every distro I listed is awesome in it's own ways. Arch is great, but you will break it.
Arch is for people that want to learn Linux enough to fix it and/or tailor it down to the last package, if you want something that just works no matter what, it's not for you.
However, if you have a second PC and your activities are not critically important and you have lots of free time, it's great to learn how Linux works.
Having 2 drives also works fine. Just don't dual boot on the same drive, as that will eventually result in being unable to boot.
ch00f
in reply to Edvard • • •I built my wife a gaming PC. She's controller only. It's basically an xbox. Decided to try ubuntu to see if we could avoid paying for windows.
She's already 100% Hogwarts Legacy and played a dozen other games.
The only hangup was controller support for Slime Rancher on her 8bitduo. Had to use an xbox controller.
She knows nothing about linux, but she'll install and play games through Steam no problem.
MummysLittleBloodSlut
in reply to ch00f • • •hash
in reply to Edvard • • •chronicledmonocle
in reply to hash • • •Edvard
in reply to hash • • •Ulu-Mulu-no-die
in reply to Edvard • • •Mods work just fine, it's mod managers that sometimes don't work.
If mods don't have manual setup instructions, I install them on Windows, copy back to Linux the mod config file and happily play on Linux.
Badabinski
in reply to Ulu-Mulu-no-die • • •Malgas
in reply to Ulu-Mulu-no-die • • •BananaTrifleViolin
in reply to Edvard • • •Linux works great for gaming in my experience. I have a huge games library and I haven't had many if any games that don't run. There are certainly some games that need some tweaking to get working or optimisation to run well. I generally have those problems with older games though as my library includes some retro games (games for Windows 98 being the ones I have to tweak most).
Mods certainly do work - I've modded skyrim and rimworld extensively on Linux, as well as Oblivion, Cyberpunk 2077, Stardew Valley, Cities Skylines, Minecraft and more without issue. Proprietary mod managers may not work but they're often the poorer ones that are really just tools to advertise and market at you.
The vast majority of game mods work inside the game itself, so if the game runs on Linux the mods will work. The exception would be mods that need to run as a Windows program themselves separate to the game exe. Those can also be made to work, it's just a bit more involved. Those kinds of mods are pretty rare in my experience though. Mods that act as game launchers etc work fine too, but just need some tweaking to ensure they launch instead of the game exe.
Most games mods can be manually installed and big games even have their own Linux native mod managers - like Minecraft custom launchers and Rimpy for Rimworld etc.
I do still have Windows on my PC in case I need it but haven't used it for gaming in well over a year. I have a desktop so having a spare drive for windows is not a big deal to me but I'm tempted to wipe it as I don't use it.
The one bit that people do have issues with is Anti cheat software for multiplayer games. That's not an area of gaming I do, but I have seen reports of certain games using proprietary systems that lock out Linux. That's a problem you can't get round except by having Windows available on your system.If there is a specific game you want like that isn't working on Linux.
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MrScottyTay
in reply to Edvard • • •like this
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MrMobius
in reply to Edvard • • •Brotha_Jaufrey
in reply to Edvard • • •like this
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Dariusmiles2123
in reply to Edvard • • •Every game works on my Steam Deck so far.
I always check ProtonDB before buying a game, but I might stop as everything without special anticheat works out of the box.
I just have to add that I’m not into multiplayer games so it might be why everything works easily.
Know_not_Scotty_does
in reply to Edvard • • •Black616Angel
in reply to Edvard • • •It really depends, what you want to play. Old games run great for me, emulation is also good.
New games mostly work if they are not competetitive multiplayer.
Mods also mostly work for the games I play (FTL and Celeste e.g.), also mods through steam workshop like in Tabletop Simulator just work for me.
What didn't work are as mentioned some multiplayer games that are too harsh on anti cheat. SMITE e.g. works, but LoL doesn't.
As others mentioned, its best to have either a native version or an entry in ProtonDB with gold or platinum.
utopiah
in reply to Edvard • • •I uninstalled Windows few years ago even though I play the latest AAAs and indies games, including in VR, that's how good Linux for gamers.
You can check my post history but basically once you have your hardware well supported (basically the right drivers) and rely on a good system to evaluate compatibility (e.g. ProtonDB) then you won't get any surprise.
I suggest though that you try it yourself, e.g setup a Linux distribution of your chosing, a game you already own and... see if it feels good. If it does not, feel free to ask around and people will be happy to help if you provide a clear problem with your documented attempts to fix it, at least you can count on me.
So... finally why did I change? Well beside the "it actually works" it is also a lot more coherent with my own WorldView and my skillset. I'm a professional developer, WebXR prototypist to be more specific, so having an OS that does not put arbitrary (well, mostly about control for profit) limits on what I can or can not do is simply better. I can play for fun AND I can tinker with the same OS. I don't have to reboot if I just happen to have an idea that I want to try, I can just do it right here and there.
TL;DR: it works and it's better, giving me all the freedom I need to be creative and not feel constrained.
PS: also not giving more money to multibillionaires from Microsoft does feel nice.
communism
in reply to Edvard • • •Games mostly work. If they have a native Linux version they work (and more games have a native Linux version than you may expect). For Windows-only games, there's a compatibility layer called Proton (which is a gaming-focused fork of a more general compatibility layer called Wine) that lets you run Windows executables on Linux. IME most Windows games run flawlessly with Proton. You can check games on protondb.com/ to see how well they run on Proton.
Rimworld has a native Linux version, and I've not had any problems with Rimworld mods from Steam workshop on Linux. Never tried modding Skyrim so can't say on that.
demoman
in reply to communism • • •communism
in reply to demoman • • •☂️-
in reply to Edvard • • •every single player game i want to play works well, sometimes better than windows. straight up.
the only issue you are gonna have nowadays is some studios blocking linux out from multiplayer games.
here's a comprehensive list of what works: areweanticheatyet.com/
n3m37h
in reply to Edvard • • •Fantastic, try it yourself!!
nobaraproject.org/
Nobara Linux | The Nobara Project
nobaraproject.orgMwa
in reply to Edvard • • •Most of the games I already played worked on Linux.
Some you might have more fps.
Some less
Some Games (e.g, Gmod) use Proton instead of the Native build.
Some games (e.g, Tf2) you can only Use Native which uses DXVK.
For Gmod cause its very outdated(Chromium is outdated,OGL only,lower fps)
Had to quit Roblox and Fortnite to remove windows + those games sucked anyways and roblox just platform decision
I also Like how Directx 9 and 11 are Vulkan underneath the hood results in more fps.
And you can also Translate OGL calls into Vulkan via Zink. (Also via Nvidia it works)
Modding is also Similar how you do it on Windows(except maybe for some special windows only mods)
The only things I hate is VKD3D-PROTON sucks on Nvidia.
And that some games require launch options(which is fine for me,But not fine for people who want No tinkering).
VerilyFemme
in reply to Edvard • • •Pop!_OS was a lifesaver when I was learning Linux. You can just look up Ubuntu related questions for tech support, the graphics drivers are preconfigured, and the interface is easy to use.
I'm on CachyOS with KDE now, but I highly recommend Pop! for a first-timer not looking to tinker.
Also, with ProtonTricks you can still mod stuff. It's not perfect, but there's a version of Mod Organizer 2 for Linux ;P
dil
in reply to Edvard • • •Bazzite looks good for beginners, I like cachyos as a beginner but im a tinkerer, using gnome reminds me of cydia, I like cachyos because unlimited options, never feel like I can't install something, it's prob on the aur or whatever.
if cachyos
pacman for cachyosrepo
paru for aur
At first I was confused on packages being missing
grab flatpak support and use flathub for some things
appimages are nice with gear lever (updates/menu)
can easily grab snapd support if you want to cover more areas
debtap to make debs usable on arch
I had always been turned away from linux because of the many formats deb, snap, etc. and being confused about support. But now I know I can get support for most things just installing whats needed from their website. (seems easiest with arch, least instructions)
BTW, while that made me comfortable when I swapped, knowing I can have whatever. I only needed to add flatpak support, and grab gearlever, everything else is unnecessary and available on the aur or as an appimage typically.
halloween_spookster
in reply to Edvard • • •JoshCodes
in reply to halloween_spookster • • •小莱卡
in reply to Edvard • • •VeggieCat
in reply to Edvard • • •toynbee
in reply to VeggieCat • • •You might appreciate ProtonDB as a resource!
edit: ProtonDB
Dae
in reply to Edvard • • •I've never played Rimworld, so I don't know the modding situation on it.
I attempted to mod Skyrim, and as far as I can tell, it's not that the mods don't work, it's that the primary mod manager Nexus is currently using (Vortex) is kind of a pain in the ass to set up on Linux. They are currently working on a new mod manager that should be natively compatible and should resolve that issue.
But for every other game I've ever modded on Linux it works exactly the same as it does on Windows.
Truthfully, outside of the handful of games that don't want me playing them because of my OS, 90% of my games work exactly the same, if not better. The remaining 10% might require a little tinkering to get running, or have some weird hiccup (having to run it in Proton instead of native because for some reason they're "different versions" thus menaing I can only play with friends on Windows in the Proton version), but I honestly couldn't be happier.
It feels like I'm playing on my computer again, not Microsoft's computer.
Edvard
in reply to Dae • • •Jakeroxs
in reply to Edvard • • •tray5895
in reply to Dae • • •The Menemen
in reply to Edvard • • •As a gamer and a Linux user for more than 20 years this thread is so awesome.
I actually mostly stopped playing sometime in the late 2000s (dual booting was annoying) and restarted around 2017. We have come so far...
mub
in reply to Edvard • • •I dual boot Windows and EndeavourOS. I've got a range of games running great on Linux, performance does take a hit in most cases but as long as you have good hardware and aren't chasing ultimate FPS numbers, it is usually acceptable.
I wish I could make the full switch but music recording just isn't a good experience on Linux. High latency, lack of audio device configuration, and a limited range of instruments and effects (VST files), all means a Mac or Windows are the only options.
Mugita Sokio
in reply to Edvard • • •90% of games can be played on Linux, though some of them actually happened to require some sort of tweaks to get them working. That said, the experience my producer and I have had for about 5 years (August 20th I think will be 5 years) was nothing short of wondrous.
We'll continue to use LInux until we die.
Quadrexium
in reply to Edvard • • •Ah and Elite Dangerous mods. Games like Starbound work even better on Linux though
NichtElias
in reply to Quadrexium • • •Quadrexium
in reply to NichtElias • • •Vupware
in reply to Quadrexium • • •Can you elaborate as to which Elite Dangerous mods you are having issues with?
Are you able to get EDMC to work?
Quadrexium
in reply to Vupware • • •grapemix
in reply to Quadrexium • • •Quadrexium
in reply to grapemix • • •AstroLightz
in reply to Edvard • • •Pretty good. Some games have issues on Linux, especially some that don't have native controls for DualShock 4 controllers and not using Steam Input. Even the ones that do sometimes dont work without Steam Input on (which shows XBOX buttons).
I've only had actual crashes with Forza Horizon 4 and 5 on Linux. Everything else works fine.
Distro is Arch Linux (BTW).
As to why I swapped, I get better performance on Linux than on Windows.
dropped_packet
in reply to AstroLightz • • •root
in reply to Edvard • • •captainlezbian
in reply to Edvard • • •mazzilius_marsti
in reply to Edvard • • •If you just want to play the game, then gaming works surprisingly well on Linux. Very well.
I have the same game on Steam running on 2 separate computers, Fedora and Win 11. On the Fedora one, everything is just rock solid. Heck, even when I am rendering some very intensive 3D stuff on another workspace for work and use 50% of the RAM, the game is still running. On the Win 11 laptop, random issues happen where my cursor dissapears and the entire desktop freezes.
OTOH, if you need the gaming accessories to work properly then I'm not sure, could be a 50/50. For eg, if your laptop has some proprietary sound card, then Linux might not be able to take advantage of that. On Windows, these should work OOTB.
katy ✨
in reply to Edvard • • •im not a huge gamer but i don get along quite well with steam games and gog games.
i do miss warcraft classic and would love to play it again but i could never get it to work 🙁
jjjalljs
in reply to Edvard • • •So far most things have worked fine.
It's a little annoying when steam wants to redo the vulkan compilation thing every time, but it seems to work fine if I skip that.
Modding I'm not sure how it'll work yet. Some stuff probably just works, if it's like "edit this file" or "replace that file" but I haven't tried yet.
Harbinger01173430
in reply to Edvard • • •I used to play a lot on my Ubuntu install but nowadays I just use my PC to watch YouTube videos and series.
It works.
JTskulk
in reply to Edvard • • •I switched to Linux exclusively 2 years ago and I gotta say it's been pretty awesome. Pretty much everything works without fucking around.
I changed to Linux because it's better. Windows sucks ass.
ffhein
in reply to Edvard • • •