How are personal websites actually helpful for private expression?
h3ndrik @ h3ndrik @feddit.de Posts 3Comments 469Joined 2 yr. ago
h3ndrik @ h3ndrik @feddit.de
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I think I've been using K-9 Mail for 10+ years or something. The settings were kind of all over the place but it has always been one of the email clients with the most features.
Law enforcement already had quite some success cracking down on things like Silk Road, Encrochat and others. I suppose they don't just use Google, they better have custom crawlers and police officers actively browsing the dark web.
I get that. I'd love a customizable out-of-the-box solution for small companies that is free software and ties in a user-respecting ecosystem. AFAIK they mostly use a CMS. Something like Wordpress can even speak ActivityPub with the correct plugin. But I don't know any good solution to recommend to you. There are quite a few free software (big) eCommerce solutions and management stuff. Other things are more tailored to one task and you'd need several pieces of software and customize it to your use-case.
Keep in mind hosting stuff takes time. And if it's your platform you got to moderate stuff and constantly make content and contribute yourself. I doubt it'll take off otherwise.
And you need something unique that attracts users to your platform in specific. Could be your companies products, your good content, or you being better and nicer to people than other platforms are. Because there are lots of other services out there competing for attention. I could sign up for 15 different federated services today. You somehow need to convince me to choose yours and your instance.
But maybe someone else has a good recommendation for you. Using free software and connecting people is always a good idea.
I think the whole Fediverse isn't made for corporate websites. I don't want to sound too negative here. But the Fediverse is made to engage with people, have discussions and to provide a level plaing field between parties. The point of corporate websites is to push info in a top-down approach and retain strict control over your image. You have the aspect of communication in common. You want to be able to communicate with your customers. But that's probably it. Even if they ask for support, it's often private info and directed directly at you and other people shouldn't be able to read their contact info etc.
Furthermore lots of customers don't want to engage and talk about software for example. They want to buy it and use it as a tool to do their job. Not have a community. But that depends on the exact use-case. I can't imagine a community for pressure-washer customers. But there are also lots of examples with a healty and mutually beneficial communities around software products.
It really depends on your use-case. If I were in your position I'd ask myself what my customers probably want or need and do that. Often that's a static website plus a forum or something like that (and something like a blog for news). And some means to get in touch directly for support.
A bonus of the fediverse is that it interconnects. You could choose two or more pieces if software and combine them if you don't find one solution that fits you.
Linux is great at certain things but certainly not as a desktop because it fails for all those use cases that compose the majority of what people do.
I'd have to disagree. I use it exclusively and it's awesome. My dad uses it and my mom has for quite some years. I know dozens of people who use wildly different distributions for all kinds of stuff. I think it'd be the same for the majority of people if it came with their Laptops and Chromebooks.
GrapheneOS support stops along with Google stopping their support. My 4a is now EOL. Not sure about the other roms. Hopefully someone puts in the effort.
Mmmh. 'Linux desktop' means a computer powered by (GNU+)Linux that is used as a workstation. For example in an office or at home where someone sits in front of it and does something with it. In contrast to a server or an embedded device (or arguably a phone or a gaming console). It doen't necessarily mean you need an GUI or a specific one.
That link doesn't work. Cryptpad says you should have used the "Share" button. "Link was copied from the browser's address bar and does not provide access to the document."
Generally speaking, Linux is already mainstream on most things except for the desktop. And I'd agree, perhaps we don't want to be mainstream anyways.
Yeah, you choose the correct methods. I'm not the one doing the research. But share your results with us if you can (and once you have them). 😀
What were the old rules?
The user @SkyLeaf@lemmy.world is also doing research about Lemmy and the Reddit -> Lemmy migration:
Hehe, that's called nostalgia. I can feel that, too. 😊 Things used to be simpler but that had some appeal to it. And a different vibe. And you had to work hard. That made your achievements more rewarding than spending your time fighting with complex buildchains.
This is kind of old people behaviour. I'm still not 100% sure if I'm getting more conservative, having difficulty with things changing, or if things really used to be better... They're different, that's for sure. And I have some valid criticism for some things, too.
Probably because this is the only claim with some substance to it. But there are like 15 more claims in the article that a just wrong.
Yeah, I can see how stuff like electronics simulation might be an issue. I'm not up to date any more, the major tools used to be some very expensive proprietary products. I've tried some simulation tools, but I'm not an expert on that and I don't know where we're at with the alternatives and what kind of feature set they offer. And I struggled a bit with KiCads autorouting back then. But it's probably gotten better since.
People who need MS Office because once you have to collaborate with others Open/Libre/OnlyOffice won’t cut it;
The average user doesn't need specifically MS Office. But if they do, they do.
password manager via flatpak only
Use (always) your package manager. The trend of using Flatpak has severe downsides as you pointed out.
Virtualbox [...] GNOME Boxes
Use libvirt and the virt-manager UI
Adobe apps won’t run properly
Might as well be the case. I haven't tried.
Gamers because of the reasons above plus a flat 5-15% performance hit
My experience is the other way around.
old software / games because not even those will run properly on Wine
Old games don't run on a recent Windows either. I've tried.
electrical engineers as typical toolsets
If you need specific proprietary tools, you might need Windows or Wine. Depends on the specific use-case. But the 'average user' we're talking about isn't an electrical engineer. If you're a student, try KiCad it's not Eagle but it is something.
specialized hardware
You need specialized software along with the specialized hardware. Again, more niche than 'average user'.
AutoCAD isn’t available
Same. If you need special software, you need special software. It's arguable if the 'average user' needs exactly that. Special needs might render Linux unusable in your situation.
Finding a properly working FTP/SFTP/FTPS desktop client
My file manager does this. And it's more like the windows people do their webdev. I rarely work like this. I don't have a need for WinSCP on my desktop but webdev works fine.
Why do most people use Linux instead of Windows to host their servers, then? Why is almost all of the web powered by Linux if Windows is better? All the devs and sysops wrong? AWS? Almost all cloud services?
Software runs fine, all vendors support whatever you’re trying to do and you’ll be productive from day zero.
Really? I need to throw away printers because people update their Windows and the printer has no drivers available for the new Windows version. Printers stop after a service pack got rolled out and need fixing. People have Ransomware sent to them. Graphics drivers and sound drivers sometimes do silly stuff and don't detect the headphone plug properly. HDMI doesn't switch over to the projector. All sorts of small annoyances and they happen regularly.
It all comes down to a question of how much time (days? months?) you want spend fixing things on Linux
Agree. If you learned Windows and have no idea of Linux, you'd have to learn this now. It takes time. If you had learned Linux, you'd know where the logfiles are and you'd struggle with Windows. Sometimes learning new things (properly) is a good things. Sometimes you can't be bothered or lack time to do it.
TL:DR; the Linux experience might be great but it isn’t for everyone and anyone. If you need to do your job without small annoyances that will curb your productivity it isn’t, most likely, for you.
The 'average user' doesn't need all the specific tools in exactly that version. The average user needs an office suite and a browser, not Eagle and Adobe. If you live in one ecosystem and have to share stuff with your colleagues, you live in that ecosystem. I agree. I have far less issues with my linux machines and debugging is so much easier with them than the Windows machines and servers I had. It's sometimes been days of trial and error to tackle problems there while Linux usually has good debug messages available instead of 'Error 33492, program closed.'
The average user needs a stable and user-respecting system that get's out of the way. They need Office, a browser, E-Mail, a network-share and a working printer. All the specific tools and WinSCPs and so on are additional knowledge you learned during your times with Windows, while the average user struggles with their Antivirus. I agree, it's more complicated for you if you have 10+ years of windows experience and now try to apply it 1:1 to Linux. It doesn't work this way.
(My general advice is: If you want it 100% like Windows: Use Windows.)
Usually you pay a hosting provider like those you mentioned (there are several better choices) to host your website. This interaction and paying for service includes a contract and agreement between your parties. They have to honor that and can't just kick you out on a whim like a social media platform does.
But they have to abide by the law. Once you start committing crimes, they are obliged to terminate service.
I like uberspace.de They recently lost a court case because they refused to take down Youtube-DL's website. But there are lots of other super nice little hosting companies.