Pavouk106's recent activity

  1. Comment on What are your current pain points with Linux? in ~tech

    Pavouk106
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    I use Linux since around 2009 as my only OS on my PCs. I have to use Windows on my work laptop. Thanks to his I have quite a.lit of experience using both and I can say that Windows, especially 11,...

    I use Linux since around 2009 as my only OS on my PCs. I have to use Windows on my work laptop. Thanks to his I have quite a.lit of experience using both and I can say that Windows, especially 11, is much more pain than Linux is these days.

    I used Gentoo for a really long time and I still use it on my servers. This kinda makes me a bit of an advanced/experienced user. I know a lot of things about the OS itself thanks to this. Also running my servers helps with that.

    Recently I jumped the ship to Arch on my desktops/laptops. It is much faster to set up and maintain, eben though some things were actually easier in Gentoo - ie. keeping older Nvidia graphics drivers due to HW being to old for new ones. Nevertheless, Arch it is and will be for now.

    Linux made absolutely unbelievable way since when I first tried it (this was around 2004, actually) and since I started using it as my only OS. Back then I had to keep various repositories active for various programs, I had to resolve dependencies, many things were not available or easy to do. Actually one thing was easy - getting video from my firewire-able camera!

    If I wanted tomplay games it was either SuperTux, SpringRTS Wprld of Padman, OpenTTD or using Wine. Wine was good, but pain in the ass to get games running through it.

    Then Valve came with Linux version of Steam and quite a lot of Linux games and I started playing through Steam and buying games there. Even that wasn't hassle-free, sometimes the games didn't work due to mismatched libraries etc. I guess having lots of distros to pick from isn't always a great thing. But this got eventually better and nowadays it's mostly fine. And then Valve came with Proton, which is Wine on steroids. And since then I just buy and play games and do not worry about anything.

    Linux itself got a lot better in the meantime. Dependency hell in Gentoo became kinda easy updating, just time and power consuming. Most things are available in standard repository andnjust work. Even support for various things got better - I have Brother multifunction laser printer and I.managed to set up even remote scanning to the server. Printers as a whole are.much less hassle on Linux (from my limited experience). Nowadays I can shoot video using OBS, then edit it using many available programs (I use Shotcut, as I don't need anything fancy, I just cut), GIMP does what I need with my photos, I run Immich, Jellyfin, TVheadend...

    Testament to the ease of Linux use is my dad. One day he got upgraded PC from family and we went into issue of "We don't have Windows licence". Well, since that day he uses Linux and doesn't complain at all. He can watch movies, see photos, browse web and that's all he does. Another relative got Linux due to problems with Windows licence (unable to activate on new PC) and he plays a lot of games on it, including Anno 1800, both Kingdom Comes and some more. This one does complain a lot, but he is complainy normally about everything - his PC just works.

    And the comparison with current state of Windows? I update Linux when I want. Windows updates itself at least fortunate times. Linux updates most of the time just go flawlessly. Windows updates fuck up my setup - ie. privacy settings or programs pinned to the bottom panel (they just disappear from there even though they are still installe). I know those are small things, but I come upon them more frequently than I would like. And I want my PC to do things that I want it to do and not do something for my by itself.

    I wouldn:t turn back to using Windows on my PCs. Linux is the way to go and it's becoming the way to go for more and more people. And it should - it's free (as in price and as in freedom), it does the job, it can handle some things even better than Windows (printers, some games) and overall is more about youncontrolling the PC, not the other way around.

    EDIT: Sorry, in my essay I completely forgot that this is about pain points. Well, I don't have any with my usage.

    2 votes
  2. Comment on GOG added OpenMW and Tamriel Rebuilt into their store for free as mods for TES3 Morrowind in ~games

    Pavouk106
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    I think Bethesda considers Morrowind dead. It is too hardcore for the masses. Havinbg said that, the game is in final patch for like 20+ years. And OpenMW works with this final version in mind....

    I think Bethesda considers Morrowind dead. It is too hardcore for the masses. Havinbg said that, the game is in final patch for like 20+ years. And OpenMW works with this final version in mind. For full info - OpenMW isn't a mod for original game, it is whole new executable to play the game and it supports mods just as Morrowind does - through data files that you can enable/disable in the launcher.

    There are mods that go below the data files, that touch the Morrowind beneath the surface. Those are not generally compatible with OpenMW, as it is whole new engine, it doesn't run original executable, it doean't use original libraries shipped with game etc. It uses only the data files.

    Tamrier Rebuilt is made as a data file, thus you just pop it in the folder, check the box in the launcher and you play it. It works with OpenMW just as it does with OG Morrowind.

    I think there are no problems like in Skyrim or Fallout 4. There may be some incompatibility between sub-surface mods, but I believe that's it, no more problems. What a great time it was back in the day - game wasn't updated 10 years continually from release, you didn't have to search for a version to have your mod working, hell, you didn't even need mods to enjoy the game! People say Skyrim is great, but the same people install 200 nods to make the game great...

    3 votes
  3. Comment on GOG added OpenMW and Tamriel Rebuilt into their store for free as mods for TES3 Morrowind in ~games

    Pavouk106
    Link Parent
    Oh, I understood it as they can be added hassle-free to the game itself. I'm waiting for Galaxy for Linux to try all the functionality. Eternal wait. Thanks for the reply!

    Oh, I understood it as they can be added hassle-free to the game itself. I'm waiting for Galaxy for Linux to try all the functionality. Eternal wait.

    Thanks for the reply!

    1 vote
  4. Comment on Who likes GTA? in ~games

    Pavouk106
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    The thing is only story in GTA5 was good for me. While I got so many hours just cruising and exploring places in San Andreas, I didn't feel the vibe to do it in GTA5. That said, if the GTA4 is...

    The thing is only story in GTA5 was good for me. While I got so many hours just cruising and exploring places in San Andreas, I didn't feel the vibe to do it in GTA5. That said, if the GTA4 is close to 5, I don't know if I would enjoy it. Maybe the story.

    But I don't want to pay single cent to Rockstar anymore, so no GTA4 for me. I hate them so much I don't even want to pirate it. I'd rather play different game(s).

    2 votes
  5. Comment on GOG added OpenMW and Tamriel Rebuilt into their store for free as mods for TES3 Morrowind in ~games

    Pavouk106
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    OpenMW is still in active development. Tamriel Rebuilt devs say on their page that about half is done. I think GOG may be updating them once in a certain time (a month? half a year?) or...

    OpenMW is still in active development. Tamriel Rebuilt devs say on their page that about half is done. I think GOG may be updating them once in a certain time (a month? half a year?) or automatically when they have new release.

    I suppose GOG contacted both teams before they added it to their store. It would be the best way to do that, in my opinion.

    5 votes
  6. Comment on Who likes GTA? in ~games

    Pavouk106
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    Well, that's a nicely timed question. I played GTA since GTA 1. It was a sandbox game for me at the time - I couldn't speak english well enough, I didn't care about story, I just got PC and played...

    Well, that's a nicely timed question.

    I played GTA since GTA 1. It was a sandbox game for me at the time - I couldn't speak english well enough, I didn't care about story, I just got PC and played games I managed to get. So it was basically drive around town, find cool stuff, wreak havoc, get killed - rinse and repeat.

    GTA2 was better in many ways. I knew a bit of english, there were three gangs you could work for and working for one of them lowered your disposition with others, so you had to pick which one you ultimately want to pursue. I managed to actually play the game as it was intended, but never finished.

    GTA3... Now this is one I only recently got into and played almost since the end (there is one mission where you have to drive a car with high pursuit right from the start and I just couldn't make it). GTA3 was quite well made first 3D GTA. There were many details that made the game feel like real life. There were downsides though - killer rampage pickups, overall cartoony pickups (graphics of the pickup symbol) and the worst one for me - your character was mute, didn't say a word. The last one is especially bad because all the mission briefings were: no words from you and two sentences from the mission giver in style of "That guy took my thing, you have to kill him." This was let down for me because I have already played newer games in the series beforehand.

    Vice City - Now we are talking! Only recently I bought used Playstation 2 disc with this game to replay it in emulator (as Rockstar is full of shit and when they released the botched "Definitive edition" of the games, they took old games down from everywhere). Miami Vice, Scarface, 80's drug scene, neons everywhere, girls in bikinis, movie studios... Vice City has atmosphere! The game is great, you are no longer mute, the story is told through cutscenes that have more than two sentences - this is beginning of modern GTA games for me. There are still killer rampage pickups and they still ahve cartoonish/shining-from-afar graphics, but the game is really great.

    San Andreas - The best one in series (for me). It just managed to hit everything the right way. There are skills for the first time, they actually do something, the map is divided into specific cities, each has its own atmosphere. 1992 riots, gang wars, casino jobs, your own airfield, area 69 (or whatever it's called in the game). This is top GTA.

    I haven't played GTA4.

    GTA5 - This is real life simulator, kinda. It looks absolutely gorgeous, you play as three characters at once (each with their own "character"), the city is huge, the outskirts just as much, there is a lot of land to drive on. And that's kinda it. The story may actually be good, but this GTA didn't tickle my curiosity about the city or wilderness. I did missions, and those were really good, but while the game has many options for players to do things like invest money, buy companies etc., you don't have to. And the game doesn't have anything else to give, doesn't spark the flame for me. Even if I finished it, it would be just for the good missions, but I wouldn't explore the land on my own and will be done with the game when the story ended. I didn't finish it, as Rockstar bundled their fucking launcher with the game that kept on bitching about needing to sign in every other day or so. And since I wanted to play the game and not mess around with it, I went the easy way out - uninstalled the game.

    I played GTA 1, 2 and 5 on PC (5 on Steam Deck).
    I played GTA 3, Vice City and San Andreas on PS Vita.
    I played GTA Vice City and San Andreas on tablet.
    I'm gonna replay Vice City and San Andreas on Steam Deck as I own Playstation 2 discs of those games and I have set them up in emulator.

    2 votes
  7. GOG added OpenMW and Tamriel Rebuilt into their store for free as mods for TES3 Morrowind

    For all the Morrowind enthusiast here - GOG.com has added OpenMW and Tamriel Rebuilt as curated mods for Morrowind. They say on the website: "GOG’s curated selection of the best Mods, directly...

    For all the Morrowind enthusiast here - GOG.com has added OpenMW and Tamriel Rebuilt as curated mods for Morrowind. They say on the website: "GOG’s curated selection of the best Mods, directly packed with the game for the smoothest installation ever. Install and play right away."

    I haven't tried it yet, but I guess it means GOG Galaxy (that I don't use) will automatically install OpenMW and enable Tamriel Rebuilt as a mod in it and launch OpenMW instead of old Morrowind executable. Maybe someone will know if it works this way.

    I just wanted other people to know, as Morrowind is my beloved game and I see it as a nice addition to have mods on the GOG as well as the game, even more so if it can be installed alongside the game hassle-free.

    For people who doesn't know:

    • OpenMW is open source multiplatform engine for playing Morrowind. You give it original game data files and it runs on modern hardware in modern resolutions. While it isn't v1.0 yet, it is perfectly playable. It let's you run Morrowind on various things like Raspberry Pi or ARM laptops, at one time even Android port existed (OpenMicroWave?)
    • Tamriel Rebuilt is a community mod that adds big-ass landmass with new cities, new places, new characters, new quests... Morrowind takes place on isle of Vvardenfell, but the game bears the name of the whole province of (game world of) Tamriel. This mod adds the rest of the province, basically.

    The thing is - Is it good that GOG adds such mods and integrates them with the game (somehow)? Will the mods be kept up-to-date when I install them with the game?

    31 votes
  8. Comment on What are we in a golden age of? in ~talk

    Pavouk106
    Link Parent
    I'm ordering some ESP32s this week, as I have some usecase for them (integrate into Home Assistant and do PWM on some fans with them). It is really great time to be electronics enthusiast today!

    I'm ordering some ESP32s this week, as I have some usecase for them (integrate into Home Assistant and do PWM on some fans with them). It is really great time to be electronics enthusiast today!

    2 votes
  9. Comment on Xbox announces digital entitlements for disc based games in ~games

    Pavouk106
    Link Parent
    What is stopping people from doing that? Mandatory "Connect once a month or console won't work" which is likely to be already present in their firmwares or will be in the future.

    What is stopping people from doing that? Mandatory "Connect once a month or console won't work" which is likely to be already present in their firmwares or will be in the future.

    5 votes
  10. Comment on What is the oldest file you still have? in ~tech

    Pavouk106
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    I have this CD with various backup things and while it was obviously burned at 2008, I believe many files to be around year 2000. I can for sure say I have photos there from 2001/02, I also have a...

    I have this CD with various backup things and while it was obviously burned at 2008, I believe many files to be around year 2000. I can for sure say I have photos there from 2001/02, I also have a few install files that hint at 2002. Sadly nothing there has timestamp in the EXIF or in filename.

    Just FYI I found Winamp plugins, DivX codecs, Counter Strike comics (obviously dating at around 2003), Morrowind and Baldur's Gate savefiles etc.

    Actually I still have the PC case these files were actually in (on the HDD of course). Thinking about it, I may try and make it my next NAS case. First though I have to get out that nice Abit BP-6 motherboards with dual Celerons at 500MHz and GeForce 256 SDR. Those are some marvels of the past.

    1 vote
  11. Comment on Motorola’s GrapheneOS phones will launch in 2027 priced higher than Pixels in ~tech

    Pavouk106
    Link Parent
    Have a look at Grayjay. It is video aggregator and can do Youtube as well (no ads). Louis Rossmann backed it up (by words and actions, I don't now if woth money as well). I use it and my daighter...

    Have a look at Grayjay. It is video aggregator and can do Youtube as well (no ads). Louis Rossmann backed it up (by words and actions, I don't now if woth money as well). I use it and my daighter dpes as well. It doesn't have any algorithm built in, it may be pro or con, depending on your view. It is a pro for me - I just watch what I'n subscribed to and the app itself doesn't steer me away from it.

    1 vote
  12. Comment on What are we in a golden age of? in ~talk

    Pavouk106
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    We are in golden age of many useful and easy to use open source things. Be it Arduinos, Linux, programs like imagemagick or ffmpeg or linux AMD GPU drivers. I use Graphene OS on my phone (which...

    We are in golden age of many useful and easy to use open source things.

    Be it Arduinos, Linux, programs like imagemagick or ffmpeg or linux AMD GPU drivers.

    I use Graphene OS on my phone (which should be open sourve if I'm right), I use Matrix.org as my IM service of choice, I use Linux on all my PCs, I use Immich, Home Assistant, Kodi, FairEmail, Jellyfin...

    It is great to be free like this - to be free of dependencies on big corporations. This is the golden era I live in. And everyone can.

    17 votes
  13. Comment on Router recommendations? in ~comp

    Pavouk106
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    I'd buy what I have now - Ubiquiti... What was the name? looking it up Cloud Gateway Ultra. You get the Ubiquiti software, are ready for their Unifi APs (as the router is what it is - just a...

    I'd buy what I have now - Ubiquiti... What was the name? looking it up Cloud Gateway Ultra.

    You get the Ubiquiti software, are ready for their Unifi APs (as the router is what it is - just a router) and you get their VPN service (which I don't use) so you can connect inside your home LAN without having public IP or ports forwarded.

    The router has web UI which is really good and let's you setup things like SSIDs of your various wifis, guest hotspot, VLAN, WPA 3 AES (certificate based), traffic preference (ie. wifi calling, Microsoft Teams etc.), traffic limits (per device, per network, probably per service), you can see how the devices are connected (Wifi 4, Wifi 6 etc. and the sleeds they negotiated and also the actual speed flowing), you can see statistics of what clients use most inetnet bandwidth and in what manner (TLS/SSL, QUIC, VPN etc.). You can probably setup if client can be online at certain time (ie. kids have no wifi at night), but that is a speculation on my part. You can setup more WAN ports from the LAN ones as your backup connection (ie. tethering from smartphone) which I actually used in the past.

    For a but over 100€, you get very very nice router.

    The only downside - thw WAN port labeled as 2.5Gbit is actually connected to routing chip at 1Gbit internally. I read this on some blog.

    I have this router and three wifi APs from Ubiquiti and I wouldn't blink an eye if I had to set up my house again - it would be the same. Maybe I would actually buy even Unifi switch to have the whole network all-in-one. Alas, I bought Mikrotik for that role already (which is also a great piece of network tech).

  14. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    Pavouk106
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    I'm still playing Outer Worlds and I'm looking forward to be done with it. I finished the main story already and I'm doing DLCs now. Don't get me wrong though - the game is good, I like it. But I...

    I'm still playing Outer Worlds and I'm looking forward to be done with it. I finished the main story already and I'm doing DLCs now. Don't get me wrong though - the game is good, I like it. But I play it for too long already and I just want to play something else. But I force on myself the rule I set - one game at a time until I finish it or I decide it's not worth it and I will never get back to it. And Outer Worlds is worth it.

    The question already lingers in my mind though: What should I play next?

    And this is where I wanted to ask other Chosen Ones (aka Tilderinos or other names we call ourselves here). Would you try and pick one for me? I have a list here:

    • GTA Vice City (PS2 emulation, replay)
    • GTA San Andreas (PS2 emulation, replay)
    • CrossCode
    • Zelda BotW (Switch emulation, replay)

    I''m weighing in how long the game is and how much story vs. freeplay there is. Cast your vote now then proceed reading.

    I would prefer shorter game now, this scratches off the BotW and SA for now in my mind. I recently got Vice City used on Ebay from Italy and I would likely pick it as it is the newest one right now.

    I'm a bit sceptical about CrossCode. I read very positive things about it, I just don't know if I want to jump into something new and potentially heavy.

    I can always drive a few hundred miles in Rubber Duck's Mack RS712LST in American Truck Simulator I guess.

    1 vote
  15. Comment on What theme do you use with Tildes? in ~tildes

    Pavouk106
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    I mostly read Tildes on my GrapheneOS phone, to it is Black theme for me. Graphene is black and white mostly OS on its own and given the AMOLED display the black is the best color.

    I mostly read Tildes on my GrapheneOS phone, to it is Black theme for me.

    Graphene is black and white mostly OS on its own and given the AMOLED display the black is the best color.

    3 votes
  16. Comment on Which privacy-friendly home appliances exist? e.g. robot vacuum cleaners. in ~tech

    Pavouk106
    Link Parent
    Another Valetudo user. I got used Roborosk S5 for 80€ and it works like a charm. Flashed it via wifi (OTA), no need to disassemble and do any electronics stuff. I have integrated it in Home...

    Another Valetudo user. I got used Roborosk S5 for 80€ and it works like a charm. Flashed it via wifi (OTA), no need to disassemble and do any electronics stuff. I have integrated it in Home Assistant and use it from there. Their website was very helpful and easy to follow to set it all up.

    I can highly recommend it from my limited experience.

    4 votes
  17. Comment on What game are you terrible at? in ~games

    Pavouk106
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    I'm terrible at FPS and rhytmic/fast-paced games all around. When we played coop with three of my friends ARMA 3, two of them.got like 30 kills while I and the other one got like 6 kills. I...

    I'm terrible at FPS and rhytmic/fast-paced games all around.

    When we played coop with three of my friends ARMA 3, two of them.got like 30 kills while I and the other one got like 6 kills. I revived the forst two quite a lot though, so one may say that I'm better in a supporting role. But CS2 doesn't have supporting roles :-) In Team Fortress 2 I played Medic or Engineer.

    I wouldn't be good at Beat Saber, but that's one thing I want to change. The same goes for Taiko no Tatsuin where I could do only the basic difficulty (but I don't have any plans for that).

    1 vote
  18. Comment on I'm not ready to let this place go in ~tildes

    Pavouk106
    Link Parent
    That's the wy I see it as well. For me Deimos' announcement was like "Tildes is up and running and there will be no new features. It will run in this state in the foreseeable future." I really...

    That's the wy I see it as well. For me Deimos' announcement was like "Tildes is up and running and there will be no new features. It will run in this state in the foreseeable future."

    I really think Deimos wasn't announcing any grave situation, quite the contraty. I think he just wanted to say out loud there will be no changes due to a few posts in past month(s) that were mentiong it would be good tonhave X or Y on the site. He just didn't want to keep.hopes up for any new features, that's how I understood it.

    I'm not leaving here and I hope not many people do. This is a great place to be and there is no need to leave for anybody.

    16 votes
  19. Comment on Any significant changes to Tildes are extremely unlikely in ~tildes.official

    Pavouk106
    Link Parent
    Thank ypu fpr the insights! I didn't thinm it is that much. I stand corrected.

    Thank ypu fpr the insights! I didn't thinm it is that much. I stand corrected.

    6 votes
  20. Comment on Suggestions for a LAN party in ~games

    Pavouk106
    Link Parent
    I have yet to try it. I know the game actually started amd played quite well some time ago, but Indidn't know multiplayer is achievable. Thabk you for sources, I will try it.

    I have yet to try it. I know the game actually started amd played quite well some time ago, but Indidn't know multiplayer is achievable. Thabk you for sources, I will try it.

    1 vote