| From: FJB | 1/25/2019 11:11:35 AM | | | | | | Run Windows apps on Linux with the newly released Wine 4.0
 Share It used to be, people would scoff at the idea of switching to a Linux-based operating system due to a lack of software. While that is still true for some folks -- especially business users -- it is less of a concern these days. Why? Well, so many things are done through the web browser nowadays, lessening dependence on Windows software. For many consumers, just having the Google Chrome browser on, say, Ubuntu, is more than enough to accomplish their wants and needs. Not to mention, there are many quality Linux apps like GIMP and DaVinci Resolve.
But OK, lets say you really want to use a Linux-based operating system, but there's some Windows-only software that you absolutely cannot live without. Thankfully, you may still be able to ditch Windows and upgrade to something like Fedora or Linux Mint. How? Thanks to the excellent Wine. This compatibility layer (don't you dare call it an emulator), can sometimes enable you to run Windows software on Linux. Today, version 4.0 is released.
The Wine developers share that there are a massive 6,000 changes found in version 4.0, with the following four features being highlighted. Of course, that is just a small sampling of the massive changelog. If you are interested in reading the full list, you can do so here.
- Vulkan support.
- Direct3D 12 support.
- Game controllers support.
- High-DPI support on Android.
Before you get too excited, however, you should know that Wine is hardly flawless. Some apps and games will work fine, while others may be slow or buggy. There can be a lot of trial and error involved. Unless a certain Windows-only program is critical for you, I would instead try finding a Linux alternative or opting for a web-based solution, such as Microsoft's excellent Office Online. In other words, in many cases, Wine should be a last resort.
If you are ready to download, you can get the source here. Looking for an easier way to install it? You can use the below links to download the appropriate packages -- just follow the instructions. Keep in mind, however, it doesn't seem that 4.0 is available yet in the repos, so if you do choose to install it that way today, you may instead get version 3.x. If that is the case, you can simply wait for the packages to be updated at a later date.
What Windows-only software is stopping you from switching to Linux? Please tell me in the comments below. |
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| To: goldworldnet who wrote (102213) | 1/25/2019 11:35:02 AM | | From: FJB | | | | | You have to find an online guide. It requires flashing the BIOS, and you will get a few error messages, but I converted one to Debian, and like it better. Although, Debian should not be used by linux beginners. You should install Ubuntu. Flashing the BIOS is the scary part. Make sure you save an image of Chrome OS before you start. There are guides for that too. |
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| To: goldworldnet who wrote (102213) | 1/25/2019 8:55:34 PM | | From: FJB | | | | Latest version of Brave is Chromium based, so you can install all Chrome extension, but it seems faster than Chrome. Has a dark mode too.
brave.com
I also use Yandex a lot. It is very fast, and has the best new tab page. It lists a bunch of news feeds and can subscribe to or block them, along with whatever favorites you want.
browser.yandex.com |
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| To: goldworldnet who wrote (102213) | 1/25/2019 9:02:03 PM | | From: FJB | | | | DUPLICATE
Latest version of Brave is Chromium based, so you can install all Chrome extension, but it seems faster than Chrome. Has a dark mode too.
brave.com
I also use Yandex a lot. It is very fast, and has the best new tab page. It lists a bunch of news feeds and can subscribe to or block them, along with whatever favorites you want.
browser.yandex.com |
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| From: Zen Dollar Round | 1/26/2019 6:24:19 AM | | | | | | Is Big Tech Merging With Big Brother? Kinda Looks Like It
A friend of mine, who runs a large television production company in the car-mad city of Los Angeles, recently noticed that his intern, an aspiring filmmaker from the People’s Republic of China, was walking to work.
When he offered to arrange a swifter mode of transportation, she declined. When he asked why, she explained that she “needed the steps” on her Fitbit to sign in to her social media accounts. If she fell below the right number of steps, it would lower her health and fitness rating, which is part of her social rating, which is monitored by the government. A low social rating could prevent her from working or traveling abroad.
China’s social rating system, which was announced by the ruling Communist Party in 2014, will soon be a fact of life for many more Chinese.
By 2020, if the Party’s plan holds, every footstep, keystroke, like, dislike, social media contact, and posting tracked by the state will affect one’s social rating.
Personal “creditworthiness” or “trustworthiness” points will be used to reward and punish individuals and companies by granting or denying them access to public services like health care, travel, and employment, according to a plan released last year by the municipal government of Beijing. High-scoring individuals will find themselves in a “green channel,” where they can more easily access social opportunities, while those who take actions that are disapproved of by the state will be “unable to move a step.”
Big Brother is an emerging reality in China. Yet in the West, at least, the threat of government surveillance systems being integrated with the existing corporate surveillance capacities of big-data companies like Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon into one gigantic all-seeing eye appears to trouble very few people—even as countries like Venezuela have been quick to copy the Chinese model.
Still, it can’t happen here, right? We are iPhone owners and Amazon Prime members, not vassals of a one-party state. We are canny consumers who know that Facebook is tracking our interactions and Google is selling us stuff.
Yet it seems to me there is little reason to imagine that the people who run large technology companies have any vested interest in allowing pre-digital folkways to interfere with their 21st-century engineering and business models, any more than 19th-century robber barons showed any particular regard for laws or people that got in the way of their railroads and steel trusts.
Nor is there much reason to imagine that the technologists who run our giant consumer-data monopolies have any better idea of the future they're building than the rest of us do.
Facebook, Google, and other big-data monopolists already hoover up behavioral markers and cues on a scale and with a frequency that few of us understand. They then analyze, package, and sell that data to their partners.
A glimpse into the inner workings of the global trade in personal data was provided in early December in a 250-page report released by a British parliamentary committee that included hundreds of emails between high-level Facebook executives. Among other things, it showed how the company engineered sneaky ways to obtain continually updated SMS and call data from Android phones. In response, Facebook claimed that users must "opt-in" for the company to gain access to their texts and calls.
More at: wired.com |
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| To: Zen Dollar Round who wrote (102219) | 1/26/2019 2:39:00 PM | | From: goldworldnet | | | | My mother doesn't use social media, but does shop online and has a computer in both her den and bedroom. She hasn't been married to my stepdad for over 40 years, but he has never had an internet connection or email address. It's not a financial issue, he just doesn't want them. He does have a flip-phone.
Josh
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