Some of you need to watch this video, and hang your head in shame.

Dylan Taylor has been receiving constant harassment, including threats to his life and safety, for actions done collectively by SystemD. The article by Sam Bent was explictly mentioned as part of the harassment campaign, and rightfully so.

I don't think enough people realize that this is catastrophically bad. It'll discourage people from becoming open source developers, it'll discourage people from using Linux, and it'll discourage legislators from taking the Linux community seriously.

If you ever wished ill upon another human being for complying with a relatively inconsequential law, you are better off never touching a computer again. The Linux community has collectively gone so far beyond what is acceptable here.

So I use Fedora with ffmpeg-free and the AMD drivers swapped out with the RPM fusion versions. My default mp4-player is Firefox so I never had any issues but for academic reasons I decided to test Elisa.

No sound plays.

I enable my built-in speakers, the sound plays through them.

I try Dragon Player, same issue.

I google it, no solution.

I ask AI, still no solution.

I uninstall both of them and swap to Firefox, problem solved.

Installed mpv (flatpak) just to check, works fine (other than the media controls being tiny and there being no settings menu).

So my question is, is this a normal thing for KDE or is this a Fedora thing? I tried various steps but nothing seemed to work. Apparently others have solved this with different media players (like I have), and apparently in the past Fedora lacked mp3 support (but not currently).

I need to know if I can blame KDE for this and thus recommend Fedora, or whether this is a Fedora issue.

EDIT: I reinstalled them as flatpaks and they're fixed. I would still ideally like to know why they refuse to use the selected bluetooth headphones and instead use the speakers.

EDIT 2: I installed Elisa on my CachyOS desktop that doesn't have built-in speakers and it played through Bluetooth properly. Next I'll need to liveboot into Kubuntu or something and see if the issue persists.

So, I'm currently on Kubuntu and I'm not really a fan. I want to take the opportunity to switch to a better distro. Ideally I'd use secureblue but I'm hoping for advice on how practical it is as a daily driver from the people who've used it.

My priorities are:

1. Using Linux.
2. Using Firefox.
3. Security, within reason.
4. Using software which treats security with the importance it warrants (If desktop Linux should improve in one area in 2026, it's security).

My options are:

1. Fedora Kinoite
2. Fedora KDE with some hardening
3. Secureblue

My needs are:

• Browsers: Firefox, Mullvad Browser, a Blink-based browser (backup).
• Extensions: Ublock Origin (Lite or otherwise), Noscript, Proton Pass
• Apps: Freetube, Anki, Discord, Threema, Libreoffice, Mullvad VPN, Kwrite, Kolourpaint
• Sound: Bluetooth headphones, Sound, Printing (Optional)

I've stopped using themes, partly because of the security issues and partly because I just don't really like them anymore. I've replaced them with the Plastic window decorations that come default on Kubuntu and a custom colour scheme.

On Firefox:

• I need Firefox because it allows me to create duplicate bookmarks with ease. I manage a lot of things via bookmarks and sometimes they overlap.
• Secureblue has been incompatible with Firefox in the past, but IIRC Firefox recently added support for hardened_malloc. I can't find where I read this though.
• In terms of the security issues with Firefox, I've installed Noscript to prevent untrusted sites from running javascript (especially Wasm). I can swap to a blink-based browser where it requires trusting too many sites.
• Proton Pass ... I don't log directly into it on my computer (only on GrapheneOS) and I don't have my 2FA keys stored on it. I need it for a Passkey because neither Linux nor GrapheneOS support them natively and my government services' 2FA codes requires it's own app which requires the Play Integrity API (bloody Australia). My government services are a very high value target (because Australia).
• I wonder if I really need hardened_malloc in the first place, since with the state of Linux security I'm not sure there's a reason someone would use a memory vulnerability unless I'm being targeted personally (and nobody's gonna do that for me).

Security goals:

1. I want to make sure the software I install don't have access to anything they don't need to.
2. I want to make sure that any website I visit won't be able to access my file system.
3. I want to make sure that my browser extensions won't be able to access my file system.
4. I want to use a distro that's somewhat resilient against supply chain attacks.
5. Proximity to upstream for timely security patches.

So a bit ago I got an add for "canned rambutan". I had looked up Rambutan a few days prior after hearing it mentioned 10 hours into the video game Baby Steps. I wasn't using a VPN at the time and I didn't have fingerprinting protections active but I only mentioned it to a few sources (according to my browser history) all of which generally are implied to be private.

Which of these do you think is the reason the ad networks know?

• Wikipedia
• Startpage Search
• Duckduckgo Search
• My ISP
• Firefox
• My Firefox Extensions
• Kubuntu
• CachyOS
• The omnipotent algorithm connecting my mentions of Baby Steps with my progress through the game.
• Does this only make sense if my browser history is incomplete?
• Maybe I was using DNS over HTTPS via Cloudflare at the time of my search.

Any guesses as to where the weak link is?

So someone recently told me I should cut back on donations to open source projects. So I broke down my spending since October 1st (with subscriptions annualized) and ... I'm not spending enough. My spending on FOSS is that 1.3% slither and adding in subscription services makes it 4.1%.

I'm not in a rush to start donations, since I don't want to add to the December-ness of FOSS donations. I just want to hear people's thoughts.

I currently donate to:

1. GrapheneOS
2. KDE
3. Mint (Update: Since drawing this graph this has been cancelled. Due to their security and the fact I don't really use them anymore)

In terms of priorities I have the following:

1. Contributes to the "security by default" of the Linux ecosystem.
2. Headquartered outside of the US, or at the very least a project that's a middle-finger to US big tech.
3. Something I actually use would be preferable (Currently I use Kubuntu (distro-hop aggressively pending) with DesktopPal97, CachyOS, GrapheneOS, ProtonMail/Drive/Pass, LibreOffice, Steam, Threema, Anki, Lemmy, Firefox, various Accrescent Apps, and various browser extensions)

The real tough part is that I don't want to use PayPal (Thiel/Musk), GitHub sponsors (Microsoft), or Bitcoin (I'm open to mining it in the background, but I don't like the idea of turning real cash into fake cash).

So what do you all donate to?

Like, why Valve? I was so close to clearing out all the games I was partway through, now I need to add some demos to my backlog (not many, this Next Fest is kinda weak).

Probably could've made it but I haven't picked a distro. I'm planning on turning my desktop into a dedicated gaming computer and not daily driver, because of the malware risk. I wanted something not finicky, something devs would test on as a known quantity, and preferably something Arch-based like SteamOS.

• Garuda (Arch-based)
• Bazzite (Known quantity, immutable, Fedora-based, I don't trust it for some reason)
• Nobara (Proton-adjacent distro, Fedora-based)
• CachyOS (Super fast, Arch-based, presumably finicky?)
• Windows 7 (Based, unsupported by steam, insecure)

BTW I have an AMD CPU and GPU. Figured I should've mentioned that.

I just got a new laptop and installed Linux on it. I mainly run OpenSUSE.

Getting full encryption on both was a bit of a challenge and I had no idea what I'm doing. Will having the swap partition in the middle break things? Did I really need so many partitions (Mint and OpenSUSE don't show up in eachother's boot menu)?

I'm probably not gonna change this layout (because reinstallation seems like a pain) unless the swap partition's position is a problem. I'm just curious how many mistakes I made.

EDIT: I'm not upgrading my drive capacity. I do not need it.

So, a while back I installed Xfce with Chicago95, but was disappointed. Xfce just doesn't vibe with me, and a strict emulation of Windows95 is not really what I wanted, I just wanted something that "felt" that classic.

So I was gonna give up and just use KDE, until I saw TDE. I think TDE is probably what I'm looking for but I'm concerned about using anything so minor because security.

It TDE secure (for personal use)?

Can a DE even be insecure, or are they all generally as secure as each-other as long as you follow the rules (trustworthy software, closed firewall, install patches fast, and disaster recovery plans)?

What vulnerabilities can a desktop environment even have (edit)?

So, I'm trying to make sure my Steam Wishlist from 2024 (April-December) is small enough that I can play. I have about 250 hours at most (after repeatedly raising the limit).

Does anyone here have strong thoughts about any of these games that can help me decide? I'm in no rush to finish (since I'm a moderately patient gamer) but I figured some people here would have useful opinions.

Maybe one of these games has problematic developers, or maybe they're just boring.

Please let me know if you have any thoughts.

• Vampire Therapist (18h)
• Tactical Breach Wizards (12-20h)
• Cryptmaster (11-14h)
• ANIMAL WELL (7-11h)
• Sorry We're Closed (8h)
• Last Time I Saw You (3-7h)
• Still Wakes the Deep (5-6h)
• Neva (4-6h)
• Anthology Of The Killer (4-5h)
• INDIKA (4-5h)
• Completely Stretchy (3h)
• Tiny Glade (4h)
• NAIAD (3-4h)
• Mini Mini Golf Golf (3h)
• Dollmare (2h)
• Children of the Sun (4h)
• Botany Manor (4h)
• Grunn (5h)
• Chroma Zero (10h)
• Psychopomp (2h)
• Ten Bells (2h)
• Robot Detour (4h)
• Imaginary Friend Asylum (4h)
• I Am Your Beast (3-6h)
• The Powder Toy (NA)
• Prickle (2h)
• Squirrel with a Gun (5h)
• BRAZILIAN DRUG DEALER 3 (2h)
• Already bought (76-96h): WEBFISHING (26-30h), Lorn's Lure (10h), 1000xRESIST (11-13h), Valley Peaks (5-11h), Arctic Eggs (3h), Mouthwashing (2-3h), Lost Diskettes Vol.1 (2-3h), CLICKOLDING (1h), Dread Delusion (16-22h)
• Short (<2h): Void Whispers (0.5h), Lake Minnewaska (0.5h), Short Trip (Short), Backspace Backspace Backspace (Short), Egg Squeeze (1h), Buckshot Roulette (1-2h), PROXIMATE (1-2h), Miniatures (1h), Some Goodbyes We Made (1-2h), This Is Not Your House (Short)
• Free (Haven't sorted yet): Classic Marathon Infinity, Seraphim Slum, Veil Transfer, Dreamline 404, Parts of the Elephant, Sandwich Sim, Finn Dorset's Institute For Livestock Replication, Sarpedon, Until Oblivion, Wittle Mistakes - Prologue, Ignited Entry, Mirth Melody, DEAD LAMB WALKING, Bleeding Roots, Gorble, [Nightmare Files] Clap Clap, Krypta FM, you're just imagining it, The Big Catch: Tacklebox, With Shining Eyes, Mimic Search, Escape 51, Dreaming After You
• Only if they add a demo: Heading Out (6h), Broken Lens (5-9h), Hauntii (8-11h), Starstruck Vagabond (16h), Lorelei and the Laser Eyes (17-20h), Fruitbus (24h)
• Only because they have a demo: Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure (6h), Cataclismo (6-10h), Liminalcore (Beyond my graphics card), Psychopomp GOLD, Dungeons of Hinterberg, Little Ghosthunter, 6-Sided Stories, Until Then (25h), HITM3 (4h), Zero-Sum Heart (7h)