@amcooper This seems like the kind of thing someone should write a library for. The mapping data changes over time, of course, but I'm pretty-kinda-sure there's an API somewhere...?
Makes sense! I agree about trying to get major [non-Microsoft, cuz that's not happening and even if it did there'd be EEE issues to worry about] software-makers to join the party... and also hoping the deep rewrite of WINE's GPU stuff fixes those performance issues.
This is perhaps getting into the weeds a bit, but... what do you actually need/use Adobe software for? (...just because LibreOffice already does PDF stuff pretty well out-of-the-box...)
Games I can see being an issue, although again they've gotten much better. (Luxor HD, Luxor 3, and Luxor 5th Passage now run without video glitches, though I expect this mainly illustrates that I'm rather niche when it comes to gamering.) I'm looking forward to the major GPU-ops overhaul in the latest (upcomig?) WINE release, whenever that makes its way into Ubuntu -- possibly that will resolve your VR issues?
(I'm faintly hoping it will finally let me run Luxor 2, which still seems to think I'm running some Windows version lower than 98, which kinda has to be a Luxor bug and not WINE...)
P.S. My (88-yo) dad finally got tired of Microsoft's nonsense and asked me to put Linux on a MIcrosoft Surface tablet, which I have done; he seemed fully intent on actually using it. We'll see how that goes...
...and now whenever I see the word "Engine", my brain goes "Angine de Poitrine!" in that particular highly audio-effected way that they do, because of course it does. 🧠🤖 :blobcatupsidedown:
Ponyo strikes a pose !
#cats #猫 #chats #caturday #FediCats #MastoCats #CatsOfMastodon
...and people who don't like typing on leetle tiny touchscreen-keyboards, but there's probably a lot of overlap there.
On those "missing killer apps" -- I have to ask: did you try running them under WINE?
(I switched to Linux in 2005 -- MS Access 97 was probably the most painful loss and remains so, but I still have no regrets.)
@gangrif @rnd I feel like Linux has really come a long way, though -- and Windows has regressed, too, making the "better than Windows" bar easier for Linux to clear even if it had made no progress at all.
(When was the netbook era? Was that mainly an EU thing?)
@smallcircles I want to read it, and it's on a topic of importance to me, but I recognize that I don't have the focus or time.
Also, I'm quickly running into information for which I lack referents, making it difficult to digest what the article is saying.
I think what I'd need (for whatever that may be worth) in order to be able to digest this properly is some backgrounders on the major pieces mentioned:
I'd probably have more to ask/say but I keep getting interrupted, which perhaps gives you some idea of why I'm not able to read the article properly right now... :blobcatupsidedown:
France is transitioning government desktops to Linux, with each ministry required to formalize its implementation plan by autumn 2026.
https://linuxiac.com/france-launches-government-linux-desktop-plan-as-windows-exit-begins
Mastodon 4.6 will support alt text for the profile photo and banner. Is this the first social platform that allows something like this? I’ve never seen alt text for profile photos and banners implemented anywhere else.
@devopscats Ha! I know from personal experience that coax conductive cables are sensitive to vibrations (in effect, acting like a linear condenser mic) so I guess it shouldn't have been surprising that fiber-optics are as well.
(That said, wouldn't it be easier and more reliable just to bury a small mic somewhere inside the ISP-provided indoor equipment? I guess if someone is important enough to spy on, though, they're likely to have the resources to spot something like that... unless it's just for ad-targeting purposes... [wanders off whilst mumbling about possible scenarios])
One advantage of being an artistic weirdo who makes completely commercially non-viable music is that I have a •lot• of practice forging that sense of purpose and meaning for myself when the world is aggressively not handing it to me.
Software development has been coasting on a wave of profitability / employability for several decades, and as a discipline perhaps has an underdeveloped sense of intrinsic purpose. Now is a good time to for us to redevelop that as a community, regardless of future job market prospects.
@inthehands The coding work I do on my own feels much more meaningful (even if it takes way too long to get done) than my paid work was ever allowed to be, even when I had opportunity to bend it in meaningful directions.
@wdlindsy I always took that slogan as more of a "let's put this in terms his idolizers might understand" than a face-value assertion, but yeah -- the objective problem with it has always been that the point at which he finally backs down may be long after the damage is done. ...and it never stops there.
After almost twenty years on the platform, EFF is logging off of X.
This isn’t a decision we made lightly, but it might be overdue. 🧵 (1/5)
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/04/eff-leaving-x
New Comic found: Wizard of Id - 2026-04-09 https://www.gocomics.com/wizardofid/2026/04/09
The US healthcare system has been intentionally sabotaged by the Epstein class, who see us as NPCs / pawns in their power-games. They want us as disempowered as possible so that we're more likely to do what they want and not cause them any inconvenience.
(...just to restate what may already be obvious to all present.)
@smp Can you confirm if it also happens on treehouse.systems? (They're also Glitch, unless I'm more confused than usual.)