What non-FOSS software are you using that you wish you could replace?

For me its honestly a ton of my work software (digital forensics), shit is too niche to be replaced by good FOSS options. Cellebrite, Magnet Axiom, etc. Autopsy is great and free and has a linux version but it simply cannot get the same level of data without a pretty nutty level of custom code.

And the biggest side effect of this is FUCKING WINDOWS. God I would replace this nightmare OS in a heartbeat if the aforementioned work software would make linux compatible versions. We have legitimately wasted 10k hours dealing with windows bullshit that would not be a problem in linux. Though im sure linux would take a different 10k for its own problems.

What about you guys? Doesn’t have to be work related, thats just the thorn in my side right now.

Aopen,

Paradox of Windows 10 MS will soon end support and my cpu is “too old” for update to win11 so Ill be forced by Microsoft to use linux

Also Google Play Services, because my phone didnt allow me to flash MicroG

nyakojiru,
@nyakojiru@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

For android you have f-droid

Aopen,

I know

I have deleted all google’s dogshit “system” apps and replaced some of them with fdroid alternatives

The thing is I had to keep play services so some unavoidable apps still work: Gmaps YT

Aopen,

I know

I have deleted all google’s dogshit “system” apps and replaced ones I need with fdroid alternatives

The thing is I had to keep play services so some unavoidable apps still work:

  • Gmaps - google has monopoly
  • YT - find video>share>newpipe>enjoy
  • Play Store - give back aurora 😭
nyakojiru,
@nyakojiru@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Yeah I think one can take care of privacy at a reasonable level without being like Sauls Goodman brother . The issue if we try unnecessary to disappear completely, you have to spend an enormous effort and time and it becomes in some kind of obsession. I personally take basic core measures like giving myself free to data cross of the different well known algorithms from companies and fraudulent sources. I don’t complete desiapoear but I’m like a puzzle for them .

Lemongrab,
@Lemongrab@lemmy.one avatar

Aurora can be used with a gooe account, still better then nothing imo

For gmaps replacement, I use either organic maps or magic earth (non foss but privacy respecting). For gmaps search results I use GmapsWV (sandboxed gmaps web view)

Auster,

On that matter, if you haven't dug on the topic yet and if I may suggest, look for Linux systems ("distros") with either the Xfce or Wayland desktop environments, since they're some of the lightest around (Xfce being the most stable of the two, but Wayland seems pretty promising already).

gratux,
@gratux@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

About the Cpu being “too old”, did you launch the update app in windows 10, or did you create a USB stick? I just installed Windows 11 on my first gen Ryzen using a USB, even though the Windows 10 updater told me it’s too old

jabib,

I’m running W11 on a first-gen i7-930, no TPM.

Aopen,

My pc has i7 4470k and its not listed on supported by wondows 11

…microsoft.com/…/windows-11-supported-intel-proce…

XpeeN,

Did you try microg installer revived?

Default_Defect,
@Default_Defect@midwest.social avatar

I want to jump to linux, but the prospect of starting from scratch on a new OS (or even a reinstall of windows) is just not feasible right now.

RxBrad,
@RxBrad@lemmings.world avatar

If I was the only person using my PC, I’d probably make the jump.

Unfortunately, my wife would end me if I tried that.

Default_Defect,
@Default_Defect@midwest.social avatar

I’m in the process of getting my hands on a cheap laptop to at least use Linux so the eventual transition is easier, though.

svahnen,

Old Thinkpads make great Linux laptops with almost all models having all drivers working out of the box. Any model sufficiently new will work much better than any new laptop in the same price category. They also have great ports, replaceble batteries, screen, keyboards, ram, ssd and so on. I have a X250 and my wife have an T440s.

Buy anything newer then this (40 is my recommended minimum) if u want to use them as daily driver:

X440 (the smaller 13 inch laptops start with X)

T440 (14 inch, top of the class performance vs sleekness)

L440 (14 inch, don’t know what’s special here)

W540 (15 inch, workstation)

Some models can end with an S or P, example T440S. S models are thinner, P models are more powerful.

Just search your local marketplaces for “ThinkPad” then look for a picture of the screen and you will see the model number in the bottom left corner. ThinkPads have a red nob on the keyboard, so if the picture don’t have a nob, you can flick past it quicker 😉

You can even get one with the wrong keyboard layout and just replace it, they have so many replacement parts on ebay you can build one from scratch if you wanted. I replaced my keyboard to get backlighting and my screen to get 1920*1080 on a x250 I got for about 125 Dollar.

PS: don’t get a E variant, they are the budget variants with way worse build quality.

Edit: formatting

PM_ME_VINTAGE_30S,
@PM_ME_VINTAGE_30S@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

Tl;Dr: it’s not as hard as you think.

I just jumped over to Linux in June. I booted into the Debian Live USB with KDE Plasma as the desktop environment. In general, make sure you have an Ethernet connection available for the first install. I basically tried it out in the live environment for a few days and I fell in love with it, in particular KDE Plasma. I picked Debian because I prefer not to update my PC very often (or at all on my music production computer), plus I had a nice time with the Raspberry Pi, which uses a derivative of Debian. If I really need the absolute newest version of any specific software, I have no problem installing it from a .deb and I can usually compile from source if the project is decently documented, but if you absolutely do not want to do that, you might want to pick a different distro. Whatever distro you pick, you’ll be able to install KDE Plasma later. KDE had all the features I actually liked from Windows 10, but just better and more customizable. You can really make KDE work for almost any workflow.

I ended up installing it onto my music PC in a dual-boot configuration with my existing Windows 7 install. Unfortunately, I cannot afford to migrate my music production projects off Windows 7 because I was sloppy over the course of a decade with project directory structures and multiple drives, so I probably can’t move these projects to any OS until I put in a few weeks of work to actually organize all those files. Oh well; everything else can work with Linux.

I’ve gotten pretty far so far by just installing Wine and Proton and using my existing Windows programs through those compatibility layers.

I also dropped Debian onto my school/work laptop in a dual-boot configuration with Windows 10. Except for the background, which I decided to make different, KDE is almost indistinguishable from Windows 10 until I start to use it, which reminds me how much nicer KDE is to use.

Most distros have live USBs with easy installers that make the whole process really painless. I basically installed Debian in the background while watching TV (Invidious), all inside the live install.

I also put Debian with LXQT on the remains of my old highschool PC, basically just a motherboard with integrated graphics, RAM, CPU, and case; no hard drive, no external graphics. I just put Debian onto a microSD card [1] and told the BIOS to look there for bootable drives. No commitment. As much as I love KDE, it does require non-trivial resources to exist. Since that hardware is over a decade old now, I really can’t afford to give any of it to a desktop environment.

So if you really can’t commit to Linux, you can slap it onto a large microSD and tell your BIOS/UEFI to boot it. It’s a little slower than putting on a drive, but sufficient to give Linux an extended test-drive.

You could also try installing it in a virtual machine. Linux plays very nicely with Virtualbox. I picked LXQT for my old PC by installing a virtual machine with Debian and installing a bunch of desktop environments onto the system. Then, I cut back the number of cores, processor speed, and RAM available to see how they acted.

My point is, I really think it’s a good idea to try Linux now. It really will not take very long to get a great, usablr system, and you can make it yours by making little changes as you go along.

[1] Meaning, I used a live install USB to install to a separate microSD card. A live install loads the entire OS and any programs you install into RAM. In general, the content of the live USB isn’t changed, and it’s difficult to do so. What I did was to treat the microSD card as a hard drive and install a normal system.

Sina,

LXQT

Not much lighter than kde outside of ram usage. (consider lxde, or just a wm)

PM_ME_VINTAGE_30S,
@PM_ME_VINTAGE_30S@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

See that’s what I thought, and that’s what I got from simulating both systems in the virtual machine, but on my particular hardware LXQT ran a tad bit faster. I tried a few straight-up WM’s but I didn’t like them. On my main PC, which is about five years old, LXQT ran about as fast as KDE and LXDE was predictably wicked fast.

I’m reinstalling Linux onto a legitimate hard drive (it was on a microSD). I’ll install both again and see what happens. Although really, I just need enough to run TeamViewer so I can control my other machines from there.

MazonnaCara89,
@MazonnaCara89@lemmy.ml avatar

If you don’t want to start from scratch just use it but don’t install it on the pc!

You can get familiar with the os by trying it on a virtual machine or in a live usb, and the windows partition will always remain untouched!

nixnoodle,

Windows+Visual Studio. I run them in a VM, and for a while managed to keep it at 50GB, but combine it with a moderately large hit repo and you can just give that up. And yes, I know vscode is a thing, but there always ends up being some legacy/COM/platform specific library that makes it non-compatible.

gutter564,

I believe there is Code OSS for VS

hoyland,

VisualStudio is different from VSCode.

DarkHeartDom,

The only ide that’s a heavy enough hitter to compare to full on vs would be kdevelop. The gnome ide just isn’t at the same level

TheBurlapBandit,

Adobe After Effects. Despite being an unstable spaghetti code nightmare, there is no other viable option for professional motion graphics designers.

makingStuffForFun,
@makingStuffForFun@lemmy.ml avatar

Agree. But just letting you know about natron in case you haven’t seen it.

syl,

Sublime text. It is just so fucking good! Much more performant than even nvim.

nestEggParrot,

Exacty hows it more performant than nvim? Sure has some GUI functionalities but nvim supports many mouse actions even.

I’ve mostly used ST as my primary choice for quick edits or other raedom files thats not part of my project files. I use NVim while working on the CLI and dont need to do large rapid edits. If I need I can learn some advanced commands of nvim to make better use of it or set up some good key binds.

In terms of plugins, they both have all basic ones for daily dev needs. Nvim honestly have a bunch of useful integrations thats very easy to do if using something like astrovim.

Haven’t seen any performance drops in either with bunch of extensions. On that note vscode has even more extensive plugins available for most setup needs without too much of a performance hit. I’ve only seen it perform bad on a 6th gen i3 with 8gb ram when run along with eclipse, dozen chrome tabs and postman. Thats the reason I chose ST initially.

DarkHeartDom,

Umm, no. Nvim setup properly will smoke sublime. Check out one of the pre-built ide like versions like Astro or Lunar. Stock to stock, nvim will be faster. Configured to configured, nvim will be faster.

syl,

No. I have tested it extensively and sublime is just smoother. Try just doing a snippet and you will notice the difference in smoothness. Sublime is butter smooth.

Sooperstition,

Onenote! I use it for school and work, and love the syncing capability and the flexibility in structuring and organizing my notes. I also like the keyboard shortcuts and the way it can dock to a side of the screen to keep the main content visible

asap, (edited )
@asap@feddit.de avatar

Would anytype.io be a replacement? It’s very new so you might not have heard of it. It’s designed like Notion, but it might have everything you need.

If your needs are more simple, notesnook.com could be worth looking into.

Other FOSS options are Joplin and Logseq. I’m an Obsidian user myself; not FOSS but the storage format is completely open which is the most important to me.

Unwind2046,

I adore obsidian, but would love to see an open source software that is on the same level. The extensibility and keyboard-shortcut driven nature of Obsidian makes it a dream to use!

Erk,

I’m loving joplin

CapedStanker,

Missouri?!?

mrh,
@mrh@mander.xyz avatar

firmware/drivers

OneRedFox,
@OneRedFox@beehaw.org avatar

Nvidia drivers. Back in 2019, I was looking to replace my Nvidia card with an AMD one, but decided I could put that off for a few months. Then COVID happened along with the cryptocurrency boom and prices skyrocketed to unreasonable levels. Nvidia drivers are honestly the last holdout on my machine barring perhaps some firmware somewhere.

RosemarySolomon,

Intuit software, specifically TurboTax. This also may become obsolete to replace if the IRS will give out free software as rumored for next year, but I’m surprised nothing as intuitive ^pun ^heh or user-friendly has popped up. Maybe I need to do more research, not sure.

loops,

Pretty much anything on my phone. Though I have recently found f-droid, and through that I found Phonograph. I wish open street maps could replace google maps, but I really don’t know what it’s trying to do.

smpl,
@smpl@discuss.tchncs.de avatar

Depends on your country, but where I live Open Streetmap is better than Google’s map. I hear OsmAnd is a great app, but I don’t use a smartphone so I haven’t tested it. I just know that their very compact offline maps are impressive.

cnnrduncan,

I prefer Organic Maps as an OSM Android App, I’ve found it to be a bit easier to use and more reliable than OsmAnd!

loops,

Thanks, I’ll have to try both of those! (☞ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)☞

Chronoshift,
@Chronoshift@fosstodon.org avatar

@cnnrduncan @smpl
I use Organic Maps on iPhone and think it's great.

d3Xt3r,

You should also check out Droid-ify if you like F-Droid. Has more sources, notably those apps on Github which aren’t on F-Droid. Since it can grab apps from Github directly, it gets updates much faster than F-Droid.

loops,

Ooo that sounds swell!

JohnDumpling,

OSM has much better coverage in Europe as more volunteers contibute. I heard it’s not that great in the US.

JackGreenEarth,

Nationwide banking.

jabjoe,
@jabjoe@feddit.uk avatar

For home and work, none, locally. The problem now is Google and MS Teams, LinkedIn, Github, etc. That’s the new battle ground. They would make us thin clients to their mainframe and that we must rent access.

MagneticFusion,

Banks and finances

Thalestr,
@Thalestr@beehaw.org avatar

Discord and Windows. I have had so many bad experiences whenever I have tried Linux that I am extremely reluctant to give it another go despite all the improvements it has made.

metaStatic,

Pop OS has been a windows killer for me.

Revolt Chat has a bootstrapping problem like most new social software.

Lettuceeatlettuce,

Hmm interesting, I would have thought digital forensics would be a space that lots of FOSS would exist in.

For me, it’s Discord and Steam. There are some good alternatives for Steam in the sense of being a game launcher, but not with all the modding and friend join features, which I use quite a lot.

Discord is worse for me though, because Valve is a least a FOSS friendly company, but Discord isn’t the same. all my friends and family are on Discord and have no interest in leaving. There aren’t any FOSS alternatives that have all the core features that Discord has and work well.

And contrary to a lot of FOSS enthusiasts, I actually really like Discord, it works well most of the time for me.

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