Flagstaff

Users know the app is abusive

If this was the case, there would have been no shock, though. Have you thought at all, "Huh, yeah, Niantic is clever but also messed up to do this," with Pokémon Go being an AI-training data collector? Why focus only on the hurt, dumb users and ignore the higher body in power?

You know what? What about, "It didn't have to abuse in the first place?" Otherwise you're sounding awfully comfy with capitalism...

I sympathize! Could an accountability buddy help?

The dozen-or-so global nodes are all in active collaboration and can change BTC's programming with a majority vote (which is part of its core code, from what I barely remember reading), so they can simply roll with it. All deceased users' wallets would eventually become bounties (like the original one by Nakamoto, who is probably dead), while everyone else would migrate to quantum-resistant wallets to keep up with the times with no problem.

Excuse me, you mean the uBlock Origin fork AdNauseam, which goes a step further and intentionally garbles up advertisers' click data by clicking every ad without loading the resulting content. uBO is old news in light of AN. Don't just take their crap; fight back!

Oh, I didn't think it was rude; just a small misunderstanding at worst. I'm glad we're on the same page. I really hope that I can get them to think in fewer black-&-white ways as you have achieved, because recognizing smaller wins or steps on the zigzag path to stability could be the biggest booster to their quality of life!

Why do people like you attack the victim? The company is the monster for burying this stuff in pages-long ToSs in the intentional effort to make these sorts of disclaimers hard to find and understand. Is it because the individual is an easier target to pick on because there's a name and face to this poor woman versus a faceless, evil corporation in the shadows of bits and bytes with no clear antagonist?

Yes, she obviously messed up but the greater blame is always on the data predator, no exceptions—because if they acted ethically (even if it was legal, it was unethical), then this shock wouldn't have happened in the first place.

There is no reason that physically prevents them from putting it in giant, bold-faced font at the top: YOUR DATA WILL BE COLLECTED AND MAY BE USED AGAINST YOU. I've seen some ToSs with formatting in them, so it's totally possible. They should all be required to do this by law. Same with Niantic collecting all the camera pics from Pokémon Go players to eventually train their own AI, and not even returning any cut of the profits. Was it with the millions of players' "consent?" Sure, in legalese, but come on... Your wording suggests that the company is completely in the right, which, pardon my language, comes off as abhorrent when these people are just trying to find help, stress relief, etc. and don't have time to read through dozens of pages when the companies deceptively paint everything else as attractively as possible.

Welcome to freedom from Microsh!t!

WINE—"WINE Is Not (an) Emulator"—is a protocol to run Windows programs on Linux (Bottles is easier to use than WINE, by the way). Flatpaks and AppImages are compatibility-focused variants of Linux programs. None of these boots into Linux itself. Sorry, but there is no way around the flash drive as far as I know, but it's not too hard! I'd question at which step below he messed up. Here is exactly what I did to get it working across a Dell desktop, multiple iMacs of different generations, and Dell and Lenovo laptops, all from different manufacturers and years. You're in good hands here!

Buy a USB flash drive; even just 4 GB should work, but if you wanna try bigger/multiple distros than just Linux Mint, go bigger.
Get balenaEtcher.*
Use balenaEtcher to write the .ISO from LinuxMint.com's downloads section to the flash drive (it can actually retrieve it directly from the URL, or you can download the .ISO live image first onto your PC). Cinnamon is for standard machines whereas the others are better for lower-end, older machines (think ones that seriously struggle to load even basic programs like the browser). Ignore the balenaCloud ad.
With the flash drive ready with the Linux distro and plugged in: find the way to access the machine's BIOS and then turn it off; this may be holding F2, F9, F12, or some other key immediately after you boot up the PC. If it doesn't directly tell you briefly upon startup, you may need to search exactly what your make and model needs for BIOS access. Power it up and get into the BIOS.
Somewhere in the BIOS (which usually has self-explanatory commands at the bottom), poke around for Secure Boot; many machines already have it disabled, but some may need it to be disabled first.
Somewhere in the BIOS, you can set the bootloader order so that the computer boots from the flash drive instead. Or you may be able to just manually pick it to boot into right there on the spot, such as on Asus units. Adjust the boot order, save, and restart.
When you can see the very first Linux screen, pick the default/top option. This is a live image to tinker around and check how fast it is, whether it can play sound†, YouTube videos, etc. before you wipe the machine. Nothing you do in this demo mode will be saved anywhere, as far as I know.
To install (whether for dual-booting with Windows or deleting Windows), there will be a disc icon in the top-left corner of the desktop. Some people warn that certain Win11 updates in the future may corrupt the Mint side if you try to dual-boot. Remember that you can always find a Windows live image (.ISO) as well to revert if he just ends up disliking Mint for whatever reason.

Keep us posted on his anti-tyranny journey. Tell us at exactly which step the process goes awry for diagnosis (and make and model), if it does.

Note: On at least some machines, Linux Mint's touchpad may scroll ridiculously fast with 2 fingers; this speed isn't adjustable in its touchpad settings. If this matters to you, you can at least slow it down in Firefox or Waterfox/other Gecko-Mozilla-based browsers through the following workaround:

Go to about:config
Search mousewheel.default.delta_multiplier_
Lower the resulting X and Y from 100 to 70 (or even down to 30, depending on what you prefer); not sure of what the Z axis is for
Search mousewheel.min_line_scroll_amount and reduce it from 5 to 2

*If you wanna try many different distros like KDE Plasma, Bazzite, CachyOS, etc. without having to keep formatting the flash drive per .ISO, you may consider Ventoy instead of balenaEtcher; it can fit many different .ISOs onto the flash drive all at once (provided there's space for them all; they usually range from 2-5 GB), though it is not compatible with all distros. Presumably all your data is backed up by now, so you can just keep wiping the machine and trying out all sorts of different distros until you like something that you see more than the others.

†Even if it can't play sound, there's a decent chance that the right drivers and symlink-tinkering‡ can get it working later.

‡In Linux-speak, "symlink" (symbolic link) = shortcut file.

Hey, I agree with you. I'm saying I know for sure that that's exactly how they'll react, and I'm well aware that it's toxic. I've been trying to change their mind for literal years and I'm at the brink of giving up because it's been like smashing my head against a ~~brick~~ titanium wall. All I'm saying is that there are people who I would absolutely not send these comics to because it'd exacerbate their struggles, for as long as they have their current mindset, anyway.

Yes, this friend has also been diagnosed as autistic and thinks way too binary, and just keeps going back to this all-or-nothing/nuclear mindset despite me doing my best to change that... It's been absolutely aggravating and I think I just need to pull back.

To be fair, the friend I speak of has only been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, not specifically CFS, though I wonder if CFS may be a better fit for them, or could be comorbid.
we all need to pursue the things we can

My friend would be disgusted by this line of thought and would say, "I already have put more than my all and look where it got me: nowhere. It's clearly better to just not try and suffer more." I've wrestled over and over again over this with them, though I know there are definitely multiple mental disorders and paper-thin skin going on with them as well.

If you read through the comic again I think you'll find that in no way, shape or form is it attempting to say 'don't even bother trying; just give up now.'

I never said that it is attempting to say that; I said (or implied, sorry) that people like my friend will indubitably (mis)interpret it that way. All I'm saying is that I believe this sort of comic could backfire in an ironically terrible way if it so strongly pushes anti-burnout. It is really quite well-made otherwise, certainly.

I'm sorry you have to deal with CFS. I can only imagine how tough that must be.

We could have an amazingly decentralized messaging platform.

My good sir, the modern equivalent already exists and is called: https://www.matrix.org/

But... that... that's one of the primary selling points of Linux (which is free, as you know): working marvelously on old hardware. You can even install entirely with no desktop if you're an expert in the terminal...

Well, you're very obviously knowledgeable about what you're doing, so carry on. I just think we don't have to be Amish with private information as long as we're aware of what we're using to access it.

No, they didn't answer the question; they only asked it. Gotta see the follow-through. This makes me think of the Palantir articles about how in reality their employees have been annoyed about being painted as bad guys, instead of genuinely questioning themselves.

This is alarmingly toxic justification for my chronic-fatigue, disabled friend who insists on never starting anything (as in, applying for one job a month is hard, to give you an idea of the danger of this kind of mindset). Surely there is a balance to be had somewhere, but these comics are for generally normal people with average levels of energy and motivation. This is dangerous content for people who are already unmotivated and near-suicidal.

Geez. Well, I suppose it's just slightly better than wanton violence against total strangers since he literally told a worker to "Duck" before shooting and he seemed to not kill anyone. I wonder what will be discovered in the envelopes he left behind.

They're pulling juice from a portable power station that's being kept inside the car. The thing is that they'd better have a strong juice-generating build or else the weight of the battery itself quickly nullifies how much benefit it provides.

The entire French government is abandoning Windows for Linux. It is absolutely possible to change the entire ecosystem; just hard to hit that catalytic point, but more and more people are going that way, thankfully. Maybe they'll even eventually find Lemmy!

keep in an actual wall calendar in your home.

There's no need to go so primitive in response; just stick to offline FOSS apps that individuals made with no Internet permissions. F-Droid/Droid-ify has multiple offline period trackers.

... Wait, you are on Linux, right?