Does this work? I would think scanning a *.package would only assess that content. Wouldn’t something malicious likely be in the code or dependency it could call via some form of get request? That .deb package itself could be completely “safe” until it calls a git clone <URL> to then run something malicious.

I think this would be more likely to work for appimage or flatpak, though the same approach could compromise the validity of the scan. Am I thinking too hard, or did I just miss the point?

Why the pain of Arch? You probably fell in love with the rolling release, wiki, and the AUR.

If their computer can handle running a windows vm on virtualbox, I’d recommend that over dual boot. Windows update will almost certainly cause issues on boot…eventually.

Jump into Linux with both feet. Use the vm as a crutch or a bridge to windows only software.

Follow the advice below… backup everything. If you have a 2nd hd, this makes it easier to keep files and is separated.

If you’re prepared to reinstall, it’s easy to nuke it and try again. It’s part of learning and sometimes easier to troubleshoot.

Bard on my experience, Mint is probably the best gateway distro into Linux from windows. Debian and Ubuntu forums are relevant and useful. My wife and I are both IT professionals, and mint was just “natural”. She couldn’t care less what os, de, or wm is in use as long as it gets it done. She’s got mint on one laptop and Debian with gnome on another.

Once they decide they want something different they can find what meets those needs nice they have their bearings and a “need”.

Ubuntu never really hit home for me for some reason.

I wanted to move off mint, because I wanted the gnome DE. Yes, I did successfully slam gnome on top of mint, more as a can I do it vs should I do it exercise. Then I wanted something further upstream and went to Debian.

Then, I started tinkering with Endeavouros. This has allowed me to learn more about how things really work and WHY they work the way they do. Documentation on arch to me is second to none. Until I had daily driver Linux experience and spent some time tinkering, this was just overwhelming.

Do you know how to install without a helper? Go through the wiki and build the package for a couple apps and then uninstall if you like. I don’t know everything that’s going on, but I can somewhat tell if it doesn’t seem crazy. If you get a component that looks strange, just look it up on the AUR or official repos.

Yes, there’s more risk in the AUR than “official”, but the AUR is one of the greatest parts of arch. I’d the app you’re installing seems active with comments and users, I bet you’re fine.

There’s a lot of people out there doing this waaaaay smarter than me. If it got past all of them too, then I probably never stood a chance to avoid whatever it was. I also understand malware on the AUR to be very uncommon. I happened 1x in something like the last 5-10 years and was discovered and down in under day. (I could be remembering wrong).

I’d also say think a bit. If you find “the official Firefox” first posted today with no comments and a link to some Eastern European language wish-looking version of Git….i mean download that shit. Add to root users group and save the password! * if you don’t know where the last part got sketchy and sarcastic, you may want an os with more guardrails.

I for one welcome our new overlords. May you be fair and just; never making infamy in yepowertrippin’ bastards!

Thank you for your contributions!

I got one from my utility company. They installed it at the meter. It was about $400. Once it’s tripped, it will have to be replaced, but if something happens significant enough to trip that, I probably (hopefully) saved a lot of other large appliances and HVAC.

It might be that I’m looking at this from a US perspective. Craig’s list has been a bit rough when I’ve tried it. Scammy and shadier people. I hope you’ve had better experiences here than me.

I found cash converters out of the UK. Is that correct? It seemed comparable to a pawn shop at first glance.

Ok, I feel old. The only reason facebook has any relevance to me is the market place. What’s the best alternative?

Florida man here. Driven I-4 many times, can be scary, but not horrible. Miami, yes can be horrifying.

Dallas and Houston, I hate driving in the most. I don’t like Atlanta traffic, but I’d agree with you it’s awful. I was just being coy with my comment. Atlanta is probably top 10 worst drivers in the country. That list probably correlates well with biggest cities too.

Maybe it’s because I drive less since Covid, but I’d seems like everyone has gotten 10x more aggressive. Just in general. Kindness seems to almost be obsolete and decency is a rarity.

For what it’s worth, my mantra when driving is lead, follow, or get out of the way. I try to match speed to about the 80th percentile of traffic so I don’t jam things up, but also not the one that sticks out to get the speeding ticket.

Tell me you’ve never been to Texas without telling me you’ve never been to Texas. 😉