groovybits (u/groovybits)

groovybits commented on KDE Connect: Enabling communication between all your devices community.kde.org/KDEConn... · Posted by u/snthd

CaptainOfCoit · 5 months ago

I remember getting excited about KDE Connect but then being completely disappointed that it basically non-functional on iOS...

As I remember it (tried it last year I think), the application needs to be in the foreground in order to do anything at all, because of Apple's (purposeful) limitations of doing things in the background.

So if you were hoping to be able to install this and sync stuff without effort and having to leave the app open all the time, Apple seems to be vehemently against anything like that, probably because they have their own solutions for this...

Edit: The GitHub repository actually goes through the Apple-induced problem:

> iOS is very much designed around foreground interactions. Therefore, background “daemon-style” applications don’t really exist under conventional means, so the behavior where KDE Connect iOS is unresponsive in the background is more or less intended. There are technically some special categories and "hacky" methods to try to get it to run in the background, but in general, there is no intended/by-design method of keeping a "daemon-style" app running forever in the background. For more information, see this post on the Apple Dev Forums

https://github.com/KDE/kdeconnect-ios

groovybits · 5 months ago

Maybe I'm missing something, but what "daemon-style" app tasks are you doing, or expecting, with KDE Connect? Its core functions seem to be quick tasks; sending files, clipboard, remote control, etc.

Perhaps my usage is basic in this way - I've never had an issue with using the iOS app as it is.

groovybits commented on KDE Connect: Enabling communication between all your devices community.kde.org/KDEConn... · Posted by u/snthd

ahakki · 5 months ago

they should rebrand it as Konnekt.

groovybits · 5 months ago

Legacy KDE apps used to follow this naming convention until the late 2000s, early 2010s.

You had apps like Konqueror (web browser, file manager), KMail (email client), Kompose (music score editor), KImages (later rebranded to Krita), and KDevelop (software dev IDE).

Modern KDE apps dropped the 'K' prefix and moved to a more recognizable scheme, like: Falkon (web browser), Dolphin (file manager), and Okular (document viewer).

As you can see, its now a mix of whether the app keeps the 'K' in the name. Some do not.

groovybits commented on KDE Connect: Enabling communication between all your devices community.kde.org/KDEConn... · Posted by u/snthd

stormed · 5 months ago

KDE Connect has been my answer to Apple's Airdrop for the last couple of years. It's an excellent program; I even use it on my Mac for file transferring with my Steam Deck

groovybits · 5 months ago

Same use case, its also been very useful for copying and pasting text from my Mac to the Steam Deck, similar to Universal Copy and Paste between Apple devices.

groovybits commented on KDE Connect: Enabling communication between all your devices community.kde.org/KDEConn... · Posted by u/snthd

nickjj · 5 months ago

How well does this work for sending a lot of files without re-sending the same file?

I have a desktop + laptop + phone.

When I want to sync a directory with a lot of files I wrote a little shell script that uses rsync to do it. This does require running SSH on my laptop but I can invoke the shell script from my desktop.

Likewise with my phone I want to backup my camera photos, using rsync is nice here to avoid sending thousands of them over every time. I run SSH on my phone with Termux, it was really painless to set up and is only on when I run it. Likewise, I invoke the shell script from my desktop to do the transfer.

groovybits · 5 months ago

For this purpose, I would not suggest KDE Connect.

What you're looking for is something more like SyncThing: https://syncthing.net

groovybits commented on The Steam Deck is software-freedom friendly isomorphism.xyz/blog/2024... · Posted by u/todsacerdoti

Etheryte · a year ago

I don't own one, so mostly just curious, what are some more prominent examples of this?

groovybits · a year ago

Steam Deck owner since launch here -- I wouldn't say the Verified status is a lie, but there have been instances where games have received Verified badge status at launch, but performed poorly on Deck.

Some popular examples of this;

1. Baldur's Gate 3: It has Verified status, but the community unanimously agrees that the performance is very poor around Act 3, and makes the game nearly impossible to finish on Deck.

2. Spider-Man 2: It had Verified status at launch, but performed poorly in terms of graphics and visuals. It was recently downgraded to Playable status, meaning you have to change the graphics settings to comfortably play the game.

Personally, I think Valve's definition of Verified [1] is too vague. The 4 criteria don't actually mention anything about graphics or performance - it only says it should have "good default settings". What does that actually look like when you play it? Additionally, how much of the game is tested when evaluating those settings?

Valve doesn't actually advertise the process of how the badge is assigned, that I'm aware. Is the game 100% completed in evaluation? What percentage of input is there between Valve and the developer? Are certain publishers or developers given any bias or leeway? That part is still opaque to the end-user.

I think the Verification process is a good first cut at standardizing PC specs, where before there weren't any. But it can definitely be improved.

1: https://www.steamdeck.com/verified

groovybits commented on The Steam Deck is software-freedom friendly isomorphism.xyz/blog/2024... · Posted by u/todsacerdoti

nerdjon · a year ago

They really need to do much better about how they communicate this to users.

Developers are unable to opt out of the system and Valve will just put a "verified" tag on a game with zero input from a developer.

Valve needs to set proper expectations of who to be mad at when a game breaks on the Steam Deck if the developer themselves never pledged support.

Most users don't understand what an OS really is or how a game works on the Steam Deck (SteamOS) instead of Windows.

groovybits · a year ago

> Valve will just put a "verified" tag on a game with zero input from a developer.

This is a big claim, is there evidence for this? I'm an end-user, not a developer, but there are plenty of games in Unknown status. I would assume that should be the default, not Verified.

I can see an argument that Valve has incentive to have flagship games get that Verified badge, but there is also precedence for them downgrading popular games after launch. For example, Spider-Man 2 recently went from Verified to Playable (rightfully so, in my opinion).

groovybits commented on E3 Is Officially Dead washingtonpost.com/entert... · Posted by u/eXpl0it3r

tetris11 · 2 years ago

I was a huge console gamer in my teens, then transitioned into a PC gamer in my young adult years (helped by the yo-ho attitude of the era), then became aware of the scene and have pretty much treated any AAA title as guaranteed spyware trash until it gets cracked and (fitgirl) repacked.

I play maybe a game a year, where I basically do not sleep for a week, use/develop trainers to get past the grind-ey aspects of the gameplay, and essentially finish the game for the plot, as fast as possible so that I can resume my normal work life of unpaid overtime.

I keep up with interesting games by watching good youtubers like Jacob Gellar[0], but essentially I don't really play any small indie games, with the exception of Dwarf Fortress... though I mostly just like to read the colourful dev blog[1] instead of playing it.

0: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMGEjgYJhEc

1: https://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/dev.html

groovybits · 2 years ago

I've worked in tech for a number of years. I think I'm in the same boat as you. However, I can confidentially say that videogames were merely a conduit to social experiences with friends. i.e. you wouldn't find me grinding a game by myself just for the sake of getting good. For my friend group, that was consoles in our teens, and PC in our early 20s.

I've mostly given up on traditional PC gaming. I have a Nintendo Switch and a Steam Deck. I use the Deck occasionally to play games that aren't available on Switch, but otherwise the Switch is preferred, because it enables social interactions so easily.

Now that I'm reaching mid-life, I cringe at the thought of taking time off work to play a game. If it means that much to you, more power to you. Apparently I've separated from the hardcore gamer scene.

groovybits commented on Instapaper Doubles Subscription Price blog.instapaper.com/post/... · Posted by u/jrhey

jasonvorhe · 2 years ago

I'm quite happy with Omnivore: https://github.com/omnivore-app/omnivore

It's open source, I can host it myself it I want to but the reference hosted version on omnivore.app is free and quite reliable. Dark mode, progressive webapp, native apps, full text search, Obsidian integration, Pocket migration.

Compare that with instapaper: Terrible Android app that looks like Android apps from 2015, okayish iPad/iOS apps, quite expensive now, every interesting feature behind a paywall. I guess if you're into the minimalist aesthetic or if you've grown accustomed to it, sure, keep on using it. But it feels as if this product has been somewhat on extended life support and people would care a lot less if it wasn't run by Marco Arment.

groovybits · 2 years ago

Marco sold Instapaper years ago... he has not been involved in quite some time. If you look at the Instapaper blog, you'll see they've been adding features consistently, most recently their major update to Notes features and integration.

I've never used Omnivore, but the feature-set mentioned in this price change announcement aligns very closely with Readwise Reader, which plans to _increase_ pricing over its current $95/yr, after it leaves beta.

I think the expectations of read-it-later apps are increasing, and with that comes cost.

groovybits commented on Evernote will restrict free users to 50 notes starting December 4 techcrunch.com/2023/11/29... · Posted by u/bookofjoe

threeseed · 2 years ago

Apple Notes is the silent killer of this space.

They've just been quietly adding features and I imagine Evernote struggling to compete against it.

groovybits · 2 years ago

For anyone who hasn't given Apple Notes a fair shake recently, I suggest checking it out again. It’s recently introduced power features that make surfacing and interacting with notes so much better. Gone are the days when Notes was an afterthought that was tied to your Mail/IMAP.

Some features I like: tagging, smart folders, PDF previews, note linking, and the fact that I can drag-drop nearly anything into a note and store it there. You can also access Notes in a browser at iCloud.com.

All for free, built-in!

groovybits commented on Ask HN: What podcasts do you listen to? · Posted by u/joe8756438

groovybits · 2 years ago

One show I always catch every week: Security Now

https://twit.tv/shows/security-now