LocalSend, a cross platform alternative to airdrop and nearby share.
My family uses it for almost all of our filesharing. IPhone to android, iPhone to windows PC, android to macbook, etc. Its works really, really well.
Just tried it - so simple, so good. Thanks for posting about this!
I love this. Its great. I use this and syncthing if I want to move files across.
Yeah I just found that diamond!
thank you for this recommendation! i hope i can convince my friends to start using it
Just picked this up based on the up votes here, and I’m already a fan. Seems like it does what you want and nothing else, which is perfect.
Has it some automation? Cron like?
Ooh I use apps that use the Magic Wormhole library. There’s a linux app for it called Warp and several android apps, all FOSS.
I love it so much that I put it right away on my donations list.
TrailSense, an easy to use, comprehensive wilderness tool.
The goals of the developer are fun to consider:
Goals
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Trail Sense must not use the Internet in any way, as I want the entire app usable when there is no Internet connection
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Features must provide some benefits to people using the app while hiking, in a survival situation, etc.
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Features should make use of the sensors on a phone rather than relying on stored information such as guides
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Features must be based on peer-reviewed science or be verified against real world data
Likewise, the features being developed under those goals are great for getting outside:
Features
- Designed for hiking, backpacking, camping, and geocaching
- Place beacons and navigate to them
- Follow paths
- Retrace your steps with backtrack
- Use a photo as a map
- Plan what to pack
- Be alerted before the sun sets
- Predict the weather
- Use your phone for astronomy
- And more
How does the metal detector work? I’ve never heard of a phone being able to do that.
It uses the magnetic field sensor on the phone (compass). It can only detect magnetically active metals and also kinda weakly, but it’s quite fun!
Trailsense is amazing
Downloaded it and I love it!
Can’t wait to take a picture of a trailhead map and try tracking myself on it.
It works pretty well! I found in my one quick test that a pair of known points on a diagonal offer the best tracking. Definitely need to play with that feature again.
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Syncthing, a peer to peer file synchronize that basically everyone needs, they just don’t know it.
It’s insane how many services sell file synchronisation as a premium feature when syncthing can do it for free and no one seems to use it
I mean, true…but I don’t think the average user is paying for the service rather than they’re paying for not having to worry about setting up everything needed to get syncthing working.
I don’t consider myself a luddite in any way, but within five seconds of reading syncthing’s install instructions even I basically just said, “yeah…no.” And I say that AS a nearly 12 year semi-advanced linux user. It’s not that it’s difficult. But difficult enough to not be worth it for the average person.
but within five seconds of reading syncthing’s install instructions even I basically just said, “yeah…no.”
Install instructions: download tarball, unpack, run. Done.
Did I miss something?
Autostart at system startup can be done with the basic utilities of the OS.
Windows: scheduled tasks. Systemd/Linux: they have a basic service file that you just have to drop in the right folder, and run 2 commands (start, enable).
Piece of cake. Not telling this because I already know how these work, but because as I remember, these steps are documented.Eh, there’s always something people with a lot of tech knowledge think are obvious to people without a lot of tech knowledge. Just look at the mess that Linux can be.
I don’t consider myself to have a lot of tech knowledge. I’m not working in the field, and there’s lots of things I want to do better than now.
If you don’t yet know about what is systemd and how does it work, it’s fine. The documentation of the unit files is a bit more complicated than warranted, like, it’s structure is not that readable, but the syncthing documentation helps in what you need to do
I guarantee that if you’re here, you’re very likely to be extremely tech knowledgeable (compared to the large populace)
Too bad for Apple users though
Why? It has an iOS and MacOS client, I have it running on 3 iOS devices and 2 Macs.
Mobius on ios
The best part is it works with Android as well. Whenever I turn my computer on, all my photos on my phone sync to my computer to a folder that gets regularly backed up (using Vorta which is an excellent and easy to use open source backup program for Windows, Linux, and Mac)
For images I highly recommend Immich. It’s the Google Photos equivalent, and it works excellently.
I use SyncThing for documents, but photos from my phone go to Immich.
I set it up last month. I’ve rarely experienced had such a smooth setup process. Was putting it off for years because I had assumed I would need at least several hours. Right now I have one on a server and then every device syncs to it (thought it would be easy to set up backups that way)
this was my experience too. kept putting it off because I assumed I’d need to tinker a bit. didn’t at all, worked immediately with only the simplest configuration. genuinely amazing, I wish my software worked that well.
Can you explain a bit more about what file synchronization is?
You know Dropbox? Google drive? OneDrive? That’s file synchronisation. Files across multiple devices kept in sync by the software provider. Except in the named cases above, all your data is uploaded to their servers. With syncthing there’s no cloud server, just your devices operating over the internet. So you have some backup responsibility to cover.
Caveat: I’ve never used syncthing and I wrote the above with a total of 10 seconds of reading their website and so it is entirely possible I’m completely wrong about everything and so I emplore you to do your research.
Ahhh makes sense, thank you kind sir! I’ll take a deeper look at their site
I wish I could set it up so that I can remove a file from Computer A that’s syncing to Computer B and not have the file deleted from Computer B
Haven’t used this feature before, but this flag might be what you need
Bitwarden an open source, simple password manager it does it’s job very well
I would personally recommend KeepassXC foe PC and KeepassDX for Android phones, just having your Vault available locally is a lot better than relying on a server that can get a security breach in any moment, not to mention the Keepass’s Vaults are encrypted and no one can access them without the , key or physical key, with KeepassXC and KeepassDX, you only will need ONE password 😁
I get the thought, but your phone can also have a security breach at any moment, ESPECIALLY because normal user error is by far the weakest and most often exploited attack vector.
Bitwarden’s vaults are also encrypted with the option for even stronger argon2id encryption. Bitwarden themselves can’t access them or reset them. It is open source and most importantly, audited. KeypassXC has only had one audit ever. (Though that passed and I would also definitely recommend keypassXC, it is great software security-wise)
The database is stored, encrypted, once on their server and once to each device you sync to, so it is available locally.
Even if they had a security breach, by design the assailant couldn’t access your database any more than they could access your keypass database.
You can also self-host it which would bring it exactly to the level of keypassX variants as far as attack surface.
Not to mention with bitwarden, you will also only need one key. That is the whole point of a password manager.
“It is available locally and a lot better…” is simply untrue. They are both great options. Just whatever works best for the person. Bitwarden has a ton more QoL options and enterprise options, plus separate, shared password databases and such for families and companies. Again, just as secure.
I have a lot of experience with both. As a tech savvy user, I slightly prefer KeePass. Syncing between devices is slightly more painful, but I find it to be more reliable, and it doesn’t have the attack surface that Bitwarden does. (While encrypted, Bitwarden still really wants a web server and a local database connection.)
VaultWarden is probably better for those who can’t be bothered to move a file around and want direct browser integration. With KeePass when you need a password, you’ll make sure the username has focus and then alt+tab to KeePass and hit “autofill”. Some sites won’t take “username{tab}password{enter}” and you’ll have to customize the configuration.
VaultWarden is better at prompting you to add new passwords. I prefer the workflow that’s encouraged by KeePass, where you open the app first and use the app to open the URL. (You can do this in VaultWarden too, but it’s less obvious.)
On my case i use Syncthing-fork to have my database synchronized on my tablet and phone, you’ll be surprised how easy to use is, and doesn’t require a server 😄
While I personally use KeepassXC and Keepass2Android on mobile devices (as with KeepassDX there is no reliable way of syncing the database that I know of) to other less tech-inclined people I’d always recommend Bitwarden as it is much more suitable to most people’s usecases.
Personally? KeepassXC is more user-friendly, i beleive Keepass2Android is more confusing
I would prefer being able to use KeepassDX on my mobile (I assume you meant that), but I got burnt trying to use that while syncing my database through my Nextcloud. KDX does not check for external changes before overwriting the database, and with background-sync being as unreliable as it is on android, I have lost a few passwords that way without noticing it.
I don’t even have a nextcloud, i just keep my database on a single folder sync across my tablet and phone, if you could set up the nextcloud to sync in rhat same folder you (theorically) would have no problems 🤔
I mean that’s what I had been doing. The issue was just that the background sync of the nextcloud app on android wasn’t reliable enough and KeepassDX had no mechanisms to check for external changes before overwriting
Then i can’t help you, Use whatever works and it’s trustworthy enough for you, just don’t be surprised and come crying if Bitwarden SOMEHOW gets a security breach.
@uzay Try Syncthing. If there is any conflict, syncthing keeps the conflicted file, and then keepass is able to merge them, so in the worst case some of your deleted passwords will come back, but you’ll never lose any.
Yeah, there are ways of fixing it after the fact, but that is too inconvenient and error-prone for me. I prefer if my Keepass app just makes sure my database is up to date before making any changes
I sync my database using syncthing, specifically syncthing-fork for android as i don’t currently have a PC 😄
TIL BitWarden is open source.
Indeed, most people I know IRL still use the same passwords for everything.
I don’t know about “simple”, but it’s very good. Been a happy user for many years
What’s not simple about it, as a password manager? Pop in the name/uri, pop in a username, pop in/generate a password Bingo bango Is there a level of complexity I’m missing, or alternatively is there a simpler approach?
@shinysquirrel @PumpkinDrama I’ve been using password-store for a while now and I love it. I have it synced on multiple device via a bare git repo
VaultWarden if you want all the features without paying $40/year.
Otherwise Bitwarden will either allow you to self-host OR allow you to share passwords with one other person (using their server), but not both.
VaultWarden just unlocks all the features.
does its* job very well
KDEConnect - I use it on Windows and android phone. Very nice when you get security codes or links on phone, want to send files or when I want to control audio|video and I watch from the couch.
in general: Fdroid nearly always has a more feature rich and performant alternative
For those wondering it is a linux-first software, and works better on there
OpenStreetmap as an alternative to the closed source maps.
OrganicMaps or OsmAnd to navigate and StreetComplete or EveryDoor to improve it.
Yes yes. It’s so satisfying contributing to OSM and seeing my changes pop up in OrganicMaps knowing it might help somebody and support open mapping data. I wonder if Wikipedians feel that way.
The Humanitarian OSM Team is cool too https://www.hotosm.org/
streetcomplete is a great companion app. It makes it really easy to add points of interest and help collect other data. I’ve already made over a thousand edits using it.
Oh man, Street Complete is very cool, thanks! I always wanted to contribute to OSM but found it a bit daunting. This is like Pokemon Go but useful!
I always wanted to contribute to OSM but found it a bit daunting.
Any contribution helps! Hell, I went around town just looking for bike parking racks to add, and was able to put dozens of new ones on the map. You can even just label house numbers (with the aforementioned apps listed in the comment you replied to).
To add to that, Maperitive is a fantastic piece of software (Windows only) to create your own custom maps for hiking or cycling with osm. A bit tough to wrap your head around unfortunately, but actually pretty powerful. Hmu if you need quick instructions
VSCodium is the open source part of VSCode, so I prefer to use that.
Mull is firefox on android without the proprietary parts. Heliboard is a good android keyboard.
How does VSCodium differ from the community version?
Attempts to remove datamining, disallowed from installing microsoft proprietary extensions.
It removes the proprietary part inserted when MS builds the code. This unfortunately makes other proprietary extensions useless, such as Dev Containers. You can still use the main extension marketplace by changing a .json but some MS extensions won’t work at all (tried it last week).
I agree, just need to figure out how to connect to a pod using OpenSSH.
@Templa I’m actually using github.com/coder/code-server for that. It’s also built only from the open-source parts of vscode, but it is made to run in browser. So I just deploy the docker container with code-server to the more powerful remote machine, and open my browser, where it can be used as PWA so it’s almost unrecognizable from a native desktop app.
Unfortunately that doesn’t apply when you are on your work computer and need to connect to your environment which is behind a corporate VPN. Thanks for telling me about code-server though, I’ll check that definitely!
Paperless-ngx that allows you to self host an easily browseable archive of your documents. Fully featured with OCR, ML-powered categorization and the works.
Do you know if the ML works offline? Or does it require an internet connection?
Everything runs locally, OCR, ML, etc, which can be a bit taxing on lower end hardware, but there are ways to disable the more advanced and computationally expensive features, like NLTK for advanced Natural Language processing.
Your data is stored locally on your server and is never transmitted or shared in any way.
How does it compare with Paperwork? https://www.openpaper.work/en/
There seems to be a huge overlap in functionality. But a major difference is that Paperwork is a local application that runs on Windows and Linux, while Paperless has a web front end that makes it accessible anywhere (it also has some independently native apps for mobile).
Thanks!
Impressive, thank you!
KepassXC for PC and KeepassDX for Android phones.
I personally would recommend it over Bitwarden since with Bitwarden you NEED internet to access your passwords, and even if is open source, i canmot trust it, security breaches can happen in any time, having your vault locally stored helps a lot.
There are more but i can’t Remember them right now.
I just tried because you made me doubt, but you can access your passwords offline with bitwarden. Your argument about trusting a third party is far more pertinent, i’m choosing to trust them but thats really my choice. It is also a limited trust: even in a case of a data breach, bitwarden is encrypted end-to-end with your password, even if someone gets access to your data they wont be able to read it without your master key.
I ran into issues when using Bitwarden for the first time, i don’t understand why, i just like having my password vault close to me, KeepassXC and KeepassDX just makes things a little more painless
You don’t need internet to access the passwords stored in Bitwarden if you have their local clients installed. It stores an encrypted copy of your database locally to your device which syncs (updates) over the internet.
It gave me trouble when i tried to log in ob my account, and i prefer having the database WHERE I CAN SEE IT
These would also be my top two apps. Absolutely essential pieces of kit IMO.
The android integration is just so good these days. Syncing is the only minor issue but it is minor.
Hoe do you sync it? I’ve been meaning to make the switch to these for a long time now, but still not gotten around to it.
I use syncthing (mentioned below)
I used to use Dropbox, but switched to Nextcloud years ago.
Do you use KeePassDX on Android? If so, how do you access the vault from Nextcloud?
I’ve been using KeePassDroid. Nextcloud has an option to set files to favorites which keeps them local on Android.
But how do you access the files from another app? Where are they stored? I have nothing in the com.nextcloud.client folder for example. Proton Drive mounts in the left-hand menu of Files. Would be nice if that was achievable with Nextcloud also.
EDIT: Turns out it does if there is no app passcode enabled. Not sure I am comfortable having that turned off though.
To be honest I use signal “message to self”. I know there are better ways to do it but it’s a very convenient way to transfer small files from my laptop to my phone securely.
You can self-host Bitwarden, and sync your vault to your phone. Maybe not an option for everyone since it requires some technical skills, but very doable.
Oh you just reminded me, KepassXC and DX Doesn’t demand you to create an account and log in to access your vault 😄
Self-hosting KeePassXC requires installing one package and backing up one file. I expect that requires less technical skill and is doable for more people than to self-host Bitwarden.
Can only second this
Don’t you still need internet to access your passwords if you want to use Keepass across devices?
You don’t. KeePass databases can be easily shared totally offline.
However, it all depends on “how easy” you want the sync to happen…
There are many ways to “sync” KeePass databases, basically you just have to copy password database among the devices, which can be done totally offline.
- HARD - Manually copy the KeePass database to the devices
- Can be accomplished via any Network connection or USB cable connection
- EASIER - Put the database on any file sharing service that’s available on your devices, and sync that
- The file sharing service can be available on the internet (Google Drive, OneDrive, iCloud…), but it also works with any file sharing service that’s not connected to the internet (e.g.: local only Nextcloud server, or not even that, using Syncthing if that’s your thing…, which would not even require a local server)
So, I’ll just give one example.
If you have 2 devices:
- Linux PC
- Android Phone
You can use KeePassXC on the Linux PC, and KeePassDX on the Android Phone, and have a copy of your kdbx file (the encrypted database) on each device, manually copying the newer version whenever there are changes on them.
Issues that might happen: consistency between the files in case you make changes to both databases and forgot to sync manually previously. There’s no easy way to handle this currently afaik if you are doing manual syncs… I’d suggest maintaining one of the databases as “kinda read only”, not performing edits on it unless you can immediately copy it to the other one.
You can do the same thing above, but instead of manually copying the files among the devices you can use Syncthing… Or if you have a local Nextcloud server, you can use that to share the files, which is pretty easy to use to ensure consistency if you are using KeePassXC and KeePassDX, since if you open the database on Android using KeePassXC directly to the “file system” that links to the Nextcloud folder, it will always automatically retrieve the newest version to your device if there has been any change and if your local Nextcloud server is reachable, otherwise it just uses the local cache, and you will know it’s using the local cache and was not able to sync.
Here’s an easier option: Syncthing
- HARD - Manually copy the KeePass database to the devices
Nope, sonce your Keepass database is store locally, all you need is Syncthing, you won’t beleive how easy it is to use.
pwsafe too.
I will still prefer KeepassDX and KeepassXC
I love KeepassXC, but I use Keepass2android on my phone. Do you know how it compares to KeepassDX?
KeepassXC honestly is more userfriendly IMO.
Video Downloader. https://github.com/Unrud/video-downloader
Strips all junk off any video url so you have the mp4 or mkv.
Use this to add youtube videos/playlists to jellyfin. Doesn’t have to be youtube. Downloads any videos from a link.
Can also save audio only from video links if you want to.
how does it compare to yt-dlp?
it’s a GUI for yt-dlp
It’s great for porn!
Source: Twenty years of experience
spoiler
,
And if you find yourself needing a less simple but more powerful tool for this:
for a quick web based downloader I use https://cobalt.tools/
i’ve been using yt-dlp for youtube videos for ages (supports about a million others as well)
Supports metadata nicely which is beneficial, obviously.
Parabolic does the same thing better
Jitsi - Open-source and self-hosted video conference platform. You can even try it directly on their website.
IPFS - A distributed file sharing technology which is wonderful for file or site hosting (edit: wether it is uncensorable is open for debate)
Rust - A programming language and a powerful compiler that creates compiled memory-safe programs and can be used nearly everywhere
Fedora + KDE - A combination of a stable modern OS and a complete desktop environment
Wine - launch Windows programs on the latter
Lemmy
Bonus : AlternativeTo to find good open-source alternative software
Lemmy
Never heard of it…
Love me some Jitsi. The app, and website, make it easy to just start a secure, anonymous call with pals. No weird AI models running in the background like Teams or Zoom.
IPFS - An uncensorable distributed file sharing technology which is wonderful for file or site hosting
Uncensorable? Seriously doubt it.
Resilient to censoring? Believable.
Recently they officially added a module to censor stuff on an individual instance basis…
Rust
No one ever talks about Rust…
linux, unironically. literally all local infrastructure is running on windows, despite the security risks this entails.
Fair point but Linux is inherently safe either? The local library here has client PCs running Ubuntu 16.04 lts… my point being that IT infrastructure is only ever as secure as the amount of continuous effort you put into securing it. Linux doesn’t solve that.
Perhaps this will change drastically with immutable distros
What is immutable distros?
I’m not the best person to explain, but they’re distros with a read-only root filesystem. In some implementations, any changes, like installing a new package, or upgrading a version, can be interpreted as migrating a system from a state to another. This can mitigate some security risks and make machines easier to maintain.
Check fedora atomic builds. They explain it very well.
It’s not that it’s inherently safe, but that Microsoft is inherently not.
Xournal - a great way to draw on pdfs
Yep, fantastic for annotation, doesn’t rasterize other layers, keeps the quality intact
Looks neat, but does it have txt recognition? Either for graphical pdfs or preferably at least for the text notes I am writing so I can search later?
wowwww, i think i just found the one note replacement i needed
Looks really cool but also seems like something I would get into procrastinating my actual to-dos
I have a great technique for this.
First, pick some to do software. Start adding things as you remember them, and ticking them off as you do the. Soon you will find you are adding things to the list much faster than you are ticking them off!
Now here’s the trick: find some new to do software, and start adding your to dos to that one instead! Ignore the previous list.
Repeat! It’s like magic!
Getting an empty list in such a short time, an amazing technique!
Openwrt is awesome! It has the gui with the best ratio of ease of use/features I ever used in a router. It can require some skills to be installed, but then it’s so smooth. I wish we had routers with openwrt straight from oems.
Check out GL.iNet, good hardware and ships with OpenWRT but with their own WebUI. I set up my dad’s place with their router and an access point and I don’t remember the specifics, but it was really easy to access LuCI and do the advanced stuff.
Can vouch for their routers.
I do want to say though, they technically use their own version of OpenWrt, but you can just as easily install pure OpenWrt too.
Looks nice. Thanks for letting me know.
The Turris Omnia is an open, powerful router that comes with OpenWRT.
Turris adds an additional UI and features beyond that, but the OpenWRT UI is still available and the stock firmware can be completely replaced with OpenWRT if so desired.
It’s a bit pricey but has great specs (1.6 GHz dual core, 2GB RAM, 8GB eMMC) and is an excellent device for tinkerers with headers exposing UART, JTAG, GPIO, and more. It has three internal mPCIe ports as well.
I am not affiliated with Turris but just happened to stumble upon a new one at a garage sale a couple of days ago. Lucky find and I’m excited.
your links are broken I think
They’re broken for me as well. They’re missing the
https://at the beginning, which I think is the problem. Here are the links:Whoops I thought Jerboa was smart enough to add those :) thank you!
Openwrt bricked 2 of my routers. Be careful
