First off, i live in Europe, so i honestly don't know too much about politics in other parts of the world, other than what i sometimes see in the news. I hope my innocent question doesn't trigger any nastiness.

My question is; in discussions i see only talk about democrats vs republicans, for instance discussions only about Biden and/or Trump. But my understanding is that there are other political parties one can vote for. However, i never see any mention of them. So, is it that most people are not interested in those? Or maybe they don't get enough media time? Or are they seen as too extreme? Are the US basically a two-party system? And does it change over time? There are a lot of worries in the world - i don't need to name all of them - but this seems to trigger more extreme views. Does this mean that those other parties attract more voters nowadays?

I hope this question is allowed here (since it is one of the search engines that i now use instead of google). I'm trying out Kagi. For the trial, you get to have 100 free searches, i belief. Is there a way to see how many searches i used up? I can only find stats for Kagi, not for my personal stats. How do you all like Kagi? And if so, do you pay for it? I'm considering paying, but i would like to have some insight into how many searches i actually perform on average in a month time. I honestly have no idea. What i also do lately is ask a question to a LLM (i found Petal), so that i have a start on where to search for more precisely. Sometimes, i get incorrect answers, but often it helps me get more of a handle on what i should be looking for when using a search engine. For example, i switched to Linux and Petal helps me understand some things better, which i can then use to do a more precise search.

Hi all,

I have recently installed Debian 12, KDE Plasma on my desktop pc, coming from windows 10.

I haven't yet messed with any drivers, everything seemed to run just fine. Until i noticed that after 1 or more hours just browsing or watching a streaming video, my desktop pc starts to rattle as if it is suddenly hard at work, the mouse cursor becomes unresponsive, and a minute later it doesn't move at all and the only thing left is to shut down with the power button.

So, i'm pretty sure nothing is suddenly wrong with fans or CPU temperature or whatnot, but maybe a Nvidia driver should be installed? Can i just follow Debians advice here?

Do you need additional info?

EDIT: I am thrilled with so many awesome responses! I'm taking notes and looking into all the recommendations. Again, thank you so much for taking the time to help me out (and many others, i'm sure), i'm glad i asked!

Hi,

I'm getting ready to switch to Linux. I'm looking for a kind of checklist of what to do beforehand. When i search online, there is a lot of advice on which distribution to choose and how to set it up, which i already know, but my question is the step before. I made a list of which programs i currently use (almost all have a linux variant or i can use them in the browser) and i am making screenshots of their settings. I have basically everything important backupped, both on my ProtonDrive and on a private server in the house. Is there anything else i need to prepare before switching? I wouldn't want to overlook something.

(I already have the distribution and am trying it out, but my plan is to actually install debian and without dual boot. Also, many, many years ago i already used debian but then i had the luxury of someone who basically arranged everything for me)

Currently, i run windows 10 with Nvidia GeForce. I already am in the process of degoogling and de-microsofting so to speak, so i don't use google drive or onedrive, or MS Office anymore (nor a lot of other things).

Apologies if this is not appropriate for this community. Have a great day :-)

I find it quite hard to find open source software for windows. In time i might switch to linux, but for now i am stuck with windows 10.

Is there some reliable place where you can search for open source software?

Or is it that devs usually just don't bother with windows?

EDIT: everyone, thank you so much for your input! I will check it all out. Yes, of course windows is evil, and i hope/expect to switch to linux before windows 11 comes around, but i still need it for a few programs, unfortunately. Once these come with a linux version - which is in the works - i can make the switch. Degoogling/demicrosofting is a process and i'm working on it.

Have a great weekend and thank you for the time to answer my question.

Many websites have a - huge- part in their cookie wall, called 'legitimate interest'. I never allow them and i wonder; is this just a loophole to be able to force certain cookies on us anyway?

I can't imagine it is harmless, but i never hear anyone discussing these type of cookies.

EDIT: Everyone, thank you so much for taking the effort to answer. These replies were very helpful and often quite detailed. I've read them all and it certainly gives food for thought. I also read that EU page, which is indeed not really clarifying much.

I agree that we need to do as much as possible to block all these invaders of our privacy, though it is ridiculous that we have to make so much effort to protect ourselves. And i know many people around me, who just let it all happen and are sometimes not even aware of such things as trackers. And honestly, they shouldn't have to be aware, it is infuriating that these things are either allowed, or those companies taking the - small - risk to get away with it, because most people won't bother with law suits and what not, certainly not when so many websites have these shady practices...

Again, thank you; i'm glad i asked :-)

Not sure if this was brought up by others yet. I was trying to click links inside the daily post of trending communities and none of the links worked.

I noticed quite a lot of people confused about everyone having installed the new Boost, while their play store doesn't do anything and just showing their Boost app registration.

You need to follow this link, NOT go to Boost itself:

https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.rubenmayayo.lemmy

Boost is in a beta phase, so if you want to install it and test it out so you can inform the dev (you can do that in this community), then you can follow the link and install Boost that way.

Hope this helps. The above link was tucked away in the featured post, pinned at the top, but it seems to have been overlooked by some of us.

Enjoy and have a great weekend :-)

It's a very small request, but in the photon web app, all my accounts are shown and i just need to select one of them. In Boost, i need to click the down arrow and then select. It's a very, very minor request, but thought i would mention it anyway.

Sorry for the separate thread, but maybe it gives some people a little Boost to support the dev.

Like many others have said; it feels like home again and i can finally delete some (not all, just in case) other apps from my phone.

Thank you dev!

Is there an easy way to see if something is an instance or community on the fediverse, or 'just' a forum on the web? For instance, would it always be mentioned in a sidebar? I know there are lists of instances, but i am hoping for something easier. I might be overlooking something glaringly obvious, but i thought i would ask.

Hi all,

I was thinking of gifting someone, who is going to travel, an airtag-ish thing for android. I don't know the first thing about them, but a quick search learned me that:

• airtag is for apple - the person uses android

• some of these gadgets have subscriptions - i don't want to saddle them up with additional money grabs

• Tile seems to have a shady history, in the past selling locations of millions of users

It needs to be suitable for europe and asia, if that matters.

Could you give me some recommendations or info what i would need to consider?

Thank you for reading. Have a great day!

EDIT: thank you for your replies. I don't think i'm going to pursue this type of gift any further then.