Pearson complaining about using Linux to access my course material
Pearson complaining about using Linux to access my course material
205 comments
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"Our spyware is not able to accommodate your platform."
The horror stories I've read about what you give the software access to do (assuming there's truth to them; I've never run it myself).
Edit: I'm realizing now your screenshot is probably for a web course.
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It's hilarious how bad it is
I won't ramble but I'm a cybersecurity professional with a lot of certs and... I've played with it (Pearson VUE)
Hey Pearson, I have completely defeated your anticheat measures. Ironically, have used my expertise to pass cybersecurity exams. Fight me.
Hey OP, use a free windows VM. Guess how many monitors your VM has? Guess how many your host can have? Yeah.
This was 2019, so they may have gotten past that but I tells ya... For folks testing cybersec pros, they sure don't have airtight opsec.
I found more, but cannot responsibly disclose 😊
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They’re in the business of selling the illusion of security to university administrators.
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This is why I just suck it up and go to a testing center even though more often than not it’s unpleasant too. I’m not installing all their tools and having to clear an entire room so there’s nothing that can be seen is such a hassle.
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You should get bonus points in cybersecurity for bypassing that crap
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"upgrade"
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Aw, manggg. But I just upgraded to Linux last week. Shoot...
Back to being treated like an idiot, force fed bloat, having no control over my own PC, and taking four steps to get everything done but often ending up down a rabbit hole of 19 step troubleshooting just to say, "Fuck it! Fine! I'll accept the new feature" then being toured on the new feature after it crashes first then won't let you login, but finally you do and THEN you've got your file open but forget what for by then, all the while it's notifying you of updates constantly but you won't run them because you noticed it contains the AMD driver which is the old one so Adrenaline will stop working but that also means Windows has somehow undone the group policy fucking around you had to do. And they say Linux is hard while Windows thinks I'm the fucking idiot and I CANT EVEN SHRINK THE FUCKING PARTITION BECAUSE THE GOD DAMNED PAGE FILE IS JIZZED ALL OVER THE FUCKING DRIVE!!! RAAARRRGH!!!!
snaps back
Huh, sorry. I get flashbacks still. The doctors say with the right therapy, I'll be better in a year.
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I felt this revulsion in my bones. :shudder:
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Haven't you heard? Pearson's requires at least Linux 2.
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Let me just check something on my terminal.
sh
$ uname -sr Linux 6.14.4-arch1-1
I'm suspicious.
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That came out in 1996.
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This means they forgot platforms other than Windows exists. It's likely they're checking for currently supported systems and anything older is insecure, so blocked for your security.
Likely something like this pseudocode
javascript pseudocode
function isPlatformVersionSupported(useragent) { // Windows XP is NT 5.1 // Windows Vista is NT 6.0 // Windows 7 is NT 6.1 // Windows 8 is NT 6.2 // Windows 8.1 is NT 6.3 // Windows 10 and 11 is NT 10.0 if (useragent.name == "Windows" && useragent.version.match(/Windows NT (6\.3|10)/)) { return true } // TODO: insert supported macos versions here return false } -
I always hate this when it's used to target Firefox.
"upgrade to chrome"
Like... What the fuck?
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Just use a user agent switcher.
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The actual audacity
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Their deliberate word choice of “upgrade” to supported operating system is mildly infuriating.
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I’ll just change my web browser’s user agent then; you’re a fucking website, you don’t need to know which OS I’m using.
It’s amazing how many “unsupported” web apps work perfectly fine once you change the UA. It’s often a completely arbitrary limitation so that they can hire less qualified support staff.
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and so they can use browser
vulnerabilitiesfeatures to collect more data on you-
Nope we don't want to hire anyone who knows anything about Linux, no one uses Linux
"Linux is unsupported", that'll work
Everyone: uses a UA switcher
"See? No one uses Linux, 100% of users are on Windows or MacOS"
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A small publisher's ebook platform recently started blocking firefox for me, did a bit of digging and found that if pages aren't requested with the right headers (which work in chrome and msedge) it will respond with a 302, suggesting you go to another page which takes a few minutes and then times out.
This is probably to stop scraping, and could be because I started testing some scraping scripts on it.
Anyway, this hasn't even stopped me scraping, I just copied the headers and use those in my script.
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Upgrade
Insults on top of incompetence, huh?
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It's Pearson.
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Its a parasite
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I ran into this before too, I believe I got around it with a User Agent changer… that or a windows 10 VM with 2 cores and 2GB of RAM that ran only Firefox… or you may be able to just press remind me later and suffer little/no consequences
I think it’s just because people that use Linux are generally more technologically inclined and are more likely to try and get around their crappy DRM
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Yeah, I can still access it just fine, but the word "Upgrade" didn't make me very happy...
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Very true, I too would consider Microsoft’s spyware a massive downgrade
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The most infuriating part is that they call it an "upgrade"
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Yeah I go from an OS that I know how to use up and down to an ad riddled bloated piece of garbage. Thanks!
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"Upgrading" to a supported operating system.... "Upgrading".
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Yeah, that was also what got into my nerves.
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How tf do you not support an operating system. Like you gotta go out of your way to detect and block the operating system. Like if you put in 0 effort it would probably work but your company really spent money making their product less accessible for no reason.
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I don't really disagree with you. It's dumb to go out of your way to block an OS that probably works just fine.
That said, the answer is probably "lawyers" and an attempt to limit liability. People rely on the course materials to work. If they don't want to out the effort into testing to ensure that their software works on Linux, even if it would probably be fine, they may want to limit the possibility of being sued by someone when it somehow screws up their semester.
So, they out up a soft barrier that says "this may not work right" but let you use it anyway. They have deniability if something goes wrong while the savvy Linux user probably just laughs and changes their user agent.
Essentially, no one is hurt and the lawyers are happy.
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The motivation from their side is not wanting to support Linux. There's a difference between working and supported; support costs them money in terms of every phone call from every person for whom the material doesn't work correctly, as that means paid trained staff on hand all the time whether you're having linux issues right now or not. Imagine if one person a year had linux issues, requiring them to hire a full time linux tech with nothing to do but pick up the phone once a year. By putting a roadblock in front that people can get around, it can 'work' on that system while they have a leg to stand on to say no to any linux user who wants help they can't provide.
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They're under a class-action lawsuit currently for using biometric data in a US state where it's illegal. Just kinda interesting. https://www.bipatestsettlement.com/Home/FAQ
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I had this problem over 10 years ago. change your user-agent, problem solved.
they do it because they are regulations for educational software that must be met, like specific access requirements in order to be used in accredited courses.
it's not anything specifically against Linux, it's that they can't test and validate those access requirements for anything outside Windows due to organizational limitations.
source: I worked for colleges early in my career that used Pearson then worked for a vendor that managed infrastructure and project management for Pearson. they aren't unique, their competition is just as fucked as they are. most still use waterfall because upper mgmt is old and refuses to adapt.
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My bank does this too. I also just change the user agent to switch and it works with no issues.
At this point it just seems silly that they even want to go out of their way to Prohibit Linux users
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"Upgrade"? Every other option is a downgrade. Sue them for false advertisement.
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I had a course where the teacher basically said you would have a hard time passing if you did not have a windows laptop because it was the only OS that worked well with their program.
The program was Excel workbooks
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Most tech street smart non-techie.
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College is a joke
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Very loose interpretation of the word "upgrade" they're employing here..
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I assume it is a generic message, let's say youd run windows 7. Then this message would sound more reasonable.
But I agree, this is crazy if it is running in a browser
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Its comical that in the last 25 years Linux has gone from a nerd-only tool to something that a 10 year old can install on an air-fryer and still we deal with this bs
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I had this problem with Pearson. I got around it by making sure my bowser (librewolf) reported windows as my user agent. This was last semester for an online intro level course, ymmv
Edit: I see your other posts about how its not blocking access... Tbh I don't remember checking, I just remember checking my browser settings haha. Guess I didn't have to bother.
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I had that problem. I changed my ua to Edge on Windows, and the message went away. Everything worked.
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Holy shit, why even implement the message then? There is no good answer.
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Netflix does the same thing with "supported browsers." It doesn't matter if it's actually supported, just whether it's one of the two or three it allows because it can do analytics or whatever with them.
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Huh, would that work for remote proctors?
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No because that requires installing a rootkit on your machine as part of their anti-cheat system.
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What "Key features" from an educational course could possibly require windows? It's spying on you.
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Does it have online exams? Pearsons shitty anti cheat stuff they use for proctoring is windows and mac only.
Having seen how much people cheat including using someone else using screensharing to proxy the exam for you I cannot blame them for wanting to do this, but I do blame them for not wanting to support Linux properly.
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TPM2.0 DRM crap?
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Pearson has an effective monopoly on teacher certification tests. I don’t understand why private companies get to make up so many of the rules.
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Money makes might makes right
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Th*tcher
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Our website runs on a linux server, can you not use it though
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Damn! If only we had some sort of technology that was OS independent and served as a way to view content and run code written for it without having to recompile for every platform.
I am of course talking about web browsers. Which I'm betting this screenshot is from.
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"Upgrade"
LOL
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This is like the Apple Business website, which only works in Safari, according to them. Used the User-Agent Switcher plugin, and the website/dashboard works just fine on Firefox in Linux.
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You heard that OP? That's how you do it, it'll still work on Linux.
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welp, I use Vivaldi without any user-agent switching and it works fine
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The funny thing is that their server is probably running on Linux.
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they aren't all. vast majority is Windows Server and IBM.
edit: because people seem confused. I'm talking about Pearson directly, not global OS stats.
chill tf out Linux weebs. I'm one of you.
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Windows has a laughable market share when it comes to webservers.
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Guess what most IBM big irons are running nowadays?
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Lol what? Linux servers are still dominant in market share.
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That is both laughably wrong, and immediately verifiable as false. As far as server marketshare goes, Linux leads the pack with 62.7%.
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what could they possibly be doing that requires an os?
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Widewine? Maybe they have some content that requires L1, which still doesn't work on Linux because of totally legitimate technical reasons that are absolutely not at all utter horseshit. Or they might be using some browser APIs that are not properly supported on Linux. There are a few of those.
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They want to find excuses not to provide any customer service
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"Upgrade?" "UPGRADE?!" Oh no they didn't.
Seriously, though, there may well be ways around this without switching your OS. If it's browser-based, the first thing I'd try is a user-agent switcher.
Though, actually, does that "remind me later" option work? It does look kindof grayed out, but it couldn't hurt to try a click.
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Yeah they're not blocking access or anything, I was just infuriated by the message
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They probably check to make sure you're running a current version of Windows. The code assumes if you're not on Windows 11, then you need to upgrade.
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I had that too, closed the popup and never ran into anything even mildly broken during the entire course. Aside from the popup they don't seem to be actively sabotaging Linux users, and it's a website, so it's gonna work pretty much identically on any OS as long as you're using a common browser.
That said, they should definitely phrase the message more like "Your OS isn't supported, so don't expect help from us if something Linux-specific breaks our page" than "You need to get a different OS."
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ask them for the .onion to get to their site 👍
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Use Librewolf or a plugin that masks your user agent for privacy purposes; hides your OS so you can't be fingerprinted so easily.
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That kind of fuckery drove me off a company-sponsored training course.
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NO! YOU FUCKING UPGRADE!
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Change User-Agent
Pearson: Please come in!
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Just had to deal with this last semester. Get a user agent switcher plugin and change your OS to windows, it should work for everything but proctored tests. You'll likely have to go in person for those
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For the record, my friend (he uses arch btw) has used Pearson before and I dont believe it actually affected him, so to me the message means "it could work for you but we won't support Linux if something screws up on your end because we're lazy developers"
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Bonus points if it's a Linux course
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upgrade to a supported operating system
What are the options? Let me guess, Micro$oft Windows or Windows
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How bad can it be?
It was made by Bil Gates, I keep hearing he's a genuine 'philanthropist'.-
Boo! 🤮
It is so infuriating how capitalists can use their stolen money to make people think they're saints. (All the while their "help" causes more damage than if we let experts fix problems rather than pirate kings.)
And it's even harder to criticize this bastard now because liberals think he's on their "side" and any criticism must be a "vaccine microchip" loon even when you talk about things he did openly.
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Apple and Microsoft
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bro, my math and calc professor made us use this for our course despite the fact that our college really wants profs to stop using 3rd party sites like these and just use Brightspace.
It was like $100 CAD too. And it's a fucking WEBSITE. Why is windows required? Do you need to ring 0 access so I can solve a derivative or something????
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Its about data collection under the guise of "security"
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It's also about making it the equivalent of pushing a button for the professor. Want a test that covers chapters X-y? Push three buttons and the students have a test over those chapters. No effort means they can jerk off in the direction of the grant that was just rejected because they used a bad word according to the government.
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I just tried to do a certification exam with these pricks a few hours ago. It was my first time and I was not expecting the degree of privacy-violating photos they would need of my workspace. I work in my bedroom and my desk wasn't clean enough. I think. I could barely understand what the guy was saying due to his thick accent. I think I got disconnected twice and just gave up. Fucking scam. All for a worthless piece of fucking paper to prove I can do the same job I've been doing for the past 13+ years.
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Was that a ccna certification? I've heard they are quite strict on home exam conditions
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Nah. Just basic Azure stuff.
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Same pearson selling linux books
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Yep, absolutely unnecessary too. I run into this too but there doesn’t seem to be any issue after dismissing it. The audacity to say “upgrade”, I hate Pearson so much and this is barely scratching the surface of their garbage :P
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There s a place where you can name and shame in a permanent searchable record: https://wiki.rossmanngroup.com/wiki/Main_Page
Be the change you want.
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I had that problem too. Thing is, nothing was broken and everything was fine. It just whined at me.
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The Pearson website for assignments and exercises is definitely in by bottom-ten user experiences on the internet. And it's even a paid tool! Fuck pearson
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Also, fuck the profs for choosing to use it, and make it a requirement for a course.
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Would you share your preferred alternative(s), if any? Thanks! 🖐️
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Just a maths workbook I guess. This was just forced on me as a student so I'm not really aware if the alternatives.
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Just spoof your user agent string. You'll eventually find one they like.
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I couldn't even use a virtual machine for my cert I had to use a Friends computer to even do anything and even that it was incredibly hard because I had to disable things to make it work. Fuck Pearson fuck them to hell completely.
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Haiku OS stumbles into the room, gags at the PearsonVue stench, beats a hasty retreat
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Change your user agent. There's a bunch of extensions for that and they don't compromise functionality.
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I tried to download Microsoft Office on Linux Mint and I couldn't even download the exe (to run through wine), I needed to go to Windows to download it ... now I just need to make it work (I am in the 1% of people who actually need official Excel)
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This might be the right case to use a VM. Though, I just keep a spare SSD with Windows.
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Would be great if the web app had the same features as the desktop app
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Ugh, webapps are obnoxious as hell to me. Give me a thick client any day. Biggest irritation for most for me is the loss of keyboard control
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I prefer the desktop app, but things like powerquery won’t work to its fullest online
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LibreOffice is decent. Have you tried it yet? Anything major it can’t do for you?
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It has been a bit since I tried it, but things like not having the buttons in the same place is annoying when teacher others. PowerQuery and Microsoft Scripts (what replaced VBA) are some things will probably be missing
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I wonder if MAS can work through Mint, even if just to download the installer?
Might try it later.
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I tried a couple versions of Excel, but I was unable to get it to work sadly.
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They mean downgrade
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if it's in a browser fake ur user agent
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Spin up a VM with windows 95 and try again.
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... Set up firefox for windows via wine, if its a webapp?
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Ezpz just use wine or set up a VM and exfil the data you need
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I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you're referring to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I've recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX. Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called "Linux", and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project. There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use. Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine's resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. Linux is normally used in combination with the GNU operating system: the whole system is basically GNU with Linux added, or GNU/Linux. All the so-called "Linux" distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux.
205 comments