Tech Freedom How-To's

CNIX OS: https://cnix.org Jeffrey Petersen's site: https://jeff.pro Flatpak instructions here: https://flathub.com/setup/debian Once flatpak is installed, reboot the machine Log back in open the terminal and type the following: flatpak install flatseal chrome edge It will ask for confirmation on each package, as well as which version you want just hit enter on the flatseal one pick 2 for chrome and 1 for edge confirm each one wait for the downloads once finished, should take 5-15 minutes, depending on hardware and internet speed click the application menu (or hit the meta/windows key on your keyboard) type flatseal click it to open open the chrome permissions scroll down to File System - Other Files click the little add button click in the new field copy this in: ~/.local/share/applications:create then click to add another directory copy this in: ~/.local/share/icons:create exit flatseal open Edge unclick send data option sign in if you have an MS login visit the service you wish to have as a web app click the elipses button (...) click Apps Click Create New App (name as desired) Go to your Application Menu search for the name of your new web app right click on it add to desktop, Favorites, or Panel/Task Manager (as desired) For Google stuff Open Chrome Sign in navigate to chrome://apps Right click on your desired app, click open in new window, then Create Shortcut Go to your Application Menu search for the name of your new web app right click on it add to desktop, Favorites, or Panel/Task Manager (as desired) music: "Alex Productions - Hard As Steel" is under a Creative Commons (CC BY 3.0) license. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGJgmIwlnKw

Ever wondered how to get access to your work emails on your Manjaro install? Here's how: turn on your computer log in open pamac (Add/Remove Software... should be in your task manager) click settings (sandwich menu) ->Preferences (enter password) change update checking frequency, leave auto downloads off, max out parallel downloads, change mirror to your country for faster speeds click third party tab along the top enable AUR and check for updates scroll down and enable flathub and check for updates Close preferences window and Pamac Open Pamac (Add/Remove Software) click the magnifying glass search for flatseal and click install search for chrome and click install search for microsoft and install Microsoft edge Click Apply at the bottom of the screen and enter your password click the green M button (where the traditional start menu would be in windows) click Utilities then Flatseal Once in Flatseal, click on Google Chrome scroll down to Filesystem Click to add directory (folder with a + in it) copy this: /home/m/.local/share/icons:create click add directory icon again copy this: /home/m/.local/share/applications:create close Flatseal Open Chrome Don't let it be the default or send extra data to Mountain View Sign in with your main account (allow sync or not, up to you) navigate to chrome://apps right click on whichever google app(s) you want to add to your computer check the open in new window box click create shortcut repeat for whichever other Worskpace apps you need right click on the new window in your task manager and pin it there Click the "M" button on the left end of the taskbar Click All Applications scroll to "G" and right click on your new web apps individually, adding them to the desktop and to the favorites menu Microsoft Apps Open Edge Click through the set up process, undo the telemetry option Open a new tab Navigate to your desired MS services and login Click the settings button, the horizontal version of the one in Chrome Select Apps -> Create App Name your web app Click Ok It should open in a new window, just repeat the process you did with the Workspace app(s) earlier to pin it to the task manager, your Favorites in the app menu (green "M" where the start menu is in windows) and add it to the desktop if desired. "Alex Productions - Hard As Steel" is under a Creative Commons (CC BY 3.0) license. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGJgmIwlnKw

Ever wondered how to get access to your work emails on your Freed PC or We the Free machine? Here's how: turn on your computer log in open discover (should be in your task manager) click settings click add flathub in upper right corner of window enter password click Internet -> Web Browsers Scroll down to Google Chrome, then click install, enter your password Scroll down a few more to Microsoft Edge (If you need Microsoft stuff, such as outlook and other MS 365 stuff for work) click the error off when Edge fails to install the first time click updates (there should be an orange 1 there) update the package in question go back to Internet -> Web Browsers, scroll down and click install on Edge again Open the Settings App click Applications Click Flatpak Permissions Manager Click Chrome scroll down tap the + by where it says "Add Permissions" type in /home/user_name/.local/share/applications in the field* click the drop down and select "Create" repeat with the following path: /home/user_name/.local/share/icons *when you see user_name in Linux related directions, insert your user name there "Alex Productions - Hard As Steel" is under a Creative Commons (CC BY 3.0) license. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGJgmIwlnKw

Quick install with my custom ventoy drive. 1. Do a Freedom Consultation 2. Choose to work with Tech Freedom 3. Receive flash drive 4. Plug in flash drive 5. Reboot system 6. Boot into the Ventoy flash drive 7. Select your Chosen Distro and Desktop Environment 8. Boot in 9. Check out your desktop 10. Run the installer

Endeavour OS is a Arch based distro, descended from Antergos Linux. It is immediately downstream from Vanilla Arch. Endeavour OS is terminal-focused in terms of package management, so no GUI package managers involved. It is also lightweight and tends to be very responsive in my experience. Same principle as with the LMDE install video I made recently. 1. Download EndeavourOS 2. Prep flash drive 3. Burn Endeavour onto a drive 4. Reboot system 5. Boot into the flash drive 6. Select your Chosen Distro and Desktop Environment 7. Boot in 8. Check out your desktop 9. Run the installer

Take a look at this quick install video using my new customized Ventoy based USB flash drives. Pardon the different video & audio quality and style, as I took this video on my cellphone. If you have any questions, hit me in the comments. Thanks for watching. Steps: plug in your flash drive Restart your computer (if windows 10 or 11, then hold shift as you restart to call up the advanced boot options, then boot from USB) Let it boot into the custom ventoy environment Select the distro and desktop you want to try Hit enter for default boot mode on the next screen Let it boot into the live environment Explore the desktop If you like it, open the installer, if you don't, try another option (reboot the computer and hit ESC, f1, f2, or f10, depending on the manufacturer), then pick the asolid USB option, this should open up ventoy again) Pick a new candidate Repeat above steps until you find a combination you like Once you do, open the installer in the live environment, and let it erase the drive and replace windows with your chosen flavor of Linux. Follow the steps as presented in the installer, and by the end of it, your system will be running Linux. Congratulations, you just set your computer free from spying and the performance penalty that brings. https://techfreedom.pro/2021/12/01/tech-freedom-3-how-to-101/

It's been a good last couple of weeks... we have some big things in the works, but I wanted to let you guys know what was up the last couple of weeks when I wasn't posting as usual. I've been making some changes to the website, particularly the store and landing pages, simplifying descriptions and the like to hopfully help things to be more understandable. I still need to do the Ruth test... Other than that, I have posted the last 2 months of content from Rumble as blogs, and prepared all of the devotional content for Spirituality & Tech through the end of September. On a personal level, my wife and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary, and we are looking at some major changes happening in our lives (hopefully) by the end of this calendar year. More on that when more is available to share.

John Q Public and his family. John is an average American guy, married, two kids, runs his own small business. His business did well until he started researching "truther" topics: history, vaccines, and the like. He just wants to be left alone. He believes that the constitution means something, that Kids should be protected, Trump won in 2020, and no one should ever be forced to inject anything into their body. For these reasons, he was shadowbanned, and his family suffered... they were shadowbanned and surveiled. They nearly lost their home. John's business tanked. How can John regain digital sovereignty? Degoogling his life: migrating from Windows or MacOS to Linux, iOS or stock Android over to a device with GrapheneOS or DivestOS, regaining your data from their clouds, and eventually shutting down those accounts and replacing them with privacy-respecting options. https://techfreedom.pro

https://techfreedom.pro

Review of NitruxOS and Crystal Linux https://nxos.org/english/nx/ Nitrux has allot going for it. I want to like it, I really do. But I don't, at least not in its current form. I see loads of potential, but it just isn't "there" yet, it feels sluggish when it should fly... the store is confusing, though I like the idea of appimages. https://getcryst.al/ A beta with loads of potential. I may look again when onyx is actually in place. I like the Jade installer. Amethyst looks interesting as a pacman wrapper. The main issue that I have is that their main raison d etre is based on the shifting sand that is GNOME. I don't know, you guys.

First video for home page.

What does it take to break free from Big Tech as much as possible? Lots of thinking, time, and decisive action.

I set her up with Manjaro KDE on her new Asus Zenbook, and bought & degoogled a OnePlus 7 Pro for her before I launched late last year. She is essentially non-technical, and glazes over whenever I talk about tech stuff. She shot and edited this on her own.

Short and sweet. The main differences between this and the process for the Pixel 3xl I did last week more or less come down to different files, no need for downgrading stock to accommodate Lineage, and one other thing: the command to unlock the bootloader.

How to Install LineageOS or Lineage for microG on a Pixel 3XL (Crosshatch) 1. Pick your variety of LineageOS, download the February 2022 one, along with the factory image they offer for the 3XL. 2. Prepare your computer to do the job 1. Linux 1. Install android tools packages, this will give you ADB and Fastboot, as well as Android-UDEV, so that your computer can connect with your phone in order to send it commands through the terminal. 1. This process is command line based, and there is no other way to go about it. 2. Open your terminal emulator (Konsole/Xterm/Terminal) 3. Distro specific commands 1. Debian/ Ubuntu 1. sudo apt-get install android-tools-adb 2. Fedora/ SUSE 1. sudo yum install android-tools 3. Arch 1. sudo pacman -Syu android-tools 3. Set up Debugging on your phone 1. Open the settings app in GrapheneOS 2. Scroll to “About Phone”, tap to open 3. Scroll to the bottom of that menu, and tap the Baseband Version 7 times. 4. Navigate back to the main settings menu, and open Developer Options 5. Scroll to USB Debugging, and enable 4. Connect your phone to the computer and grant Debugging permissions to your computer. 5. Enable OEM Unlock in developer options 6. Type adb devices in your terminal window, which will call up the adb server and cause it to start up and show the serial number of your device. 7. Type adb reboot bootloader in the terminal 8. Once your phone reboots, type fastboot devices in the terminal to make sure that it is connected properly 9. Type fastboot flashing unlock in the terminal 10. You may need to do a few things on the device to confirm it, then it will reboot 11. Once it reboots, you will need to re-enable USB Debugging in the settings app. 12. Type adb reboot bootloader in the terminal after this is complete 13. Confirm that the computer sees the phone after the phone reboots by typing fastboot devices in the terminal 14. Once that is done, unzip the factory image you got from Lineage 1. Unzip the file you just downloaded, right in your downloads folder is fine 2. run the following commands in your terminal once that completes 1. fastboot flash bootloader /home/username/Downloads/crosshatch-sp2a.220305.012/bootloader-crosshatch-b1c1-0.4-7617406 2. fastboot reboot-bootloader 3. fastboot flash radio /home/username/Downloads/crosshatch-sp2a.220305.012//radio-crosshatch-g845-00194-210812-B-7635520.img 4. fastboot reboot-bootloader 5. fastboot update /home/username/Downloads/crosshatch-sp2a.220305.012/image-crosshatch-sp2a.220305.012.zip 6. fastboot reboot 15. fastboot flash boot /home/username/Downloads/20220302-microG-crosshatch-recovery.img 16. Once it reboots to recovery, tap Factory Reset, then Format Data 17. After that process completes, Sideload the Lineage .Zip file, then Apply from ADB 18. On the computer, type adb sideload /home/username/Downloads/lineage-18.1-20220302-microG-crosshatch.zip, and hit Enter. 1. This process may not look like it has been completed fully, in fact, it will likely only register as reaching 47% before it says that it is done. 19. Back on the phone: 1. After you see this, you can Reboot to System and you will have a degoogled phone, after it boots up. If you selected the Lineage for microG option, it will come with f-droid pre-installed, along with microG to spoof your connection to things like Firebase for push notifications, and will also allow you to set up alternate sources for maps and navigation, unifiedNLP and the like. 1. I suggest that you do these things at first boot. 2. Also, use f-droid to install the Aurora Store 1. To set up the Aurora Store, all you need to do is select Anonymous (non legacy), and it will spoof a google account for you every time you open the app to do anything. 3. While in the Aurora Store, I suggest installing the Brave Browser 1. once installed, open Brave, and visit telegram.org, and download telegram directly from them, it should be 60-70 MB, then grant permission to install from untrusted sources, and install it. 20. You have a freshly installed, degoogled environment on your Pixel 3XL. Congratulations.

How to install Graphene OS on a Pixel 3XL (Crosshatch) 1: Webusb Installer 1. Follow the instructions on the website, here: https://grapheneos.org/install/web 1. Make sure your phone is FACTORY UNLOCKED 1. Boot your phone, if a scary looking message appears, then it is bootloader unlocked already, if not, then do the following steps 1. Open the settings app (pull down from the top of the screen until you see a little gear icon , then tap it. 2. Scroll to the bottom, tap on About Phone 3. Scroll to the bottom of that menu, and tap on the Baseband number 7 times, this will unlock the Developer Options back in the main Settings menu 4. Navigate back to that menu, Tap on Developer Options 5. Scroll down to OEM Unlock, tap here to enable. If it is grayed-out, you are out of luck with that device, get a new one and start over. 6. If it is tap-able, tap it. 2. Proceed to installing whatever packages are needed for your operating system so that it can connect with your phone in the way that is necessary for the process to complete. 3. Reboot your device into Fastboot 1. reboot, and then hold the volume down key as it powers back on 2. Once there, scroll, using the volume buttons and the power button to make selections, down to Unlock Bootloader and press the power button twice to select and say Ok 3. While still in the bootloader, connect your phone to the computer 4. Download the Factory Images and signature files from the GrapheneOS site, and the signature checking utility to assure that it is Genuine. 5. Once it passes, continue to the next step on the list by clicking Flash Release, it should find your phone and begin the process for you. 6. After it finishes, you will need to reboot and go back into the bootloader, then lock it again by clicking Lock Bootloader on the website. Once that is done, reboot and start your newly GrapheneOS powered Pixel 3XL. 2: CLI 1. Basically the same as any other Custom ROM, I will demonstrate that methodology when I install Lineage for microG tomorrow.

How to flash back to stock on the Pixel 3XL (Crosshatch) 1. Go back to the graphene webusb installer site, scroll to the bottom, issue the unlock command and go back into fastboot and confirm it, then click Remove non-Stock Key. 2. download latest stock Android Image from https://www.xda-developers.com/how-to-download-android-12/#feb2022 3. This will require CLI, not the web tool. 4. Visit this site for an explanation of how to get your phone working on stock again https://www.droidwin.com/restore-pixel-3-3a-xl-stock-firmware-fastboot-unbrick/ 1. Unzip the file you just downloaded, right in your downloads folder is fine 2. run the following commands in your terminal once that completes 1. fastboot flash bootloader <drag and drop bootloader image file in terminal> 2. fastboot reboot-bootloader 3. fastboot flash radio <drag and drop radio image file> 4. fastboot reboot-bootloader 5. fastboot update <drag and drop the zip file in that folder> 6. fastboot reboot After this, you should reboot into stock android and you can flash whatever other ROM you want, after you turn your developer options on and enable USB debugging.

How to install Graphene OS on a Pixel 3XL (Crosshatch) 1: Webusb Installer 1. Follow the instructions on the website, here: https://grapheneos.org/install/web 1. Make sure your phone is FACTORY UNLOCKED 1. Boot your phone, if a scary looking message appears, then it is bootloader unlocked already, if not, then do the following steps 1. Open the settings app (pull down from the top of the screen until you see a little gear icon , then tap it. 2. Scroll to the bottom, tap on About Phone 3. Scroll to the bottom of that menu, and tap on the Baseband number 7 times, this will unlock the Developer Options back in the main Settings menu 4. Navigate back to that menu, Tap on Developer Options 5. Scroll down to OEM Unlock, tap here to enable. If it is grayed-out, you are out of luck with that device, get a new one and start over. 6. If it is tap-able, tap it. 2. Proceed to installing whatever packages are needed for your operating system so that it can connect with your phone in the way that is necessary for the process to complete. 3. Reboot your device into Fastboot 1. reboot, and then hold the volume down key as it powers back on 2. Once there, scroll, using the volume buttons and the power button to make selections, down to Unlock Bootloader and press the power button twice to select and say Ok 3. While still in the bootloader, connect your phone to the computer 4. Download the Factory Images and signature files from the graphene site, and the signature checking utility to assure that it is Genuine. 5. Once it passes, continue to the next step on the list by clicking Flash Release, it should find your phone and begin the process for you. 6. After it finshes, you will need to reboot and go back into the bootloader, then lock it again by clicking Lock Bootloader on the website. Once that is done, reboot and start your newly GrapheneOS powered Pixel 3XL. 2: CLI 1. Basically the same as any other Custom ROM, I will demonstrate that methodology when I install Lineage for microG tomorrow.

A few things I forgot to mention: Weekly Devotions FOSS news 3x/week, now with memesplanations Occasional tutorials Https://t.me/tech_freedom Https://techfreedom.pro Https://gab.com/groups/58195 Https://truthsocial.com/@tech_freedom

Walkthrough of my site, intro to social media Gab group: Https://gab.com/groups/58195 Telegram channel: https://t.me/tech_freedom Telegram chat: https://t.me/tech_freedom_chat

A reading of my Linux 101 article found here: https://techfreedom.pro/2022/03/29/linux-101/

Running a Manjaro KDE VM in Gnome Boxes on my Manjaro KDE Laptop... Installing and switching from KDE to LXQT. https://www.howtogeek.com/193129/how-to-install-and-use-another-desktop-environment-on-linux/ Forgive the stutters, my machine was rather taxed as I was streaming and recording the install process.

Hey All, Someone on Gab voted for this, so I thought I'd give them a little love and show you what KDE theming can do in brief. My setup is as follows: Arititm-Dark Global theme taskbar to top of screen, ala` MacOS, set to 50 pixels aritim-dark GTK theme Breeze icons single row task manager next to app menu button Aritim wallpaper #3

From an example account i made this afternoon, where I sent a few emails back and forth with a few of my other accounts, and uploaded a handful of things into the drive, just to have something for them to gather and zip up for me. I also showed establishing accounts on Protonmail and Zoho. https://go.zoho.com/H9P