Vodafone TV blocks Linux users – let’s make our voices heard

I recently discovered that Vodafone TV is completely inaccessible from Linux desktops. On the very same PC, it works fine under Windows, but on Linux the service blocks playback altogether. Even with tricks like user-agent spoofing or running a Windows VM, it still refuses to play anything. The only way I could get it working was by booting into my Windows partition, which makes it clear that Vodafone is deliberately blocking Linux browsers.

This is extremely frustrating, because Vodafone advertises the service as accessible “from any device via browser” without ever disclosing that Linux is excluded. At the same time, the company’s own hardware and infrastructure are heavily based on Linux, from routers to Android TV boxes, making this restriction feel hypocritical and arbitrary.

It is also unfair and discriminatory. In many regions Linux has a larger desktop market share than macOS, yet macOS is supported while Linux users are left out. There is no real technical excuse for this either. Competing streaming platforms such as Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, HBO, and even local services like COSMOTE TV have supported Linux browsers for years using standard DRM technologies like Widevine. Vodafone simply hasn’t bothered to implement the same solution.

Beyond the technical issues, this raises important questions of consumer rights, accessibility, and transparency. Paying customers are denied equal access to a service they have subscribed to, with no prior disclosure. That is unacceptable in 2025, especially from a company of Vodafone’s size and resources.

I have already submitted a formal complaint to Vodafone Greece. But this won’t change unless Linux users everywhere make their voices heard. If you are a Vodafone customer in any country, please take a few minutes to send a complaint to your local Vodafone branch.

Even a short message demanding equal support for Linux is valuable. If we push together, Vodafone will have no choice but to realize that ignoring Linux users is not an option.

https://redd.it/1mrvik9
@r_linux

I'm using Linux Mint now daily for the last 4 months and I start to love the flexibility & simpleness of Linux. Windows on the other hand feels now clunky and bloated.
https://redd.it/1mrxkfd
@r_linux

What were your biggest struggles when switching to Linux for the first time?

I've been helping a couple of people, mostly friends, switch to Linux recently after the current state of privacy on Windows and I'm surprised at the different parts of the experience different people struggle with, what are the points of the change that you needed help with or would have liked better tutorials for?

https://redd.it/1mrxbf6
@r_linux

Windows 12 could be Linux's biggest chance, Mint 22.2 beta: Linux Weekly News - The Linux Experiment
https://peertube.wtf/w/swvrwjMRigEKqZgfeLNtMj

https://redd.it/1ms45yw
@r_linux

Linux Format gone...

I've been using Linux for about twenty years and bought a few linux magazines during that time. Linux Format was my favorite and while I didn't subscribe I bought a few each year if they had articles I wanted or contents on the included disc. So it was a bad feeling when my local magazine place didn't have a copy lately. So I looked at the LF website to see that they are folding their tent. I just want to say my thanks to some good people I don't know and I will certainly miss the magazine.

https://redd.it/1ms64yx
@r_linux

JayzTwoCents' Linux benchmarks feel OFF... - Gardiner Bryant
https://peertube.wtf/w/rsg7LREccDhsRFaPdfsXab

https://redd.it/1ms48cg
@r_linux

Battlefield 6 Requires Windows Secure Boot

I’ve been dual booting Linux and Windows for years now, and this is the first true roadblock that I’ve run into. Battlefield 6 is requiring my Secure Boot option to be set to “Windows” instead of “Other OS” in BIOS or else the game won’t launch due to the Anti-Cheat.

While no, this doesn’t mean Linux won’t boot, it does mean that the graphics drivers do not work. It stretches the image and makes it practically unusable.

I assume I’m not the first to ever experience this, so how do other people combat anti-cheat on Windows restricting their dual booting needs? If there was a way I could just use the Windows secure boot option with correct video drivers for Ubuntu, I would be covered.

https://redd.it/1msehr8
@r_linux

Are there any fortune-mod addons or implementations that give arbitrary tips about git, grep, awk and sed?

Pretty much like games do on loading screens, but with fortune-mod with Unix general development/management tools. It would be a great use-case to learn more about these tools in a daily basis and experiment new things.

https://redd.it/1msf0g8
@r_linux

Why are some distros better than others at handling nvidia drivers?

I hope being brave enough to post this here, instead of r/linux4noobs was not the wrong decision. Be kind linux gigachads, I have been using linux personally and for work for a few years now, so felt confident to post here.

I am kind of a distro hopper (I see/reminisce about a different distro than the one I am currently on, I will bkp my data and do a fresh install), but trying my best to stop doing this.

So, over the course of the last 10 days, I have tried 3-4 different distros on the same set of hardware (an HP Omen Laptop with AMD CPU and Nvidia GPU (1660Ti) ). And I had quite the different set of experiences when it came to getting my dGPU working across them.

First up was Cachy OS (back home, using it right now and mostly stick to this), pretty smooth sailing. No issues with the installer, it loaded up without any special flags/changes to GRUB. Installed the drivers on its own. I could login to a desktop and use applications on the GPU directly after install.

Next was Linux Mint, though it didn't install nvidia proprietary or the new nvidia-open ones (not noveau)...still worked, installer used my integrated GPU. And installing post install on linux mint has always been nice and easy for me. just go to their driver manager and it tells you which one is reccomended amongst the various proprietary drivers and you just install that. After install, everything works as expected.

Then MX Linux, given their focus on accessibility/ease-of-use with their MxTools, it was pretty easy there too.......to cut the story short...lets fast forward a bit

Then I wanted to give openSUSE another shot after I had heard zypper got parallel downloads. And boy was that a mistake.....when I launch the installer without modifying nomodeset in GRUB, it will not load the installer for me (I checked all ttys with ctrl+alt+f2-f7)...and if do launch installer by setting nomodeset it starts up and installls.......BUT!!!! directly after installing the OS I get 1280x768 something resolution which is wrong! (my display is 1080p). Also btw, everytime after installing openSUSE, zypper repo list was broken for me, it was referencing a repo from my boot USB or something so I had to remove it. Then I followed the automated install steps on https://en.opensuse.org/SDB:NVIDIA\_drivers \--> add the NVIDIA repo, refresh zypper, then the automated install steps (which btw it says, tested on TUMBLEWEED !!!!!) and lo and behold zypper does install something. Since I had secure boot disabled both before install and (set it to disabled in the OS installer) I didn't have to go through the MOK process (it never appeared after reboot)....and it still didn't fucking work!!!

So the main thing I wanted to discuss is why? why is it like this? that some arch-based distro can support a GPU driver out of the box, an LTS debian distro can support the computer out of the box and then post install you can install proprietary drivers pretty straightforward way but these rpm based distros always make it so complicated ! (unless you go for ublue or some other containerized version)

The thing with opensuse is, there wasn't even noveau bundled in and even though it was using my integrated GPU it was the completely wrong res when other distros like mint allow me to run at the right res even with my integrated gpu. And I completely opted out of the SE Linux/App-armor thing during install.....

so tell me, what kind of sane person who has nvidia GPUs would use openSUSE? since it seems to be so unreliable? (ik RHEL is even worse, have to use it at work) why would someone with say a server with one or more nvidia GPUs use something like openSUSE or RHEL or any rpm based distro (Fedora has also been a bit all over the place with regards to the drivers in the past for me) ?

and why can't they just do it like debian based distros seem to do it? or arch-based distros do it? or bundle something either noveau or the new nvidia-open ones in their initial install

?

https://redd.it/1msiwhb
@r_linux

One shot book to learn Linux and Operating System

Hey, I just read a book on Computer Networks (Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach). Now I am thinking about reading a book on Linux that also explains OS terms.

Does something like this exist? If so, can you please guide me? I want to be a backend engineer, and it will really help me in this journey.

https://redd.it/1msd9p1
@r_linux

GDPR meant nothing: chat control ends privacy for the EU
https://www.reddit.com/r/Romania/comments/1msjxqp/gdpr_meant_nothing_chat_control_ends_privacy_for/

https://redd.it/1msltp3
@r_linux

How much % CPU does your mouse use on Linux desktop?

Here's something odd that we found out during a Linux LAN event this weekend. This is not a tech support question, but a peculiar behavior denoscription that got people into quite a heated exchange during the event, and was seen as something unexpected.

1. Close all programs so your Linux system is idle and no windows are open.
2. Open a terminal and run top.
3. Vigorously move your mouse in circles or back and forth over the desktop for several seconds, while observing output from top.

Surprising result: on three tested systems (Linux Mint 22 Cinnamon, Debian 13, Fedora 42 KDE), CPU usage spikes up to 20%, 50% and even up to 100% on one system, just from moving the mouse.

All these systems have desktop GPUs used for playing games - not integrated graphics.

Someone said that they would have expected moving the mouse to not even register in top, i.e. some 0-1% CPU overhead, and that is what would happen on Windows and on macOS. That got me thinking that surely that couldn't be possible, since the CPU must do some work at least to process the mouse.

Does Linux design dedicate a CPU core for processing the mouse?

I thought it would be interesting to poll: how much CPU overhead does moving the mouse result in on your Linux desktop system? Is e.g. 20%-100% CPU usage from moving the mouse nominal/expected on Linux? Does some Linux distro/desktop environment get 0% for mouse?

https://redd.it/1msmuyv
@r_linux

Sudo reference in The Simpsons
https://redd.it/1msprgk
@r_linux

Videos in the terminal with braille
https://redd.it/1mstiax
@r_linux

I was recently given these manuals and decided to give them a try. I hope I'm up to date.
https://redd.it/1msxhj7
@r_linux

Humble Bundle; any of them good?

Humble Bundle currently has a bundle of Linux and Unix related books. I was looking at picking it up. Is this bundle worth picking up? Any books in it specifically a great read or a skip book?

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/linux-complete-pearson-books

https://redd.it/1msxmy4
@r_linux

My Intro to Linux
https://archive.org/details/suselinux64

https://redd.it/1mszhsm
@r_linux

ORYX - TUI for sniffing network traffic using eBPF
https://redd.it/1mt2ha3
@r_linux

I installed Linux Mint on my grandmother's brand new laptop (she asked me to)

My grandma recently bought a new laptop and when I was helping her set it up, I ran into a problem. Since Windows 11 likes to force you to make a Microsoft account nowadays, I had her give me an email address and password she wanted to use to make her account. The problem arose when I put her email address in and it got rejected. She uses a local ISP email address and it's been fine for everything else she uses. Microsoft wouldn't allow it in this case however and suggested creating a new email. Well of course she doesn't want to do that. I explained the options to her: I could override this and make a local account with some fiddling, we could make a new email, or I could install Linux.

My grandmother, who is in her 70's asked me to just install Linux. I've put Linux Mint on an older laptop of hers to squeeze some extra life out of it before and I guess she really enjoyed using it. So today I installed Linux Mint on her brand new laptop before even finishing the first boot of Windows 11. I just thought this was kind of amusing and wanted to share, I never thought I'd see the day where she'd actually choose Linux over Windows.


https://redd.it/1mtcb4p
@r_linux

Finally got WinApps to work, this tool is incredible.
https://redd.it/1mtg20d
@r_linux