A Trade-Free operating system based on Manjaro Linux Designed for your brain, but you can install it on a computer.No more ads and trackers consuming you, no ‘free’ trials, noContinue readingHOME
A Trade-Free operating system based on Manjaro Linux Designed for your brain, but you can install it on a computer.No more ads and trackers consuming you, no ‘free’ trials, no …
I installed this on my laptop last weekend. I've never installed an OS before and it took a few tries. Kept failing at the very end with the bootloader. I found your logs of the same problem, and finally got it to work. So far I like it. Some things are taking some time to figure out, but I'm getting there. I very much like the aesthetic.
2026 brings something new but also old to TROMjaro: The Unity Layout style is back because we managed to fix an annoying thing with it. forum.tromjaro.com/t/tromjaro-…
2026 brings something new but also old to TROMjaro: The Unity Layout style is back because we managed to fix an annoying thing with it. Let me explain. When I first discovered Linux I fell in love with Ubuntu’s Unity.
Basically if you need a Mastodon instance, or Peertube, or Friendica and so forth, you pay a monthly fee and we do everything. No need to worry about updates and all that.
The usual updates PLUS a fix. Here is the problem: As you may know we struggle a lot to make all apps (GTK or QT, flatpaks or not) look the same on TROMjaro. To basically use the same theme.
YunoHost is a system that installs itself on a server and allows you to install and maintain - with very little technical knowledge - digital services (apps) that you control.
@lohang TY for sharing, I am looking to set up my own fediverse instance and I wanted to give #YunoHost a try… it’s great to know you are so happy with it!
How I got here: @_elena boosted @tio ‘s message, @yunohost you have a lot of friends 💙
(ah btw, I donated regardless of how things will turn out for me, as I want to support #SelfHosting 🙏)
@mala I am very happy to hear this! :) Not only Pleroma, I use several other critical services on #YunoHost running on various servers including mail, NextCloud, WordPress etc. I highly recommend it. If needed, it is easy to find support in the forums and here on the fediverse too.
@Lohan Gunaweera @Tio @Davide Eynard (+mala) @Elena Rossini ⁂ FYI We have set up a little (group) forum a while ago regarding to run federated social web software on your yunohost. As it's running on hubzilla it might depend on your ActivityPub platform to work as expected.
@Lohan Gunaweera Yes, it's possible. Just Pleroma makes trouble (afaik). It might be just not so nice to handle as from hubzilla/friendica/streams... like platforms though.This is mostly about handling threads/conversations on the Mastodon site.
We stayed in a paid parking in Almaden to wait for the bad weather to go away. We were so sick of the so many rainy days. Even our batteries were drained.
On the positive side we installed CalyxOS on the new but old phone we got for Sasha. CalyxOS is a trade-free phone operating system - see calyxos.org/. No ads, no Google crap, nothing like that. And we explain how we did it.
We stayed in a paid parking in Almaden to wait for the bad weather to go away. We were so sick of the so many rainy days. Even our batteries were drained.
On the positive side we installed CalyxOS on the new but old phone we got for Sasha. CalyxOS is a trade-free phone operating system - see calyxos.org/. No ads, no Google crap, nothing like that. And we explain how we did it.
Main battery 0%....too many rainy days. But we installed CalyxOS :)
We stayed in a paid parking in Almaden to wait for the bad weather to go away. We were so sick of the so many rainy days. Even our batteries were drained.
On the positive side we installed CalyxOS on the new but old phone we got for Sasha. CalyxOS is a trade-free phone operating system - see calyxos.org/. No ads, no Google crap, nothing like that. And we explain how we did it.
Super impressed with @CalyxOS ! We moved to a new phone and restored the backups - pretty much everything worked great. All restored. Apps and data. All because of how easy it is to use Calyx. Many many thanks for this fantastic trade-free operating system. I love it!
CalyxOS has its own backup tool. And accepts backups to all sort of locations such as WebDav or Nextcloud. When you reinstall Calyx you are asked to restore if you want. Use the same credentials for where you saved your backups and voila all will be restored.
So we managed to fix the Borg package for YNH. Thus I was able to have proper backups. I made backups for all of the apps and YNH.
Bought a dedicated server from Hetzner that was still providing Debian 11 images.
Installed YNH there
Restored all backups there except for the TROMjaro Forum (Discord) that's broken.
Managed to do the YNH upgrade there
Bought a Webdock Server (where our websites were originally hosted)
Installed the new YNH there
Restored the backups
Made a mistake and bought an expensive server, could not downgrade, bought yet another one from Webdock and migrated the websites there (easier this time, snapshot based)
It was a LOT of work. Not click here and do that. Debug, fix, wait...I worked almost 24h since yesterday. But now all seems to be fine. New server. Everything upda
So we managed to fix the Borg package for YNH. Thus I was able to have proper backups. I made backups for all of the apps and YNH.
Bought a dedicated server from Hetzner that was still providing Debian 11 images.
Installed YNH there
Restored all backups there except for the TROMjaro Forum (Discord) that's broken.
Managed to do the YNH upgrade there
Bought a Webdock Server (where our websites were originally hosted)
Installed the new YNH there
Restored the backups
Made a mistake and bought an expensive server, could not downgrade, bought yet another one from Webdock and migrated the websites there (easier this time, snapshot based)
It was a LOT of work. Not click here and do that. Debug, fix, wait...I worked almost 24h since yesterday. But now all seems to be fine. New server. Everything updated.
I have left the TROMjaro Forum on the old server and downgraded its hardware to its lowest possible to keep it cheap. In total we pay a bit less than before despite all of these since I am able to get the money back from all of these servers because I used them for less than 24h. Thus the rush. We are super low on money so we have to be careful about these things.
This was the hardest thing I had to do these past months. Took over a month to fix it overall but now I can relax a bit.
There is a lot of work behind these websites, you know.... But I am happy with the end result.
I love our TROMsite.com, TROMjaro.com, TROMhome.com, VideoNeat.com, Trade-Free.org, TROMnews.com :)
YNH pushed a big update recently from Debian 11 to 12.
Our VPS is containerized and fails to do this big update through YNH. Thus a fatal failure and unable to reach the server if we update. Nuked. Took many failed attempts, and many days to figure the reason.
The hosting company cannot help in any way.
Solution (not really):
Buy a new VPS with Debian 11 (not too easy to find)
Install an older YNH there.
Restore our YNH setup from the older one using Borg and do the update to Debian 12 from that server.
BUMMER! - The Borg YNH app is broken and thus all of our backups are broken. An issue with the folder structure inside the backup archives. Seems easy to fix and they are fixing it, but we need to wait for the update.
AFTER BORG IS FIXED: - Say we buy a new server with Debian 11. Restore YNH there and do the update there.
TROMjaro FORUM WILL BE DEAD: - There is a huge issue it seems with Discourse (the TROMjaro forum software we use). It did not receive any updates in months and months. And it fails to restore any backup on any system. Thus if we move to a new server in order to update to YNH Debian 12, we cannot restore the forum.
Hey @PeerTube this year I will try to push our Peertube instance to get more eyeballs and people interested to join. But we need to also help each other. We have a few original Peertube channels that prioritize Peertube and are not simply "second hand youtube channels".
For one you may be aware but we published a 5 hours documentary exclusively on Peertube - videos.trom.tf/w/p/fVpfZ9VfWrW… Subtitled in several languages. We even talk about The Fediverse and Peertube in the documentary.
Hey @PeerTube this year I will try to push our Peertube instance to get more eyeballs and people interested to join. But we need to also help each other. We have a few original Peertube channels that prioritize Peertube and are not simply "second hand youtube channels".
For one you may be aware but we published a 5 hours documentary exclusively on Peertube - videos.trom.tf/w/p/fVpfZ9VfWrW… Subtitled in several languages. We even talk about The Fediverse and Peertube in the documentary.
We have our entire TROM channel there - videos.trom.tf/c/trom/videos - Hundreds of videos. And this year I will start a new video series. Some videos will also be about the fediverse, peertube, and FOSS.
We recently started our motorhome adventures (very family friendly channel) - videos.trom.tf/c/tromhome and we are posting there twice a week or so.
Be Brave To Act made by @Dima has really great and original content about volunteering. We will try to help him keep the channel updated - he mainly posts on youtube.
We need more original Peertube creators and not simply those who "mirror" their Youtube channels there. If people know that the channel X posts only on Peertube and not on Youtube, it may make these people follow on Peertube. But if people know that channel X posts on Youtube and Peertube is just like a mirror....is different.
You and others need to help us and people like us, if possible, to get the Peertube content out. So that people get to use Peertube more often.
I choose to post on Peertube first, or only, despite not reaching as many people as I would on Youtube, but I do it because I think it is worth the effort to promote this sane alternative to the giant ad-platform that Youtube is.
And thank you for what you've created. By "helping" us, I mean perhaps promote good and original Peertube content on your homepage and also share it if possible. So the newcomers get to see that Peertube is not just the awesome software you've built, but people use it to create original/good content.
We live in a world where everyone is busy, everyone is consumed, everyone seems confused. Money, social credits, ads, data collection, prices and billionaires. Climate change? Who cares! A one-marb...
thank you for what you do, we need original peertube content. In my very small channel I upload exclusively to peertube, but unfortunately I get very few views and almost no comments
I agree, we need much more promotion so it can take traction, that seems to be the biggest hurdle at the moment.
In it's current state #peertube and it's connection to the #fediverse via #activitypub is already far superior to #youtube ! In addition to so many other features:)
One thing I think that is really needed is perhaps a way to "boost" content that could point to a central database on #joinpeertube so we would have a way of discovering popular videos.
Thanks for pointing out this issue and pushing for PeerTube to be more widely known!
Actually, we don't have the human resources (and therefore the time) to do what you suggest on our own. We couldn't imagine promoting videos without first reviewing them, and watching videos... takes a lot of time! 1/2
What we could imagine is a community effort to curate exclusive PeerTube videos. Something like what @FediVideo already does.
That way, our small team could promote them more easily! Either through our social medias or by adding them to the front page of joinpeertube.org.
Soooo... sorry for not saying "Yes, we'll work on it ASAP!" even though we'd love to do so! Maybe in the future, with the help of our community, your suggestion will become possible!
For what it is worth, the line between YouTube and PeerTube is not always as stark as this. For example @michellemay gets most of her views on YouTube but she features the Fediverse in her videos, she even did a video dedicated entirely to the Fedi which she put on YouTube.
Some are on both YouTube and PeerTube equally, and will interact on both platforms.
I think it is worth welcoming these kinds of accounts.
YouTube can be a gateway to PeerTube if we welcome these kinds of accounts which have feet in both worlds.
This will be especially true if/when YouTube enshittifies further, PeerTube could become the better way of viewing videos for a lot of people if they see it as an option presented by the YouTube channels they follow.
Going back to Michelle's channel, this kind of thing is excellent for the Fediverse:
YouTube can be a gateway to PeerTube if we welcome these kinds of accounts which have feet in both worlds.
This will be especially true if/when YouTube enshittifies further, PeerTube could become the better way of viewing videos for a lot of people if they see it as an option presented by the YouTube channels they follow.
Going back to Michelle's channel, this kind of thing is excellent for the Fediverse:
The Fediverse is a relatively new concept for most of us, so today I'm covering what it is, why it's relevant for crafters, and how you can join! And if you don't want to join, that's ok too, at least now you know what it is you're not joining :D
If you enjoy my videos, please consider supporting the channel or checking out my patterns over at ko-fi.com/thegiddystitcher
RESOURCES:
If you just want to take my advice and start off with the biggest Mastodon server, do so here! joinmastodon.org
Curated list of other decent Mastodon servers - fedi.garden
I understand about vetting the videos. I also have to do this with the content we promote. Takes time indeed. But somehow this needs to be done bit by bit so that people understand Peertube is not just a place to mirror youtube videos. You do enough work on the software already so I am thinking if there are ways for me/us to help with the content discovery.
Maybe if you'd have some guidelines as to what can go on the joinpeertube page some people could "apply" to get their content featured.
In any case, thanks for your work. We will continue ours ;).
I agree that Peertube loses something good about centralization: a way to search the entire Peertube network. I think joinpeertube.org/browse-conten… does that well tho. And every instance can enable global searches like we do with videos.trom.tf - tho this is a general issue with decentralization and even these global searches will not search through all of the content.
One server needs to discover another and its contents in order to be aware of them. But this technology I think is still in its early stages and looking at how much Peertube evolved over the past 2-3 years it gives me hope that there will be better solutions for this.
I like the idea of grayjay.app/ where you are following "creators" and not channels. Can be Youtube, Peertube, or whatever. The fediverse needs to be integrated with the other platforms like this through some sort of app maybe....
PeerTube's own Sepia Search is trying to cover having a single search system in one place. It uses a blocklist system to screen out bad content when it's reported.
I'm trying to do my own single place to discover content at fedi.video but using an allowlist system instead, so I only allow accounts to appear on the site if I manually approve them.
These are the two ways of providing a unified search for discovery, I think there's a place for both?
Starting to do the TROM work now :) - I am in Romania for a month or so before we go back and start the TROMhome adventure. A new TROMjaro ISO is out forum.tromjaro.com/t/tromjaro-… ! More updates to follow!
This is how you can translate a video from any language into English using Kdenlive. I tested it with a video spoken in 5-6 languages and it did fantastic. You can also use TROMjaro Linux tromjaro.com/ for easy setup and management of your OS in general.
This is how you can translate a video from any language into English using Kdenlive. I tested it with a video spoken in 5-6 languages and it did fantastic. You can also use TROMjaro Linux https://w...
A Trade-Free operating system based on Manjaro Linux Designed for your brain, but you can install it on a computer.No more ads and trackers consuming you, no ‘free’ trials, noContinue readingHOME
A Trade-Free operating system based on Manjaro Linux Designed for your brain, but you can install it on a computer.No more ads and trackers consuming you, no ‘free’ trials, no …
I like this video, TBH, A Long time ago, I even tried to understand what they are saying, but…
Video: Me speaks Multiple Languages 👍 Me, that trying to detect, which one is in German, which one is not, which one Spanish and which one is not: 😶🌫️
This is so confusing. There are many free things where you are not "the product". We make many, see tromsite.com and trom.tf.
I wish people would stop saying this about google and the like. There is a simple and to the point way of describing these "free" services. They are TRADE-BASED. You have to trade something to them, in order to use their services.
In the same way that when you go to a supermarket you have to trade your currency for what you grab from it, you have to trade your attention (ads) or data to Google when you go on their platform. Currency, attention, data.
S I M P L E
We live in a TRADE-BASED society where pretty much everything is trade-based. Money is just a currency we invented, but trades go wi
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NO.
This is so confusing. There are many free things where you are not "the product". We make many, see tromsite.com and trom.tf.
I wish people would stop saying this about google and the like. There is a simple and to the point way of describing these "free" services. They are TRADE-BASED. You have to trade something to them, in order to use their services.
In the same way that when you go to a supermarket you have to trade your currency for what you grab from it, you have to trade your attention (ads) or data to Google when you go on their platform. Currency, attention, data.
S I M P L E
We live in a TRADE-BASED society where pretty much everything is trade-based. Money is just a currency we invented, but trades go without currency as well.
We spent more than a decade trying to shed some light on this confusion.
I got your message but I think the last of goal of so much companies is sell to get money even if we mock the word money with trade at the end they need this trade to survive or don't sacrifice privileges.
It is true that most trades translate into "money" in today's society. But increasingly cryptocurrencies are getting more popular. However the focus should be on trade else we lose sight with whats happening online where data ant attention are traded without people realizing it.
The incentive is bad overall, from small to big companies, or individuals. Yes most have to trade to survive, and that is very bad and we should change this situation; it is also true that google and the like are not trading in order to survive, but to thrive in an unequal and ass backwards society.
Totally agree, Until the current situation that most of the companies use, for example, tracking methods to get your information only for improve the "sell experience for company". It's good saying "if it's free, you are the product" because if we don't keep alert or we pretend that they aren't the majority, we can't protect us of this kind of abuse
The entire premise of my original post is that it is not good saying "if it's free, you are the product" since for one it makes it seem like whatever is "free" is not to be trusted, and second it gives google and the like approval for using the word "free" for their trade-based services.
Google is trade-based. Facebook is trade-based. Nextcloud is trade-free. Friendica is trade-free.
I agree if it's free is not trusted, until the user figures out that is trust. I agree that not all the companies or products are evil or want to abuse to get money but the majority do it. Also there are thousands of user that don't know about the "trade" it's not a real trade if you don't know if it's a "trade"
Capitalism is a manifestation of trade, and ill defined for that matter.
As for "it's not trade if it's coerced" - we are mostly coerced to trade nowadays. Want food? Trade your time, energy, skills to someone else, get a currency, go trade it for food. Food is essential yet you have to trade for it, you have no other choice. And so it goes for pretty much anything.
You run a business selling food, you have little choice, you have to pay your rent. I need food. I work, make money, then buy food from you. We were both coerced into this game, now who is stealing from who in his situation?
We can have endless debates as to what we mean by trade, but I go with what is generally understood - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade
capitalism is global. there is no part of human society than capitalism doesn't touch.
no one forced anyone to hoard food for profit. that's a choice. no one forced anyone to exploit workers by paying them wages. that is also a choice. no one forced anyone to enclose the commons and demand rent. that was also a choice.
writing a book doesn't mean it isn't full of nonsense. Hitler wrote a book too, as did Ayn Rand, but neither of these people had any ideas worth considering nor do they make any sense.
The book that I wrote is digitally available for everyone and every claim is sourced where I claim it. Click and see.
That being said, these isms are a lot of mushy ideas. Also the theory of these ideas can be widely different from their implementation.
And by "no one forced anyone to do this or that", I do not know what you are saying. Of course so many people are forced by others or circumstances. All choices are influenced by external factors: needs, efficiency, fear, etc..
If not, then do yourself a favor and research. I was 100% sure that after billions of people made posts and videos, that people will believe that Google is a goddamn evil corporation. You can't trust it with your data unless you're insane and you want Google to know everything about you.
Don't take my word for it - do yourself a favor and research!
P.S. Hope that will cure from sickness a little thing in your brain, named "logic". And your brain itself too.
@Tio In your original post, you're justifying corporations violating users's privacy rights without their consent. You're acting like as if it was a rule you have to accept and is impossible to live without it.
Back in 1830s,everyone lived without big tech and guess what? They survived. Surprising, right???
Well now, has anything changed? Nope, it didn't.
In your original post, you were complaining about that it's confusing to see people ranting about Google whenever you're product or not, which caused you to write this big post.
My previous reply was expected for you to reduce that confusion a bit. Does it all makes sense now?
The way big tech (like Google, Meta) do their business today, like making money, is unlawful and consentless. Your post is written as if it was okay to play that way business while in real life its not okay.
Do yourself a favor and research, like I said previously.
You certainly misunderstood. I did not justify what they are doing, I said what they do is not free to begin with, it is trade-based. This cuts the confusion when people think google and the like are free, and when some say "you are the product". Better say google is trade-based.
I dedicated the past 10+ years showcasing how this is fucked up. How trade is the origin of most problems.
@Tio Dude. You've read my post partially, and while you did provided some good response, which I appreciate, hmm, I still gonna say that you did justified what big tech are doing.
Quote:
"*NO.
This is so confusing. There are many free things where you are not "the product".*"
If it doesn't has ads and trackers, then yes. Unless it doesn't violates user's privacy.
Quote:
"I wish people would stop saying this about google and the like. There is a simple and to the point way of describing these "free" services. They are TRADE-BASED. You have to trade something to them, in order to use their services."
Yes but it's consentless. Google and other big tech conpanies do not inform you about this.
Quote:
"*In the same way that when you go to a supermarket you have to trade your currency for what you grab from it, you have to trade your attention (ads) or data to Google when you go on their platform. Currency, attent
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@Tio Dude. You've read my post partially, and while you did provided some good response, which I appreciate, hmm, I still gonna say that you did justified what big tech are doing.
Quote:
"*NO.
This is so confusing. There are many free things where you are not "the product".*"
If it doesn't has ads and trackers, then yes. Unless it doesn't violates user's privacy.
Quote:
"I wish people would stop saying this about google and the like. There is a simple and to the point way of describing these "free" services. They are TRADE-BASED. You have to trade something to them, in order to use their services."
Yes but it's consentless. Google and other big tech conpanies do not inform you about this.
Quote:
"*In the same way that when you go to a supermarket you have to trade your currency for what you grab from it, you have to trade your attention (ads) or data to Google when you go on their platform. Currency, attention, data.
S I M P L E
We live in a TRADE-BASED society where pretty much everything is trade-based. Money is just a currency we invented, but trades go without currency as well.*"
Like I said, it's consentless and informless.
See now? I quoted specific arguments of yours where you justified what big tech companies do.
This is so confusing. There are many free things where you are not "the product".*"
If it doesn't has ads and trackers, then yes. Unless it doesn't violates user's privacy.
Thats exactly what I argue there are many trade-free things out there, google aint one. Nor is any that forces you to trade your attention (ads) or data. They are trade-based. BAD
btw learn how to use quotes in friendica.....else it is very confusing....
@CyborgHT When there is no ads and no tracking, you arn't the product. Why not install #Yunohost at home or in a VPS? It's easy to install. Yunohost.org And there is many apps available by one click.
And, you can look at #Chatons where there a lot of services, sometimes free of charge. chatons.org
@LautreG OK, I agree with you, but disagree with original author. Yes Google isn't privacy-friendly. That has been proved in many cases, articles and videos. Yet people refuse to believe this.
TROMjaro is alive and well. And we keep it up to date and relevant - tromjaro.com - I love our Linux distro! :) I love when it is stable and just works. And we also ship with so many tweaks you can simply use it. No ads, no trackers, all apps available in Linux from one single place - click and install. I love it. A very positive project indeed :)
You know how some people complain about the stability of Linux for desktops and how, you know, it may not be reliable, especially Arch. What about Manjaro + Arch. How about a system based on Arch but with Manjaro's repos + the Chaotic AUR repo?
Well stable as a mountain! Using TROMjaro for many years now and despite doing a lot of updates, all works perfectly fine. Long gone are the days of being afraid to do the updates. This is my experience.
I 100% rely on my laptop for a lot of daily use uses. I need it to work! And it does!
A Trade-Free operating system based on Manjaro Linux Designed for your brain, but you can install it on a computer.No more ads and trackers consuming you, no ‘free’ trials, noContinue readingHOME
A Trade-Free operating system based on Manjaro Linux Designed for your brain, but you can install it on a computer.No more ads and trackers consuming you, no ‘free’ trials, no …
Just a reminder that my Pixel 4a running @CalyxOS is still rock solid after months of use. No issues at all. No ads, no tracking, no bullshit. No need for a new phone for many years to come. Long live CalyxOS! :)
Nice! I also have a 4a and I was torn between Calyx and Graphene. My only issue is I need Android Auto and neither OS supports it on the 4a. Glad to hear Calyx has been stable on it, though.
Better than throwing that phone away. There are so many phones in the world that are not updated in years and I do not see an epidemic of phones getting hacked. Yes it is fucked up that google and the like do not provide updates for older phones, but with CalyxOS and the like you can make your phone usable for many many years.
I trust Calyx so that's enough for me. We can't throw these phones away, that would be a lot more insane. We already throw some 350 cruiseships of ewaste every year. I have no idea where you got that gossip about Calyx and Graphene I never heard of this.
What has Google listened to? So are they providing security support for their Pixel 4a? Or just the new Pixel as a marketing scheme? Because rendering millions of phones "dead" and unusable because you refuse to support it software-wise, should be a criminal act.
I can't trust you saying that CalyxOS for Pixel 4a is a security risk. I have no idea who you are or what you do. I bet most phones are not getting security updates anymore but we still see no epidemic of hacked devices and dead people around us.
I think you are greatly exaggerating and it seems to me you have some beef with Calyx for some reason.
Yah you should stop with your assumptions. I have no clue what you are talking about so better not comment unless you provide some context/links to inform the uninformed ones about this "situation".
@GalacticBox "But people shouldn't take it to an extreme and use an insecure device for years on end"
Years on end? You make it sound like I've been hanging onto this phone for the last 10 years.
I bought the phone at release in August 2020. Google ended support for it in August 2023. Three years is an absolute joke.
My understanding is that Graphene gets the security updates via AOSP. Since Google no longer provides updates to the 4a then there is a definite security risk.
This is @Sasha and her most valuable project to date:
A book. But a book is not simply a lot of words or a pile of paper. It is memories, emotions, worldviews, and a lot of work to put them all together. Her book is a story that spans over 15 years. But these years are hardly what most people experience on this planet.
She was born in Russia but at age 8 had to move to the United States and deal with a new world. New language, new culture, new people; her mom, her bother, and some pets. Her father went back to Russia, and that affected her a lot.
A mountain of changes to absorb as a kid which led her to a world of drugs and anger.
She details these struggles which at times feel like hard to believe stories - a 17 year old girl selling drugs in New York, crazy mushr
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This is @Sasha and her most valuable project to date:
A book. But a book is not simply a lot of words or a pile of paper. It is memories, emotions, worldviews, and a lot of work to put them all together. Her book is a story that spans over 15 years. But these years are hardly what most people experience on this planet.
She was born in Russia but at age 8 had to move to the United States and deal with a new world. New language, new culture, new people; her mom, her bother, and some pets. Her father went back to Russia, and that affected her a lot.
A mountain of changes to absorb as a kid which led her to a world of drugs and anger.
She details these struggles which at times feel like hard to believe stories - a 17 year old girl selling drugs in New York, crazy mushroom trips and adventurous thefts.
But she managed to pull herself together and change her life for the better. She was not impressed by the imaginary borders humans create and call countries, so she went on flying like a free bird :). From Canada to Mexico, Australia to Europe, Russia to Thailand. 15 years of adventures with almost no money. Because money won't stop Small Sasha :).
A way to discover the world and yourself.
When you get to experience so many cultures and places, you can understand much better what humans are, and what makes them who they are.
The places she saw and the people she met are extraordinarily described in the book, in a way that you feel like you are there. No photos needed. You'll laugh, wonder, or feel uncomfortable reading some of her uncensored experiences.
It is a galaxy of stories that she had to put together using notes from the past, photos, and her own memories stored in the mushy pile of cells we call the brain.
She managed to compile this massive story in a way that it is super fun to follow, but also to get a feeling of how she grew a mind in all of these years.
That mental growth and her experiences, made her realize how fucked up this society is and how much we are destroying this environment and the creatures in it.
She started to volunteer for some organizations over the years, eventually getting closer to the project I made, TROM. And so here we are, a book later, spending our lives together.
I cannot describe how wonderful this book is, how emotional and funny. So much fun, but also a lot of reality check for many people who are going to have their values challenged.
She crafted this book so much, that at times you feel like Carl Sagan, David Attenborough and George Carlin contributed to the book :).
A wonderful read! A massive CONGRATULATIONS to Sasha for the immense work she put into this. I know too well how for the past 4 years she worked so much on this book that it almost put our relationship under a big question mark. I never saw anyone putting so much effort into anything. It was too intense!
But now it is OVER. Finally! I thought I will never see this happen. Wow!
After so many years of work, and almost no money, she is putting the book for free on her website bigworldsmallsasha.com/ in digital format, despite us not having much money to make a life for ourselves on this planet. But of course, if you want to support her (us) you can buy the physical copy too. Or donate if you can.
I helped design the entire cover and I am quite proud of it :).
Go read it! I know I will read it again. This time the physical copy, in a hammock somewhere in nature.
Sasha you fucking did ti!
PS: The book was made with trade-free software. LibreOffice, Krita, Inkscape.
Wow thank you @Tio This is too nice, I don't even know what to say :) Thank you again for putting up with everything. It was a lot, I know. And thank you for helping me so much, I couldn't have done it without you ❤️
Our Friendica was never as fast and awesome as it is now :D - the introduction of Channels may be overwhelming at first, but can be super awesome.
Listen.
Go to Settings - Display and then open Timelines:
Now you can enable different channels and make them available under the top bar.
For example I have enabled:
Latest Posts (so to see in chronological order the posts from the people I follow). Personal for the posts I am part of - either commented or posted these. Starred - those that I added to my favorites. Followers - since at times I want to see what the people following me post, in case I want to follow back some that I have not. I am thinking if some are following me, maybe we have common interests. Images/Videos - as an easy way to only sort out the posts that contain either. Lastly Global - to see w
... show more
Our Friendica was never as fast and awesome as it is now :D - the introduction of Channels may be overwhelming at first, but can be super awesome.
Listen.
Go to Settings - Display and then open Timelines:
Now you can enable different channels and make them available under the top bar.
For example I have enabled:
Latest Posts (so to see in chronological order the posts from the people I follow). Personal for the posts I am part of - either commented or posted these. Starred - those that I added to my favorites. Followers - since at times I want to see what the people following me post, in case I want to follow back some that I have not. I am thinking if some are following me, maybe we have common interests. Images/Videos - as an easy way to only sort out the posts that contain either. Lastly Global - to see what's happening in the fediverse.
I can switch between these with ease and it is so fast. I love it!
And in Settings - Channels you can even create your own channel with your own rules.
Aspen
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Tio
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