• Does 40tude Dialog run decently on any Linix?

    From Sqwertz@21:1/5 to All on Fri Oct 27 16:54:27 2023
    Last time I tried it there were all sorts of font and whitespace
    issues. That was 4-5 years ago using WiNE.

    I need to dump this MS bullshit and get back to a real OS where I
    can see, know, and can control what's going on.

    I feel I can at least trust Dialog as it has a strict set of files
    and no registry hooks or mechanisms that interacts with other
    parts of the OS.

    Does it run decently on any *nix?

    -sw

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  • From Marco Moock@21:1/5 to All on Sat Oct 28 11:08:48 2023
    Am 27.10.2023 um 16:54:27 Uhr schrieb Sqwertz:

    Last time I tried it there were all sorts of font and whitespace
    issues. That was 4-5 years ago using WiNE.

    Why don't try it again?
    Were the MS fonts installed on your Linux?

    I need to dump this MS bullshit and get back to a real OS where I
    can see, know, and can control what's going on.

    Why don't you use a Linux newsreader, Claws Mail, Thunderbird,
    Betterbird etc. exist.

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  • From Sqwertz@21:1/5 to Marco Moock on Sat Oct 28 19:11:17 2023
    On Sat, 28 Oct 2023 11:08:48 +0200, Marco Moock wrote:

    Am 27.10.2023 um 16:54:27 Uhr schrieb Sqwertz:

    Last time I tried it there were all sorts of font and whitespace
    issues. That was 4-5 years ago using WiNE.

    Why don't try it again?
    Were the MS fonts installed on your Linux?

    I need to dump this MS bullshit and get back to a real OS where I
    can see, know, and can control what's going on.

    Why don't you use a Linux newsreader, Claws Mail, Thunderbird,
    Betterbird etc. exist.

    Because I don't like them? Oh, I'm sorry - let me restate that:
    Because I don't like them.

    -sw

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  • From Bernd Rose@21:1/5 to Sqwertz on Sun Oct 29 08:31:10 2023
    On Fri, 27th Oct 2023 16:54:27 -0500, Sqwertz wrote:

    Last time I tried it there were all sorts of font and whitespace
    issues. That was 4-5 years ago using WiNE.

    WINE had several improvements for font handling (better font linking and
    glyph replacement) over the last couple of years. That's especially true
    for WINE v8 released this summer.

    In past, it was recommended to have a font with a huge level of character completeness selected as main reading font for 40tude Dialog with WINE.
    (This can be regarded a bit more relaxed, nowadays, IMHO.) The Freefont
    and Stixfonts packages are good selections:

    https://www.gnu.org/software/freefont
    https://www.stixfonts.org

    Both are often already pre-installed with Linux. A good pointer, how fonts
    can be installed for WINE (if not already available) is here:

    https://devicetests.com/install-fonts-wine

    In past, WINE was sometimes compiled with restricted Unicode support on
    some Linux systems. Switching to another WINE version and compiling it
    with standard settings (= normal installation process) usually helped.
    The same held true with any other problems. Nowadays, the likelihood for
    such needs is (in my experience) greatly diminished, though.

    If you install 40tude Dialog with WINE, please keep in mind, that all
    path references that are used inside Dialog (Scripts and the like) need
    to be Windows-style:

    use: C:\Portabel\40tude_Dialog
    not: /home/$Benutzer/.wine/drive_c/Portabel/40tude_Dialog

    And (as with Windows) you need to use a TLS proxy for connecting 40tude
    Dialog to servers using current encryption methods:

    https://www.stunnel.org

    HTH.
    Bernd

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  • From vallor@21:1/5 to All on Thu Nov 2 16:28:54 2023
    On Fri, 27 Oct 2023 16:54:27 -0500, Sqwertz <sqwertzme@gmail.compost>
    wrote in <1tvt2mj6zzvzj.dlg@sqwertz.com>:

    Last time I tried it there were all sorts of font and whitespace issues.
    That was 4-5 years ago using WiNE.

    I need to dump this MS bullshit and get back to a real OS where I can
    see, know, and can control what's going on.

    I feel I can at least trust Dialog as it has a strict set of files and
    no registry hooks or mechanisms that interacts with other parts of the
    OS.

    Does it run decently on any *nix?

    https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&iId=2005

    ...but where can I download a malware-free copy to try it?

    I'd like to try to run it as a "non-Steam game" on Steam,
    and try running it with proton. That way, all the
    font business should(?) be taken care of.

    --
    -v

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  • From DV@21:1/5 to vallor on Thu Nov 2 16:46:29 2023
    vallor wrote:

    ...but where can I download a malware-free copy to try it?

    The last versions of 40Tude Dialog have been archived on this French web
    page:

    <http://www.gratilog.net/xoops/modules/mydownloads/singlefile.php?cid=105&lid=284>

    Two versions are available: the last official version and an unofficial
    update (2.0.15.84) which works well.

    --
    Denis

    Serveurs de news et passerelles web : <http://usenet-fr.yakakwatik.org> Lecteurs de news : <http://usenet-fr.yakakwatik.org/lecteurs-de-news.html>

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  • From Bernd Rose@21:1/5 to vallor on Thu Nov 2 18:24:25 2023
    On Thu, 2nd Nov 2023 16:28:54 -0000 (UTC), vallor wrote:

    [40tude Dialog]
    ...but where can I download a malware-free copy to try it?

    The German FAQ for 40tude Dialog has much information and also hosts the Downloads of the latest setup package and the last official update (.41). Update to .84 is /not/ recommended, because it is an inofficial leak of
    an alpha state development version. (Although it works well enough in most scenarios...)

    https://www.barghahn-online.de/4td_faq

    The automatic English translation should be sufficiently readable: https://www-barghahn--online-de.translate.goog/4td_faq/?_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=de&_x_tr_pto=wapp

    The Download section also contains checksums to verify external downloads.

    Be sure to read the FAQ sections on Installation and Security. Because of
    the long time span the program has been abandoned by the author, there are several quirks to be considered.

    Bernd

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  • From VanguardLH@21:1/5 to Bernd Rose on Thu Nov 2 13:10:45 2023
    Bernd Rose <b.rose.tmpbox@arcor.de> wrote:

    On Thu, 2nd Nov 2023 16:28:54 -0000 (UTC), vallor wrote:

    [40tude Dialog]
    ...but where can I download a malware-free copy to try it?

    The German FAQ for 40tude Dialog has much information and also hosts the Downloads of the latest setup package and the last official update (.41). Update to .84 is /not/ recommended, because it is an inofficial leak of
    an alpha state development version. (Although it works well enough in most scenarios...)

    https://www.barghahn-online.de/4td_faq

    The automatic English translation should be sufficiently readable: https://www-barghahn--online-de.translate.goog/4td_faq/?_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=de&_x_tr_pto=wapp

    The Download section also contains checksums to verify external downloads.

    Be sure to read the FAQ sections on Installation and Security. Because of
    the long time span the program has been abandoned by the author, there are several quirks to be considered.

    Bernd

    I only recall (but not the ill effects) trying .84, encountering
    problems that were not trivial, and reverting back to .41, so I'd
    suggest staying with .41.

    In addition, after Windows 7 (I think) added folder protection for
    C:\Program Files [x86], Dialog will encounter problems writing to its
    message database files. Instead install Dialog under a different
    folder. I created C:\Programs for where I want or need to have programs installed that don't work well with Microsoft's folder protections.

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  • From vallor@21:1/5 to Bernd Rose on Thu Nov 2 12:45:36 2023
    On Thu, 2 Nov 2023 18:24:25 +0100, Bernd Rose wrote:

    On Thu, 2nd Nov 2023 16:28:54 -0000 (UTC), vallor wrote:

    [40tude Dialog]
    ...but where can I download a malware-free copy to try it?

    The German FAQ for 40tude Dialog has much information and also hosts the Downloads of the latest setup package and the last official update (.41). Update to .84 is /not/ recommended, because it is an inofficial leak of
    an alpha state development version. (Although it works well enough in most scenarios...)

    https://www.barghahn-online.de/4td_faq

    The automatic English translation should be sufficiently readable: https://www-barghahn--online-de.translate.goog/4td_faq/?_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=de&_x_tr_pto=wapp

    The Download section also contains checksums to verify external downloads.

    Be sure to read the FAQ sections on Installation and Security. Because of
    the long time span the program has been abandoned by the author, there are several quirks to be considered.

    Bernd

    Thank you very much. Read the FAQ with interest. I have this set up on
    Linux now.

    The way to increase the initial font sizes for the WINE system windows is
    with winecfg > graphics > resolution, which appears to be similar to a DPI unit, but seems to err on the small side. I set it to 300 so I could see
    the fonts on my 4K monitor. I installed and ran dialog from wineconsole,
    which ran fine. I did have to set the fonts within the application, which would have been difficult with the tiny system fonts it was using before.

    Anyway, I also tried running it with Steam. By default, it automagically picked up that it should run it with wine.

    I notice the help browser doesn't pull up pages, and WINE reports
    that I'm missing gecko. I think that's all part of setting up a WINE installation on Linux, so will defer to discussion in another newsgroup,
    if one could be suggested. :)

    (Sent with dialog).

    --
    -v

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  • From Bernd Rose@21:1/5 to vallor on Fri Nov 3 06:22:55 2023
    On Thu, 2nd Nov 2023 12:45:36 -0700, vallor wrote:

    [Setup 40tude Dialog on high-res monitors]
    I did have to set the fonts within the application, which would have been difficult with the tiny system fonts it was using before.

    You can always manually adjust settings.ini in the main 40tude Dialog directory. (While Dialog is /not/ running!)

    Bernd

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  • From Retro Guy@21:1/5 to vallor on Fri Nov 3 06:43:23 2023
    On Thu, 2 Nov 2023 12:45:36 -0700, vallor wrote:

    On Thu, 2 Nov 2023 18:24:25 +0100, Bernd Rose wrote:

    On Thu, 2nd Nov 2023 16:28:54 -0000 (UTC), vallor wrote:

    [40tude Dialog]
    ...but where can I download a malware-free copy to try it?

    The German FAQ for 40tude Dialog has much information and also hosts the
    Downloads of the latest setup package and the last official update (.41).
    Update to .84 is /not/ recommended, because it is an inofficial leak of
    an alpha state development version. (Although it works well enough in most >> scenarios...)

    https://www.barghahn-online.de/4td_faq

    The automatic English translation should be sufficiently readable:
    https://www-barghahn--online-de.translate.goog/4td_faq/?_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=de&_x_tr_pto=wapp

    The Download section also contains checksums to verify external downloads. >>
    Be sure to read the FAQ sections on Installation and Security. Because of
    the long time span the program has been abandoned by the author, there are >> several quirks to be considered.

    Bernd

    Thank you very much. Read the FAQ with interest. I have this set up on Linux now.

    The way to increase the initial font sizes for the WINE system windows is with winecfg > graphics > resolution, which appears to be similar to a DPI unit, but seems to err on the small side. I set it to 300 so I could see
    the fonts on my 4K monitor. I installed and ran dialog from wineconsole, which ran fine. I did have to set the fonts within the application, which would have been difficult with the tiny system fonts it was using before.

    Anyway, I also tried running it with Steam. By default, it automagically picked up that it should run it with wine.

    I notice the help browser doesn't pull up pages, and WINE reports
    that I'm missing gecko. I think that's all part of setting up a WINE installation on Linux, so will defer to discussion in another newsgroup,
    if one could be suggested. :)

    I just checked my install (2.0.15.1 b38 running in Wine on Debian) and the
    help browser works fine, so it must just be something in wine config, as
    you mention.

    The only issue I have with 40tude is that it always says I can't post when creating a message (says it's a read-only newsgroup), but it posts it
    anyway.

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  • From Bernd Rose@21:1/5 to Retro Guy on Fri Nov 3 17:20:18 2023
    On Fri, 3rd Nov 2023 06:43:23 -0700, Retro Guy wrote:

    I just checked my install (2.0.15.1 b38

    The whole branch of 2.0.15.x is "Beta 38". The latter being just another numbering scheme. No non-beta version of Dialog exists. But Dialog "beta" versions were always more stable than quiet a few "release" versions of
    other programs.

    I recommend replacing your Dialog.exe subversion .1 with the one from .41, because the latter addressed some (minor) bugs:

    Direct download from the FAQ site: https://www.barghahn-online.de/4td_faq/download/dialog_41.zip

    List of fixes: https://web.archive.org/web/20171225155350/https://dialog.datalist.org/downloads/41update.html

    The only issue I have with 40tude is that it always says I can't post when creating a message (says it's a read-only newsgroup), but it posts it
    anyway.

    Read-only should only be set to a group, when the server relays this in
    its group list. Select the/one group, that triggers above message and
    click the "Settings" menu while keeping <Strg><Shift> pressed down. This
    should show the new (debug) menu entry "Selected group/article info...".

    Check the "Postingallowed" status setting of the group. If it is TRUE,
    than the error is triggered elsewhere. If it is FALSE, OTOH, you could
    test, whether updating the group list ("Online" menu) for the server in question helps...

    Bernd

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