I use Blue Iris for capturing IP cameras. I've tried ZoneMinder, iSpy, and Motion (via MotionEyeOS) but just can't find something that works as dependably well. It could definitely be user error (and not getting the alternatives dialed in). But I always go back to Blue Iris. ๐
Free and Open Source Software
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Blue Iris is terrific software. I'm curious though - what tended to go wrong with the alternatives?
Hmm interesting, I would have thought digital forensics would be a space that lots of FOSS would exist in.
For me, it's Discord and Steam. There are some good alternatives for Steam in the sense of being a game launcher, but not with all the modding and friend join features, which I use quite a lot.
Discord is worse for me though, because Valve is a least a FOSS friendly company, but Discord isn't the same. all my friends and family are on Discord and have no interest in leaving. There aren't any FOSS alternatives that have all the core features that Discord has and work well.
And contrary to a lot of FOSS enthusiasts, I actually really like Discord, it works well most of the time for me.
Discord and Windows. I have had so many bad experiences whenever I have tried Linux that I am extremely reluctant to give it another go despite all the improvements it has made.
I love Linux, but it is definitely not for everyone. I'm a software engineer, so debugging weird software issues is just a normal part of my life. Sometimes really weird stuff happens. Recently I had an software update repository that my package manager was pointing to go down, so all software updates were failing. I had to figure out where that repo was being added and remove it. As far as I can tell, it was a default one that was installed with Ubuntu, so not even one that I added. I don't think I can blame myself on this one (usually I can). If the average Windows user had that happen, they would just abandon Linux.
You basically have to have a personality where you don't mind fidgeting with things constantly to get things to work. If that isn't you, then Linux just isn't for you.
Pop OS has been a windows killer for me.
Revolt Chat has a bootstrapping problem like most new social software.
Facebook messenger bc of my waterpolo teammates, discord, google maps bc im horrible at using maps and other apps are just too hard for me lol. Spotify bc i have all my liked songs and albums on it and im too lazy to migrate. On the desktop side everything i use is foss basically.