I’ve been doing the OverTheWire Bandit over the past couple of days and have become stuck on the earlier levels. I deem this very embarrassing as this is supposed to be an “easy” and “recommended for beginners” type of puzzle that requires hands on understanding of the Linux terminal. But I have been using Linux for 9 months now, I wouldn’t do the most complicated things (other than break my whole os) only the things required to make my overall user experience somewhat enjoyable. Now this makes me very sad to come to the conclusions that I may be below the average Linux beginner which I didn’t know was possible according to my knowledge. I am only asking of tips and tricks to these puzzles and maybe to positive reinforcement to make feel better about myself. Now I will not tolerate spoilers as in the official rules of OverTheWire clearly states, and I hope you will follow this rule for the better sake of my learning and understanding of the Linux terminal ( and for the sake of the game itself)
I am sick and tired of waiting for linux.exe /s
I just want windows11.deb
I got to the cr@ck version from a BBS. Give me your ASL and I’ll hook you up.
I’m running it with Wine!
He is right to be honest. I had to search for 3 days to find linux.exe.
He’s got a point. As someone who’s familiar and uses GitHub all the time, there are moments of frustration where it’s like… “just let me be braindead and have it work”
Especially github projects with instructions like:
On Debian/Ubuntu, install from my PPA
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:totally/well-maintainedor on Hannah Montana Linux, build with
python2 mk-dependencies.py fartify-next build --forceitI love the detail of python2 lmao.
Ah, those python codes with requirements.txt containing libraries in versions that aren’t available anymore, and the code won’t run with the newer ones…
I laughed so much at this. Best thing I’ve seen all day.
I forget how to find releases or download the code (instead of forking the project) just about every time I use github. He’s got a point but god damn he also seems insufferable.
The big secret no one tells you about about bandit, is you have to read the fucking manual. No really. RTFM. Each level tells you what commands you may need. The manual pages for those commands tell you the context and syntax of their usage.
That is literally the only tip/trick. Read the instructions.
Are people just not exploring websites anymore? Surely my household can’t be the only one where if you don’t know how to use a website or find something on it, we actively explore it. (Dodgy sites notwithstanding, I mean safe and legit sites). Am I strange that if I can’t work out how to use something, I look for a manual. And barring that, I try different things, trouble shoot using logic, etc. to work it out for myself… I’m not a programmer but I can’t say as I had a great deal of difficulty working out how to use Github (as a consumer) for myself…
I’m good at figuring things out. I don’t know how to get code on GitHub even though I’ve lazily tried multiple times.
I get frustrated because I’m looking for something that I feel should be easily found (code on GitHub). Instead I’m given a puzzle I have to navigate through. I thought getting the code off GitHub was going to be the easiest part of my project. Nope.
Everyone wants your data so apps and websites are intentionally designed to keep people moving through them. I’m not saying that is what GitHub is doing here but it’s the reason I have little curiosity to explore apps and websites anymore. It’s flawed by design. Not because the opportunity to improve the end user experience hasn’t occurred yet.
Install git. Then type
git clone <url>For example to download miniaudio you would type
git clone https://github.com/mackron/miniaudio.gitAnd it downloads all the code for you. There’s a button on github that says “code” if you click it you can copy the URL for cloning.
Thank you. I figured it must be fairly simply to get but kept putting it off.
You haven’t said if you want to work on the code or only want to run the software, but if it’s the latter you don’t actually need the code usually. There’s usually a Releases page (I believe it can be found on the right side bar) that will have the software built and packaged for different systems. So unless it’s not available for your OS and you need to build it yourself (which can be a bit of a pain to figure out) you don’t need the code.
Good to know. Thank you
All these comments about git, but OP is presumably asking about this: https://overthewire.org/wargames/bandit/
“man i have my little app, but i dont distribute on any of the stores, dont provide install files or compiling tutorial. i have no idea why noone uses my awsome application.”
I dunno about what game OP is referring to, but I agree that GitHub is too confusing. Is the normal way to access GitHub via terminal? I was raised on exe’s and dmg’s, and I must’ve missed the class about git.
it is a website for code, built for code tools. this is a bit like walking into a barn full of wheat and asking where the sandwiches are; there may incidentally be one in there, but if there is it’s almost certainly not meant for you.
it is a website for code, built for code tools.
Tell that to the people who distribute their applications exclusively through GH. I can’t count how many times I’ve been told “just DL it from GH” and I have to reverse engineer the site to find the download link. I have it figured out now but it certainly could be a lot easier. And while I don’t agree with the way it was presented, I empathize with the thought process.
I have not worked it out, too many times a search ended at GitHub; it’s like the great filter for me, I cannot for the life of me get past it.
Similar/ related Linux instructions are often the same. Just do the gobbiligoo and write magicmumbojumbo in the wolooolooo. It is often just presumed that you know all terms, and that you automatically skip the first 5 steps which are soooo obvious.
I have not worked it out
The secret is you have to scroll all the way to the bottom and click the tiny link that says “releases”. Or sometimes click the ellipses (…) at the top of the page and find it there. From there you scroll to the bottom of the latest release and expand the section that says “assets”. Then you typically need to understand package formats and choose the correct one for your device.
Sounds manageable but I will only know the next time I end up on GitHub. Thank you for the help though, it might just be enough to get me through.
Oh. my. god. That just triggered me and I’m a dev. WHY THE FUCK ARE RELEASES AT THE BOTTOM ON MOBILE??!
Like on the desktop it’s right there in the right panel. Then I open the mobile interface for some APK and for the life of me I can’t fucking find it. So I enable desktop mode and there it is. Jesus fucking Christ I hate it. It took me months to find it.
Doesn’t matter, you just copy the page URL and paste it in Obtainium.
Honestly, anyone distributing compiled code from GitHub should at a minimum set up a basic GitHub page with a link to it at the top of the readme… Probably wouldn’t be very hard to set up a CI workflow to automatically update the page with the latest releases and a link to the relevant release page for details.
i mean it’s a one time thing to learn, like with sourceforge, moddb, apt, etc etc
Sure, now try learning any of those things with no instructions.
if they direct you to github for downloads, and don’t point you directly to the releases page, and don’t have anything about installation in the readme, then that’s on them. personally, i’d click “releases” anyway because that sounds like a word associated with products.
like, try downloading something from the steam workshop with no prior exposure to steam (eg, from the web browser and not logged in) then get back to me.
that’s on them
Sure. How does that help me?
personally, i’d click “releases” anyway
If you knew what you were looking for, sure. On every other website on the face of the planet, that button says “download”.
Except you aren’t “downloading” the .exe as this thread suggests.
You’re right, it is more complex, “difficult” and fiddly than downloading an exe - presumably because you are trying to do something more complex than your walled garden software allows.
I don’t do the repairs on my car myself, even though I probably could and most of them are probably simple and don’t require specialist tools. Same for free software to do specialist functions.
except steam workshop, which i mentioned.
You mean you have to read the “Install Instructions” section?
No, those usually don’t exist. It’s just assumed that you know how to do it already.
So… You couldn’t figure it out? I don’t really get it. Are you saying it’s too difficult?
Everyone is saying that it’s more complicated than it needs to be.
So what you want is an app store, then?
Yeah, to an extent. Many devs leave release handling solely to github without a project website. A lot of these are dev focused tools, but some are projects are just too small to warrant packaging and a website and all that.
In your analogy, I’d liken it to a farmers market or farm stand.
yeah, if there was a sign saying “sandwiches sold here, please come in” (or, without the analogy, a readme with an “installation” section) then it’s different. point being, it’s not the original intent.
I’m sorry if the image confuses you guys, I just found it funny and it was that only Linux related image I had. 😅
You can find linux.exe easily on limewire or gnutella, should be just a few megabytes in size, enjoy!
To be fair. It do be like that sometimes.
Funny calling a nerd stupid. Probably doesn’t even know what github is.
I’ve been playing Linux for a while, and I’m pretty sure it’s spelled “guthib”.
I just thinked/laughed about this picture in my mind few days ago. Great to see it again.
Man I loved OTW! I need to get back into it.
I rarely used Google bc I apparently have a masochistic desire to make things harder than they need to be, I mostly just looked at all the man pages (type man command name here) and it usually brings up a helpful manual that has it’s own controls to navigate with. Helpful to know that ‘Q’ is the key you want to press to leave the man page and go back to the terminal. It took me a few tries to learn that. But seriously, I had fun just getting lost in all the features and options in each page for awhile even if it wasn’t the fastest way to complete the levels. Man pages are mostly dry and sometimes funny but they will get you through a lot of Bandit without using google IMO.
I’m surprised though, to find out it’s only PR #1349. With the repository public for all these years, I expect more idiots than 1349. 😏
It’s fake. The Linux GitHub repository is a mirror, with both issues & PRs disabled.
