MX Linux Forum

@Jakob77 I do not use clipgrab or any other downloader. I stay away from as many extensions as possible. ( I think I run two ;-p ) And one downloader was just found to have some serious backdoor issues too!

There are plenty of places out there, free, to make videos of youtube if you like, however, with your 'security concerns' that you keep worrying about - THIS should be one of the TOP concerns on your list! Malicious code can be embedded in video ( and images as well as PDF's), you should NOT be downloading videos if your worried about security ;-/

As for recording... SimpleScreenRecorder should be installed already and I have found it to be pretty good to record what you want. And VLC can also stream and record as well.

CharlesV

Okay, and thank you, I might not understand how bad it is but I draw a sharp line between the software that download the file and the file.

There might be many issues with the software but I find it hard to believe the downloaded video file is a dangerous virus in itself.
If it is, can't we track and find the cracker.?

I remember Windows Word once made it possible to make macros autorun all kinds of commands when the document was opened, but I don't want to think the VLC Player is that silly.?

@Jakob77 wrote:

There might be many issues with the software but I find it hard to believe the downloaded video file is a dangerous virus in itself.
If it is, can't we track and find the cracker.?

Consider this. For the folks that traffic in pirated videos, music, and movies, their payoff is the spread of their malware which is included with the downloaded object rather than in the object and triggered to launch simultaneously. These folks are like cockroaches and you might catch a few but there are thousands more lying in wait on the internet.

When it comes to discovering new music, I pretty much always use Pandora. It's a very underrated music service. Used to be popular. Not sure why people don't use it anymore.

You can also use YouTube sidebar recommendations to find new music with autoplay on or off. It's actually better than you would think. You may wanna do that in a private window though so you don't have recommendations for music clogging up your feed. Unless, of course, that's exactly what you want.

Eadwine Rose wrote: Fri Sep 15, 2023 11:21 am Do know that video download helper calls home. I believe it was that one, been a while. When I looked into my router's logs, I saw there was something getting blocked every 15 minutes. When I googled on the accompanying text, I tracked it down to the extension in the end. Disabling it got rid of the 15-minute blocking report, so it went out the door here.

It was possibly checking for updates, auto updating is on by default I believe, that can be user set to Off if desired.
I have it installed but disabled unless I want to use it for something, but disabling updates or only running it when desired won't stop it from keeping track of your stats, it does that anyway while it's enabled and being used.
I remember getting a notification a while ago congratulating me for 1000 downloads

Having said that though, it's possibly similar behaviour to most other browser Add-ons when they're enabled.

Here's the database used by the majority of radio players:
https://www.radio-browser.info/

What is radio-browser?

This is a community driven effort (like wikipedia) with the aim of collecting as many internet radio and TV stations as possible. Any help is appreciated!
Free for ALL!
Data license: public domain, software license: GPL, server software: open source
Open API for usage in own apps
Everyone is free to use the collected data (station names, tags, links to stream, links to homepages, language, country, state) in their works. I give all the rights I have at the accumulated data to the public domain.

Jakob77 wrote: Fri Sep 15, 2023 4:26 pm CharlesV

Okay, and thank you, I might not understand how bad it is but I draw a sharp line between the software that download the file and the file.

There might be many issues with the software but I find it hard to believe the downloaded video file is a dangerous virus in itself.
If it is, can't we track and find the cracker.?

I remember Windows Word once made it possible to make macros autorun all kinds of commands when the document was opened, but I don't want to think the VLC Player is that silly.?

Videos, Images and PDF's can all contain malware and viruses. All you have to do is to search and you can read all about problems being embedded inside these files, there are tons of valid sites discussing it. The code inside them usually goes after a library ( videos for example were going after the ffmpeg libraries.), but because of their popularity many images and pdf's go after MS office and adobe apps.

Linux doesnt suffer from a lot of this stuff, however, imo, its only a matter of time - and we are seeing increased threats. ( Again, if your concerned about security, read up on this stuff - its all out there.)

Thank you again.


I have a user with autologin just for entertainment and there is nothing private in his home folder.
That is in my opinion an obvious way to make it just a little safer.
But I will achieve a much bigger quantum leap if the entire computer does not contain important data. Therefore I also find it increasingly important to own a spare/test computer.
It can be installed with Snapshot and afterwards added all the weird programs I want to explore, and when I'm done, the computer can quickly be cleaned with a Snapshot again.

That is a concept I have been able to use thanks to MX, and a lot of goodies, and a lot more freedom has come out of it.
However if the downloaded goodies turn out to be trojan horses of the worst kind, and I copy them to another computer..... ups..... I guess I better take a closer look at how to reset those file privileges. ;-)


A Terminal command... bum bum,, let me see.. chmod something to forbid all files in the folder and also in all sub folders to run like programs...
Better be careful to run a command like that in the right folder... for instance:

~/Music

I don't think it normally ever can go wrong to reset file privileges for all files in that folder.

Is that the cure or is there a better one.?

Maybe it will soon be relevant to download an antivirus program to examine downloaded files before they are used.?

All my downloaded videos seem to work well when VLC plays them.




Arnox

It is very good to know but there is so much new music I don't like that I am sure I won't have much time to explore it.
It is not that I don't have an ugly taste, it is just often another kind. ;-)
https://youtu.be/h-V1t0PLQ2E?feature=shared

Personally, I think a VM is a better approach. The best method, is to trap all outside connection (email, web browsing etc), IN a VM. Allow nothing out on the host and only use it for 'work' etc.

OR, create VM's for your users, and lock them down tight.

@Jakob77
Just remember that when dealing with copyright infringed digital content, there will always be risks.