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’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. 😏
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.
Actually websites like Softonic would be neat for this kind of stuff.
“smelly”??
I think you’re projecting
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”
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.
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 laughed so much at this. Best thing I’ve seen all day.
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 love the detail of python2 lmao.
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.
I’m sorry if the image confuses you guys, I just found it funny and it was that only Linux related image I had. 😅
All these comments about git, but OP is presumably asking about this: https://overthewire.org/wargames/bandit/
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.
To be fair. It do be like that sometimes.
You can find linux.exe easily on limewire or gnutella, should be just a few megabytes in size, enjoy!
Funny calling a nerd stupid. Probably doesn’t even know what guthub is.
I’ve been playing Linux for a while, and I’m pretty sure it’s spelled “guthib”.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
when they package that code up in an exe, it’s usually on the small releases section on the right.
yeah it’s not terribly friendly, but it also isn’t supposed to be a download site.
But unfortunately a fair amount of smaller projects do use it as a download site.
And I get it, not everyone has the time or budget to make a website for their own little passion projects, and it’s probably not even worth it for a lot of them given their limited audience. I’m not gonna say that every little tool to make my computer do some goofy thing that only me and about 6 other people care about (and 3 of those people are the people actively developing it) needs to have its own website.
But I feel like a lot of projects could benefit from throwing a “If you’re not here for the code and just want to download and run the program click here” message at the top of their page
Also, this is neither here nor there, but as something of a Linux noob, I’d kind of appreciate it Linux installation instructions included some brief explanations of what the commands they’re having you type into the terminal do. Sure, sometimes it’s as simple as “sudo apt-get install program” and you’re off to the races, but other times it’s a multi-step process of transcribing magic spells into the scary black & white hacker window.
And as someone who’s decent with computers and trying to learn more I don’t mind doing a little research to figure out what I’m actually doing. But for your average computer user who wants things to just work, I think that’s a bigger stumbling block to people giving Linux a fair shake than a lot of programmer types think it is. A tiny bit of handholding can go a long way.
yeah i mostly agree. it’s not that much more work to make it available directly in the software store through flatpak. this thing of developers making their software and not even bothering to even build it on linux must end right now.
that said windows users will still get their .exe files from github. sorry, no better alternatives for them.
I generally agree with you that the projects could be more accessible. I also believe that these projects exist to do one thing, which is create a solution to a problem and share it with others.
As for your learning and explaining what the various bash command chains do: Explaining bash commands is actually one of the few things I would say AI (especially local/self-hosted LLMs) are REALLY good at.
There are lots of obscure options for every bash command, and having used a lot of LLMs for work, most LLM models can use and explain these bash commands, piping, and exit conditions quite well.
Not everyone wants to use AI, which I can understand. But, if you’re going to use AI, use it to break down more complex things and explain them to you.
Installation instructions are often terse with a bunch of assumed knowledge left implicit.
It becomes a sidequest needing an investment of an unknown amount of time with no guarantee that you’ll have a working program at the end of it.
Man pages can be just as bad, like the developer was ticking a box.
