fsebugoutzone.org:9999

Post AluQCPFgT6wM0J4zAG by djc@fosstodon.org
(DIR) More posts by djc@fosstodon.org
(DIR) Post #Alu8NCSWZf2mL15BIm by interfluidity@zirk.us
2024-09-11T20:09:10Z

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the project of trying to get economical access to tax software in order to do a trivial partnership tax return has been kind of wow nightmarish. turbotax business desktop would do it for $190, but i don’t have windows. online it’s $700+. taxact is economical online, but i’m unhappy with it. azure won’t let me spawn a windows cloud PC without affirming i have some kind of license. windows365 is $40.50 a month, and wants an annual commitment. parallels would be a $70 upgrade + Windows 11 $139. 1/

(DIR) Post #Alu8pdB6pJenJXUfQG by interfluidity@zirk.us
2024-09-11T20:14:18Z

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windows 365 has a one-month free trial, so I’ll do that for this year. but the overlap of two consolidated, crappy, markets — tax software, and MS’ restrictive Windows OS licensing in the cloud — has made this all stupidly expensive and hard.partnership returns are new to me, so i have no examples, am afraid to just wing it despite very simple accounts. i suspect next year i will just end up filling out the IRS’ PDF forms, using this year as an example, and sending them in by mail. /fin

(DIR) Post #Alu9dlCJHjKwfHxVnE by phillmv@hachyderm.io
2024-09-11T20:23:21Z

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@interfluidity azure won’t let you spawn a vm without also forcing you on a yearly license? that seems odd.ten years ago we ran quickbools inside a windows vm in aws iirc

(DIR) Post #AluA0HRU52xB2bnLG4 by interfluidity@zirk.us
2024-09-11T20:27:26Z

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@phillmv on AWS i can spawn Windows Server, and connect with it by remote desktop. i do that occasionally. but the tax software demands Windows 10 or Windows 11. (i could try the latest Windows Server and see if it works anyway, but grrr.) 1/

(DIR) Post #AluABKli3P9AXhWfNw by interfluidity@zirk.us
2024-09-11T20:29:26Z

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@phillmv Azure support (i’ve talked a bunch to MS customer service people, who strike me as simultaneously nice and helpless) says I should choose a server image without BWOL terms. For the desktop Windows editions, no images include information about licensing terms at all, and all that I’ve tried demand clicking a box that would create legal jeopardy for me (admittedly because I’d be fibbing), and I don’t trust Microsoft not to make me miserable. 2/

(DIR) Post #AluAWIqyMxnIgTzE4e by interfluidity@zirk.us
2024-09-11T20:33:13Z

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@phillmv I’ve not been able to find any Windows desktop OS AMIs on AWS, or my usual (usually linux) virtual cloud server providers. (I haven’t tried GCS, but it seems unlikely and annoying to get into.) I’m pretty sure MS is intentionally trying to force people like me to their expensive Windows365 subscription product.I won’t feel bad about just taking the free trial under these circumstances. If it works for me! MS is so flaky. But I’ve no plan for next year. /fin

(DIR) Post #AluAyer69yT31xZ9LE by interfluidity@zirk.us
2024-09-11T20:38:20Z

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@sidereal i totally agree. i’ve started doing that for simpler returns, and would do it for this one if i had a template to work off of. going through what i’d need to put together, i found stuff that seemed unclear to me, even checking the IRS instructions. i’d end up paying a tax accountant for phone time, or be nervous that i made a poor choice.

(DIR) Post #AluBHLwUhaRPsK0KA4 by phillmv@hachyderm.io
2024-09-11T20:41:42Z

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@interfluidity sniffing around the product page it looks like you should be able to deploy Azure Virtual Desktop to an Azure VM you&#39;ve provisioned separately without bringing your own license&amp; i&#39;ve found some guides &amp; a 24(!)min video tutorial on how to do itbut on my billable rate &amp; i strongly suspect yours you&#39;re better off just biting the bullet and doing parallels with a one time perpetual license vs spending 2 hours trying to figure this out 😅

(DIR) Post #AluBqcfmUTY7to0MF6 by interfluidity@zirk.us
2024-09-11T20:48:06Z

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@phillmv yeah. it’s already been a bit ridiculous. it seemed like it should be a no brainer, just what Azure should be good for. it’s a reminder of how infuriatingly and ruthlessly MS wields intellectual property that something so trivial they are well-placed to provide is such a nightmare. (if you have that youtube link, i’m curious!)

(DIR) Post #AluKP9ACzpju99D6Dw by IzzyChambers@social.vivaldi.net
2024-09-11T22:23:54Z

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@interfluidity What OS do you have? In some (like MacOS or Linux), you could run VirtualBox with Windows as a guest OS. I think you can do this without a license. (You might check for articles on this.)

(DIR) Post #AluQCPFgT6wM0J4zAG by djc@fosstodon.org
2024-09-11T23:28:53Z

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@interfluidity I wonder if you&#39;d be able to use the software at a public library Windows machine

(DIR) Post #AluQnolQZvF1qIla6K by interfluidity@zirk.us
2024-09-11T23:35:39Z

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@djc That’s an interesting idea! There is an InstallShield, though. I wonder whether they’d allow that.

(DIR) Post #AluR1GDZofiCkpLK7s by interfluidity@zirk.us
2024-09-11T23:38:05Z

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@IzzyChambers Thanks! I’ve run VirtualBox for… something? Probably linux as a guest OS (on MacOS) for something container-ish. I can’t imagine MS would be okay with running Windows without a license on a machine real or virtual, though. If I got good at VirtualBox, at least it’d save me the unpleasantness of Parallels!

(DIR) Post #AluRYPBVV26M7VBBho by djc@fosstodon.org
2024-09-11T23:44:03Z

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@interfluidity could be fun. Maybe if it doesn&#39;t work out of the box you can talk someone into letting you... And then do some PR about libraries being good...

(DIR) Post #AlvabbZQzzYQ9Gvpq4 by IzzyChambers@social.vivaldi.net
2024-09-12T13:00:10Z

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@interfluidity I got fed up with Windows 11 a few months ago, and switched to Linux as my primary OS. I’ve been running Windows 11 inside VirtualBox since then, because there are three apps that I really need that only run on Windows. At first, Windows would not accept my product key (the one that came with my PC two years ago). I was still able to use Windows inside VirtualBox, but I got annoying messages about the product key. Apparently, however, that is all that will happen to you if you don’t have a product key. ( I eventually got my product key to work.) https://www.howtogeek.com/871189/you-can-install-and-use-windows-11-without-a-product-key/There are some hoops you need to jump through to get Windows 11 to run in VirtualBox -- a few registry tweaks.