Their deliberate word choice of “upgrade” to supported operating system is mildly infuriating.
Pearson complaining about using Linux to access my course material
Submitted 2 months ago by okr765@lemmy.okr765.com to mildlyinfuriating@lemmy.world
https://lemmy.okr765.com/pictrs/image/ebb2d3a9-fbb1-43cf-8b5f-ba1af3ef38c4.png
Comments
Eggyhead@lemmings.world 2 months ago
possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 2 months ago
They probably assume you are running something like Windows 7
voodooattack@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Uhh
Your operating system, Linux, is not supported…
AngryPancake@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
They know which operating system you use based on the user agent, so they know it’s Linux.
noxypaws@pawb.social 2 months ago
we have wildly different definitions for “mildly”!
JuxtaposedJaguar@lemmy.ml 2 months ago
I’ll just change my browser agent then; you’re a fucking website, you don’t need to know which OS I’m using.
It’s amazing how many “unsupported” web apps work perfectly fine once you change the UA. It’s often a completely arbitrary limitation so that they can hire less qualified support staff.
janus2@lemmy.zip 2 months ago
and so they can use browser
vulnerabilitiesfeatures to collect more data on youlagoon8622@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
Nope we don’t want to hire anyone who knows anything about Linux, no one uses Linux
“Linux is unsupported”, that’ll work
Everyone: uses a UA switcher
“See? No one uses Linux, 100% of users are on Windows or MacOS”
Irelephant@lemm.ee 2 months ago
A small publisher’s ebook platform recently started blocking firefox for me, did a bit of digging and found that if pages aren’t requested with the right headers (which work in chrome and msedge) it will respond with a 302, suggesting you go to another page which takes a few minutes and then times out.
This is probably to stop scraping, and could be because I started testing some scraping scripts on it.
Anyway, this hasn’t even stopped me scraping, I just copied the headers and use those in my script.
Evotech@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I use this extension by a Firefox dev
MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml 2 months ago
Upgrade
Insults on top of incompetence, huh?
Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 2 months ago
It’s Pearson.
Disorder6069@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
I ran into this before too, I believe I got around it with a User Agent changer… that or a windows 10 VM with 2 cores and 2GB of RAM that ran only Firefox
I think it’s just because people that use Linux are generally more technologically inclined and are more likely to try and get around their crappy DRM
okr765@lemmy.okr765.com 2 months ago
Yeah, I can still access it just fine, but the word “Upgrade” didn’t make me very happy…
Disorder6069@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
Very true, I too would consider Microsoft’s spyware a massive downgrade
DaddleDew@lemmy.world 2 months ago
The most infuriating part is that they call it an “upgrade”
scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 2 months ago
Yeah I go from an OS that I know how to use up and down to an ad riddled bloated piece of garbage. Thanks!
Tattorack@lemmy.world 2 months ago
“Upgrading” to a supported operating system… “Upgrading”.
flightyhobler@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Yeah, that was also what got into my nerves.
moseschrute@lemmy.ml 2 months ago
How tf do you not support an operating system. Like you gotta go out of your way to detect and block the operating system. Like if you put in 0 effort it would probably work but your company really spent money making their product less accessible for no reason.
fnrir@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 months ago
Vorticity@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I don’t really disagree with you. It’s dumb to go out of your way to block an OS that probably works just fine.
That said, the answer is probably “lawyers” and an attempt to limit liability. People rely on the course materials to work. If they don’t want to out the effort into testing to ensure that their software works on Linux, even if it would probably be fine, they may want to limit the possibility of being sued by someone when it somehow screws up their semester.
So, they out up a soft barrier that says “this may not work right” but let you use it anyway. They have deniability if something goes wrong while the savvy Linux user probably just laughs and changes their user agent.
Essentially, no one is hurt and the lawyers are happy.
tankfox@midwest.social 2 months ago
The motivation from their side is not wanting to support Linux. There’s a difference between working and supported; support costs them money in terms of every phone call from every person for whom the material doesn’t work correctly, as that means paid trained staff on hand all the time whether you’re having linux issues right now or not. Imagine if one person a year had linux issues, requiring them to hire a full time linux tech with nothing to do but pick up the phone once a year. By putting a roadblock in front that people can get around, it can ‘work’ on that system while they have a leg to stand on to say no to any linux user who wants help they can’t provide.
GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I had this problem over 10 years ago. change your user-agent, problem solved.
they do it because they are regulations for educational software that must be met, like specific access requirements in order to be used in accredited courses.
it’s not anything specifically against Linux, it’s that they can’t test and validate those access requirements for anything outside Windows due to organizational limitations.
source: I worked for colleges early in my career that used Pearson then worked for a vendor that managed infrastructure and project management for Pearson. they aren’t unique, their competition is just as fucked as they are. most still use waterfall because upper mgmt is old and refuses to adapt.
cute_noker@feddit.dk 2 months ago
My bank does this too. I also just change the user agent to switch and it works with no issues.
At this point it just seems silly that they even want to go out of their way to Prohibit Linux users
ronflex@lemmy.world 2 months ago
They’re under a class-action lawsuit currently for using biometric data in a US state where it’s illegal. Just kinda interesting. www.bipatestsettlement.com/Home/FAQ
thorhop@sopuli.xyz 1 month ago
“Upgrade”? Every other option is a downgrade. Sue them for false advertisement.
FryHyde@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
Very loose interpretation of the word “upgrade” they’re employing here…
lambipapp@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I assume it is a generic message, let’s say youd run windows 7. Then this message would sound more reasonable.
But I agree, this is crazy if it is running in a browser
padook@feddit.nl 2 months ago
Its comical that in the last 25 years Linux has gone from a nerd-only tool to something that a 10 year old can install on an air-fryer and still we deal with this bs
qwestjest78@lemmy.ca 2 months ago
I had a course where the teacher beasically said you would have a hard time passing if you did not have a windows laptop because it was the only OS what worked well with their program.
The program was Excel sheets
LodeMike@lemmy.today 2 months ago
Most tech street smart non-techie.
possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 2 months ago
College is a joke
01189998819991197253@infosec.pub 1 month ago
I had that problem. I changed my ua to Edge on Windows, and the message went away. Everything worked.
CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 1 month ago
Holy shit, why even implement the message then? There is no good answer.
Echolynx@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
Huh, would that work for remote proctors?
Phoenixbouncing@lemmy.world 1 month ago
No because that requires installing a rootkit on your machine as part of their anti-cheat system.
lightnsfw@reddthat.com 2 months ago
What “Key features” from an educational course could possibly require windows? It’s spying on you.
kiagam@lemmy.world 2 months ago
They just don’t want to support it to save dev time/money
dustyData@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Oh yes, the very expensive Dev time cost of zero, because it is a fucking website.
tankplanker@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Does it have online exams? Pearsons shitty anti cheat stuff they use for proctoring is windows and mac only.
Having seen how much people cheat including using someone else using screensharing to proxy the exam for you I cannot blame them for wanting to do this, but I do blame them for not wanting to support Linux properly.
lightnsfw@reddthat.com 2 months ago
If they’re going to have online exams they need to just accept that cheating is going to happen. There’s a million ways to do that in an environment you control. Make the exams open book but make it harder to account for the fact that the students have access to reference materials.
ayyy@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
TPM2.0 DRM crap?
echolalia@lemmy.ml 2 months ago
I had this problem with Pearson. I got around it by making sure my bowser (librewolf) reported windows as my user agent. This was last semester for an online intro level course, ymmv
hazypenguin@feddit.nl 1 month ago
“Upgrade”
LOL
fennec@lemm.ee 2 months ago
Our website runs on a linux server, can you not use it though
andros_rex@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Pearson has an effective monopoly on teacher certification tests. I don’t understand why private companies get to make up so many of the rules.
WanderingThoughts@europe.pub 2 months ago
Money makes might makes right
Charlxmagne@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Th*tcher
BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.world 2 months ago
The funny thing is that their server is probably running on Linux.
GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 2 months ago
they aren’t all. vast majority is Windows Server and IBM.
MehBlah@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Windows has a laughable market share when it comes to webservers.
AugustWest@lemm.ee 2 months ago
Lol what? Linux servers are much higher in market share.
Treczoks@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Guess what most IBM big irons are running nowadays?
_cryptagion@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 months ago
That is both laughably wrong, and immediately verifiable as false. As far as server marketshare goes, Linux leads the pack with 62.7%.
JackbyDev@programming.dev 1 month ago
Damn! If only we had some sort of technology that was OS independent and served as a way to view content and run code written for it without having to recompile for every platform.
I am of course talking about web browsers. Which I’m betting this screenshot is from.
beerclue@lemmy.world 2 months ago
This is like the Apple Business website, which only works in Safari, according to them. Used the User-Agent Switcher plugin, and the website/dashboard works just fine on Firefox in Linux.
Naz@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
You heard that OP? That’s how you do it, it’ll still work on Linux.
cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 months ago
what could they possibly be doing that requires an os?
herrvogel@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Widewine? Maybe they have some content that requires L1, which still doesn’t work on Linux because of totally legitimate technical reasons that are absolutely not at all utter horseshit.
TootSweet@lemmy.world 2 months ago
“Upgrade?” “UPGRADE?!” Oh no they didn’t.
Seriously, though, there may well be ways around this without switching your OS. If it’s browser-based, the first thing I’d try is a user-agent switcher.
Though, actually, does that “remind me later” option work? It does look kindof grayed out, but it couldn’t hurt to try a click.
jerkface@lemmy.ca 1 month ago
Use Librewolf or a plugin that masks your user agent for privacy purposes; hides your OS so you can’t be fingerprinted so easily.
Abnorc@lemm.ee 2 months ago
Your operating system Ubuntu, is not supported.
Click here to upgrade to Arch, btw.
EndlessNightmare@reddthat.com 1 month ago
upgrade to a supported operating system
What are the options? Let me guess, Micro$oft Windows or Windows
Treczoks@lemmy.world 2 months ago
That kind of fuckery drove me off a company-sponsored training course.
FEIN@lemmy.world 1 month ago
For the record, my friend (he uses arch btw) has used Pearson before and I dont believe it actually affected him, so to me the message means “it could work for you but we won’t support Linux if something screws up on your end because we’re lazy developers”
frightful_hobgoblin@lemmy.ml 2 months ago
“upgrade”
JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 2 months ago
Upgrayedd. With two “d”'s.
someguy3@lemmy.world 2 months ago
A shareholder’s love is very different from that of a FOSS.
StarMerchant938@lemmy.world 2 months ago
“You are an unfit mother, your children have been placed in the custody of ’ CARLS JR.'”
saltesc@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Aw, manggg. But I just upgraded to Linux last week’s. Shoot…
Back to being treated like an idiot, force fed bloat, having no control over my own PC, and taking four steps to get everything done but often ending up down a rabbit hole of 19 step troubleshooting just to say, “Fuck it! Fine! I’ll accept the new feature” then being toured on the new feature after it crashes first then won’t let you login, but finally you do and THEN you’ve got your file open but forget what for by then, all the while it’s notifying you of updates constantly but you won’t run them because noticed it’s contains the AMD driver which is the old one so Adrenaline will stop working but that also means Windows somehow undid the group policy fucking around you had to do has somehow been undone and they say Linux is hard.while.Windows thinks I’m the fucking idiot and- RAAARRRGH!!!
snaps back
Huh, sorry. I get flashbacks still. The doctors say with the right therapy, I’ll be better in a year.
ArchAengelus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 months ago
I felt this revulsion in my bones. :shudder:
neidu3@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
Haven’t you heard? Pearson’s requires at least Linux 2.
joyjoy@lemm.ee 2 months ago
Let me just check something on my terminal.
I’m suspicious.
WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@lemmy.world 2 months ago
That came out in 1996.
joyjoy@lemm.ee 2 months ago
This means they forgot platforms other than Windows exists. It’s likely they’re checking for currently supported systems and anything older is insecure, so blocked for your security.
Likely something like this pseudocode
Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
I always hate this when it’s used to target Firefox.
“upgrade to chrome”
Like… What the fuck?
AtariDump@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Just use a user agent switcher.
Vespair@lemm.ee 2 months ago
The actual audacity