An OPSEC community would probably say no, so I probably don't need to ask in those communities. But I'm curious about a (digital) pirate's perspective on this issue...

I mean, the sources listed here are supposedly "safe" right? But honestly, how much would you trust these "safe" sources?

When doing sensitive tasks like banking or filing taxes, do you:

Use a different OS on the same machine? (Dualboot)
Or put the pirated content inside a virtual machine?
Or just use a completely separate computer?

And since PC is much different than a Smartphone:

Would the extra sandboxing on Smartphones make pirating games on a Smartphone much safer compared to on a PC? (Not that there are much mobile games worth playing, just curious)

(PC in this context referring to all personal computers, regardless of OS)

And last question:

Non-installed/non-executable files such as .mp4 .mkv .mp3 .pdf .epub, are mostly safe right? I mean, you are using another program to opening it, not executing a file, there aren't much attack vectors as long as the video player / ebook viewer is up to date right? (Or am I understanding it wrong?)

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[–] Truscape@lemm.ee 7 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Yeah, Gabe Newell definitely was quite forward thinking when he came to that conclusion, and I can definitely say it works well for my Steam Library.

Honestly at this point the main force that brings me to hunt for media is subscription services, since it always feels like a rug pull compared to alternatives. I paid for things on GOG, I get to keep the installers and back them up. I bought things on Steam, I'm not charged to reinstall or use them on other devices, and I can still download games that are delisted now (RIP poker night at the inventory).

Now that Blu-rays are going the way of Google Stadia, getting phased out, all I can really do is just rip any media I already have and download what I may need. FOSS tools have already replaced any subscription software I would use for my engineering work.

[–] LeninOnAPrayer@lemm.ee 5 points 4 days ago

Yep. And I don't have to use 10 different video player UIs. I can just use Plex. That lifetime pass from years ago has been worth it. Even if I know people are critical of Plex.