Persona Compartment On MacOS

Finally got a working formula.

OK, so the world is going crazy because our Civil War 2.0 Begins

Some folks I’d put in the “hard af” category are doing that “milling around talking” disaster response thing. Back when children were still born at home it was normal to send male relatives off to boil water - clean hot water had its uses, and it kept them out of the women’s hair while they assisted the mother. So we’re staring at the water’s surface, waiting for shimmer, then bubbles, and talking about stuff.

If you can’t sit still and talking isn’t getting it done for you either, turn off the news, fire up your Mac, and get ready to build a safe environment for poking around online.

Attention Conservation Notice:

While taking those milling calls I was tuning up my stuff for Shall We Play A Game? and I found a workable Discord setup for Ubuntu on ARM. If you’re not trying to do that, this is superfluous.

Virtualization:

The first thing you need is a place to stand. I used to run Parallels, but it kinda sucked. I am much happier with VMware Fusion. Go read Freedom From Parallels for a gratis solution that’s much nicer than the $99 offering.

Once you have Ubuntu installed, you need an apt update/apt dist-upgrade, then apt install wireguard, because that’s how we’ll do a fail closed VPN config.

VPN:

You are going to need to replace the default netplan configuration that uses DHCP and accepts a default route with a static IP and single static route to your WireGuard VPN access point. This is what it looks like with Ubuntu 25.04.

You can get a WireGuard config right from the ProtonVPN site. Here’s an example of that …

The final step will leave a wg-quick@wg0.service file in /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants - this used to be a fiddly hassle to get done, but ChatGPT will be able to provide all the assistance you need.

Once you think it’s done, look at ifconfig.me in your desktop browser, then curl ifconfig.me in the VM. The IP addresses should not be the same.

And Mullvad.net is a fine alternative to Proton, I do use it in certain situations.

Applications:

Since I’m doing this for Shall We Play A Game?, I need both Discord and Signal. The Signal install is simple, just snap install signal-desktop. There is not an official Discord client and I found it really impenetrable. Today, in the midst of those “milling around talking” calls, I had another go at searching for a solution, and I found that there’s an easy way to meet the need.

There used to be a tool called Armcord. I guess ARM must have pitched a fit, because now it’s called Legcord. Both Mac and Raspberry Pi need the ARM64 version. I just used the .deb, but they also offer an AppImage and a snap.

Verification:

Does the IP shown by ifconfig.me on your desktop not match the IP shown in a browser in the VM?

Even if you have the working fail closed VPN, it’s wise to set call relay for Signal.

And to be clear, you already installed the fail closed ProtonVPN client on your phone, and then Signal with call relay, right?

About Discord … this screen shot has sat on my desktop since early October of 2024. Discord feels to me like trying to chat using an old fashioned pinball machine. But it’s become ubiquitous, if Cicada 3301 wasn’t already there, I’d choose about any other platform over it. I kept this because I wanted to level up my Discord tradecraft, but the years are long and the days wiz by, so I offer it to you guys, in hopes someone will take this up, and then explain it all to me.

Conclusion:

There are times where I just have to duck, but I do that in recognition of oncoming burnout. I write about the need to do this periodically, and then I actually DO IT, for the sake of modeling effective behavior in the face of relentless pressure. There are times where you need to just grit your teeth and push through until some event passes, or some task is complete, but you MUST be mindful that you are overdrafting yourself by doing so. This can be a matter of days or maybe a week, any longer than that, you’re self-gaslighting.

I’m not inclined to go off into feels about stuff, that’s a combination of I am so NOT neurotypical, and many years of conflict experience. Today is … different. I’m listening to that nineties alternative playlist full of Counting Crows and Gin Blossoms, I’m tinker with a technology thing, and I have consumed absolutely no U.S. news at all in the last twelve hours.

Even so, I feel things pressing in on me, like a humid, windless Iowa sunset with the skies darkening above me.

And I guess I’m not alone in that feeling …