Pixel
Pixel Discord server icon

Pixel

Pixel Updates & Events

Announcements

Remove Forgotten PDF Passwords on Ubuntu/Linux

DEV Community

How to Remove Forgotten PDF Password Protection in Ubuntu/Linux

How to Remove Forgotten PDF Password Protection in Ubuntu/Linux Getting locked out of your own important PDF document is frustrating—especially when you need to print, edit, or extract data from it right away. Fortunately, Ubuntu and other Linux distributions offer a powerful suite of open-source command-line tools that let you inspect PDF encryption, recover a forgotten password for your own files, and generate a permanent, unlocked copy. In this step-by-step guide, we will walk through the exact workflow using native Linux utilities. Tools We Will Use Before diving into the commands, here is a quick overview of the toolkit we are going to install: qpdf: Inspects PDF encryption details and decrypts files once authorized credentials are available. John the Ripper: A widely used password-auditing tool capable of recovering forgotten PDF passwords. pdf2john: A utility script that extracts password hashes from encrypted PDFs so John the Ripper can analyze them. PDFtk: A versatile toolkit for manipulating, merging, and decrypting PDF documents. Poppler Utilities (poppler-utils): A collection of tools (pdfinfo, pdftotext, etc.) used to inspect metadata and extract content. Understanding PDF Password Protection Not all PDF locks work the same way. PDF documents generally support two distinct types of password protection: Password Type Description User Password (Open Password) Required just to open and read the contents of the PDF. Owner Password (Permissions Password) Allows anyone to view the document, but restricts actions like printing, editing, or copying text. Important Distinction: If your PDF opens normally without a prompt but blocks you from printing or copying text, it has owner-password protection. If a dialog box asks for a password before displaying the pages, it has open-password protection. Step 1: Update Ubuntu and Install Required Applications First, open your terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T) and update your system's package repositories to ensure you get the latest versions of the tools: sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Next, install all the required PDF utilities in one command: sudo apt install qpdf pdftk-java john poppler-utils -y

Verify that every application was installed properly by checking their version numbers: qpdf --version
pdftk --version
john --version
pdfinfo -v

Step 2: Inspect the PDF Encryption Navigate to the folder where your locked PDF is stored (for example, your Downloads directory) and make a backup copy before making any changes: cd ~/Downloads
cp protected.pdf protected_backup.pdf

Run qpdf to inspect the document's encryption settings: qpdf --show-encryption protected.pdf

You can also inspect the document's metadata using pdfinfo: pdfinfo protected.pdf

Look closely at the Encrypted field in the terminal output. To quickly verify whether the file blocks reading without a password, test extracting text to standard output: pdftotext protected.pdf -

If the terminal prompts you for a password or throws an authentication error, the file has open-password protection. Step 3: Handle Owner-Password Protection If your PDF opens normally in a viewer but restricts printing, copying, or editing, inspect its permissions first: qpdf --show-encryption protected.pdf

If you have the necessary authorization and the document permits access without an open password, you can often generate an unrestricted copy directly with qpdf: qpdf --decrypt protected.pdf unlocked.pdf

Verify that the newly created file is structurally sound: qpdf --check unlocked.pdf

(Note: If the file enforces an owner password that requires credentials you do not have, --decrypt alone will not bypass it.) Step 4: Recover a Forgotten Open Password If your PDF requires a password just to open, you will need to recover the password first using John the Ripper. 1. Locate the pdf2john Extraction Utility Search your system to find where the pdf2john script is located: find /usr -name 'pdf2john*' 2>/dev/null

(Depending on y...

Powered by Readybot.io

Remove Forgotten PDF Passwords on Ubuntu/Linux
remove pdf password ubuntu pdf tools linux pdf password recovery

6 Blacksmith Alternatives for GitHub Actions Ranked

DEV Community

Blacksmith alternatives for GitHub Actions, priced and ranked

The Blacksmith alternatives GitHub Actions teams shortlist are the six other vendors that answer a runs-on label, and they are ranked here by the Linux rate each one published on 2026-09-20 at 2 vCPU. Blacksmith itself sits mid-table at $0.004 for Ubuntu x64 and $0.0025 for ARM, so the question is never only price: it is whether you are leaving for the rate, for a billing model Blacksmith does not publish, or for an operating system it charges a premium on. The same 10,000 Linux minutes at 2 vCPU on each vendor, at the rates published on 2026-09-20, with monthly plan fees inside the bar. Blacksmith x64 lands at $28. GitHub-hosted Team is $42, the $60 list price less the $18 of included usage the Team plan carries. Blacksmith is a genuinely good product and the honest starting point is what it does well. Its pitch, in its own words rather than any benchmark run here, is a high single-core clock on its own metal: the buy when one compile or bundle step is your critical path. It includes 3,000 free minutes a month on every plan card, the most generous standing allowance here. Its ARM card at $0.0025 undercuts every other ARM rate here except Namespace at $0.002, and buys 6 GB at 2 vCPU: Blacksmith publishes arm64 at 3 GB per vCPU, so there is no 8 GB ARM card. The three reasons teams look past it are specific. Ubuntu x64 at $0.004 a minute is mid-table now rather than cheap. Docker layer caching and sticky disks are add-ons at $0.50 per GB per month rather than included, so the effective rate for a Docker-heavy pipeline is above the card. And billing granularity is published nowhere, on the pricing page or in the docs, which is the row that decides a wide matrix of short jobs. The ranking criterion below is the published Linux x64 rate at 2 vCPU for a private repository, read on 2026-09-20, with the memory that rate buys next to it. Every alternative here is a runs-on label change, so the cost of getting this wrong is a revert commit. Every alternative, ranked by published Linux rate A shortlist, not the field: Blacksmith itself and the four its users move to. Ubicloud for the rate, Namespace for cores per dollar, Latchkey for re-run waste, Depot for a Docker cache included rather than billed per GB. WarpBuild and RunsOn are in the next table, and all eight are priced side by side in the roundup. Against each vendor's cheapest card, Blacksmith ARM at $0.0025 is joint third here and its x64 at $0.004 fourth. Vendor Linux, 2 vCPU Linux, 4 vCPU Free tier Billing granularity Best for Ubicloud $0.0012 standard, $0.0020 premium (8 GB) $0.0025 standard, $0.0040 premium 1,250 min/month Not published Leaving Blacksmith purely on rate Namespace $0.002 prepaid at 4 GB, $0.004 at 8 GB $0.004 prepaid at 8 GB 30-day trial only Unit minutes, prepaid or overage Leaving for twice the cores at 8 GB Latchkey $0.0025 (8 GB) $0.005 (16 GB) 2,000 to 6,000 min/month Per minute Leaving because re-runs are a real cost Blacksmith $0.0025 ARM, $0.004 Ubuntu x64 $0.005 ARM, $0.008 Ubuntu x64 3,000 min/month Not published Staying: a compile-bound critical path Depot $0.006 (8 GB) $0.012 (16 GB) 2,000 min on the $20/mo plan Tracked per second, billed monthly in whole minutes Leaving for Docker builds and a big cache What each alternative has that Blacksmith does not The rate is one column of eleven. These are the rest, written against Blacksmith, with the full eight-vendor matrix in GitHub Actions runner alternatives. Vendor Against Blacksmith on rate What it adds What it gives up Ubicloud 70% under x64, 52% under ARM 1,250 free min/mo and 30 GB of cache included rather than metered Windows, macOS and any ARM card at all; Linux x64 only, to 16 vCPU Namespace Level at 8 GB, 50% under at 4 GB Twice the cores at the same 8 GB and the same rate, and remote Docker builders Any standing free allowance; cache is billed at $0.0048/GB-day WarpBuild Level managed, 50% under on BYOC Runners executing inside your own AWS, GCP or Azure account, add-ons free Capacity p...

Powered by Readybot.io

6 Blacksmith Alternatives for GitHub Actions Ranked
blacksmith alternatives github actions runners github actions pricing

Fix GitHub Actions pwsh Not Found on Ubuntu

DEV Community

GitHub Actions pwsh command not found on an Ubuntu runner

GitHub Actions pwsh command not found is raised while the runner is looking for the shell binary, which is before your script has been started and before any process could have exited. That ordering is the useful part: there is no exit code attached to this failure, so an answer that tells you to go and read one is describing a different problem. Shell resolution happens before the script file is written. A failure here means no process was started, so no exit code exists. What this error means A step that declares the PowerShell Core shell fails immediately, with a short line naming the command. Steps around it that use the default shell run normally, which makes the runner look selectively broken. On a GitHub hosted Ubuntu image this is rare because those images ship the shell. On a self hosted runner, a container image built in house or a runner in a minimal base image, it is the expected result of asking for a program that was never installed. ```Reconstructed from the FileNotFoundException message in WhichUtil.Which, actions/runner pwsh: command not found

Common causes

The runner image does not include PowerShell Core

The direct cause in almost every report. Self hosted machines, container images and minimal bases install what the build needs, and a shell nobody asked for at image build time is not there at job time.

The step was copied from a Windows job

A workflow that grew a Linux matrix leg keeps the shell declaration that made sense on Windows. The step is often small enough that the shell is not really needed at all.

The job runs in a container that differs from the host

A step running inside a container is looked up differently from one running on the host, and a shell present on the machine is not necessarily present in the image the job is using.

The shell string is custom and names a program that is absent

A shell value with arguments is parsed into a command and a format, and the command is looked up like any other. In our experience this version is harder to spot because the eye reads the whole string as configuration rather than as a program name.

How to fix it

Check for an exit code before anything else

  1. Look at the failing step for an exit status line.
  2. If there is one, this page is not your failure; the script started and something inside it was missing.
  3. If there is none and the line is just the command name, the runner could not find the shell.

Use the default shell when the script is small

Drop the shell declaration and translate the commands. On Linux the runner resolves the default by looking for one shell and falling back to another, so you do not need to name anything.

```.github/workflows/ci.yml
- name: Print the version
run: |
node -p "require('./package.json').version"
Install the shell in the image, not in the job Add it where the runner image is built so every job starts with it present. Installing it as a step costs time on every run and turns a clear failure into a network dependent one. Probe for the program and fail with a useful message Where you cannot control every runner, check for the program in an early step and say what is missing. A named assumption is easier to act on than a lookup failure in the middle of a matrix. - name: Preflight
run: |
command -v pwsh >/dev/null || {
echo "this job needs PowerShell Core on the runner"; exit 1; }
How to prevent it Keep the shell values in a workflow to programs the runner image is known to ship. Install shells at image build time, never as a workflow step. Probe for unusual programs in one preflight step rather than discovering them mid matrix. When adding a Linux leg to a Windows matrix, review every shell declaration. Where the message comes from, and what it rules out Before a run step executes, the runner has to decide which program will execute it. For a step that names one of the built in shells it looks that program up on the path, with a flag that says the lo...

Powered by Readybot.io

Fix GitHub Actions pwsh Not Found on Ubuntu
github actions pwsh not found ubuntu runner

** Latest from PC Gamer **

The most annoying questgivers in PC games

The XP isn't worth it.

Powered by Readybot.io

** Latest from PC Gamer ** ## The most annoying …

** Latest from PC Gamer **

GTA 6 soundtrack leak confirmed accurate with new songs from Lana Del Rey, Playboi Carti, and Keith Richards

What, no Sideways Hank O'Mally?

Powered by Readybot.io

** Latest from PC Gamer ** ## GTA 6 soundtrack leak confirme

GameSpot - All Content

GTA 6 Is Like The Olympics – “A Rare Cultural Moment” With Massive Ripple Effects

After years of development, multiple delays, and what can only be assumed to be one of the biggest production budgets ever, Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto 6 launches on November 19. The game is poised to "blot out the sun," some experts believe, and its release looms so large that other gaming companies are shifting dates for their own games to stay out of the blast radius. Francis Lawrence, the director of the new Hunger Games movie Sunrise on the Reaping, which comes out a day after GTA 6, has said he hopes people can find the time to play the game and watch his movie. In short, GTA 6 is seen by some as a black hole that will suck up time, attention, and money from the broader gaming economy--and even workplaces, as people dive into the 80-hour game they've been waiting a decade to play. To help make sense of, and contextualize, the enormity of GTA 6's looming launch, GameSpot caught up with Bart Spiegel of the global professional services and research company PricewaterhouseCoopers, or PwC. He told GameSpot that GTA 6 is "something much bigger than a traditional entertainment launch," and is more akin to an event like the Olympics. He believes GTA 6 is a "rare cultural moment" that "commands extraordinary attention and creates economic activity well beyond the event itself." Jason pumping some iron in GTA 6. Spiegel said he foresees potential shifts beyond gaming, in places like TV viewership, music consumption, social media engagement, and even travel. "In an increasingly fragmented entertainment landscape, it's rare for a single release to command this much attention across so many industries simultaneously. That's what makes this moment so significant," he said. An economics professor recently claimed that about 1.5 million people plan to "call out sick" to play GTA 6, and this could come at a "cost" of $1 billion to the US economy. Spiegel said people should remember that GTA 6 isn't anything new or special as it relates to taking time off work. "People regularly plan time off around major cultural and entertainment events, and this is another example of consumers prioritizing an experience they're excited about," he said. That being said, Spiegel remarked that PwC has observed estimates suggesting time-off requests near GTA 6's release could be 9% to 17% higher than normal. "But what's more interesting to me is what happens outside the workplace. If millions of people are spending additional hours gaming, they're potentially spending less time watching television, going out to restaurants, or engaging in other activities," he said. "And unlike a sporting event that lasts a few hours or a few weeks, this experience could keep people engaged for months. So the broader economic implications may extend well beyond a single day of missed work," he added. "Huge net positive" GTA 6 is expected to be an enormous success commercially--it's reportedly already sold 11 million units through pre-purchases, and that could rise to 25 million at launch. That would work out to $2 billion in revenue, which would cover the game's entire development budget and most of its marketing spend, Sensor Tower said. But many are also saying that GTA 6 represents the last of a dying breed, and that other publishers might learn all the wrong lessons from its success. Spiegel said GTA 6 is going to be a "huge net positive for the gaming industry as a whole," in part because its success will reiterate to the broader entertainment and media landscape that games are culturally significant. At the same time, Spiegel said he doesn't foresee a world in which other publishers try to replicate a blockbuster of this magnitude. "Very few organizations have the capital, expertise, and intellectual property required to support investments on this scale. These are extraordinary events, not necessarily repeatable business models," Spiegel said. If GTA 6 is the huge success it's projected to be, it could positively uplift the broader gaming ecosystem in a lot of w...

Powered by Readybot.io

**GameSpot - All Content** ## GTA 6 Is Like The …

IGN India Pc

League of Legends: New Dawn - Official Teaser Trailer

Check out the latest teaser for League of Legends: New Dawn as the team shares a sneak peek at what's coming in 2027. A full reveal is scheduled for January, with the release planned for later in the year.

Powered by Readybot.io

**IGN India Pc** ## League of Legends: New Dawn - Official T

** Latest from PC Gamer **

Planeswalker, Netflix's Magic: The Gathering animated series, will have a different art style for each plane

"Each one of these cards is this window into this incredible world. It's not just world building—it's worlds building."

Powered by Readybot.io

** Latest from PC Gamer ** ## Planeswalker, Netflix's Magic:

IGN India Pc

Slay the Spire 2's New Character is Wild - The Fool Starter Guide

The first brand new Slay the Spire 2 character since the early access launch is finally here! Its name is The Fool, and it's one of the most interesting concepts for a Slay the Spire 2 character yet. In this quick Starter Guide for The Fool, we'll touch upon his unique mechanics, some standout cards, and a few deckbuilding tips to get you started on the right foot.

Powered by Readybot.io

**IGN India Pc** ## Slay the Spire 2's New Character …

IGN India Pc

League of Legends: New Dawn Cinematic Images


Powered by Readybot.io

**IGN India Pc** ## League of Legends: New Dawn Cinematic Im

IGN India Pc

League of Legends: New Dawn Gameplay Images


Powered by Readybot.io

**IGN India Pc** ## League of Legends: New Dawn Gameplay Ima

IGN India Pc

League of Legends: New Dawn Unveiled With Debut Trailer, Riot Announces Major Overhaul Coming in 2027

Rift apart. At the 2026 League of Legends World Championship Finals, Riot Games officially unveiled League of Legends: New Dawn. The large-scale update is scheduled for 2027 and will bring changes to the game's client, Summoner's Rift, visuals, and gameplay, marking the beginning of a new chapter for one of the industry's …

Powered by Readybot.io

**IGN India Pc** ## League of Legends: New Dawn Unveiled …

** Latest from PC Gamer **

WoW: Forever dungeon mobs no longer give EXP if they're trivial for anyone in the party

No more calling on your high-level buddy for a boost.

Powered by Readybot.io

** Latest from PC Gamer ** ## WoW: Forever dungeon mobs no l

IGN India Pc

Resident Evil Requiem Star Hopes Grace Ashcroft Has 'a Long Way to Go' Even if She Won't 'Ever Be a Leon Character'

"She's never going to be badass, you know, doing roundhouse kicks." Grace Ashcroft actress Angela Sant'Albano doesn't think her Resident Evil Requiem hero will "ever be a Leon character," but she's still hoping "there's a long way to go with her." The person behind one of 2026's standout video game roles laid out her hopes for the future during an interview …

Powered by Readybot.io

**IGN India Pc** ## Resident Evil Requiem Star Hopes Grace …

** Latest from PC Gamer **

Is the game funny, or just the players? Jackbox CEO says they get 'a lot of false positives' with a staff of comedy writers

Testing comedy games comes with a unique challenge.

Powered by Readybot.io

** Latest from PC Gamer ** ## Is the game funny, or just the

** Latest from PC Gamer **

Do you like mob tagging in oldschool MMOs, or are you done with fighting for quest credit?

Tag, you're it.

Powered by Readybot.io

** Latest from PC Gamer ** ## Do you like mob tagging in old

IGN India Pc

When GTA 5 Took On Zuckerberg and Hit Peak Satire

Faceblast. There’s a lot of shooting and driving in Grand Theft Auto missions, they’re kind of your main verbs in the game. You drive, shoot, and drive some more with the possibility of shooting again. They’re not very dynamic as a wireframe, so it’s a good thing that Rockstar leads the …

Powered by Readybot.io

**IGN India Pc** ## When GTA 5 Took On Zuckerberg …

IGN India Pc

When GTA 5 Took On Zuckerberg and Won

GTA 5 Took On Zuckerberg in one of its best, most satirical missions, but the real target was Michael and interactivity.Friend Request is an early storyline mission in Grand Theft Auto 5. Tutorials are behind us, but Trevor hasn't joined the team yet. Retired crook Michael De Santa is in deep trouble, so he turns to his old accomplice Lester for help. The software enthusiast seems willing to set up a new job, but first he needs Michael to blow open the walled garden that is Jay Norris’s skull. GTA’s legendary, long campaigns demand frequent changes of pace, and cooldown character studies like Friend Request offer a different kind of exploration than open-world adventure. Trekking through trauma, wandering through wounded pride, we’re given space to dig beneath the skin of the people we embody and understand what drives them. This is the art of the level for Grand Theft Auto 5.

Powered by Readybot.io

**IGN India Pc** ## When GTA 5 Took On Zuckerberg …

GameSpot - All Content

Casualties: Unknown Is A Brutal 97%-Rated Survival Game That Will Make You Realize Your Mortality, And At A Cheap Price, Too

There’s no light. The shuttle that brought me into the depths is fitted with just a shower, and the darkness swallows everything around me. Each step is as painful as the last, like walking barefoot on LEGO bricks, as I narrowly miss traps. Corpses are frozen as I head further down, a reminder of who came before and likely what I’ll end up as. I crack the glass of a small base, crawling through to gain access, shrapnel filling my foot as I sneak through. Infection rises, but with no medicine, it spreads. It gets worse. It gets worse. I die. That was my first run of Casualties: Unknown. I’ve played a lot of survival games, but few are as brutal, as dark, and as thrilling as this Steam game, which has earned the ‘Overwhelmingly Positive’ badge of approval from almost 2,000 reviews, giving it a 97% rating and making it an indie gem. It’s easy to look at its various mechanics and think it sounds challenging, masochistic, and downright terrifying, and those are all accurate. It’s also a game about hope and getting through the hardest times, pushing yourself to become stronger and better. Let me explain: Casualties sees you play as an ‘Experiment’, the affectionate name given to creatures spliced with human and animal DNA. On an alien planet, your job is to push further into the depths, scavenging alien flora and fauna to craft resources and eventually getting deeper and deeper. However, what makes Casualties so hard is that it has a fully simulated injury and cardiovascular system; one wrong move could leave you dealing with an open wound and nothing to patch it up with. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Sd7HIk41Us Every run is as customizable as you’d like. You could make it ridiculously easy, albeit still with some challenge, or you could make it a dreadful experience—it’s entirely up to you. Death is practically inevitable, especially when you’re starting out, but each step you take in subsequent runs builds your knowledge, and eventually, you may even make it to the second layer. There are 11, by the way. It’s easily one of the best indie games I’ve played, offering a blend of an unforgiving world with a dash of hopeful optimism. And despite just launching, you can grab Casualties: Unknown for just $17.24 / £14.24 at Fanatical. That’s a brilliant launch-day discount, and it easily makes it worth playing, whether it’s out of morbid curiosity or the hope that you’ll eventually beat it. Good luck, either way. Disclosure: GameSpot and Fanatical are both owned by Fandom. This story was created in collaboration with Fanatical’s deals team.

Powered by Readybot.io

**GameSpot - All Content** ## Casualties: Unknown Is A Brutal …

https://klipy.com/gifs/what-67287

What

https://klipy.com/gifs/what-67287 ## What ![Embed Thumbnail]

** Latest from PC Gamer **

I summoned 1 blood demon, stitched 2 of my disciples together, and seduced 3 snails in this excellent cult simulator in the spirit of Dwarf Fortress

World's Best Grandpa Cup be praised.

Powered by Readybot.io

** Latest from PC Gamer ** ## I summoned 1 blood demon, stit

IGN India Pc

Crimson Desert: Charting the Unknown Video Review

Crimson Desert's Charting the Unknown DLC reviewed by Travis Northup on PC and Xbox Series X, also available on PlayStation 5."Crimson Desert’s Charting the Unknown DLC is unlikely to win over anyone who hadn’t already fallen in love with this massive world, but it does successfully expand a game that already had a staggering amount of stuff to do. Diving around underwater ruins and exploring islands for treasure is a good time, even if the ship exploration and combat on the way to that seafaring content is a bore. Elsewhere, some of the new activities like a business management minigame and NPC dating are absolutely worth adding to your backlog of quests to tackle. Those side distractions continue to be the true appeal of Crimson Desert, but it’s a shame that the new story questlines that act as an extended epilogue are largely as dull as they are inaccessible. Overall, Charting the Unknown is just more Crimson Desert, with its “jack of all trades, master of none” philosophy fully intact. If you’re hundreds of hours deep and that’s all you want, it will almost certainly deliver – but if you’re not, it’s not the most convincing reason to come back."

Powered by Readybot.io

**IGN India Pc** ## Crimson Desert: Charting the Unknown Video …

** Latest from PC Gamer **

Dishonored 2 director Harvey Smith wants to honour sacred imsim texts while finding news ways to surprise fans: "That's the two wolves inside me"

"On one hand, I want to pay off those expectations. On the other hand, I want to exceed them."

Powered by Readybot.io

** Latest from PC Gamer ** ## Dishonored 2 director Harvey S

** Latest from PC Gamer **

Halo: Campaign Evolved is getting Firefight as a free update, though I'm not sure it'll do much to change the remake's fortunes

More info to be announced at Halo Fest in December.

Powered by Readybot.io

** Latest from PC Gamer ** ## Halo: Campaign Evolved is gett

** Latest from PC Gamer **

Formula 1 just found a bizarre financial supporter in horse girl gacha Umamusume: Pretty Derby

I'm here for it, though.

Powered by Readybot.io

** Latest from PC Gamer ** ## Formula 1 just found a bizarre