I really really hate QR codes.

rpardee@hachyderm.io

@sundogplanets heh--they are also a prompt for everyone to immediately pull out their phones and become distracted by whatever notifications they're met with...

mina@berlin.social

@sundogplanets

I see, your problem is already solved, but I find the command line tool 'qrencode' (in all major repositories) the easiest one:

qrencode -o qr.png 'https://berlin.social/@mina' yields to

dirtwizard666@cyberpunk.lol

@sundogplanets (I generally just screen shot the browser and trim the screenshot so the human readable url is visible in the image so people can see there's no funny business)

yvan@toot.ale.gd

@sundogplanets a lot of them include a url shortener which makes for simpler QR codes that scan more easily... I always used bit.ly in the past, it was fine, and gave some useful stats. But it has been a long while and I got my own shortish domain so just started using local software instead. If you just want straight up QR code generation then QR Code Monkey works fine too IIRC.

gecole@universeodon.com

@sundogplanets your web browser should be able tongenerate a QR code for whatever page you are viewing...nothing special needed.

lamb@libretooth.gr

@paddi @sundogplanets holly crap that's so useful, I didn't know that and I've been using the duck as my default for years now

samantazfox@infosec.exchange

@sundogplanets Here are three unencumbered (and open source) tools that I regularly use:

Web-based one, provided by @Framasoft :
https://omnitools.framatoolbox.org/image-generic/qr-code

Android application:
https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.atharok.barcodescanner/

Linux command line (available in most distros packages directly):
https://github.com/fukuchi/libqrencode

mina@berlin.social

@sundogplanets

BTW: I also had a question today, and it was also instantly solved by my bubble.

This is, what the internet was supposed to be. Lovely people helping each other.

paradx@chaos.social

@sundogplanets mr-qr.com has many options and so far just have me out what i put in

quixoticgeek@social.v.st

@sundogplanets I've used the qrencode tool to make qr codes. It's available for Linux and Mac (via homebrew).

tony@toot.hoyle.me.uk

@sundogplanets https://github.com/revk/QR is quite versatile

freci@piaille.fr

@sundogplanets LibreOffice has one built in too.

draeath@infosec.exchange

@sundogplanets @hallvors and to verify it didn't tamper with the URL:

alienghic@timeloop.cafe

@freci @sundogplanets

I was going to mention this too.

And as a bonus. Using LibreOffice means you can avoid Microsoft Copilot 365 app

mad_x@mastodon.social

@sundogplanets there is also an easy qr code generator as an add-on to mozilla firefox

mildpeach@mstdn.social

@sundogplanets
The main problem I have with QR codes is how opaque they are. For any given code:
-Who generated it and is it therefore trustworthy (tw).
-What other sites does the code transit while in use? The generator could be tw but are the cdns used equally tw?
-Is malware, phishing, or data harvesting injected along the transit chain?
-How do you *really* know where your browser is going before you use the qr code?
For me using a qr code in general is asking for id theft.

anne_delong@musician.social

@sundogplanets

There are plenty of good QR code generators. I use
https://www.qr-code-generator.com/

But you are right to be wary - especially when reading QR codes. Make sure that your QR code reader is one that lets you look at the URL first, not one that just loads up automatically. Then you can see that the website being loaded is the one that you are expecting. People have been known to paste fake QR codes over real ones in public places, for example.

phl@mastodon.social

@mildpeach @sundogplanets I feel like the second point onwards could very well be true for any URL you encounter in the wild.

A good QR scanner app will display what it read and lets you choose what to do with that information.

stevenray@sfba.social

@paddi @sundogplanets that’s wild.

jsae@mastodon.social

@sundogplanets

Thank you! I am sad to have missed helping you. (I learned several new options from everyone for when I am in a pinch like you were!)

An option for the list here, a reader-generator combo:

QR Scanner (Privacy Friendly Apps) by the Security Usability and Society research group at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology

This is one that pauses to show you the link. It works well paired with the URLCheck app as the default web application.

https://f-droid.org/packages/com.secuso.privacyFriendlyCodeScanner

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I really really hate QR codes.