Yeah, a bit of an xy problem, I’ll admit. My ultimate goal would be invisible blocking/hiding from certain expected behaviors like the ones anti-adblockers employ. I’m not sure if what I have in mind specifically exists or not, but I find it fun to tweak and experiment with these kind of things. So I don’t necessarily have a problem I’d like to solve, it’s more an ask for directions/experiences.

I have tried Fiddler before, and it almost has the capabilities I’m looking for (it replaces an entire file; nothing granular), but it was a bit of a hassle to get working well last time I tried it, with the CA certificate, decrypting the TLS and stuff.

I haven’t heard of ZAP before, so this is new and intriguing! Thanks!

uBlock Origin I very much like, and I think it’s near-impossible for me to use a browser without it installed anymore. But as far as I know, it’s only used for blocking (dropping network requests) and hiding (CSS-like rules), but no manipulation?

The monkeys I’ve also used a little bit of, but I wasn’t aware that they supported being run ahead of the rest of the page like how I wanted, so this is definitely worth looking into, I appreciate it!
For reference, I found this answer on StackOverflow, which is promising.

I most likely am going a bit to the obscure/convoluted solution, yes.

My goal is to do something to the effect of uBlock Origin, but instead of just blocking/hiding, either replace with local files, or intercept req/res in order to manipulate them favorably, without being detected. I don’t know what uBlock does under the hood though, apart from its resource blocking and CSS-derived hiding.

Example:
Watching a video on youtube, an ad is about to get loaded, but instead of the hiding/blocking strategy uBlock uses, intercept the GET/POST, save the important flags that are uniquely served to your device that would indicate that you have successfully been served the ad, drop the rest, and then answer with what would be a valid response for “I have watched the ad in its entirety”.
So the server basically saying “Here, I give you this page and this script with both vital and ad contents. I now expect you to provide the corresponding hash that these two files will create through a series of functions. If you don’t, I will assume you’re blocking me, and I won’t provide further contents.”, and I’ll simply respond with “Here’s your hash! *wink*”.

Essentially, I wish to experiment with trying to be completely invisible in the blocking, by providing responses as if I have loaded and watched the ad, with all anti-adblock implementations through scripts and dynamic loading “intact” and unaware.

You’re quite right, I should include my goal in the post - editing it in now.

Do you often (if at all) run into conflicts with the .. alias? I can’t think of any case on top of my head, but it feels a bit sketchy. The more than 2 dots however I imagine is pretty safe.

I’d say Linux Mint, ZorinOS, and Manjaro Linux are all viable options for Windows users who want an easy transition. Although I don’t think any distro will ever be considered a “plug-and-play” experience. There are varying degrees of user-friendliness, but if one wants user-friendliness like not having to do root/sudo actions even once, I think one might be better off with MacOS…? Though from what I’ve heard, the main reason Windows users are looking towards Linux and not MacOS is exactly because of the ability to customize more than just the wallpaper (and also the entire boycott US movement).

I love the blunt title of “… for Windows 10 Exiles”, though I wonder if it will rub people the right or wrong way when reading it.

Now, don’t get me wrong, but all the hype around the so-called “apocalyptic” October 14 feels a little overblown.

I agree somewhat - the date itself is not that big of a deal, as it’s just a date that Microsoft has set in order to have a spesific time to keep as a reference for when they have their last support push for Windows 10:

Windows 10 will reach the end of support on October 14, 2025. At this point technical assistance, feature updates and security updates will no longer be provided.

This doesn’t mean that it will immediately be defunct or a serious security risk. But from this point on, the more time that passes, the higher is the likelyhood of security holes being found (and used), that will not be patched.

Windows 11 has proven itself to have - a - lot - of - anti-features. Being forced to choose between having to deal with those, or change the entire system which you’ve grown so very used to, can be a rather difficult decision for many. KDE trying to ease the transition I think is appreciated by many who find themselves stuck in this choice. Or at least to give Linux a try.