Windows 10 users are being banned from torrent sites • Hacker News Board

Re: Windows 10 users are being banned from torrent sites

#171

Post by JimmaDaRustla » Mon, Aug 24, 2015, 1:57 PM UTC

jsf666 wrote: post #150

x5n1 wrote: post #13

Basically M$ adoption of this strategy is the death knell for any semblance of privacy on the PC. It's amazing how far we have come to accepting such draconian measures in order to further marketing. There is still time people, come on over to Linux, the privacy here is still fine and will continue to be fine. And if you come over, then all the desktop software makers will port their software to Linux and all the col…

The thing is what now? Using Linux everyday is atleast problematic, sometimes impossible (I've had like 20 distros and played with it a lot, used it in my job, etc.) cause of apps/drivers/etc. And what about phones? When iOS/Android/WP is a mobile botnet node what should I use? A 3310 Nokia? Is there any viable alernative? Is iOS/Apple the same vultures as Google/MS when it comes to privacy?

Don't forget, system updating typically isn't straight forward depending on distro. I was explaining to my brother the other day the need to perform diffs on system configuration files after performing a system update. His eyes kind of glazed over as his brain understood the concept, but refused to accept that major linux distros hadn't evolved past it.

Re: Windows 10 users are being banned from torrent sites

#172

Post by ionised » Mon, Aug 24, 2015, 1:57 PM UTC

KaterKarlo123 wrote: post #62

x5n1 wrote: post #13

Basically M$ adoption of this strategy is the death knell for any semblance of privacy on the PC. It's amazing how far we have come to accepting such draconian measures in order to further marketing. There is still time people, come on over to Linux, the privacy here is still fine and will continue to be fine. And if you come over, then all the desktop software makers will port their software to Linux and all the col…

I've deactivated all reporting and services that call back home (at least which I was aware of). In addition I've installed glasswire to check the network activities. So far I can assure you: Compared to my Android phone Windows 10 is absolutely mute. There're no noticeable differences compared to Windows 7. You seem to be more driven by your hatred towards Microsoft than by real privacy concerns.

Same.

Disabled every form of data collection possible from the Settings and also edited Group Policy and the registry to disable further collection.

I've also edited the hosts file and added entries for dozens of domains associated with MS telemtry and reporting.

At this point Comodo Firewall was still reporting some suspicious outbound connection requests which I've analysed and blocked most of.

System still works fine and is getting updates okay but I'm sure there is plenty I've missed or that people do not know about yet.

I'm honestly considering rolling back to a clean install of Windows 7 SP1. I'm really not liking Win 10 the more I learn about it.

Re: Windows 10 users are being banned from torrent sites

#173

Post by pmelendez » Mon, Aug 24, 2015, 1:58 PM UTC

x5n1 wrote: post #67

KaterKarlo123 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've deactivated all reporting and services that call back home (at least which I was aware of). In addition I've installed glasswire to check the network activities. So far I can assure you: Compared to my Android phone Windows 10 is absolutely mute. There're no noticeable differences compared to Windows 7. You seem to be more driven by your hatred towards Microsoft than by real privacy concerns.

Hatred for Microsoft? I have none. I do hate the fact that we have an absolutely free operating system that works just fine but thanks to Bill Gates 90s shenanigans and aggressive and illegal market and business tactics we're stuck with a proprietary system that is totally unnecessary and as it continues that system becomes more and more invasive. And that system is a black box that you can't trust. Google started en…

> we're stuck with a proprietary system that is totally unnecessary

I think you are being a bit biased on this one. There are a lot of applications that the "free" alternative is just not good enough in comparison with the propetary one.

Just to name a few:

    Gimp and Photoshop
    Inkscape and Illustrator
    Maya/3DStudio and Blender

I would even add Office and LibreOffice but the later is actually good enough for a good chunk of people.

Re: Windows 10 users are being banned from torrent sites

#174

Post by TheOtherHobbes » Mon, Aug 24, 2015, 1:58 PM UTC

Silhouette wrote: post #90

x5n1 wrote: post #13

Basically M$ adoption of this strategy is the death knell for any semblance of privacy on the PC. It's amazing how far we have come to accepting such draconian measures in order to further marketing. There is still time people, come on over to Linux, the privacy here is still fine and will continue to be fine. And if you come over, then all the desktop software makers will port their software to Linux and all the col…

Basically M$ adoption of this strategy is the death knell for any semblance of privacy on the PC. I think if anything it would be users accepting this strategy by installing the new OS that would be the death knell for privacy on the PC. So far, it doesn't seem clear that this will happen, though. The reaction from business is predictably hesitant anyway. Some of the concerns about Windows 10 won't apply so much with…

I think Win 10 is the death knell for Windows.

SMEs won't touch it because of the privacy concerns. Corporates who have access to the full privacy features in the enterprise version are still suspicious of it.

Its main USP for the general public is that it's not as bad as Win 8 - which hardly seems like a win at all.

I'm happy to use Linux for some applications, but realistically I think most Windows users who are switching will move to a Mac.

Personally, I'm keeping well away from Win 10. The one machine here with Win 8.1 isn't getting upgraded - ever. I may even downgrade it to 7.

Re: Windows 10 users are being banned from torrent sites

#175

Post by outworlder » Mon, Aug 24, 2015, 1:58 PM UTC

zxcvcxz wrote: post #95

cletus wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing about Linux on the desktop "works fine". It's horrible. UI seems to be one area that benefits--almost demands --a central planning authority. I'm reminded of Supported Features [1]. There is some great open source software out there. But I'm struggling to think of great open source software with a good UI. Not that I'm saying Windows is good mind you. My personal preference would be OSX, which you can view as…

Linux on the Desktop works stunningly for me. Seeing as you're an OS X fan I'm going to link you to this HN thread so we can go ahead and stop pretending that trash OS "just works": https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10010395 As far as OSS interfaces go, I wouldn't be surprised if you're using an open source browser right now, seeing as the closed source alternatives don't compare. Windows has nothing to show for t…

> Seeing as you're an OS X fan I'm going to link you to this HN thread so we can go ahead and stop pretending that trash OS "just works":

The operating system is fine. Complaining about a bunch of built-in applications gets us nowhere.

I'd rather complain about the fact that the default filesystem is case insensitive, for instance.

Re: Windows 10 users are being banned from torrent sites

#176

Post by morganvachon » Mon, Aug 24, 2015, 1:58 PM UTC

jeeva wrote: post #91

x5n1 wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hatred for Microsoft? I have none. I do hate the fact that we have an absolutely free operating system that works just fine but thanks to Bill Gates 90s shenanigans and aggressive and illegal market and business tactics we're stuck with a proprietary system that is totally unnecessary and as it continues that system becomes more and more invasive. And that system is a black box that you can't trust. Google started en…

> supposedly opt-in but they were so convenient that most people opted in anyway How is making a feature (that is opt-in) good enough to get people to opt-in a bad thing here?

Bait and switch. Release a great service with sane privacy settings and policies, make any privacy-sensitive settings opt-in at first, get people using it and depending on it. Switch it to opt-out but no one notices or cares because they're already on the hook and it's a media darling. Then change the privacy settings and policies to something nefarious while leaving it opt-out. Even if the media brings up the new privacy issues, only the folks who are already privacy-conscious will notice or care, and they probably weren't using the service anyway.

See Spotify for a very recent example of this process.

Re: Windows 10 users are being banned from torrent sites

#177

Post by ionised » Mon, Aug 24, 2015, 1:58 PM UTC

soccerdave wrote: post #93

thescrewdriver wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Compared to my Android phone Windows 10 is absolutely mute. I think this says more about Android than it does about Windows 10. Windows 10 has crazy defaults, but so does android and many android apps want access to my info for no good reason (e.g. news apps wanting access to list my accounts, my phone number, my contacts, precise location etc.). Comparing privacy defaults of Windows to Android is not comparing it…

This is a main reason that I have avoided Android so far. The iOS permissions model is a far better model. At least with the next release of Android (Marshmallow) they are fixing some of this and hopefully you will be able to use apps without giving them access to so much info.

CyanogenMod is a barebones Android ROM that comes with permissions management.

Re: Windows 10 users are being banned from torrent sites

#178

Post by XzetaU8 » Mon, Aug 24, 2015, 1:58 PM UTC

KaterKarlo123 wrote: post #62

x5n1 wrote: post #13

Basically M$ adoption of this strategy is the death knell for any semblance of privacy on the PC. It's amazing how far we have come to accepting such draconian measures in order to further marketing. There is still time people, come on over to Linux, the privacy here is still fine and will continue to be fine. And if you come over, then all the desktop software makers will port their software to Linux and all the col…

I've deactivated all reporting and services that call back home (at least which I was aware of). In addition I've installed glasswire to check the network activities. So far I can assure you: Compared to my Android phone Windows 10 is absolutely mute. There're no noticeable differences compared to Windows 7. You seem to be more driven by your hatred towards Microsoft than by real privacy concerns.

@KaterKarlo123

And you seem to be driven by pure passion toward your beloved corporation that you felt the need to create an account here, 1 hour ago, just to inform us how mute Win 10 is compared to an android phone.

Re: Windows 10 users are being banned from torrent sites

#179

Post by Kequc » Mon, Aug 24, 2015, 1:59 PM UTC

> The controversy began because of a line in Microsoft’s service agreement. This allows Microsoft to issue updates that will stop users “playing counterfeit games,” according to TorrentFreak.

Game companies have been issuing updates that stop users "playing counterfeit games" ever since it was possible to do so. Microsoft is a game company, or one of the divisions are. It's interesting that they would stop there, rather than say "use of counterfeit software". That would be much broader.

Microsoft has been doing that for some time so what is the justification for gamers all of a sudden freaking out.

Re: Windows 10 users are being banned from torrent sites

#180

Post by ionised » Mon, Aug 24, 2015, 2:00 PM UTC

UnoriginalGuy wrote: post #76

r3bl wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a license for like every single Microsoft's product (Windows 8.1, Office 365, Dreamspark account, 1 TB of data on OneDrive, some Skype premium minutes) and yet, I completely agree with him. I love Microsoft's products and I'm using them when I need to use them, but Windows stopped being my primary operating system ever since that whole Snowden scandal. People just automatically assume that I hate Microsoft bec…

> but Windows stopped being my primary operating system ever since that whole Snowden scandal. Snowden released nothing specifically about Windows. No backdoors, no specific cooperation, only the NSA's bespoke malware (but they also have malware for everything under the sun, Linux, uEFI, RAID firmware, cell modems, etc). Sure, the NSA were spying on Microsoft by hooking the fiber lines between Microsoft's data center…

> Snowden released nothing specifically about Windows. No backdoors, no specific cooperation.

This is the exact opposite of what was claimed in many of the documents that were leaked. One example;

July 31, 2012

Microsoft (MS) began encrypting web-based chat with the introduction of the new outlook.com service. This new Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption effectively cut off collection of the new service for FAA 702 and likely 12333 (to some degree) for the Intelligence Community (IC). MS, working with the FBI, developed a surveillance capability to deal with the new SSL. These solutions were successfully tested and went live 12 Dec 2012.

From; https://search.edwardsnowden.com/

That is the very definition of collaboration.