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I want a computer that I own

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Re: I want a computer that I own

#21

Post by post_below »

> Will this ever end?

It remains an interesting question. Is there any way to reclaim the autonomy and ethos of freedom from the earlier part of the digital era?

I'm not sure how that would look. I don't mean in terms of a set of hardware and software solutions.

I mean technology that's actually for the end users, available to everyone with curiosity as the only barrier to entry. It sounds like a utopian delusion even though it existed not so long ago.

I'm not sure there's a realistic way to get there from here. I'd love to be wrong about that though.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#22

Post by cortesoft »

julienb_sea wrote: post #7

There are approaches that can deliver large portions of this; run an open source linux distribution, running open source browser with open source tracker blocking software. You can run this on an inexpensive system and wipe out all external communication except what you specifically want. This is obviously unrealistic for most people. You can toggle off automatic feedback & updates in a modern OS and you can install…

> This is obviously unrealistic for most people

I think this is an inherent contradiction - if you want to be in total control of your computer while not knowing how totally control your computer, you are never going to get what you want. You are always going to have to put your trust in someone else to manage your computer. Some of those people might be more trustworthy than others, but you are still trusting in someone else to manage your computer.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#23

Post by themodelplumber »

adolph wrote: post #5

What does it mean to own something? In the extreme, do you own anything that you don’t understand? In the extreme does owning something become a kind of performance art? https://www.ted.com/talks/thomas_thwaites_how_i_built_a_toas...

Ownership can also be seen as a gradient of more or less specific, but separate thought models along axes like "level of personal control" and "level of personal interest". I think it's fair to say you can "own" something you don't understand, maybe more fair, the more you're willing to clarify your ownership stake and ownership needs, if you have them...

Certainly the author of the article could clarify a few different areas for better leverage though, for example their desired state of the "mine"-ness of their data in transit vs. their data at rest on their client's side of things. Do they need to "own" their ISP?

And what's a hidden agenda from the factory--are we meant to intuit that without the author's help? Does it include software feature choice influenced by profit motives, or is the author talking about their subjective workflow being interrupted by something that is meant to fit a broader type or category of user?

I think the author could use at least a few different methods to organize and arrange some precise outcomes, and would then be well on their way to achieving what they want without needing to burden their imagination so much (286? Yikes, my PS/2 Model 30 was so nice to be done with...maybe excepting the keyboard) from the outset.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#24

Post by monkeyingaround »

koverda wrote: post #8

> Except for a handful of very over-priced models that I can't afford to buy. This statement here made me pause for a bit. He wants a computer with specific features, but doesn't want pay for the models that offer those features because they are too expensive? Everyone wants to have their cake and eat it too, but unfortunately, reality has constraints.

As someone who has watched the increasingly absurd price of laptops over many years in relation to what one should expect for the price, I'd say I have people like you to thank.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#25

Post by xyse53 »

koverda wrote: post #8

> Except for a handful of very over-priced models that I can't afford to buy. This statement here made me pause for a bit. He wants a computer with specific features, but doesn't want pay for the models that offer those features because they are too expensive? Everyone wants to have their cake and eat it too, but unfortunately, reality has constraints.

I think there are two ways to look at that. 1) The relevant characteristics of these models shouldn't be specialist. 2) Cheaper, constrained portals to the internet may be subsidized by Google, Facebook, etc.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#26

Post by eeZah7Ux »

kokx wrote: post #15

I have a similar feeling, but with modern smartphones. Owning my computer is still relatively possible. I can build a computer from parts which I can choose, and have a choice in which operating system to install on them. Laptops are slightly more closed, but even on those I can choose the OS myself. Modern smartphones however, seem like walled gardens in which I have no control at all. I cannot choose any of the par…

Buy a PinePhone. It might very well be more open and trustworthy than some laptops or desktops.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#27

Post by FpUser »

hemloc_io wrote: post #6
Klwohu wrote: post #3

I suspect that the secret laws passed after 911, which Ron Paul among others have alluded to, make this a pipe dream.

Hmm secret laws? Do you have a source for this. I feel like a secret law defeats the purpose of a law lol.

Try no fly list laws.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#28

Post by scelerat »

Who is going to make this mythical computer which neither benefits any government nor lines the pocket of any corporation? At a cost that makes it accessible to the author? Real question. Maybe it's possible. Who's going make it.

I think the best bet is for citizens of powerful and influential governments insist on legal privacy constraints for software and hardware manufacturers, as well as place limits on their own governments' snooping.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#29

Post by sneak »

mo2art wrote: post #20
abhorrence wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume they're referring to Rand Paul (and also Ron Wyden) who have both made assertions that the executive branch has it's own secret interpretations of the laws that were passed post-9/11. The laws themselves are not secret, but what the government thinks they authorize is.

on the chance that I might sound naive, how does this supposedly work in regard to judicial review?

The court that reviews the interpretations is itself also classified, just like the interpretations and the verdicts.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Foreign_Intellig...

Snowden cited this as the reason he came forward.

This applies to communications and stored records however, not end user computers.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#30

Post by blhack »

Get an old lenovo laptop and install openbsd on it. This post is legitimately a bit confusing to me since what they're describing sounds like a pretty standard sort of BSD/linux machine.
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