151–160 of 668 posts
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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Buy a PinePhone. It might very well be more open and trustworthy than some laptops or desktops.
I love the PinePhone. It is an amazing project, and I'm definitely considering buying one. However, it does not solve my main problem. For most scenarios I still need a "normal" smartphone with either iOS or Android. Apps like WhatsApp and banking apps are unfortunately needed for a large part of my daily life. At risk of either socially isolating myself or bringing major inconveniences without having them. All unava…
That is the opposite of what they want. Do you think whatsapp and a banking app will allow installations that let them track users less? With banking I can sort of understand it, they have to protect the lowest denominator (reused password, no 2fa), so barring different installation methods that are used for "anonymous" purposes I can sort of understand the reasoning behind. but something like whatsapp where the main commodity is your data? Hardly their priority.
> 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.
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Notifications are pretty easy to disable though, right?
I have yet to find a satsifactory way to disable them - it's pretty easy to disable notifications from userspace apps like Instagram or Snapchat or whatever, but disabling notifications or altogether uninstalling vendor apps is a huge pain in the ass. Most advice I've gotten has been flash a custom Android kernel or a de-Googled distro. This would definitely solve my problems, but this removes the ability to install…
In case you do want to install a custom Android distribution (ROM) to clean out the Samsung bloat more thoroughly, the risk of hard-bricking your phone is almost non-existent nowadays. The worst that can happen is usually a soft-brick which can be fixed by reinstalling the original OS. As for Play Store, most custom ROMs either include or support installing Google services and Play Store with full functionality.
(disclaimer: I work on custom kernels and ROMs)
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…
I agree with this so much. It would be so convenient if I could just flash Arch Linux or something onto a modern smartphone and be able to use all the applications and settings and data I use on my desktop, but on my mobile phone. Android is markedly better than iOS when it comes to customization, but it's a far cry from a (real) Linux distribution. I've started getting OS-level push notification ads from Google News…
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Tell me more about this. What does this system do, and why can't we do anything about it?
The first section of [1] explains that with references [1]: https://legends2k.github.io/note/clean_me
Which models is he talking about here? Those Raptor Power9 workstations that are like $7k are the only things that come to mind.
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Not the author, but I would hazard an uninformed guess at three levels of security: (1) a government is already specifically interested in you or the person you're talking to when you have your conversation: both the fact of the conversation and the content of the conversation can probably be captured pretty easily. (2) no government is specifically interested in you prior to your conversation, but you take no specia…
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Who's going to tell him who made the x286 and DOS? Not exactly 501(C) organisations...