Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I want a computer that I own

misc-stuff.terraaeon.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

181–190 of 668 posts

Re: I want a computer that I own

#181

Post by NoImmatureAdHom »

eeZah7Ux wrote: post #26
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.

Also consider Purism's Librem 5

Re: I want a computer that I own

#183

Post by AshWolfy »

alexfromapex wrote: post #96
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…

It seems like a lot of these problems at the core stem from corporations or the government not being held accountable. How do we fix regulatory capture so these privacy issues are a non sequitur?

I dont think we can ever rely on people holding corporations or the government accountable

Re: I want a computer that I own

#184

Post by superkuh »

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…

You will never own your smartphone. That would require you to be the licensed operator for the radio transmission. Instead the radio is licensed to the telco (or related) and the telcos have every regulatory and monetary incentive to prevent users from being able to access or control the radio. The government regulators demand the user not have control and the baseband modem manufacturer(s) demand their licensed intellectual property is not exposed.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#185

Post by p1necone »

superkuh wrote: post #184
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…

You will never own your smartphone. That would require you to be the licensed operator for the radio transmission. Instead the radio is licensed to the telco (or related) and the telcos have every regulatory and monetary incentive to prevent users from being able to access or control the radio. The government regulators demand the user not have control and the baseband modem manufacturer(s) demand their licensed inte…

You can buy a usb cellphone modem for a PC, the rest of the system still belongs to you.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#186

Post by rlyshw »

charlieroth wrote: post #41

https://urbit.org

I assume you are getting downvoted for not adding context so I’ll help; urbit is literally designed around the principle of total ownership. The community (purposefully) does a terrible job of explaining it because of some enlightenment complex but the promo video put out by Tlon does a pretty good job of summarizing. https://youtu.be/M04AKTCDavc

I believe urbit is the solution, just waiting for the implementation to get polished up.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#187

Post by Bakary »

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…

Some time ago, this topic prompted me to rethink how I used smartphones in general. Once you get more intentional with the way you use your devices, it's often the case that you can discover habitual patterns that took over without you noticing.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#188

Post by mindslight »

marcodiego wrote: post #39

You can have computers that you own today. There is a list here: https://ryf.fsf.org/categories/laptops . If you want something more powerful, there're these: - https://ryf.fsf.org/categories/workstations-and-servers - https://ryf.fsf.org/categories/mainboards Also, Andrius Stikonas achieved a blob-free fully functioning (AFAIK) RockPro64 more than a year ago: https://stikonas.eu/wordpress/2019/09/15/blobless-boot-wi…

If only it were "voting with your wallet". It's more like voting with your time. And running browsers and other rando software in VMs to not compromise your nice secure system. And doing the work of being different when friends send you an invitation to some proprietary crap and you have to talk them into something Free. And explaining how you're not excited for "features" like WebGL and Faceboot APIs.

It does exist, it's all eminently doable, and I encourage people to explore this road. But it does cost more than mere money. Going against the grain always does.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#189

Post by superkuh »

p1necone wrote: post #185
superkuh wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You will never own your smartphone. That would require you to be the licensed operator for the radio transmission. Instead the radio is licensed to the telco (or related) and the telcos have every regulatory and monetary incentive to prevent users from being able to access or control the radio. The government regulators demand the user not have control and the baseband modem manufacturer(s) demand their licensed inte…

You can buy a usb cellphone modem for a PC, the rest of the system still belongs to you.

I agree. That's the best way to go. But it is not mutually exclusive with never being able to own your smartphone.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#190

Post by yjftsjthsd-h »

anta40 wrote: post #177
m-p-3 wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your average desktop/laptop CPU runs a blackbox like Intel AMT or AMD PSP which is basically an always active mini-CPU that runs in the background and is OS-agnostic. If you consider your OS max privilege level as ring 0, this is ring -1. If/when someone manage to conpromise those, they can basically take over your computer, and Intel/AMD doesn't provide any sort of killswitch or physical way of disabling it.

Turn the power off. Unplug all cables. Problem is (temporarily) solved :D

Yeah, until I want to actually do anything with it.
Post reply on HN