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I want a computer that I own

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Re: I want a computer that I own

#371

Post by nicbou »

jes5199 wrote: post #301
aiisahik wrote: post #105

This is literally something that NEVER crosses the mind of the average consumer. We should have a HackerNews version of "first world problems" and call it "HackerNews Problems". You now have a computer that is 10,000 times faster than one you had 30 yrs ago at half the price. Oh and it fits in your pocket. A lot of time and money went into creating that. Those people need to get paid. And yes you pay for it with some…

most people have never heard of Tor, but by now most non-techies are suspicious of tech. They've noticed that they're not in control, that it does weird things they don't want, that it spies on them, that it sneaks advertising in, that they're never sure if something is private, that they can't tell if something is real or a scam, or if a service is fine now but is going to turn into something harmful in a a few year…

You nailed it. An increasing proportion of laymen distrust technology. They know they're being spied on and losing control over their devices.

People used to dislike computers because they're complicated (they still do), but now they dislike computers because they're actively user-hostile.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#372

Post by fsflover »

marshmallow_12 wrote: post #124
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.

Tell me more about this. What does this system do, and why can't we do anything about it?

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

Re: I want a computer that I own

#373

Post by XorNot »

bayindirh wrote: post #348
Xylakant wrote: post #343

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> iOS takes all of these away. Complete backups are built-in They’re not. Backups are built-in but they’re not complete. For example google Authenticator data is not backed up. Microsoft Authenticator can be backed up, but you need to go through a few extra steps (and have a Microsoft account). Other secrets are not included either - my banks PhotoTAN app doesn’t store any credentials etc. There are reasons why this…

> Authenticator data is not backed up. Microsoft Authenticator can be backed up, but you need to go through a few extra steps (and have a Microsoft account). Other secrets are not included either - my banks PhotoTAN app doesn’t store any credentials etc. AFAIK, applications allow their secrets to be backed up or not, and I'm not mad that my 2FA keys are no backed up and shipped overseas. I keep another copy of my 2FA…

Pretty much noone should be using any of the authenticator apps.

Get Keepass2Android, and it'll track TOTPs just fine. Throw Syncthing on their and you can securely get those to any device you own without involving Google.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#374

Post by coldtea »

xxs wrote: post #362
shrew wrote: post #352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question: is it simply the fact you can't use a Gecko engine on iOS that makes it useless to you? My impression is that the Firefox shell offered is still able to provide the various anti-tracking privacy features that many would point to Firefox for, and the variety of browser shells available should mean that you'd be able to find a UI to your liking if Safari's isn't. At that point, the only thing I can see…

> Honest question: is it simply the fact you can't use a Gecko engine on iOS that makes it useless to you? No plugins/add-ons effectively.

Because you need plugins on a mobile browser?

Re: I want a computer that I own

#375

Post by nicbou »

a5withtrrs wrote: post #49
realsimplesynd wrote: post #9

> Governments seem to be universally terrified of even the slightest possibility of anyone in the world having a private conversation. How secure do you think face-to-face conversations are? (not sarcastic or anything, just genuinely interested on measuring security of conversations)

That depends on a lot of things. But some realistic concerns might include evesdropping using parabolic microphones, covert listening devices deployed at the meeting point etc. Not to mention a) arranging the meeting and b) getting to the meeting need to be performed some how. Getting from point A to point B is, in today's society, not a surveillance free affair. Everything you carry can be used to track you, and eve…

Yes and as you pointed out, there is much more metadata being generated and collected nowadays. It would be prohibitively difficult not to leave a trace nowadays.

I'm thinking of cellphone tracking, automated plate reading, good old surveillance cameras, bank transactions, and whatever your computers are collecting unless you actively fight to stop them.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#376

Post by thefz »

aiisahik wrote: post #116
jacquesm wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HN is substantially larger than 4000 people, besides, telling people to design and fab their own chips is disingenuous. The right to privacy is not a 'first world problem', it is a problem.

I agree that privacy is a problem - and yes it is a first world problem. The specific privacy problem espoused by this post is not just a first world problem, it's an HN problem. I am being disingenuous - this request is pure insanity and I absolutely promise you that this "computer you fully own" will have such a very small market that it doesn't have a chance of breaking even.

> I agree that privacy is a problem - and yes it is a first world problem.

Where a right for privacy really matters is not in the part of the world where your google searches are used to pick an etsy ad, but where typing the wrong thing against the wrong person could land you in jail, or at the morgue.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#377

Post by Freak_NL »

fouuler wrote: post #358
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…

> since a lot of normal interactions such as banking almost requires you to have such a phone. I can get by without carrying a microphone-and-camera equipped computer controlled by someone else around, and so I don't; but, if I want to return something I bought on the Internet, I don't get a receipt; and, if I want to go to a bar, there's a risk I won't be allowed to pay. (There is a law against the latter problem, b…

> and, if I want to go to a bar, there's a risk I won't be allowed to pay.

Are there situations where paying without a smartphone is not practically possible? In the Netherlands people sometimes pay with smartphones, but these use the same infrastructure as the ubiquitous debit cards, so it is not an issue here. (Cash on the other hand…)

Re: I want a computer that I own

#378

Post by mschuster91 »

DaiPlusPlus wrote: post #336
bboygravity wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> iOS takes all of these away. Complete backups are built-in (I know android has it, but I don't know how bulletproof is this) Not to burn you down, but to burn Android down: no, Android does not allow you to take complete backups. Let alone "built-in". The only backups that are made are forced to Google cloud and only backs-up apps that where downloaded through Google Play and app settings for Google stuff. It is an…

> Android does not allow you to take complete backups Can't you enable developer mode, open a terminal and just run `dd`?

Out of a variety of reasons: no.

1) You don't want to risk dumping a mounted filesystem because of inconsistencies

2) Good luck getting the right device - in the end it's devicemapper all the way down with a lot of layers (ecryptfs, sdcardfs, bind mounts, ...) stacked between your shell and the device.

3) Unrooted phones don't allow access to raw Unix devices

4) You can't restore these backups anywhere if your phone (like almost all, I think it's a Netflix requirement) uses hardware key storage - simply because the key is in the secure element of your phone. Rooting a Samsung phone kills the HSM and switches over to software key management though.

5) Assuming encryption keys don't get in your way, you can only restore the dump on exactly the same model and firmware of device you have, because every manufacturer does stuff slightly different.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#379

Post by _sgws »

bboygravity wrote: post #329
bayindirh wrote: post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll play the (intentional) Devil's Advocate here to present an alternative viewpoint. I like iOS, but not Android. Let me explain why. I personally love Linux, Unix philosophy (I'm even sometimes an old beardy zealot about POSIX standards and the old way ), and inherent customization possibilities. On the other hand, I don't want to manage my phone like a desktop or laptop computer, or a server because of a plethora…

> iOS takes all of these away. Complete backups are built-in (I know android has it, but I don't know how bulletproof is this) Not to burn you down, but to burn Android down: no, Android does not allow you to take complete backups. Let alone "built-in". The only backups that are made are forced to Google cloud and only backs-up apps that where downloaded through Google Play and app settings for Google stuff. It is an…

> Android does not allow you to take complete backups. Let alone "built-in".

Android has had full system backup capabilities through `adb backup` for years. It does not require removing carrier locks or rooting and has been available since Android 2.x iirc.

I've used this to transfer all of my apps, app settings, and system settings between all of my Android phones:

Nexus One -> Galaxy Nexus -> Note 3 -> Galaxy S6 -> Galaxy S8 -> Galaxy S9 -> Galaxy S10 -> Z Fold 2, all with one continuous chain of backup and restores via `adb backup` and `adb restore`.

These restores sometimes even worked flawlessly across different Android OS versions! Sometimes this has caused a lot of weird issues wrt system settings, so admittedly this process can be quite buggy.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#380

Post by bayindirh »

_sgws wrote: post #379
bboygravity wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> iOS takes all of these away. Complete backups are built-in (I know android has it, but I don't know how bulletproof is this) Not to burn you down, but to burn Android down: no, Android does not allow you to take complete backups. Let alone "built-in". The only backups that are made are forced to Google cloud and only backs-up apps that where downloaded through Google Play and app settings for Google stuff. It is an…

> Android does not allow you to take complete backups. Let alone "built-in". Android has had full system backup capabilities through `adb backup` for years. It does not require removing carrier locks or rooting and has been available since Android 2.x iirc. I've used this to transfer all of my apps, app settings, and system settings between all of my Android phones: Nexus One -> Galaxy Nexus -> Note 3 -> Galaxy S6 ->…

Does it automatically run when I leave my phone on the charger for the night?
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