Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#161

Post by neuronic » Wed, Aug 18, 2021, 3:31 PM UTC

redisman wrote: post #135

gjsman-1000 wrote: post #26

To be honest... None. It's a choice. You might wholly disagree, but recent events aren't enough to get me to switch yet, because I think the competition has too many tradeoffs. I can get my photos scanned against a CSAM database... or I can have Google tracking my location constantly regardless of what they say (as they've been proven to be misleading in the past)... or I can use a Linux phone and say goodbye to batt…

I find it funny how many people pick a random Chinese phone in their bid for privacy (???)

That’s not a bid for privacy, it’s a bid for spite.

Picking a Chinese phone based on financial circumstances, however, is understandable IMO.

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#162

Post by whoknowswhat11 » Wed, Aug 18, 2021, 3:31 PM UTC

crossroadsguy wrote: post #103

I don’t care anymore. Actually I do, but I’m exhausted. However if I buy a new laptop, with or without CSAM, it won’t be a Mac. I would wish for a Framework kinda thing here (with local service), but since that’s not gonna happen - ASUS it would be most probably, with ElementaryOS on it (or some distro like that - non ugly and kinda simple looking). It feels like WhatsApp —> Signal brouhaha all over again. After tryi…

Another challenge is the track record of some of the chinese phone maker competitors that ship for example without google play services is not long or its not good.

My instinct. This is an insane amount of noise on HN. But of all the privacy issues folks have, CSAM scanning by Apple is not going to "destory apple's brand" and for most users the safety features (kids accounts flag up on nude photos etc) is actually what people want and we will see others following a lot of these moves.

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#163

Post by gjsman-1000 » Wed, Aug 18, 2021, 3:32 PM UTC

syntaxstic wrote: post #156

scoopertrooper wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly, I think people are just getting a little too worked up over this whole thing. Apple computes a hash of each image you upload to iCloud then check it against a list of CP hashes. Of all the things in the world to get worked up over, this is ridiculous. I get it, the mechanism they're using has apparent flaws, and maybe some whacko could somehow get access to your phone and start uploading things that trick th…

This is only applicable in the US?

Yes - only the US has this "feature."

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#164

Post by whoknowswhat11 » Wed, Aug 18, 2021, 3:32 PM UTC

jivings wrote: post #62

I changed my phone to a Fairphone 3+ running LineageOS. I'm liking it so far. I think it's as ethical & private as I can get while still have a smartphone right now. I also changed my photos to backup to Nextcloud, which I'm self-hosting. I wrote about switching from Google Photos to Nextcloud here: https://blog.leavemealone.app/moving-from-google-photos-to-n...

Fantastic. Thanks for write-up.

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#165

Post by swozey » Wed, Aug 18, 2021, 3:32 PM UTC

Hackernews is by far the worst place to ever come for this advice. You're going to get the range of basically "use emacs, newb" to stupidly random Ebay laptops nobody has heard of. Roll your own thing and don't worry about what others use. I use void linux and I would never use hn for *nix advice.

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#166

Post by fartcannon » Wed, Aug 18, 2021, 3:32 PM UTC

gjsman-1000 wrote: post #145

fartcannon wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would they have to do to lose your business? Literally get you arrested? You're financially supporting the creation of an Orwellian dystopia.

Every other cloud provider has scanned since 2013. We're already in the Orwellian dystopia.

Lineage and Linux exist and they're incredible. You've simply give up.

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#167

Post by 1-6 » Wed, Aug 18, 2021, 3:32 PM UTC

numair wrote: post #20

For those studying MacBook alternatives, I think the most underrated “serious” notebook computer in the world is the Panasonic Letsnote SX/SV. Matte screen that actually works outdoors, removable long-life battery, unassuming vintage design (“let’s not rob that guy, he can’t even afford a new computer”). I haven’t investigated the Linuxability of this thing yet, but it’s super-light and impressive as a mosh terminal…

You can probably buy a laptop with a certain generic form-factor with a rugged case that snaps onto the body. Panasonic, unfortunately, can't get economies of scale like LG, Lenovo, Apple.

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#168

Post by fartcannon » Wed, Aug 18, 2021, 3:33 PM UTC

artursapek wrote: post #147

fartcannon wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would they have to do to lose your business? Literally get you arrested? You're financially supporting the creation of an Orwellian dystopia.

If you're uploading your photos to someone else's computer, you've already accepted this state of things. It's a trade-off for convenience.

I'm not and you shouldn't either.

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#169

Post by matwood » Wed, Aug 18, 2021, 3:33 PM UTC

donohoe wrote: post #29

This seems like an over-reaction. I'm highly opposed to Apple's CSAM move but they are still much better and transparent than Google, Amazon, and most other services. Many of these already do something like this but they just don't actively tell you or document it. Also, and please correct me if I am mistaken, Apple's CSAM is limited to iCloud for Photos. It does not just work against your local photos. CSAM Detectio…

It is limited to photos destined for iCloud. A lot of rage appears to be around 'what if', but what if exists every day right now. I'll re-evaluate when Apple does one of those what ifs. They said they won't, and architected the system in such a way that it's hard do those what ifs, so we'll see.

The reality is, people have to trust their OS vendor.

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#170

Post by bnastic » Wed, Aug 18, 2021, 3:33 PM UTC

It’s difficult to move away from Apple if you want to keep all your projects/hobbies inside one computer. I can (barely) make Windows do all the things I need, but that’s not an improvement in any way. (Fwiw, aside from software dev I’m also a heavy user of audio software and AU/vst plugins. Thousands I spent on software doesn’t translate to Linux).

And as I was typing this, my iPhone popped up a warning that the websites mandated by my kid’s school have all been compromised and offered assistance to update the passwords on there. Good job, Apple (and we’ll see how image scanning saga unfolds… I might just switch to OneDrive for photos, but it’s a question if it’s any better in that regard)