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Retiring Windows 10 and Microsoft's move towards a surveillance state

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Re: Retiring Windows 10 and Microsoft's move towards a surveillance state

#11

Post by Terr_ »

I know this isn't Stackoverflow, but... Does anyone have a good mental model for disentangling the issues of full-disk encryption versus secure-boot? I've been badly procrastinating with my desktop's new SSD because of it.

Use-case is:

* Dual-boot where I choose in BIOS/UEFI to go to either the existing Win10 drive or new Linux drive.

* I don't need unattended boot at all, I'd rather enter a passphrase every time.

* Resistance to evil-maid attacks is nice but not top-priority compared to theft.

* I want to be able to take my drive out of a dead computer and access it elsewhere if something goes wrong, as opposed to needing to reformat and reload from backups.

* If I install a distro with secure-boot off, can I turn it on later for benefits, or vice-versa?

Re: Retiring Windows 10 and Microsoft's move towards a surveillance state

#13

Post by trenchpilgrim »

apple4ever wrote: post #9

I think it's a good plan, though there might be some pain. I have a bog standard AMD graphics card that does not work in Linux. I've tried multiple distributions and version in those distributions and both the Linux and AMD drivers. It just randomly flashes. Where do I go to get help? Who knows?

What card is it? If it's older than Volcanic Islands (2015), yeah, those old cards aren't well supported by the current amdgpu driver, so you'd need to use a distribution that still supports the old ati driver. The linked article recommends MX Linux for old machines. I think you can get it working with Arch Linux but that would require a higher level of effort.

Re: Retiring Windows 10 and Microsoft's move towards a surveillance state

#14

Post by trinsic2 »

apple4ever wrote: post #9

I think it's a good plan, though there might be some pain. I have a bog standard AMD graphics card that does not work in Linux. I've tried multiple distributions and version in those distributions and both the Linux and AMD drivers. It just randomly flashes. Where do I go to get help? Who knows?

upgrade your graphics card or try another? is it old with limited support?

I hear you though, I still have printing problems with my Epson WF printer.

Re: Retiring Windows 10 and Microsoft's move towards a surveillance state

#15

Post by heavyset_go »

apple4ever wrote: post #9

I think it's a good plan, though there might be some pain. I have a bog standard AMD graphics card that does not work in Linux. I've tried multiple distributions and version in those distributions and both the Linux and AMD drivers. It just randomly flashes. Where do I go to get help? Who knows?

I wouldn't expect users to do this, but have you filed a bug on kernel.org for the amdgpu driver?

AMD's kernel developers are incredibly responsive there, I've worked with them to fix a bunch of bugs I've run into.

Re: Retiring Windows 10 and Microsoft's move towards a surveillance state

#16

Post by rolph »

trinsic2 wrote: post #2

I am a IT solutions provider for the public and small business. I think the changes to Windows 11 is gearing up to work with organizations to create a surveillance state. So I have to decided to promote Linux over Windows for computers I build for customers. If you have any suggestions on how I can make this promotion, better let me know.

you should look into the idea that you are a business, using linux installs in a way that may be subject to license.

if you promote, facillitate, provide resources for installation free of charge, thats probably fine. providing a system for sale, with linux pre-installed, may require, at least some attribution.

Re: Retiring Windows 10 and Microsoft's move towards a surveillance state

#18

Post by linuxftw »

Thanks for fighting the good fight. My chief concern is that you will alienate some of your customers because normies think privacy is for crackpots. I don't have any experience being in small business computer repair, but just my feeling as a neutral 3rd party.

Try to identify the problems the customers have. If privacy isn't one of their concerns, convincing them to switch PC OS is not a great fit on that basis.

Re: Retiring Windows 10 and Microsoft's move towards a surveillance state

#19

Post by Loughla »

trinsic2 wrote: post #2

I am a IT solutions provider for the public and small business. I think the changes to Windows 11 is gearing up to work with organizations to create a surveillance state. So I have to decided to promote Linux over Windows for computers I build for customers. If you have any suggestions on how I can make this promotion, better let me know.

Choose the right distro and automate updates of possible. Mint is the softest landing for Windows users. But they never ever ever ever update anything on their own.

Ever.

Forever.

Re: Retiring Windows 10 and Microsoft's move towards a surveillance state

#20

Post by tartoran »

I have Win10 on a laptop that I use and am thinking of either taking it an offline completely (and keep on win10 forever on it) or upgrade it to Linux but am not sure if it's worth the hassle upgrading a $200 Thinkpad Carbon x1, I may as well get another one and leave this one as is. I still own a laptop with Windows 7 that when I turn on, that is quite rarely, but when I do I am hit by wave of nostalgia. This win10 machine, I wish I could extend its operation as I am pleased with how it operates in its current form but I guess it's not possible. One thing I'm certain of, I will not upgrade it to Windows 11 and Microsoft and I as a user will part ways.
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