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I want a computer that I own

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Re: I want a computer that I own

#111

Post by autoexec »

temporallobe wrote: post #103
chj wrote: post #73

The author didn't define what owning means, but my guess is that, the computer must not run code without his approval, and must be able to run any code he wants. Nowadays, you can only truly own an emulator.

Yeah my guess is that OP is on Windows, judging by the way they mention advertising. This is the way I used to think and now that I am solely on macOS and Linux for my personal computing tasks, I don’t feel like that any more, though I am not foolish enough to believe that even on those systems you can’t be spied on at a hardware or OS level. Even if you’re on a theoretically 100% secure OS, any third-party software…

> Yeah my guess is that OP is on Windows, judging by the way they mention advertising. This is the way I used to think and now that I am solely on macOS and Linux for my personal computing tasks, I don’t feel like that any more,

I don't think either are immune from the problem. Even Ubuntu was sending people's local disk searches to their servers so that they could push amazon ads. Everything I've ever touched from Apple seemed to push you to their own apps/ecosystem. If you want to put music on your iphone, you can't just plug it in and open it like a drive, they'll push you to itunes. They also seem to very heavily push their cloud stuff.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#112

Post by rfrey »

BoysenberryPi wrote: post #86

This feels like it was made to get to the top of somewhere like HN but I'm actually very confused. >I want it to be, but which can also be used to communicate securely with anyone on the planet without being observed by a third party. I don't want to be spied on by Microsoft or Google.I don't want the NSA intercepting my conversations or even their metadata. I don't see what this has to do with the actual computer ho…

Alternatively, they want the NSA to obey the law, and for surveillance-for-profit business models to be forbidden.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#113

Post by jacquesm »

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…

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.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#114

Post by p2t2p »

I call bs on that article. A guy wants to do nothing and get the stuff for cheap. We'll guess what, even if you get your thing for cheap once you get on the internet you'll be open for all kind of malice and there's ain't anybody but you to deal with it.

Get a free hardware or hardware with crippled anti-features, they're plenty of vendors that supply it, slap Linux on it, PGP encrypt your email and use secure chat. Oh, your want all of that to be done for you? Well you'll have to pay then.

Or that another argument - that encryption is workaround. It's like saying that food is not solution for being hungry but a workaround, a ridiculous statement. How are you supposed to stay private and anonymous if you communicate in the open? Are you going to have a private cable line to every correspondent you talk to?

Re: I want a computer that I own

#115

Post by marshmallow_12 »

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…

Yes. I feel i am not trusted by any OS vendor to be given access to all my system folders. I feel that my computers OS is like the proverbial, pushy "bodyguard" whose job is to stop you seeing too much and going places "they" don't want you to go.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#116

Post by aiisahik »

jacquesm wrote: post #113
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…

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.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#117

Post by edoceo »

a5withtrrs wrote: post #59
kokx wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

The (not cost effective) solution is to carry both. Shut off the 'normal' smart phone when you don't need it (for banking or what have you). Use the web version of Whatsapp ( https://web.whatsapp.com/ ) if you must use it. You could even consider having a WhatsApp specific phone if you have an older model that you've upgraded from that contains no other data. That was my solution anyway.

I do similar. Just use my previous Android (eg Pixel2) with the apps on it and my current phone (Pixel3) is trimmed (disable what you can, no apps but Firefox). I leave the 2 in a known safe location.

Not a 100% solution but is dead simple and better than 0%

Re: I want a computer that I own

#118

Post by varenc »

m463 wrote: post #45
koverda wrote: post #8

> 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.

> Except for a handful of very over-priced models that I can't afford to buy. Yeah, that weakens his whole argument. That said, I would like to know what models these are? Because I think it's pretty much universal. I think the answer is linux.

There's System76 and Purism:

https://system76.com, https://puri.sm

Can't speak to the quality, but I suspect those are the expensive models the author is referring to.

Re: I want a computer that I own

#119

Post by Koshkin »

walrus01 wrote: post #31

> Perhaps I am looking for something like the x286 DOS computer I had in the early 1990's You can do an almost fully GPL compliant Linux desktop by building it yourself today. I can already see people thinking "but what about the closed source binary blobs? my video card? my network interfaces?" But even your 12 MHz 286 or 386SX/20 had closed source AMI or Phoenix BIOS firmware on it. The motherboard manufacturer in…

The difference is, the BIOS and other firmware in early PCs did not spy on you.
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