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

Your Computer Isn't Yours

sneak.berlin

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

181–190 of 764 posts

Re: Your Computer Isn't Yours

#181

Post by jackcviers3 »

fxtentacle wrote: post #159
rsanheim wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You pointed out a core problem here, and a common blindspot with the HN crowd: > continuing to use Apple/Google/Microsoft That is probably 98%+ of devices that most typical people use for everyday computing, across phone, laptop, and desktop. Whether it is an android device, an iPhone, a Dell laptop or a new M1 macbook you are beholden to a corporation that doesn't care about privacy. I would argue that Apple cares a…

Setting up Ubuntu was easy enough. But the file manager locks up regularly, switching between multiple windows of the same app with alt+tab doesn't work reliably, and I actually had to Google how to create a new folder. The stock picture viewer is lacking information such as ICC profile and when I installed the recommended Gimp, it was a mess of windows and the save dialog was horrible. I suffer through all of it bec…

I have not had any of these experiences with Ubuntu. Installing an OS on any new personal computer is much more difficult than when they had dvd drives. But once installed on compatible hardware, the Gnome 3 desktop use is nearly the same experience as Mac OS. Installing software is usually a matter of searching the software menu or downloading a .deb and double-clicking to run, and the New Folder button is prominent in the file window.

The office suite is easy to use. Thunderbird is as easy to setup as Mail. Networking and devices are easy to configure from the gui, and Firefox and VSCode run without crashes. Proprietary video drivers for common hardware can be downloaded and installed via the gui. It's at least as usable from an admin standpoint as Windows 10, and from a user standpoint as Mac OS, albeit with a much smaller "app store" experience.

Re: Your Computer Isn't Yours

#182

Post by deepstack »

fakedang wrote: post #172
deepstack wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple has NOT being the same after steve is gone. It is MS 2.0 now! With better design and products of course, none the less the business practices are the same. Much this is enforced by the current economic and political system.

Not MS. MS today is much less into the anti-user, anti-privacy, rentseeking game, compared to Apple or Google. Apple today is M$ 2.0, as much as people here hate that trope.

MS is still the same, they just matured a bit. They just have to behave better in the open source community to attract the developers. I don't believe for a second that they are doing it for the benefit of information sovereignty or the development of tech and software.

Their backdoor put a really bad taste in my mouth. Will try to avoid them if I can.

Re: Your Computer Isn't Yours

#183

Post by aembleton »

brnt wrote: post #161
Aeolun wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it’s fairly simple to avoid this by buying hardware that is proven to be effective with the OS. E.g. buy a machine with *buntu preinstalled. Same as with mac really.

Even so, I install Ubuntu on a wide range of machines, laptops included, and I can't recall having any hardware related issues since, oh, 2005 or so? Parent must be very unlucky, or in fact not realise it is their tweaking and tuning that causes issues.

Agreed apart from fingerprint scanners on laptops.

Re: Your Computer Isn't Yours

#184

Post by dvfjsdhgfv »

fakedang wrote: post #172
deepstack wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple has NOT being the same after steve is gone. It is MS 2.0 now! With better design and products of course, none the less the business practices are the same. Much this is enforced by the current economic and political system.

Not MS. MS today is much less into the anti-user, anti-privacy, rentseeking game, compared to Apple or Google. Apple today is M$ 2.0, as much as people here hate that trope.

> much less

Define "much". Windows 10 is a mind-boggling privacy invasion. It's just the other offenders attract more attention, that's all.

Re: Your Computer Isn't Yours

#185

Post by szc »

sooheon wrote: post #156
szc wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, but please can you point to any real evidence that Apple allows state-level actors access? From what I can see it is exactly the opposite. I am not an advocate for big brother.

Apple has been a part of PRISM since 2012. Apple is a US company, and bound by law to give access when push comes to shove.

Sorry, but there are no details about how PRISM works.

The 2012 date is also suspicious - it is in the same year a new Apple datacenter in Prineville came online.

I personally think that PRISM works by externally intercepting data communication lines running to / from the unwitting companies.

The NSA has previously tapped lines (AT&T), but they made the mistake of doing it inside the AT&T building. That eventually leaked out -- so I think it is most likely that PRISM is implemented without the knowledge of anyone except the NSA.

[edit] I started doing more research. Facebook also has a datacenter right next door. I wonder who else is there and where do all the network cables go.

Re: Your Computer Isn't Yours

#187

Post by forest_dweller »

ernst_klim wrote: post #170
forest_dweller wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the same sort of logic that some people have that people shouldn't be allowed to make choices in life because they "might get it wrong". People should be allowed to make their own choices in what they believe to be their best interests and they should be allowed to get things wrong. > For most people, if there computer was ‘theirs’, it would be that way for about 10 minutes until it was pwned by a bad actor.…

> People should be allowed to make their own choices in what they believe to be their best interests > You should be able to run whatever you like on it. You are contradicting yourself. People are explicitly choosing iphone, a walled garden. Then you say that that's a wrong choice because you believe it's a general purpose computing device and should work differently. If people buy it then, well, they are fine with i…

Those statements aren't mutally exclusive. People should as a matter of principle be able to run whatever they like, however if they want to stay in the walled garden they can.

If you read the rest of my comment I specifically mentioned some sort of mechanism for turning off the walled garden protections. I would imagine it would work something like secure boot. I have a motherboard that lets me turn off that machanism if wanted to via the BIOS software.

If the only way for it to happen is through lobbying politicians and requiring it by law (not a solution I would prefer) so be it.

Also it is quiite clearly a general computing device as it has all the characteristics of one. It isn't a matter of belief.

Re: Your Computer Isn't Yours

#189

Post by 6510 »

andy_threos_io wrote: post #171
ThePhysicist wrote: post #143

What we poor souls didn't understand all these years is that we're effectively helping other companies to steal from Apple by running software that isn't distributed via their app store [1]. I think now that Apple has learned from iOS how profitable a walled garden business model is they are trying to bring that model to the PC world as well. Shipping hardware with their own processors is an important step in that di…

Real Hacker who has concern about her/his privacy wouldn't touch this kind of product with a 10 foot pole!

As a wise man once said: "haha, pwnd!"

Re: Your Computer Isn't Yours

#190

Post by ggsp »

mclightning wrote: post #166
ggsp wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe because Germans have a history with state surveillance?

Oh really? Nazis had surveillance system in place like todays? I suspect this has a lot to do with huge amount of EU funds going into Berlin-based initiatives to make it the new Silicon Valley. Creating a culture of antipathy, against SV. Well, obviously picking on the most obvious wrongdoing SV has as of late years; privacy.

The Nazis had the Gestapo, the GDR had the Stasi.

I’m not sure the Berlin startup scene is responsible for originating much of the German skepticism around privacy issues. Germany has a long history with data protection laws, starting in the '70s.

Post reply on HN