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Remote Code Execution on Most Dell Computers

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Re: Remote Code Execution on Most Dell Computers

#251
post #212
post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand why folks subject themselves to this for $1000 when other options are available. You don’t have to keep supporting Samsung by buying their phones. Get a pixel instead.

Google branded hardware has a notorious reputation for problems about 1-1.5 year down the road. This has happened with every single Google device anyone in my family has ever owned and so we've basically stopped buying Google. Very few manufacturers apart from Samsung come close to Apple in terms of sheer hardware quality and service support and Apple OS's lack of customisability, pathetic camera and lack of 3.5mm ja…

I have been a samsung buyer for at least 6 years and 4 phone models. The bixby button is an absolute deal breaker for me. I dont know what i will do, but it wont be a samsung with bixby

Re: Remote Code Execution on Most Dell Computers

#252
post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

? I used a Nexus 5 up until last year. Ended up upgrading last year, not because it had issues or because lineage stopped releasing for it, but because IT at my new job refused to let six-year-old devices on the network. Meanwhile, my parents complained continuously about their three-year-old iPhones getting slower and slower. Anecdotes, yeah, but...

My nexus 5 still works, I don't use it anymore but the thing was an absolute tank.

I loved mine, I'd still be using it if I could have found one that didn't have motherboard issues. It was a pinnacle of industrial design and I'm sad that smartphone designs have moved away from it.

Re: Remote Code Execution on Most Dell Computers

#253
post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bixby remapper has worked of me since i bought my S8

I'm not interested in giving some random app a bunch of permissions.

In S10, you can check bixby to double click. No extra app install needed.

Re: Remote Code Execution on Most Dell Computers

#254
post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

? I used a Nexus 5 up until last year. Ended up upgrading last year, not because it had issues or because lineage stopped releasing for it, but because IT at my new job refused to let six-year-old devices on the network. Meanwhile, my parents complained continuously about their three-year-old iPhones getting slower and slower. Anecdotes, yeah, but...

My nexus 5 still works, I don't use it anymore but the thing was an absolute tank.

Nexus 5 was not a tank in my experience.

On mine the plastic frame cracked between the power button and the volume control (I think a reasonably common problem with this phone, I've never had a frame crack on any other phone). After that one button gets stuck on, which makes phone cycle reboot - OK - I can workaround that. Then the microphone went bad: that is caused by the crack causing pressure on the micro-connector which causes an electrical issue. That wasted more time and eventually my workaround for that issue failed.

I have had close experience with 5 different Nexus devices, and 4 of the 5 had nasty failure modes.

The Nexus line has been far less reliable than the iOS devices I have had experience with, and all the Apple devices got far more security updates over their useful life. Note: I usually use Android phones and iPad tablets (although I have also personally had iPhones and Android tablets).

Re: Remote Code Execution on Most Dell Computers

#255

OEM: Let's differentiate our otherwise commodity hw product! OEM: I know, let's add value with bundled software the customer can't uninstall! Then the bundled software turns out to (inevitably) be useless vulnerable garbage. Inevitably because a) the customer doesn't need it, b) it's engineered with all the effort that normally goes into adware for captive audiences (i.e., _minimal_), which means it will be vulnerabl…

I was just setting up a slightly older System76 desktop this evening when I came across how they handle firmware updates [1]. That's very impressive to me, showing concern about only using blobs when there's no other option, being transparent about signing, and explaining their QA process, not to mention the whole utility being open-sourced. That's worlds ahead of any other OEM PC manufacturer I've ever seen.

[1] https://github.com/system76/firmware-update

Re: Remote Code Execution on Most Dell Computers

#256
post #223
post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google branded hardware has a notorious reputation for problems about 1-1.5 year down the road. This has happened with every single Google device anyone in my family has ever owned and so we've basically stopped buying Google. Very few manufacturers apart from Samsung come close to Apple in terms of sheer hardware quality and service support and Apple OS's lack of customisability, pathetic camera and lack of 3.5mm ja…

? I used a Nexus 5 up until last year. Ended up upgrading last year, not because it had issues or because lineage stopped releasing for it, but because IT at my new job refused to let six-year-old devices on the network. Meanwhile, my parents complained continuously about their three-year-old iPhones getting slower and slower. Anecdotes, yeah, but...

My Nexus 5 was also fantastic.

And then I heard the horror stories of everyone in my office who, having had a great experience with the N5, went and bought a Pixel.

Re: Remote Code Execution on Most Dell Computers

#257
post #223
post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google branded hardware has a notorious reputation for problems about 1-1.5 year down the road. This has happened with every single Google device anyone in my family has ever owned and so we've basically stopped buying Google. Very few manufacturers apart from Samsung come close to Apple in terms of sheer hardware quality and service support and Apple OS's lack of customisability, pathetic camera and lack of 3.5mm ja…

? I used a Nexus 5 up until last year. Ended up upgrading last year, not because it had issues or because lineage stopped releasing for it, but because IT at my new job refused to let six-year-old devices on the network. Meanwhile, my parents complained continuously about their three-year-old iPhones getting slower and slower. Anecdotes, yeah, but...

What did you replace it with? I also use a N5.

Re: Remote Code Execution on Most Dell Computers

#258
post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even a brand new, unlocked, $1000 Samsung Galaxy S10 comes riddled with adware and spyware, some of it unremovable: "There are apps from Flipboard and Spotify as well as a unremovable version of Facebook. McAfee Anti-virus is baked into the operating system as "security," and the Samsung Gallery app wants to share my location with Foursquare. The storage management settings, which is just a simple file-cleanup app, i…

Do Google pixel phones offer an unadulterated, bloatware free Android experience?

FYI I have a Nokia 7+ and it is fairly good for giving a pure Google experience ("Android One"), without being quite so expensive.

Also HMD Global seem to be reliable at giving the security updates OTA.

I haven't looked at the newer Nokia 7.1.

Re: Remote Code Execution on Most Dell Computers

#259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It works, too. This is partly why the iPhone was so popular, at first. It's been so long now that probably everyone has forgotten, but before the iPhone, essentially every smartphone on the market was fully loaded with trialware, crapware, and often had hardware features locked out by software so that you could pay extra to unlock them. I remember one particular phone that had four user-configurable hardware buttons,…

Even a brand new, unlocked, $1000 Samsung Galaxy S10 comes riddled with adware and spyware, some of it unremovable: "There are apps from Flipboard and Spotify as well as a unremovable version of Facebook. McAfee Anti-virus is baked into the operating system as "security," and the Samsung Gallery app wants to share my location with Foursquare. The storage management settings, which is just a simple file-cleanup app, i…

These criticisms exist because Samsung does not offer first-party solutions to things such as malware detection, location sharing, storage management, caller ID, VPN, music streaming, and news aggregation. It's unclear how exactly these services are being used (Samsung should be more clear on this front) and what parts of it are integrated (Samsung should be more clear here as well).

But, well, put it this way. If Google or Apple had offered first-party solutions to each of those services, would they be criticized for offering bloatware as well? No, probably not. So, is the issue here that the services aren't first-party (Spotify) or that they aren't from traditionally trustworthy sources (McAfee)? If it's the former, why does it matter? If it's the latter, then Samsung should be more clear about the extent of the influence of the other company, which they are not, but that shouldn't necessarily exclude them from collaborating.

Now, there are some key issues that should be criticized. Hard. A persistent notification? It's unforgivable. Facebook? The amount of tracking they can do makes them a threat to the device. It's basically spyware. It can be disabled, sure, but it shouldn't be enabled in the first place (except to enable Gear VR, I guess).

But really, can you trust any major tech company, considering programs like PRISM exist and are in operation? What differentiates Google from Apple when the device is still able to transmit whatever it wants to whoever it wants however it wants? Apple or Google may or may not be tracking some piece of data, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it isn't being collected and tracked by someone. That the companies themselves don't happen to store the data that happens to be the very thing they make their money protecting and using? It's definitely better in that your data isn't being used for the company's profit, but is it really any better for privacy from, say, the government?

Re: Remote Code Execution on Most Dell Computers

#260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm strongly considering the ThinkPad P1 as my next work machine -- any other issues you've experienced? I wouldn't have expected Lenovo to mess with the ThinkPad brand like that. My image of ThinkPad has always been no-nonsense, get-stuff-done, power-user-favored. Packing in a bunch of cruft doesn't seem to mesh with that image.

> I wouldn't have expected Lenovo to mess with the ThinkPad brand like that. My image of ThinkPad has always been no-nonsense, get-stuff-done, power-user-favored. I used to think the same until I got a T480. I was drawn to it because it was one of the few laptops that still has a direct hardware Function-key row (I use linux, so software Function Keys are not fun). The keyboard, while mechanically excellent, is horri…

The T520 mentioned above is the last in the T5x0 line before Lenovo started changing the keyboard layout and action in a way that seemed anti-ThinkPad. Same with the move from T420 to T430, so your T480 was a few generations further along an anti-ThinkPad path.

Personally, I'm currently standardized&stockpiled on two legacy ThinkPad models, and one of the reasons is keyboards. I also transplant keyboard parts manufactured to T60 specs, into later models, because Lenovo started making the keyboard flex-prone, even as the part was otherwise equivalent.

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