Originally this was a reply to this article about a Windows feature called Recall, but there’s a good argument the author’s concerns resonate far beyond Windows and Meta to proprietary generally.
You must log in or register to comment.
Let’s see what people will do at October 14
Protests crack down on the internet has been going on for quite some time, don’t just blame it on trump but on the whole government and its infrastructure.
And Facebook as an integrated part of the international surveillance state has been firmly established since Snowden leaked the PRISM program.
Like, there are a lot of reasons to switch to linux and plenty of them are compelling. But its an absolute fantasy to believe you’re somehow immune to surveillance because you’re using the same software as Amazon’s EC2. Does anyone really believe the NSA hasn’t cracked Linux Mint yet?
Or, for that matter, that using a linux desktop is going to insulate you from being spied on via a public facing 3rd party social media forum?
Like, there are a lot of reasons to switch to linux and plenty of them are compelling. But its an absolute fantasy to believe you’re somehow immune to surveillance because you’re using the same software as Amazon’s EC2. Does anyone really believe the NSA hasn’t cracked Linux Mint yet?
It’s much harder for the government and bad actors to hide backdoors in open source software than making a deal with a private company
For the proprietary software, a lot of it is front-doors. Literally just pay-to-prey. Government agencies pay the big data companies to access their warehouses of scrapped data that come directly off their clients’ machines through explicit information harvesting protocols.
That said, it is technically harder to have a covert backdoor in an open source system. But it isn’t impossible, or even particularly impractical, so long as the vulnerability remains reasonably obscure. It would be naive to assume your standard array of linux oses are unassailable.
You mean with the USA Intel or AMD CPUs?
Think that it doesn’t matter what you use as OS as the microchip inside the CPU chip can read anything it wants
Sure. Although that’s just a matter of unplugging your computer from the Internet. Also, at least in theory, Linux isn’t actively leaking all your data into various Cloud services. Microsoft OneDrive and Google Drive are just invitations for the NSA to paw through your file system.
I just can’t imagine how Linux protects you from posting on Facebook.
It wont protect there.
Also, I remember articles back then mentioning 5G Towers could create a dystopia because every company could easily put a 5G chip into the product and secretly track you regardless of Wifi.
I’ll just make my own cpu with a breadboard and a few wires!
Not my case (ARM) and maybe is time to give some love to RISC-V.
Unsure if qualcom has some backdoor too.
I’ve done OSINT research and that alone converted me into a privacy advocate. Seeing how Alphabet, Meta, and MS have allowed creep to get training data… Whew. It’s breathtaking and complicated beyond the ability to explain in 114 characters.
Y’all, we are cooked. Currently. Present tense. If you aren’t freaked out already, you’re missing about 85% of reality.
Yeah OSINT existing is proof that no backdoor is secure, not even mentioning what you can buy from data brokers, something authorities wouldn’t need warrants for.
deleted by creator
Well, to be fair it’s also proof that people do not value privacy, and that the means by which actual privacy can be obtained are few and narrow.
It also really drives home the fact that our systems of IDs, licensure, taxes, property purchase, etc. are designed for an analog 20th century world. We need new systems based on modern technology, bit not in a way that simply contracts out to the very companies that put us here.
They’ll be forced to care when their freedom’s inevitably on the line (in the states)
US corporate “leadership” has a rapists mentality. Consent is not needed. They will do the crime either way. and daddy sam let’s them get away with it.
imagine how great it feels to say this for like 20 years while getting dismissed as a conspiracy nut.
and then having it happen exactly as you said it would.
dismissed as a conspiracy nut.
The government and bad actors use this as a strategy to attack their opponents and control public opinion.
It’s called the Cassandra Complex, named after Cassandra/Kassandra of Troy.
This is one of those cases where you’d really rather have been wrong.
If you think this is new, you’re very naive. They just have better tools to spy on you now.
if ive been saying it for so long, maybe its not exactly new.
its just that we can’t stop it anymore.
nah you can totally stop the surveillance. Just use tailsOS, live in the basement of a building under an aluminum ceiling (to hide from synthetic-aperture radar spy sats), near a busy highway (so the LIGO gravity-wave observatory cant record the sound of your footsteps), get food deliveries so you don’t have to leave, and connect to the internet using a neighbors wifi.
\j
I was talking more about the panopticon surveillance phenomena, not the people individually trying to hide something which I’d guess its probably still possible.
But the surveillance state is here to stay and we won’t get rid of it easily is what i’m saying.
deleted by creator
Use docker
deleted by creator
deleted by creator
Yeah, the government and corporations would never spy on us. What a ridiculous idea!
Said a person in denial lol
(Also this won’t really help you because Linux is a mainstream system with big corporate input. Backdoors hidden in plain sight are a thing.
This will make you feel better though, Windows sucks.)
If your posting a message that has any importance at all, at least pretend to try to fix your before sending it.
“try, Linux”
“working closing”
I mean come on.
There’s more but you get the point.
“try to fix your before sending it.” uh huh
Also “if your”
Lmao
This isn’t meeting the level of importance for me.
Yore
Why not Haiku 🙃?
I want to get into Linux and I need a new laptop. I’m happy to go secondhand but I actually want a half decent thing that can play some games, not the cheapest box I can put Linux on and use fake word.
Am I best off just buying a new windows laptop than I can dual boot? Or any other suggestions?
Windows is US$ 139.00. So I figured if I buy a laptop without windows it will be 139 less but I guess manufacturers get windows for like $20 so there are no saving anyway.
There are a lot of options if you’re experienced with Linux and know how to get things to work/are willing to do research. However, if you are new, then you should definitely play it safe to avoid frustration.
My current laptop is an Asus PX13, which is an awesome value and probably the most powerful machine you can buy at its size. Unfortunately, Asus does not support Linux on its laptops at all, and any support that exists comes from volunteers. I’m very happy with my current setup, but there are some rough edges that come from the lack of official support.
Lenovo recently started shipping laptops with Linux at a discount. But its probably better to buy a laptop from a Linux seller so that you know the hardware compatibility is being maintained.
Yes, at least Lenovo Linux laptops are 140$ cheaper.
Take a look at Framework, or System76 for Linux first hardware.
i would recommand also tuxedo computer, they based in Germany, their laptops offer various keyboards layout, and if you need cheaper option, refurbished pro laptops are a good options, look for informatic broker : they buy by lots from enterprises and the quality is overall good, maybe the battery will be a bit less consistant.
Thank you. I didnt know about lenovo so that’s good to know.
System76 seems especially out of my price range. I haven’t bought a computer for 12 years, can’t believe laptop’s cost more now (even accounting for inflation) than they did back then. It’s unbelievable. Might have to work out if I want a good one to last a long time (which is risky) or to get a cheaper one and expect to replace earlier.
By thank you that is helpful.
If you want to buy second-hand, make sure to take a look at linux-hardware.org to see if Linux supports all drivers.
Generally, every laptop will work, with the exception of fingerprint sensors, webcams, or Bluetooth.
https://distrosea.com/ this is amazing for previewing linux OS flavours right in your browser, no need for a USB stick or installation! Linux Mint, Zorin, Ubuntu and Fedora are the winners for me in terms of being normie friendly.
Was considering migrating from Fedora and getting a MacBook, but this is making me reconsider.
One should be have been assuming since Windows 7 and automated online updates that the Microsoft key used to sign OS updates is in the hands of at least the NSA (and hence probably the Israeli equivalent) and they can push whatever they want to your computer as an OS update, bypassing all protections.
In fact the same applies to Linux updates of certain distros - if they’re maintained by a company based in the US they can be forced by FISA courts to provide the signing keys to the US Government.
More in general, just go read about FISA courts and their secret court orders - companies based in the US or hosting things in the US can be secretly forced to just “give the keys of the Realm” to parts of the US Government.
Since things like the Patriot act one should be treating companies based in the US as just as untrustworthy as companies based in China.
(By the way, some other supposed Democratic countries have similar or worse systems - for example the equivalent of FISA courts in the UK have things like secret court sessions were the side which is not the State is not authorized to have a legal representation, see most of the evidence or even know the decision of the court).
Have people already forgot most of what came out in the Snowden Revelations?!
Would stuff like Fedora be in danger, in this case? I couldn’t find if Red Hat was US based
In theory yes since they’re essentially sponsored by RedHat. (RedHat is owned by IBM)
Which is funny because the Snowden leaks actually showed the NSA likes using Fedora for their fancy spy tech lol.
I guess a good alternative would be OpenSUSE.
Yep… Snowden, Charles Maning, Assange and an older whistleblower who died recently but I forgot his name… They also forgot what Cambridge Analytica was about. They just need to throw some bread and games at us and we go one living as nothing ever happend.
Chelsea* Manning
But, yeah, most people just do not care if they are spied on because they don’t think it will be used for anything besides advertising. Trump is going to wake a lot of people up to the immense power we’ve handed over to our tech overlords.
Yeah, sorry it seems I offende the LGBTQ community by typing it wrong… What ever ! As I said above, I really don’t care what you like or your sexual orientation.
However, I find it quite profound that this get out of jail card is used as good faith while it was just another piece of their game… People who think it was a personal choice are either blinded by the journalistic manipulation or LGBTQ partisans (again nothing against any community, gay, lesbian,queer,straight,hetero what ever !).
We are fooled again and again and again by the same lies over and over again… 🤔😮💨
Dude what are you even talking about? You literally sounds schizophrenic
They just need to throw some bread and games at us and we go one living as nothing ever happend.
I mean, there’s not a whole lot of alternative. It seems like the only two “valid” avenues of resistance are retreating from society into a hermetically sealed bubble and starting a podcast.
Haha, yeah It seems so…
Another option and a more long term solution would be to go back to the roots and relearn the basics of living !
How to grow a garden, How to hunt, How to build a small wooden house, how to make fire and then rebuild the technology but only the needed ones.
If we grew things and dug together the rare ores to make solar panels together, build small wind turbines, waterwheels as a community hands by hands… We would probably profit more and enjoy ourselves way more than ever…
Regardless we prefer being held hostage by our own limitations and technology constraints… Not blaming anyone here except myself, It’s just a sad though we could all live happy in a more green state without this mass nonsense technology…
But hey… What’s better than living for ourselves and hard earned money? Huh? Our day to day routine on Netflix, YouTube, Lemmy, twitter Facebook… 7-16 day to day job we all hate thinking we are going to enjoy life when we are old and retired? Emotionally dead gifts bought on Amazon, eBay, temu…
Without saying… Life sucks ! And If you enjoy this kind of life, What can I say… :/ I either envy you for being a brainless sheep or hate you like I hate myself for not burning down this system all together !
Pick your poison !
/Rant off
Another option and a more long term solution would be to go back to the roots and relearn the basics of living !
That requires large plots of arable land.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Clara_Valley
The valley, named after the Spanish Mission Santa Clara, was for a time known as the Valley of Heart’s Delight for its high concentration of orchards, flowering trees, and plants. Until the 1960s it was the largest fruit-producing and packing region in the world, with 39 canneries. The growing high-tech industry in the 1960s transformed the area from farmland to densely populated cities, and it became referred to as the Silicon Valley.
But we paved over paradise and put up a parking lot.
There’s no unfucking that chicken. We are living in a world that is substantially less arable than it was a century ago. We do not have an Eden to go back to.
Chelsea Manning
Fuck is wrong with you
Sorry I got It wrong on purpose… Would you ever accept to change your sex to get out of jail? I mean… Dafuck is wrong in our system ?!
But hang on a minute… THAT’S NOT an anti LGBTQ what ever thing I don’t care what you like or your sexual orientation… I just don’t give a fuck !
However, they must have laughed their asses off when he/she was proposed this get out of jail card…
What ever !
I use Ubuntu. Can someone tell me if that’s “independent and outside US jurisdiction”? I know it’s made/maintained by canonical.
What are some Linux distros that we should avoid? What are some that are independent?
Debian is a community distro. Ubuntu is downstream of it.
It’s UK based
I don’t trust the UK either after they left the EU.
