Gentle reminder:
- Microsoft Windows is spyware
- Almost everything Microsoft touches turns to shit (& spyware)
- OpenAI ships spyware
- iOS & macOS are spyware
- Stock Android is spyware
What can you do about it?
- study Linux Distros
- study Graphene OS on Pixel phones
- host your own LLMs
anything else, #asknostr ?
#spystr #plebchain
...and Github, Visual Studio Code?
that's why I said "almost everything" 😅
as concerns Github, let's a few months and see...
GitHub is centralized
Check out ngit/gitworkshop https://wikifreedia.xyz/gitworkshop/laeserin@getalby.com
Why vscode ? ..#vim ..
github is just a fancy facade .. what is the compelling usecase ? Github pages on the other hand is a useful free service .. use it for publishing static content .. keep your code in your network ..
We sholdn't trust any bigtech dev tools neither, specially when writing freedom software. I've used vscode too, but I'm looking for other choices, yes vim, sublime.
Lol the only secure phone is from Google, the spying giant
Graphene OS is not from Google though.
Can you really trust the hardware though? Remember Intel Management Engine ?
Can you really trust anything big tech builds? What's your plan regarding phones?
Stuck on Debloated Samsung S23U for now.
Wanted to go the Graphene route but Pixels are not as good as Samsung Ultra in terms of battery and camera
Pixels with stock Android do benefit from single party accountability though
Running something with Google OS and Google software infrastructure is probably worse than Google hardware.
If you want true privacy, the assembled in the USA Librem Liberty phone running Linux is the only thing that removes Big Tech as well as China.
It has slow 12 year old hardware, short battery life, and $2,000.
Buy how is the camera ?
Like I said, old hardware. The camera is junk.
No cell phone comes close to my DSLR with a good lense on it.
Some phones make decent snapshot cameras, but you don't get very good zoom and frame on any cell phone, so I still like my DSLR for snapshots. It's just hard to carry around.
Consider the Unplugged Phone as well. Founded by Erik Prince. https://unplugged.com/
From Hakeem on his Telegr channel:
"yeah that's Erik Prince, ex-CEO of Blackwater. Some members of the core team that built the unplugged phone worked for NSO Group, and previously Unit 8200. If you want a phone connected to American and Israeli intelligence - then that may be the phone for you. I am personally going to stay far away.
major differences are:
- nothing about unplugged is open source, everything that above phone uses is"
Use 32 bit machines .. cheaper and faster ..
simply #debian in command line interface .. GUI when needed .. not a default choice ..
I see too much hopium about Apple on this platform. No idea why, MacOS is BSD with a shit version of Gnome and stupid UI with zero ability to change it.
I can make my fedora look like macos in 5 minutes
Where can I read more reliable info about how iOS is “spyware” ?
Yes. There is one more thing.
- Nextcloud ... host your own Nextcloud online ecosystem and tie everything together.
- Sync your calendars, contacts, bookmarks, tasks, etc., across all your devices.
- Share files with anyone (with or without password access).
- Have your own talk, text, video messaging system. (Nextcloud Talk).
- Run your own phone tracker on you're kids' phones.
- Your own online document collaboration (based on LibreOffice)
- etc.. etc.
I can recommend StartOS from nostr:npub126ntw5mnermmj0znhjhgdk8lh2af72sm8qfzq48umdlnhaj9kuns3le9ll for a simple setup of these apps
PopOS is a great user friendly linux distro for most laptops. My 13 year old son uses that on his laptop.
Calyx os works great as well as graphene.
Seriously.... EVERYONE needs to watch this from brax privacy, the foremost privacy advocate on youtube
pixel phones also have hardware level of spyware maybe better alternative is fairphone
Assuming you live in a country that ships, and supports your carriers network :(
We all need to go back to building apps in C/C++ because all other langs are built, captured, or funded by big tech. Yes this it tongue-in-cheek before you lang fanboys have a fit
- Mobile phone networks are spyware - don't use a SIM in a smart phone, connect over wifi and limit how/where you connect to a cell network
- ISPs are spying on every move you make - Encrypt everything and hope for the best
- 99% of IOT devices are spyware - Use analog switches like we have done for the last century
- Most home routers are poorly designed, improperly updated, and improperly secured for convenience - learn networking (routing) + buy a (used) commercial router and hope for the best
- Just about every online service is spyware - self host and use offline apps where possible
- Simply don't store things on your smart phone when possible. Use ephemeral messages in Signal and send notes and pictures to yourself for later.
- DNS lookups can be spyware - Don't use public DNS servers if possible. Configure an Unbound (or similar) recursive DNS resolver
- Most modern development apps have built-in telemetry - be careful of your dev stack
- Modern video games are HUGE spyware, specifically anti cheat. Run your games on a completely isolated PC if needed, Linux likely won't protect you. Modern games use kernel level anti-cheat memory and network tampering detection
If you do not want to spend on hardware to host your own LLM, there is unleashed.chat and venice.ai for you. Both use open-source models.
Set up with Zorin Pro after the Recall news broke. Still figuring it out, got kinks and some tradeoffs, but man I should have done it earlier.
study tor
study tails
use password manager
use librewolf
how about TAILS.NET
- Netflix, Audible, Disney+, Spotify, Prime -> NZB, Servarr, Jellyfin/Plex
