Purism Announce New 11-Inch Linux Tablet
Thom Gray @ patchwork @lemmy.dbzer0.com Posts 2Comments 43Joined 2 yr. ago
Thom Gray @ patchwork @lemmy.dbzer0.com
Posts
2
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43
Joined
2 yr. ago
Same playbook used throughout history, we need to make you safer by taking away your right to privacy and access to communities you identify with. Without the LGBTQ+ community center in my hometown I doubt I would have survived young adulthood. That was a physical space funded by a non-profit, now that so much of our access to community is online the authoritarians from both parties in the US can just remove communities they don't like assisted by legislation like this.
If I try to stop using every company or service that has an obnoxious CEO spouting ignorant views I'm afraid I wouldn't even be able to access the web. At the very least I'm glad companies like Brave give lip service to privacy to highlight awareness.
I've had good experience with LibreWolf, but disabling the resist fingerprinting is QoL compromise with privacy easily accomplished in the settings.
Are you implying that Google's primary business model is something other than the collection and sale of people's personal data? Google services are discounted or "free" because they monetize user data through tools like their reCAPTCHA hardware fingerprinting technology deployed on System 76's website. My point is that System 76 claim's to be "extremely concerned with user privacy", but chooses a payment processor dependent on the Internet's least privacy preserving corporation and that is a contradiction of your "proclaimed" values.
Btw, I recently learned that Purism also deploys Google scripts with their payment processor and I wasted my money on a Librem 5 a year ago. It has the worst touchscreen and battery life of any device I own, so let me assure you I'm no shill for that company. I honestly buy my hardware from System 76 every chance I get, so when I feel they're being disingenuous about their values (privacy), I take it personal, since I'm typing this on a Galago Pro.
I'll probably relent and order the Lemur over the phone as Stetson suggested. I'm critical of System 76 because I want them to succeed and I think they should follow other companies (Valve, Discord, etc...) abandoning Google as their ship sinks because of shareholder greed.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/steam-ditches-google-analytics-over-customer-privacy-concerns
I'm sure a lot of people at System 76, like myself started using Google in the 90s and had an invitation only Gmail account, becoming enchanted with the company 20 years ago. Unfortunately, after their 2004 IPO, the shareholder's have clamored for the increasingly relentless collection and sale of user data to advertisers and even government tax and intelligence agencies to the point that Alphabet has lost much of it's goodwill in the tech community and many are now suspicious of Google like myself.
I made my post not to bash System 76, but to point out what I believe is a strategic error continuing to have Google as a business partner when payment processor's like Stripe will allow hCaptcha's (privacy preserving service) instead.
With all do respect friend, I'm assuming most of us here that really care about privacy ditched Gmail very early in our privacy journey. I think virtually every policy Google enforces, including phone validation has some element of data collection in mind. We can debate whether providing the phone number is an information grab or a security measure, but I'm fairly certain it's both to some degree. If one cares enough about privacy to post in this community please start looking for a privacy respecting email provider, then start abandoning Google services like the plague at a pace you can tolerate. Don't move too fast on your journey, the inconvenience is rough, but liberating your digital life is priceless one step at a time.
I appreciate your response Michael, but I don't think it's a misconception that Google monetizes user data and any service they provide is a means to that end. If the payment provider System 76 uses promotes a non-privacy preserving service, then why choose that payment provider?
Services provided by for profit corporations are almost never truly free. It usually means "free" in exchange for access to your user data or "free" if you watch these advertisements. That's not free, it's an exchange of your data that's valuable for resell to a company or your time to watch their ads.
I'm a System 76 customer, as I stated in the initial post I made, which you apparently didn't even take the time to read. Receiving Google services at a discount in exchange for access to System 76 user data is profiting from using Google's discounted reCAPTCHA, versus competitor pricing models. Don't think linking Google's privacy policy that promises not to track your users is of any relevance, Google is currently under more litigation for violating their own privacy policies than any other company in Tech (research the case with Epic Games), not to mention the DoJ's anti-trust lawsuit currently underway.
Have you been to business school in the last decade Sir? Surveillance Capitalism is a mandatory subject in the contemporary world and I believe you're pretending that isn't Google's primary revenue stream. Please have a look at he link below expanding on Alphabet Inc's business model.
https://telegra.ph/How-Big-Tech-Revenue-and-Profit-Breaks-Down-by-Company-12-09
Stripe is one of the largest payment providers on the Internet, they recommend hCaptcha, not Alphabet's reCAPTCHA in their docs, so it's obviously a choice. Please don't proclaim to be "Extremely concerned" with customer privacy and choose a service provided by a data harvesting advertising company to save money when a privacy preserving option is available.
Michael, thank you for responding, but Google's reCAPTCHA isn't only required for payment on your site, it's required just to send a message for customer service or to contact sales as I have done both recently. There are plenty of payment provider's that to not mandate Google services. Personally I enjoy a lot of Google services when I choose to use them, but being mandated to use Google, as my child is forced to do attending school makes me wonder we companies like System 76 perpetuate this trend of the government and private industry forcing people to use services instead of letting consumers make the choice themselves in the so-called "free market."
It's certainly not out of their control and Stetson at System 76 confirmed that they choose Google as a business partner regarding the website. There are plenty of websites and online shopping services not using tracking scripts to monetize their customers data. Yes, most do, but most people also don't use Linux as their desktop operating system or care much about privacy. Regarding not finding "any site", Here are 2, I know off the top of my head. System 76 could also easily switch to hCaptcha (privacy preserving service) over reCAPTCHA as Discord previously did. If Discord is making better choices than System 76 regarding privacy respecting web services I think it speaks volumes about System 76's claim to "take user privacy extremely seriously."
I've made purchases on both of these websites without being tracked by a third-party advertising company.
Yes, as I stated in the beginning of my post, personally I value privacy and ethical business practices and imo, if you sell hardware, make money on hardware while not additionally monetizing your customer's data through discounted web services. So the fact that they use services monetizing user as a way to increase profit margins is enough to make me choose another company. The only company I know of that sells a Linux Laptop not partaking in this sort of thing is Purism and they have very little selection. I'm open to other suggestions if someone knows of another company?
I really want to love my PineTab 2 and I'm hoping for kernel updates to unlock more hardware potential. The Wi-Fi doesn't work at all in my experience and the touchscreen feels very cheap (usually must tap my finger several times before it registers the touch).
Which Gen X1 did you get? I've been looking at those, but I am not sure which Gen will have the best compatibility.
There is also a "finite supply" of clean water and electricity, but during the dawn of the Internet age corporations had more lobbying power than before and were able to stave off real meaningful regulation, now the consumer pays the price. We need to stop giving corporations the same rights as people and revisit the 14th Amendment they stole personhood from, as it wasn't intended for that purpose. Regardless of what Mitt Romney might think, corporations are not people.
I'm pretty lame and just run USSEP, Cutting Room Floor, SMIM, Immersive Citizens, Alt Start, Rich Merchants, etc.. When I try to go nuts with Mods I spend all my time modding and never actually get into the game. I wish I could find some community advice on minimal mods. When I "used to" look on the skyrimmods reddit most ppl seemed more interested in how many mods they could get, like quantity over quality.
You'd be better off using the Windows version on Linux through Wine. Is there an app specific to MacOS that isn't available on Windows? Honestly, at that point I'd get a Linux laptop and just use an iPad for the proprietary MacOS app if I couldn't get it working on Linux. There is a Ubuntu snap package that spins up MacOS in a virtual machine as well.
A lot of my groups have moved to Signal from FB, feels a lot less dirty using a community platform vs a filthy advertising company. Now I just need to get a phone not developed by an ad company i.e. Alphabet Inc.
Skyrim, grab a few new mods and the game is practically new to be again!
Another Linux tablet is definitely good news. I like Purism’s stated values and their laptops are very solid, the Librem phone was a disappointment for me personally though.