"You need to try Linux"

I believe in the underlying message (use linux), but doesn't practically every big company change their privacy policy or tos every 10 minutes.

Funny how much longer my phone's battery lasts now after I flashed /e/ to it. No constant net traffic anymore.
- What is /e/?
  
  A deGoogled smartphone operating system

Come the Windowscalypse, I'll probably be moving to Linux Mint. The only problem is ComfyUI. Managing Python packages makes me want to end myself. I might just keep dual booting Windows for SD alone.

Trump's regime. Stops reading.

Do, or do not, there is no try.
- Distrosea would just like to interject for a moment.
- Except there is... live environments
- I don't try, I do. Wanna try me?
  
  I mean....if you're offering

Let's see what people will do at October 14

YOU CAN'T DENY THE WAVEEEEE
I'm been using linux mint for over a year now, and it is legit liberating.

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.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupy_Wall_Street
- 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
  
  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

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, Chelsea* Manning, 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.
  
  Chelsea Manning
  Fuck is wrong with you
  
  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.

I switched from Fedora to openSUSE recently and it has been painless. Would recommend to anyone who are looking to get away from US companies and US jurisdiction. Edit: note that it uses RPM package manager though, I don't know yet if that is problematic or not. If someone knows then please elaborate on that.
- Tumbleweed or Leap or something else?
  
  Most likely Tumbleweed. As it is the most modern of them. Because it is rolling.

To all the people who are criticising this guy for working for Meta, I would like to remind you of the phrase, "Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer".
I am very much a left-winger, but I still read right-wing papers and articles, I like to know what the other side is thinking.
- Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer”.
  Bruh, it's not game of thrones. People just need to work.
  
  If you can get a job at Facebook then you could easily find employment elsewhere. And no it's not Game of Thrones, but I would love to see Zuckerberg get the Joffrey treatment.
- Less criticism and more pity.
  Sheryl Sandberg seems like a Grade A asshole to work for - possibly the only woman CEO I've ever heard of getting #MeToo'd. Zuckerberg is an absolute baby-brain completely up his own asshole with delusions of grandeur, outright comparing himself to Roman Emperors.
  But if you get into the tell-all released by Sarah Wynn-Williams, all you really take away from it is that this company is as corrosive to the body public as it is ravenous for economic expansion. There's no "keeping close" that's going to be good for you in the long run. Might as well try to keep a rabid dog on a short leash.
  I am very much a left-winger, but I still read right-wing papers and articles, I like to know what the other side is thinking.
  I'm not above peaking in on Citations Needed or QAnon Anonymous to see how the other side lives. But the actual right-wing material itself is really ugly stuff, particularly in the modern moment. When it isn't nakedly xenophobic or Mean Girls callously cruel, its just pumping your eyeballs and ear holes full of the dumbest fucking advertisements imaginable.
  Not good to ingest that stuff.

What does linux need to try?
- To stop overachieving
- To stop insisting upon itself for like, five fucking minutes.

Was considering migrating from Fedora and getting a MacBook, but this is making me reconsider.

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.

YEA I'M GONNA DO IT BASED ON FUD AND NO CITATION BECAUSE SOMEONE ON THE INTERNET SAYS THEY WORK AT FACEBOOK
lemmy users just pretend to be intellectuals
- YEA I'M GONNA CONTINUE TO USE PLATFORMS AND TOOLS THAT EXPLOIT MY PRIVACY AND INFO FOR MONETARY GAIN WITHOUT QUESTION BECAUSE I'M A GOOD LITTLE CONSUMER
  sheep pretend to be wolves
  
  "Knowingly" exploit you, not even a guess.
- Easy on the hatorade

FUCK YEAH, YEAR OF THE LINUX DESKTOP

It's funny how they're saying "You need to use Linux" and not "You need to get off Facebook". How's Linux going to save you from Facebook spying on you?
- I think the be careful what you do on Facebook is implied. He's highlighting something that's less expected, where you may need to be careful what you do on Windows systems.
- They mentioned Microsoft updating privacy agreements at the same time as other companies, and OP mentioned that the context was a discussion of a Windows ultra-keylogger type of feature, the implication is they're in on this shit too, and Linux is a way to not use Windows.
  
  Back in 2020 when I took my class for my A+ cert I remember the instructor directing us to a Windows 10 debloating video tutorial to speed up a Win10 computer. If I recall correctly In that video the host point's out that one of the Microsoft services that ran in the background of every standard distribution of Windows 10 was a keylogger. It was one of the many things that got permanently turned off in the in the tutorial.
- They literally work for the Fediverse branch of meta, sure its an evil corp and zucks intentions aren't exactly pure (more than likely an effort to lower server costs) but it is something likely to put more eyes onto the fediverse which I definitely think will benefit the fediverse in the long run.
  
  I read the post like you at first, but I don’t think he works on the fediverse. I think it was just a poor/unclear sequence of clauses in his post.

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 $20 so there are no saving anyway.
Edit:should probably add I'm from to UK I that's relevant
- There are a lot of options if you're experienced with Linux and know how to get things to work/are willing to do research. However, if you are new, then you should definitely play it safe to avoid frustration.
  My current laptop is an Asus PX13, which is an awesome value and probably the most powerful machine you can buy at its size. Unfortunately, Asus does not support Linux on its laptops at all, and any support that exists comes from volunteers. I'm very happy with my current setup, but there are some rough edges that come from the lack of official support.
- Yes, at least Lenovo Linux laptops are 140$ cheaper.
  Take a look at Framework, or System76 for Linux first hardware.
  
  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.
  
  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.
- Lenovo recently started shipping laptops with Linux at a discount. But its probably better to buy a laptop from a Linux manufacturer so that you know the hardware compatibility is being maintained.
- use massgrave[dot]dev for all the windows software. its very easy

"im a henchman for a bad guy....and lemme tell you...I think we might be starting to do bad stuff...not sure yet..."
Thanks bud
- Hey now, he didn't say he was working close with Trump, he said he was working closing with Trump.
  I'm sure there's a distinct difference.
- Unfortunately, not everyone has a choice in who they work for in end-stage-capitalism. Work is about survival, not ideology. The majority of Americans are not far-right capitalists, but the vast majority of CEOs are, and it's not really possible to survive long enough to start a small business in most of the US without investment from a far-right capitalist or inheritance (usually also from a far-right capitalist family member).
  
  If you have the skillset and CV to work at Meta, you have a choice to work somewhere slightly lower on the scale of exploitation.
- At some point we need to start welcoming people to the Light, instead of demonizing them for having been in the Dark. It's pretty difficult for me not to dunk on people as they wake up to the nightmare that they voted for, but a lot them ARE actually otherwise decent folks. Making America Great is going to involve deprogramming a lot of people.
  
  That's all good and well and I agree with you, but I also believe if you have and are continuing to feed the machine, then you don't get to be put on a pedestal or respected for recognizing how bad the machine is. This person is repeating something that is already very well known and accepted and is simultaneously adding to the alarm while causing it. I have extremely low patience for that particular brand of person. They are continuing to cause the problem they are rallying against.
  If I were face to face with this person, I'd genuinely say "either quit working there or shut the fuck up."
- People gotta earn money to survive, I don't blame the employees for this. And this is not just a case of Meta's privacy being bad. This is close government involvement with potentially serious impacts and implications across all US based platforms.
  
  It makes sense to continue working there but then leak everything to an independent journalist.
- "Are we the baddies?!"
- "I'm only following orders!"
  
  if they didnt know what they were signing up for, and they cant quit, you cant blame them

That first comma is a bit out of place - 'why won't you just try, Linux?'
'seriously Linux, just try your vegetables'.
- It can't. Its just a kernel. Maybe with the right gnu core utils...
  
  Or maybe with busybox :3 (I use Alpine)
  
  I was thinking one of those bio powered military robots

Its a bit odd to see an employee of a company that has always had a terrible privacy policy now be suddenly alarmed.
- Things have changed. Before, the worst Facebook could do to its critics was ban them and those that they knew. Now Facebook can have ICE turnover your house without a warrant for a troll post. A private company is now working to suppress a specific kind of conversation that questions the judgement and actions of those in power. It's a subtle but very dangerous difference in why a bad EULA may not have previously caused concern but the new one is.
  
  I'd be leery about posting anything on any platform, especially one that has even your email or other personal info attached to it. Even on a random day that I go browse ahem the other place, I don't really comment anymore. I don't even have my email tied to that account, but I don't trust spez's greedy little pig boy ass, and I'm doing my damn best to fly under the radar while they build their databases. Nor would I trust MS, Google, or even Apple to not be tracking every thought and action online for resistance monitoring.
- See the context mentioned by OP. It was a reply to a post about Recall on Windows.
- He is kinda whistle-blowing about the next level of evil. Up and coming.
- it wasnt them under the crosshairs before
- This is a big oof.

imagine how great it feels to say this for like 10-15 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.
- This is one of those cases where you'd really rather have been wrong.
- It's called the Cassandra Complex, named after Cassandra/Kassandra of Troy.
- If you think this is new, you're very naive. They just have better tools to spy on you now.
  
  i didn't say its exactly new, quite the opposite.
  its just that we can't stop it anymore.

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.
  
  I didn't care before ai as i was nobody and scams were easy to detect.
  Now ai is running those scams and people are trying to use ai to target nobodies like me. All the while ai is stealing my creation and data that companies used to pay you, all while using it to generate money without compensating me.
  
  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.
- 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.

Switching from Windows to Linux isn't going to block them from monitoring your use of online services. Facebook doesn't even do anything in the OS space.
- Know what linux doesn't have? Your screen constantly recorded and sent to corporations who use this data to maximise shareholder value. Oh and the company is in a 3rd world dictatorial shithole with little to no user protection or regulations.
  "But i disabled recall" Cool. They still use telemetry. You turned it off? Nice job, have you considered using linux so you don't have to do the advanced user bullshit(and if you do, it's way easier and more straightforward?)
- I think what they are getting at is that Meta does this and they find it likely Microsoft might be doing something similar.
- They have an agreement with MS, so they are definitely doing something there.
- Yeah, this was a weird way for them to phrase this. You can use Meta stuff on Linux and Fediverse stuff on Windows.

Found the guy

(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”

I've wanted to switch to OpenSUSE for quite some time now from Fedora for the same reason. Should really do it now
- Its so beautifully stable, without giving you ancient software like Debian. Never had an issue using it n its got a grandma level installation.

Shit I was just about to install PopOs! Which is developed by a US company. It's maddening trying to find the right distro that fits all the requirements.
Edit: Opting for Mint.
- A lot of people are going to recommend you mint, I honestly think mint is an outdated suggestion for beginners, I think immutability is extremely important for someone who is just starting out, as well as starting on KDE since it’s by far the most developed DE that isn’t gnome and their… design decisions are unfortunate for people coming from windows.
  I don’t think we should be recommending mint to beginners anymore, if mint makes an immutable, up to date KDE distro, that’ll change, but until then, I think bazzite is objectively a better starting place for beginners.
  The mere fact that bazzite and other immutables generate a new system for you on update and let you switch between and rollback automatically is enough for me to say it’s better, but it also has more up to date software, and tons of guides (fedora is one of the most popular distros, and bazzite is essentially identical except with some QoL upgrades).
  How common is the story of “I was new to linux and completely broke it”? that’s not a good user experience for someone who’s just starting, it’s intimidating, scary, and I just don’t think it’s the best in the modern era. There’s something to be said about learning from these mistakes, but bazzite essentially makes these mistakes impossible.
  Furthermore because of the way bazzite works, package management is completely graphical and requires essentially no intervention on the users part, flathub and immutability pair excellently for this reason.
  Cinnamon (the default mint environment) doesn’t and won’t support HDR, the security/performance improvements from wayland, mixed refresh rate displays, mixed DPI displays, fractional scaling, and many other things for a very very long time if at all. I don’t understand the usecase for cinnamon tbh, xfce is great if you need performance but don’t want to make major sacrifices, lxqt is great if you need A LOT of performance, cinnamon isn’t particularly performant and just a strictly worse version of kde in my eyes from the perspective of a beginner, anyway.
  I have 15 years of linux experience and am willing to infinitely troubleshoot if you add me on matrix.
  
  I 100% agree. Immutable is the way to go for beginners. Source: started on Mint and actually had a few problems. Now I'm on Bluefin (previously Aurora) and I have none.
  
  How common is the story of “I was new to linux and completely broke it”?
  Gee, it's common even for 'experienced' folks. I just went to update to the 6.14 kernel this morning (everything that I use [and monitor for conflicts] was supposedly finally working with it), and apparently that didn't play well with my desktop manager. Cue the tty at boot and trying different DMs until I finally said screw it and went back to the previous kernel.
  
  I think immutability is extremely important for someone who is just starting out
  It really isn't, though
  as well as starting on KDE since it’s by far the most developed DE that isn’t gnome and their… design decisions are unfortunate for people coming from windows.
  Good thing Mint uses Cinnamon, which with the flip of one toggle on install changes between the Mac and Windows style environment. To the point my wife literally didn't notice at first she was on Mint and not Win 10
  Not gonna bother with the rest of your comment if the start is that weak, tbh
- According to Distrowatch mint and Zorin are from Ireland, opensuse and manjaro are from Germany and more was lazy for more searching
  
  Canonical/Ubuntu is uk
  
  Mandrake/Mandriva is from France
  
  SUSE is now garbage. Not sure about open suse
- Stop worrying about the country of origin. It's a FOSS project. The vast majority of Pop's components are developed independently of the company, and by citizens of various nations. Applying the "USA bad, so product bad" rhetoric is a seriously shortsighted approach. Consider instead the amount of influence exerted by the company. Does Ubuntu still seem like the better choice just because the company is headquartered in the UK?
  Besides, if you really want to cut American software out of your life, start with Linux and GNU. Torvalds was born in Finland, but he is a naturalized US citizen, and Linux is developed on American infrastructure and includes significant amount of work from American developers.
  
  They can still sanction your country and then you can't get updates anymore over official ways, like Fedora and Iran.
  It's just peace of mind to not deal with anything US Based right now
  
  It's not “USA bad, so product bad”, it's the concern that the US government can do a lot more to US based projects and you probably wont know untill it's too late.
- FOSS has no country lines.
- Try out CachyOS

What exactly in the privacy agreements is this person worried about? All I’m seeing is PANIC but without a reason given…
- https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/04/microsoft-is-putting-privacy-endangering-recall-back-into-windows-11/?comments=1&comments-page=1#comments
  I work for Meta (Facebook).
  \ For example, the word "protest" will now get your account and activity monitored.

Does that mean that fedora is not recommended?
- Fedora is an international collaborative effort but Red Hat is the main sponsor and it is US based. We will have to be careful and observe
  
  And the new leader (whatever the fuck it's called) is going to be a Red Hat employee. It's why I left Fedora despite liking it quite a lot. That's way too close to IBM for my liking

Why not Haiku 🙃?

Look, Software shouldn't be free and open Source. I really like that we probably have a decade left of it before it gets bundled with ad services which it should have been from the start. The more people that adopt it means that it's only a matter of time as long as we all just passively watch it get usurped
- The fediverse isn't ready for this level of sarcasm. Look at those downvotes, lmao.
  
  It's hard to tell sometimes. Especially when it's such a sensitive issue where normies will parrot the same ignorant crap over and over again. I one went off on someone, not even considering it was in-jest, because is was so convincingly written.
  The /s is important people. I know it slightly reduces the impact of the joke but some people believe that shit 110%.
- you should add a /s
- Ok fed
  
  It's feRd
- Are you a not, a troll, or an idiot.

- A) what does this have to do with the post and B) im fairly sure the Israelis are committing as much if not more atrocities than before the election
- wtf does this have to do with facebook, and why are us party politics from months ago relevant for this post?
- Point out in the image file where this is relevant to the topic in the OP, please.
- !agedlikemilk
- "Nunclear Brickmanship" interesting way to describe the Russian invasion of Ukraine
  
  You don't know what either of those words mean, do you.

jfc they think they're living inside the conspiracy theories.
- Yeah, the government and corporations would never spy on us. What a ridiculous idea!
- Said a person in denial lol