6 ms·

I want devices that I, the owner, control, whether I'm a small business or enterprise or individual. This is important for many reasons, from security to freedo

I want devices that I, the owner, control, whether I'm a small business or enterprise or individual. This is important for many reasons, from security to freedom-to-tinker to using the device I own in the way I want. It was once an accepted standard in IT. Now, can anyone name a current handheld or desktop system that provides end-user control? If you don't think security, including privacy, is important, consider what a U.S. president with fascistic tendancies would do with all this access to citizen's devices and data (and how many companies would risk their enterprises when he leaned on them?).

skykooler 10y ago
The Jolla phone provides end-user control.
- bitL 10y ago
  Out of stock forever
zem 10y ago
do laptops with linux preloaded on them not count? you can get a dell machine with rhel or ubuntu installed on it, and afaik you are free to do whatever you want thereafter.
- cmdrfred 10y ago
  With the exception of the behavior of some of the binary blobs used to drive some of the hardware I believe you are correct.
- hackuser 10y ago
  > do laptops with linux preloaded on them not count? Isn't the bootloader locked down? Also, that's probably not a realistic option for most end-users.
  - criddell 10y ago
    If a Chromebook would fulfill their needs, then a Linux machine would certainly work. I think Chromebooks are currently the best selling computers on Amazon.
794CD01 10y ago
Most things that were "once an accepted standard in IT" are horribly insecure. The end user wanting a system he/she controls is very much one of them. Microsoft taking away control from users, especially when it came to forcing them to take updates, is probably the biggest change they could possibly have made to improve the overall security of the internet.
- unprepare 10y ago
  are you under the impression that automatic security updates is what people dislike about windows 10? Its mostly the: telemetry openended ToS poor upgrade/reinstall behavior resulting in lost licenses overly complicated licensing structure (with articles like this showing the professional license feature set degrading over time) forced integration of unrelated products (cortana, bing) integration of advertising into the OS (lockscreen and wallpapers) lessening control enterprises have over their systems
  - mynameisvlad 10y ago
    Full disclosure: I work at Microsoft but outside of Windows. > poor upgrade/reinstall behavior resulting in lost licenses I have never experienced this. If you bought Windows 10 straight up (or your computer came with one) then you have a product key you can use, just like before. If you upgraded from 7/8 or are in the Insider Program, then you get a digital entitlement to your Microsoft account which gets restored automatically when you next sign on. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/activation-in-windows-10 http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/activation-in-... > overly complicated licensing structure There are two editions for consumers: Home, and Pro. With the differentiator being fairly clear from the name alone (home is for home users, pro gives you things you aren't going to ever use at home but might at work, like AD join). There are other editions like Enterprise and Education, but an end user will never even see them. > forced integration of unrelated products Cortana is a part of Windows. It started as a Windows Phone feature, and got brought over to desktop. There's nothing unrelated about it. Bing is integrated to Cortana because that's the backend powering it. It's like how Ok Google uses Google on Android. Using a third party provider would not give nearly the amount of insight it currently has, since the two teams can work together to improve results and the overall experience. > integration of advertising into the OS (lockscreen and wallpapers) Spotlight has shown one ad that I am aware of (Tomb Raider). Otherwise, it gives you curated images rotated every so often. Your wallpaper does not change, that is not a feature of Spotlight. It's also completely disableable; you just set your own image.
phkahler 10y ago
>> It was once an accepted standard in IT. That's funny because it's the folks in IT that always want to limit users freedom. But when someone even higher up the chain takes control they get upset about it ;-)
- killbrad 10y ago
  They want to limit control in an environment they are asked to control.

skykooler 10y ago

The Jolla phone provides end-user control.

bitL 10y ago
Out of stock forever

zem 10y ago

do laptops with linux preloaded on them not count? you can get a dell machine with rhel or ubuntu installed on it, and afaik you are free to do whatever you want thereafter.

cmdrfred 10y ago
With the exception of the behavior of some of the binary blobs used to drive some of the hardware I believe you are correct.
hackuser 10y ago
> do laptops with linux preloaded on them not count? Isn't the bootloader locked down? Also, that's probably not a realistic option for most end-users.
- criddell 10y ago
  If a Chromebook would fulfill their needs, then a Linux machine would certainly work. I think Chromebooks are currently the best selling computers on Amazon.

794CD01 10y ago

Most things that were "once an accepted standard in IT" are horribly insecure. The end user wanting a system he/she controls is very much one of them. Microsoft taking away control from users, especially when it came to forcing them to take updates, is probably the biggest change they could possibly have made to improve the overall security of the internet.

unprepare 10y ago
are you under the impression that automatic security updates is what people dislike about windows 10? Its mostly the: telemetry openended ToS poor upgrade/reinstall behavior resulting in lost licenses overly complicated licensing structure (with articles like this showing the professional license feature set degrading over time) forced integration of unrelated products (cortana, bing) integration of advertising into the OS (lockscreen and wallpapers) lessening control enterprises have over their systems
- mynameisvlad 10y ago
  Full disclosure: I work at Microsoft but outside of Windows. > poor upgrade/reinstall behavior resulting in lost licenses I have never experienced this. If you bought Windows 10 straight up (or your computer came with one) then you have a product key you can use, just like before. If you upgraded from 7/8 or are in the Insider Program, then you get a digital entitlement to your Microsoft account which gets restored automatically when you next sign on. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/activation-in-windows-10 http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/activation-in-... > overly complicated licensing structure There are two editions for consumers: Home, and Pro. With the differentiator being fairly clear from the name alone (home is for home users, pro gives you things you aren't going to ever use at home but might at work, like AD join). There are other editions like Enterprise and Education, but an end user will never even see them. > forced integration of unrelated products Cortana is a part of Windows. It started as a Windows Phone feature, and got brought over to desktop. There's nothing unrelated about it. Bing is integrated to Cortana because that's the backend powering it. It's like how Ok Google uses Google on Android. Using a third party provider would not give nearly the amount of insight it currently has, since the two teams can work together to improve results and the overall experience. > integration of advertising into the OS (lockscreen and wallpapers) Spotlight has shown one ad that I am aware of (Tomb Raider). Otherwise, it gives you curated images rotated every so often. Your wallpaper does not change, that is not a feature of Spotlight. It's also completely disableable; you just set your own image.

phkahler 10y ago

>> It was once an accepted standard in IT. That's funny because it's the folks in IT that always want to limit users freedom. But when someone even higher up the chain takes control they get upset about it ;-)

killbrad 10y ago
They want to limit control in an environment they are asked to control.