7 ms·

I know the privacy approach Apple has been pushing was just marketing, but I didn't care too much because I enjoyed my iPhone and M1 macbook. Because of this d

I know the privacy approach Apple has been pushing was just marketing, but I didn't care too much because I enjoyed my iPhone and M1 macbook. Because of this decision (and the fact that my iPhone more-or-less facilitates poor habits throughout my life), I'm considering moving completely out of the Apple ecosystem. Does anyone have any recommendations for replacements? * On laptops: I have an X1 carbon extreme running linux, but it's entirely impratical to take outside of the house: it has terrible battery life and runs quite hot. I also cannot stand its trackpad. Is there any linux-capable device with an okay trackpad? * On phones: are there any capable phones out there that aren't privacy nightmares? All I want is a phone with a long lasting battery that I can use with maps, a web browser, and texting. * On cloud: I've considered executing on a NAS forever, but I'm unsure where to start.

calgoo 5y ago
From what I understand, you can use Linux on the M1 now, so at least as a stopgap. For nas, synology is always a good brand.
- marcan_42 5y ago
  Linux on M1 isn't ready yet for daily use, but we're working on it. Expect things to move pretty quickly in the next few months.
  - javajosh 5y ago
    Link?
    - rvz 5y ago
      This person is the creator of Asahi Linux and the one who did the early work of Linux on M1 Macs. [0] When it is ready, it will be ready and they will say so. Until then it is not ready for general use and is still under active heavy development. [0] https://asahilinux.org/ https://asahilinux.org/
  - rorykoehler 5y ago
    What is the plan for integrating with custom aspects of Mac machines like the t2 chip?
caskstrength 5y ago
> On laptops: I have an X1 carbon extreme running linux, but it's entirely impratical to take outside of the house: it has terrible battery life and runs quite hot. I have X1C (not extreme) and it has excellent battery life with Linux. Consider using TLP (https://linrunner.de/tlp/ https://linrunner.de/tlp/), if you want to significantly improve your laptop power consumption.
- p_j_w 5y ago
  It's possible he's got an old X1C and the battery is just on it's last legs as well. If that's the case, he'd probably be better served using his M1 laptop sparingly until Linux support for it is better.
ByteWelder 5y ago
On phones: I'm considering a Pixel device with https://calyxos.org/ https://calyxos.org/ The main limitations will be the featureset of MicroG (no ~maps~/wearOS/auto). Possible issues with important apps like those for banking. On cloud: Synology Diskstation is amazing. Only use it through a local VPN though. edit: maps work (see reply)
- elliekelly 5y ago
  Are the only phone options iOS or Android? I’m also considering leaving my iPhone behind because of this privacy violation but I’m definitely not moving to Google. That seems like two steps back.
  - fragileone 5y ago
    Calyx is a degoogled Android ROM. It's probably the best choice until mobile Linux improves.
    - Engineering-MD 5y ago
      What are the benefits over graphene OS?
      - fragileone 5y ago
        microG support mainly, it's needed for some Play Services APIs like push notifications and maps, though the choice all depends on what apps you use. GrapheneOS is great also and even better for those with very high security and privacy requirements.
  - jazzyjackson 5y ago
    I’m considering the Nokia 8110 (banana phone) KaiOS, somewhere between a smart phone and a dumb phone. Still has Google maps, not sure if you need a Google account tho.
  - m4rtink 5y ago
    Sailfish OS (built on Maemo/MeGo legacy, for those who remember those) is what I have been using for years (and this is typed from). Also there are a lot of Linux distros targeting the PinePhone maturing by the day.
indymike 5y ago
> On laptops My XPS 15 does about 6 hours (it's a maxed out i7) on Linux and 3 on Windows.
theta_d 5y ago
I have a Lemur Pro from System76 and it has insane battery life. I feel like I never charge it b/c it's always got juice. I run Pop_OS! on it b/c at my age I just want to get work done and not tinker with a distro.
ipodopt 5y ago
Laptop | Desktop: https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/overview/cp/linuxsystems https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/overview/cp/linuxsystem... Router: https://www.turris.com/en/omnia/overview/ https://www.turris.com/en/omnia/overview/ Media Center: https://osmc.tv/vero/ https://osmc.tv/vero/ Cloud (Use TrueNAS Scale): https://www.truenas.com/systems-overview/ https://www.truenas.com/systems-overview/ Phone: https://www.pine64.org/pinephone/ https://www.pine64.org/pinephone/ Watch: https://pine64.com/product/pinetime-smartwatch-sealed/ https://pine64.com/product/pinetime-smartwatch-sealed/ Smart Thermostat: https://hestiapi.com/product/hestiapi-touch-one-free-shipping/ https://hestiapi.com/product/hestiapi-touch-one-free-shippin... If you go this route all devices will be running Linux. The one OS route is kindof nice, hence the pinephone over open android alternatives (like Graphene OS). I sorted from least to most technical. I also tried to pick the least technical challenging in each category. The Dell stuff should just work. The Phone will require some tinkering for the moment.
- fsflover 5y ago
  Another phone: https://puri.sm/products/librem-5 https://puri.sm/products/librem-5 Laptop: https://puri.sm/products/librem-14 https://puri.sm/products/librem-14
  - ipodopt 5y ago
    I have their laptop and do not recommend them. Honestly, I sort of regret the purchase. - They lie about specifications like battery life (and other things). I get about 1 hour on my ~5 hour battery life when web browsing. - My laptop had a race condition at boot that would prevent boot 50% of the time. There was a workaround. - Wifi had a range of maybe ten feet (not joking). I am sure there new laptop is better however I do not really trust them after my interactions. Especially for something more novel like a linux phone. On the other hand, Pine64 is very focused on their hardware stack. All their products are running a very similar hardware unlike Purism. They are moving way more product then Purism and are better liked. Hence they have a stronger community. They are also much cheaper phone-wise for a similar feature set. And you can actually buy and receive the phone. In terms of alternatives I think System76 is pretty good desktop wise right now. Laptop are alright. Waiting for their upcoming in-house laptop.
fragileone 5y ago
Laptop: Framework Laptop Phone: Pixel with GrapheneOS or CalyxOS. In the future a Linux phone when the software improves.
- chopin 5y ago
  > Phone: Pixel with GrapheneOS or CalyxOS I've seen this recommendation very often lately. As I am shopping for a new phone: Why is it that hardware directly from Google is recommended for putting another OS onto it (I've seen recommendations for LineageOS as well). What makes it better than any stock phone supported by LineageOS?
  - elagost 5y ago
    Consistency. All the Google hardware forever has allowed easy factory unlocking without a fuss, easy ways to restore to standard OS images without jumping through hoops, and are widely available. Plus they allow re-locking the booloader and the phone equivalent of enrolling your own custom secure boot keys. They also provide firmware updates for a long time so you can get platform/hardware patches too. CalyxOS does provide these in their images. The 3a/4a are cheap and have headphone jacks and good cameras. What's not to love? Until they change their policy on unlocking bootloaders and installing custom OSs they're great devices. I still have a Nexus 5 that runs PostmarketOS and Ubuntu Touch, and if it completely breaks I can always use ADB/Fastboot to flash the Android 6 images that are still on Google's website. Don't even have to log in to get them.
    - m4rtink 5y ago
      Devices supported by the Sony Open Device Program shoukd be also a good target: https://developer.sony.com/develop/open-devices/ https://developer.sony.com/develop/open-devices/ There are projects such as Sailfish OS that make use of this to run on originally Android hardware.
  - fragileone 5y ago
    See the GrapheneOS or CalyxOS websites for more details, they are significantly hardened for security compared to LineageOS. Currently those two projects only support Pixels, mainly because they're all bootloader unlockable. If these projects had as many volunteers as LOS then more devices could be officially supported. LOS on a supported Android phone is still a better option than a stock Android or iPhone at least.
avh02 5y ago
I use an hp spectre x360, it's not the most powerful thing in the world and has occasional issues knowing when to charge but otherwise I love it with ubuntu/i3wm
CA0DA 5y ago
I'm suprised nobody has mentioned GrapheneOS: https://grapheneos.org/ https://grapheneos.org/
robertoandred 5y ago
You know Google scans the CP database too, right?
guitarbill 5y ago
As someone else mentioned, for a NAS using TrueNAS (used to be FreeNAS) is easy enough and quite satisfying. You can find plenty of guides. In general, you need to balance budget, capacity requirements, and form factor. Old servers are often great. Big disks seem like a good idea, but for rebuild times going over 4TB is horrible. However, unfortunately HDD prices right now are horrible...
- katbyte 5y ago
  define horrible? i have a 8x18tb raid-6 array and it rebuilds in 2-3 days.
  - guitarbill 5y ago
    I guess it depends. Personally I don't like having rebuilds longer than a day.
skybrian 5y ago
Alternatively, if you don’t use iMessage or iCloud then I don’t think these changes affect you.
- rantwasp 5y ago
  lol. nope. trust is binary. you either trust apple or not. after peddling their privacy marketing for so long and doing this, they literally lost my trust.
  - skybrian 5y ago
    For most people, trust isn't binary though. For example, just because you hire someone for one purpose doesn't mean they should have the keys to your house.
    - rantwasp 5y ago
      If I hire someone to do X I trust them to do X. If X involves them getting in my house to do something while I'm not there I give them the keys. If they screw up I no longer trust them for X and I no longer trust them in general. I'm not saying you trust someone for all the possible things under the sun. I'm saying if I trust you for X and you mess it up I no longer trust you for X.
ursugardaddy 5y ago
TBH I've been considering just dropping a smartphone all together, I don't really get much value out of it since i'm on my laptop most of the time when I want to internet anyway
minton 5y ago
I understand the impulse to turn away from Apple. However, it’s not a practical solution. How long until this tech or worse is mandated in all products? I think the real answer is for the people to stop bickering about primary colors and work together toward passing legislation that limits the pervasive invasion of privacy by governments and corporations.
- fragileone 5y ago
  You can do both. Boycott Apple because they're the ones who committed this violation, whilst also protesting government efforts to spy.
grae_QED 5y ago
For laptops I'd recommend the framework laptop (https://frame.work/ https://frame.work/). It's thin, powerful, and modular.
heavyset_go 5y ago
If I were to buy a laptop, it would be the Framework laptop that just started shipping. It doesn't have a Ryzen chip, though, so that's a deal breaker for me. Otherwise, that laptop ticks all of my boxes. Phone-wise, there are many options to choose from. I like the idea behind the Teracube 2E[1], as they take some of the principles behind Framework and apply it to phones. > On cloud: I've considered executing on a NAS forever, but I'm unsure where to start. Depends on how much you want to tinker. You can't go wrong with a Raspberry Pi and some external harddrives, but there is also dedicated NAS equipment that requires less setup and maintenance, some of them are Linux based, as well. [1] https://myteracube.com/pages/teracube-2e https://myteracube.com/pages/teracube-2e
winddude 5y ago
acer nitro 5 is my choice for a laptop for running ubuntu, good battery life, I get about 5+ hours.

calgoo 5y ago

From what I understand, you can use Linux on the M1 now, so at least as a stopgap. For nas, synology is always a good brand.

marcan_42 5y ago
Linux on M1 isn't ready yet for daily use, but we're working on it. Expect things to move pretty quickly in the next few months.
- javajosh 5y ago
  Link?
  - rvz 5y ago
    This person is the creator of Asahi Linux and the one who did the early work of Linux on M1 Macs. [0] When it is ready, it will be ready and they will say so. Until then it is not ready for general use and is still under active heavy development. [0] https://asahilinux.org/ https://asahilinux.org/
- rorykoehler 5y ago
  What is the plan for integrating with custom aspects of Mac machines like the t2 chip?

caskstrength 5y ago

> On laptops: I have an X1 carbon extreme running linux, but it's entirely impratical to take outside of the house: it has terrible battery life and runs quite hot. I have X1C (not extreme) and it has excellent battery life with Linux. Consider using TLP (https://linrunner.de/tlp/ https://linrunner.de/tlp/), if you want to significantly improve your laptop power consumption.

p_j_w 5y ago
It's possible he's got an old X1C and the battery is just on it's last legs as well. If that's the case, he'd probably be better served using his M1 laptop sparingly until Linux support for it is better.

ByteWelder 5y ago

On phones: I'm considering a Pixel device with https://calyxos.org/ https://calyxos.org/ The main limitations will be the featureset of MicroG (no ~maps~/wearOS/auto). Possible issues with important apps like those for banking. On cloud: Synology Diskstation is amazing. Only use it through a local VPN though. edit: maps work (see reply)

elliekelly 5y ago
Are the only phone options iOS or Android? I’m also considering leaving my iPhone behind because of this privacy violation but I’m definitely not moving to Google. That seems like two steps back.
- fragileone 5y ago
  Calyx is a degoogled Android ROM. It's probably the best choice until mobile Linux improves.
  - Engineering-MD 5y ago
    What are the benefits over graphene OS?
    - fragileone 5y ago
      microG support mainly, it's needed for some Play Services APIs like push notifications and maps, though the choice all depends on what apps you use. GrapheneOS is great also and even better for those with very high security and privacy requirements.
- jazzyjackson 5y ago
  I’m considering the Nokia 8110 (banana phone) KaiOS, somewhere between a smart phone and a dumb phone. Still has Google maps, not sure if you need a Google account tho.
- m4rtink 5y ago
  Sailfish OS (built on Maemo/MeGo legacy, for those who remember those) is what I have been using for years (and this is typed from). Also there are a lot of Linux distros targeting the PinePhone maturing by the day.

indymike 5y ago

> On laptops My XPS 15 does about 6 hours (it's a maxed out i7) on Linux and 3 on Windows.

theta_d 5y ago

I have a Lemur Pro from System76 and it has insane battery life. I feel like I never charge it b/c it's always got juice. I run Pop_OS! on it b/c at my age I just want to get work done and not tinker with a distro.

ipodopt 5y ago

Laptop | Desktop: https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/overview/cp/linuxsystems https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/overview/cp/linuxsystem... Router: https://www.turris.com/en/omnia/overview/ https://www.turris.com/en/omnia/overview/ Media Center: https://osmc.tv/vero/ https://osmc.tv/vero/ Cloud (Use TrueNAS Scale): https://www.truenas.com/systems-overview/ https://www.truenas.com/systems-overview/ Phone: https://www.pine64.org/pinephone/ https://www.pine64.org/pinephone/ Watch: https://pine64.com/product/pinetime-smartwatch-sealed/ https://pine64.com/product/pinetime-smartwatch-sealed/ Smart Thermostat: https://hestiapi.com/product/hestiapi-touch-one-free-shipping/ https://hestiapi.com/product/hestiapi-touch-one-free-shippin... If you go this route all devices will be running Linux. The one OS route is kindof nice, hence the pinephone over open android alternatives (like Graphene OS). I sorted from least to most technical. I also tried to pick the least technical challenging in each category. The Dell stuff should just work. The Phone will require some tinkering for the moment.

fsflover 5y ago
Another phone: https://puri.sm/products/librem-5 https://puri.sm/products/librem-5 Laptop: https://puri.sm/products/librem-14 https://puri.sm/products/librem-14
- ipodopt 5y ago
  I have their laptop and do not recommend them. Honestly, I sort of regret the purchase. - They lie about specifications like battery life (and other things). I get about 1 hour on my ~5 hour battery life when web browsing. - My laptop had a race condition at boot that would prevent boot 50% of the time. There was a workaround. - Wifi had a range of maybe ten feet (not joking). I am sure there new laptop is better however I do not really trust them after my interactions. Especially for something more novel like a linux phone. On the other hand, Pine64 is very focused on their hardware stack. All their products are running a very similar hardware unlike Purism. They are moving way more product then Purism and are better liked. Hence they have a stronger community. They are also much cheaper phone-wise for a similar feature set. And you can actually buy and receive the phone. In terms of alternatives I think System76 is pretty good desktop wise right now. Laptop are alright. Waiting for their upcoming in-house laptop.

fragileone 5y ago

Laptop: Framework Laptop Phone: Pixel with GrapheneOS or CalyxOS. In the future a Linux phone when the software improves.

chopin 5y ago
> Phone: Pixel with GrapheneOS or CalyxOS I've seen this recommendation very often lately. As I am shopping for a new phone: Why is it that hardware directly from Google is recommended for putting another OS onto it (I've seen recommendations for LineageOS as well). What makes it better than any stock phone supported by LineageOS?
- elagost 5y ago
  Consistency. All the Google hardware forever has allowed easy factory unlocking without a fuss, easy ways to restore to standard OS images without jumping through hoops, and are widely available. Plus they allow re-locking the booloader and the phone equivalent of enrolling your own custom secure boot keys. They also provide firmware updates for a long time so you can get platform/hardware patches too. CalyxOS does provide these in their images. The 3a/4a are cheap and have headphone jacks and good cameras. What's not to love? Until they change their policy on unlocking bootloaders and installing custom OSs they're great devices. I still have a Nexus 5 that runs PostmarketOS and Ubuntu Touch, and if it completely breaks I can always use ADB/Fastboot to flash the Android 6 images that are still on Google's website. Don't even have to log in to get them.
  - m4rtink 5y ago
    Devices supported by the Sony Open Device Program shoukd be also a good target: https://developer.sony.com/develop/open-devices/ https://developer.sony.com/develop/open-devices/ There are projects such as Sailfish OS that make use of this to run on originally Android hardware.
- fragileone 5y ago
  See the GrapheneOS or CalyxOS websites for more details, they are significantly hardened for security compared to LineageOS. Currently those two projects only support Pixels, mainly because they're all bootloader unlockable. If these projects had as many volunteers as LOS then more devices could be officially supported. LOS on a supported Android phone is still a better option than a stock Android or iPhone at least.

avh02 5y ago

I use an hp spectre x360, it's not the most powerful thing in the world and has occasional issues knowing when to charge but otherwise I love it with ubuntu/i3wm

CA0DA 5y ago

I'm suprised nobody has mentioned GrapheneOS: https://grapheneos.org/ https://grapheneos.org/

robertoandred 5y ago

You know Google scans the CP database too, right?

guitarbill 5y ago

As someone else mentioned, for a NAS using TrueNAS (used to be FreeNAS) is easy enough and quite satisfying. You can find plenty of guides. In general, you need to balance budget, capacity requirements, and form factor. Old servers are often great. Big disks seem like a good idea, but for rebuild times going over 4TB is horrible. However, unfortunately HDD prices right now are horrible...

katbyte 5y ago
define horrible? i have a 8x18tb raid-6 array and it rebuilds in 2-3 days.
- guitarbill 5y ago
  I guess it depends. Personally I don't like having rebuilds longer than a day.

skybrian 5y ago

Alternatively, if you don’t use iMessage or iCloud then I don’t think these changes affect you.

rantwasp 5y ago
lol. nope. trust is binary. you either trust apple or not. after peddling their privacy marketing for so long and doing this, they literally lost my trust.
- skybrian 5y ago
  For most people, trust isn't binary though. For example, just because you hire someone for one purpose doesn't mean they should have the keys to your house.
  - rantwasp 5y ago
    If I hire someone to do X I trust them to do X. If X involves them getting in my house to do something while I'm not there I give them the keys. If they screw up I no longer trust them for X and I no longer trust them in general. I'm not saying you trust someone for all the possible things under the sun. I'm saying if I trust you for X and you mess it up I no longer trust you for X.

ursugardaddy 5y ago

TBH I've been considering just dropping a smartphone all together, I don't really get much value out of it since i'm on my laptop most of the time when I want to internet anyway

minton 5y ago

I understand the impulse to turn away from Apple. However, it’s not a practical solution. How long until this tech or worse is mandated in all products? I think the real answer is for the people to stop bickering about primary colors and work together toward passing legislation that limits the pervasive invasion of privacy by governments and corporations.

fragileone 5y ago
You can do both. Boycott Apple because they're the ones who committed this violation, whilst also protesting government efforts to spy.

grae_QED 5y ago

For laptops I'd recommend the framework laptop (https://frame.work/ https://frame.work/). It's thin, powerful, and modular.

heavyset_go 5y ago

If I were to buy a laptop, it would be the Framework laptop that just started shipping. It doesn't have a Ryzen chip, though, so that's a deal breaker for me. Otherwise, that laptop ticks all of my boxes. Phone-wise, there are many options to choose from. I like the idea behind the Teracube 2E[1], as they take some of the principles behind Framework and apply it to phones. > On cloud: I've considered executing on a NAS forever, but I'm unsure where to start. Depends on how much you want to tinker. You can't go wrong with a Raspberry Pi and some external harddrives, but there is also dedicated NAS equipment that requires less setup and maintenance, some of them are Linux based, as well. [1] https://myteracube.com/pages/teracube-2e https://myteracube.com/pages/teracube-2e

winddude 5y ago

acer nitro 5 is my choice for a laptop for running ubuntu, good battery life, I get about 5+ hours.