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I use Linux, don't use Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, and try my best to avoid ordering from Amazon. You don't need to go out of your way to use Linux. It is

by nequo 4y ago

I use Linux, don't use Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, and try my best to avoid ordering from Amazon. You don't need to go out of your way to use Linux. It is really not that bad. Ubuntu Mate is a usable desktop and there are others, too, like Linux Mint, etc. It doesn't artificially deprecate your hardware like new Windows releases do. And everything that you install through the package manager is kept up-to-date by it for security fixes, including your browser, mail client, word processor, text editors, Python packages, and so on, without you having to seek out updates manually.

scarface74 4y ago
Let’s not pretend that Microsoft has an unreasonable deprecation strategy. I have a laptop from 2008 [1] that’s running a fully supported Windows 10. After Apple abandoned my old Core Duo 2.66Mhz Mac Mini that was introduced in 2006, I put Windows 7 on it. Windows 7 got its last security update in January 2020 [2]. Yes my old 14 year old Mac Mini is still running. My mom just stopped using it right before Covid as a secondary computer for kids she was tutoring to use Chrome. [1] https://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Dell-Latitude-E6500-Notebook.11958.0.html https://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Dell-Latitude-E6500-Not... [2] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/end-of-support https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/end-of-support
- nequo 4y ago
  I am glad that it is working out for you. Not having security updates since January 2020 is a problem though. From what you're saying, it seems that you could upgrade to Windows 10 but then you're forced to stay on an old version of the OS whose EOL is approaching. This generally doesn't happen with Linux, and this is not the only benefit that Linux has.
  - scarface74 4y ago
    I’m saying that the old Mac Mini that Apple discontinued support for in 2009 - Microsoft kept “supporting” until 2020. That’s 14 years of life for a computer with 1.5GB RAM, a 60GB spinning hard drive, USB 2, 802.11G. The only saving grace was that it also had Gigabit Ethernet. My mom kept it because it was useful. But you can buy a $200 Dell (https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/inspiron-15-3000-laptop/spd/inspiron-15-3510-laptop https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/inspiron-15-300...) that would serve the same purpose - a computer to run Chrome - that would run rings around a 16 year old computer. At some point it just becomes nerd pride to keep using. She does have other computers that she uses that are newer. But once it was EOL, she never used it. Personally, I wouldn’t even think about getting any x86 laptop in 2022. Using an Intel laptop with its horrible battery life, heat and fan noise compared to an ARM Mac is like using a flip phone after the iPhone came out
    - nequo 4y ago
      I agree with you on Intel, and their CPUs also have the undisableable Intel Management Engine[1] problem. But feeding the market power of a big company so that it can become a duopolist or a monopolist is not a good idea. Such market power is always used to perpetuate that power and to extract value from you. Hopefully with efforts like Asahi Linux,[2] Linux can soon be a daily driver on the M1, too. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Management_Engine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Management_Engine [2] https://asahilinux.org/ https://asahilinux.org/
      - scarface74 4y ago
        Apple is part of a duopoly in personal computers with around a 10% market share?
        nequo 4y ago
        I did not say that. Microsoft is though (which was part of our previous conversation) and Apple as a company is a duopoly in smartphones and I expect them to aspire to using the same strategy in other domains.
autoexec 4y ago
> I use Linux, don't use Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, and try my best to avoid ordering from Amazon. you don't use Facebook but that doesn't mean you don't have an account there and that they aren't using it to track every mention of you by anyone you know who also has an account. They're also buying data about you from data brokers and using that to fill your dossier and tracking your browsing/app usage history through facebook buttons and "sign in with facebook" features. That's the problem with inescapable companies like facebook, Microsoft, and Google. You don't have to like them, you don't even have use them, but they'll still be collecting your data and making money at your expense. You aren't allowed to opt out.

by nequo 4y ago

scarface74 4y ago

Let’s not pretend that Microsoft has an unreasonable deprecation strategy. I have a laptop from 2008 [1] that’s running a fully supported Windows 10. After Apple abandoned my old Core Duo 2.66Mhz Mac Mini that was introduced in 2006, I put Windows 7 on it. Windows 7 got its last security update in January 2020 [2]. Yes my old 14 year old Mac Mini is still running. My mom just stopped using it right before Covid as a secondary computer for kids she was tutoring to use Chrome. [1] https://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Dell-Latitude-E6500-Notebook.11958.0.html https://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Dell-Latitude-E6500-Not... [2] https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/end-of-support https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/end-of-support

nequo 4y ago
I am glad that it is working out for you. Not having security updates since January 2020 is a problem though. From what you're saying, it seems that you could upgrade to Windows 10 but then you're forced to stay on an old version of the OS whose EOL is approaching. This generally doesn't happen with Linux, and this is not the only benefit that Linux has.
- scarface74 4y ago
  I’m saying that the old Mac Mini that Apple discontinued support for in 2009 - Microsoft kept “supporting” until 2020. That’s 14 years of life for a computer with 1.5GB RAM, a 60GB spinning hard drive, USB 2, 802.11G. The only saving grace was that it also had Gigabit Ethernet. My mom kept it because it was useful. But you can buy a $200 Dell (https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/inspiron-15-3000-laptop/spd/inspiron-15-3510-laptop https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/inspiron-15-300...) that would serve the same purpose - a computer to run Chrome - that would run rings around a 16 year old computer. At some point it just becomes nerd pride to keep using. She does have other computers that she uses that are newer. But once it was EOL, she never used it. Personally, I wouldn’t even think about getting any x86 laptop in 2022. Using an Intel laptop with its horrible battery life, heat and fan noise compared to an ARM Mac is like using a flip phone after the iPhone came out
  - nequo 4y ago
    I agree with you on Intel, and their CPUs also have the undisableable Intel Management Engine[1] problem. But feeding the market power of a big company so that it can become a duopolist or a monopolist is not a good idea. Such market power is always used to perpetuate that power and to extract value from you. Hopefully with efforts like Asahi Linux,[2] Linux can soon be a daily driver on the M1, too. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Management_Engine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Management_Engine [2] https://asahilinux.org/ https://asahilinux.org/
    - scarface74 4y ago
      Apple is part of a duopoly in personal computers with around a 10% market share?
      - nequo 4y ago
        I did not say that. Microsoft is though (which was part of our previous conversation) and Apple as a company is a duopoly in smartphones and I expect them to aspire to using the same strategy in other domains.

autoexec 4y ago

> I use Linux, don't use Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, and try my best to avoid ordering from Amazon. you don't use Facebook but that doesn't mean you don't have an account there and that they aren't using it to track every mention of you by anyone you know who also has an account. They're also buying data about you from data brokers and using that to fill your dossier and tracking your browsing/app usage history through facebook buttons and "sign in with facebook" features. That's the problem with inescapable companies like facebook, Microsoft, and Google. You don't have to like them, you don't even have use them, but they'll still be collecting your data and making money at your expense. You aren't allowed to opt out.