I’ve had similar feelings about Apple since the mid-2010s, that my interests as a Mac user are not in line with Apple’s interests as a corporation. Since Steve

I’ve had similar feelings about Apple since the mid-2010s, that my interests as a Mac user are not in line with Apple’s interests as a corporation. Since Steve Jobs passed away, Apple made moves that made the Mac less attractive to me, most notably the shift to soldered RAM throughout its lineup and even moving to soldered storage. I now use Windows as my daily driver on my personal machine, but I’m not happy with my options, which involve either paying exorbitant prices for a Mac that has the amount of RAM that I need (my PC desktop has 64GB) or dealing with the shortcomings of Windows and desktop Linux. Unfortunately personal computing has undergone “enshittification” across the board in the past 10-15 years, and one could make a good argument that Apple has been the least bad offender. Indeed, I still choose a Mac at work whenever it’s an option, and I have an iPhone because I prefer iOS to Android. I personally believe today’s tech giants have too much power. More specifically, they have too much control over the computing experience, and they use their control in ways that benefit the platform owners at the expense of the user. I love free, open source software and I use it whenever I get the chance; indeed, I have and regularly use Linux servers and development VMs, and I sometimes use a Linux desktop in certain settings, such as on my Raspberry Pi devices. I’m appreciative for the Linux desktop, but the ecosystem lacks the polish of even Mac OS X Tiger from 20 years ago. I understand that writing an entire ecosystem of software is a massive effort that requires time and coordination, and it’s very difficult to have Mac OS X Tiger-like cohesion and conformity in a bazaar-like development ecosystem. However, this seems to work well for infrastructure like compilers (GCC, LLVM, the various compilers for other languages), databases (PostgreSQL and MySQL), and even the base operating systems themselves (Linux + the GNU tools, the BSDs). Perhaps the way out of “enshittification” and reliance on tech giants for our computing needs is to have an ecosystem of user-focused companies and non-profits serving us. I quit using Facebook last month after over 18 years of use. I use a Framework 13 laptop because I value user-serviceability and upgradability. Regarding the FOSS desktop, I have some ideas I’ve been thinking of for over five years regarding how we can promote component-based software as an alternative to large, siloed applications, not only to improve usability, but also to make development easier (http://mmcthrow-musings.blogspot.com/2020/10/where-did-personal-computing-go-wrong.html http://mmcthrow-musings.blogspot.com/2020/10/where-did-perso...).