It's weird, users will happily accept Google Docs and Sheets as replacements for Word and Excel despite the considerable differences but are more reluctant to give the LibreOffice suite a try despite arguably being more capable. But at this point I'm not going to judge as long as they're happy.
My guess is that they are focused only on to cashcow -> enterprise, office, (and all Copilot BS). Sadly very few of IT people I know of move to Linux or macOS for this specific reason. Just like XP users tolerated the tons of systray, toolbar crap - most are tolerating AI shit. To be fair to even knowledgeable people, most are happy to live their live on Smartphone (+ maybe tablet). Most get a corporate laptop from work.
Or gamers that are already used to Windows. So inertia.
Many gamers are married to Windows exclusive games like Fortnite etc., but gamers are also more rebellious than corporate IT staff and many have actually built their computers from parts, so they are not scared of flashing a USB drive. I'm optimistic that this group is the next one to break away from Windows.
Gaming is the biggest thing that keeps me on Windows, followed by the fact that I use an Nvidia GPU, followed by a very localized case of inertia where I have so much data, settings and programs concentrated in my OS install that migrating it all over is going to be a monumental pain in the ass. But luckily, Linux gaming has gotten way better and I don't play the kind of games that categorically refuses to run there (anything with highly involved anti-cheat systems), so once my version of Windows becomes unsupported, I'll bite the bullet and make the Linux install into my primary one.
I think people like me are the real first line that's most likely to switch - techy people who play games (which had so far kept them on Windows) and that suffer firsthand at Microsoft's attempts to get them directly in addition to already being treated horribly by default. This group is less afraid of changing things up and has more incentives to switch. But if we talk of gamers in general, it may take a while until a meaningful number of them switch over, even though they are far more motivated than the average PC user. Even though they're the prime candidates, it's going to be a very, very steep uphill battle.
> ... localized case of inertia where I have so much data, settings and programs concentrated in my OS install that migrating it all ...
Your first step is start swapping out Windows-specific programs for cross-platform alternatives. Eventually you'll have to just cut the rest loose and make the jump though. Don't bother dual-booting either or you'll just delay it further.
I made the transition a few years ago and it was far less dramatic than I imagined.
Luckily, there's not that much Windows-only software I must use. Unluckily, it's pretty essential:
- Fusion 360 (the only alternative seems to be learning a different, likely far more involved CAD)
- Paint.NET (a simple, quick, no-nonsense image editor - while there are image editor alternatives, as far as I can tell there's nothing quite like it)
The bigger issue that might keep me dual-booting are graphical features. Things like VR and HDR are already known to be janky on their "native" Windows implementations, so I'm scared to imagine what any of that is going to be like on Linux. Neither are common use cases, but I still want to hold onto those where possible.
I feel that pain. I was using Lightroom since 2009 or so and I it took me many hours over many Saturdays to extricate myself from its grasp. That being said, my efforts to abandon it was the only thing that exposed a lot of problems (metadata, duplicates, etc.) so... it worked out in the end.
I don't have a replacement at all but this coincided with a reduced desire to tinker with and touch up my photos in general. I'm currently working on a modular Unix-y/CLI-focused way to safely ingest photos (archive originals with PAR2; then move from source and rename), reject/rate as needed, ensure timestamps are correct (UTC for DSLRs), geotag with whatever GPX I have, and then eventually some sort of LLM-based tagging. Exif will do a lot of heavy lifting here.
All I really need now is a way to rate my photos and I'll probably use Digikam for that. Raw processing doesn't have a CLI solution that I like so I'll probably have to use RawTherapee or something as well.
Right. I said that when Windows loses the gamers, its monopoly will eventually collapse. Office-use is another area where Windows has a stronghold, but the gamers are typically quite clever people, whereas elderly people often have physical problems and grew up in a time where computers weren't so dominating.
This is just a personal anecdote, but I was speaking from past experience. Perhaps things have improved now, but back when I seriously used Linux on my own PC, the 2-3 times when the system randomly stopped booting properly and had to be tinkered with for me to be able to do anything with my computer, all of these issues were caused by something (Nvidia) GPU-related.
I think you're right that it's very unlikely to be a common thing. However, so many people use Gmail (including with setups like Thunderbird like you note) that it's totally possible someone really did get banned due to a total fluke.
I would never expect a Western European country to not accept Visa and Mastercard. I say this as an Eastern European. But I do remember that in Germany (and Austria) it's not that accepted to pay by card.
> One of the differentiators between iOS and Google was a lack of ads
I always wonder how apple's marketing team pulled this off.
- If you use any decent browser like Firefox* (or its different clones) one get enhanced privacy, no ads, byepasspaywalls etc.
- Even Chromium forks have decent adblocking
- Using NewPipe (like revanced opensource) for ad free YouTube
All my iOS friends scroll through so many ads - admittedly - SIM/data is paid for my their employers but it is awful experience.
* -> Don't be pendantic and point out yesterday's Verge article that Mozilla is becoming bad.
The same Firefox that only survives because most of its revenue comes from Google?
Your friends are only scrolling through ads because they haven’t installed an ad blocker. They have been available for iOS Safari for over a decade - since iOS 8.
> Isn't that how a system app proves to the system that it is, in fact, a system app?
No.
In a way it does not matter if the app is system or not. Even user apps (signed with some other key) can be powerful to do damage.
System partitions cannot be edited due to SELinux and also thesedays the partition ext4 is created with certain blocks - cant be changed.
Yes one can use magisk to do some gimmick - but that is kinda telling OS - Allow me to do anything.
The notion of locked bootloader as a holy grail against anything is stupidity. Apps inherently have too much power - assuming user somehow granted permissions. (or you are from a 3-letter organisation - incl. NSO)
>In a way it does not matter if the app is system or not. Even user apps (signed with some other key) can be powerful to do damage.
That might be true, but at the same time you shouldn't run random scripts off the internet as root, even though there are plenty of EoP or RCE exploits. The same applies to letting random apps get privileged permissions, even if sophisticated attackers can bypass those permissions with 0days.
>System partitions cannot be edited due to SELinux and also thesedays the partition ext4 is created with certain blocks - cant be changed.
That's irrelevant on Android because system apps can be updated without touching the /system partition, if the .apk is signed with the same key. The system will store the updated .apk file in /data/app, but otherwise grant it privileged permissions that only system apps can get. That's how google play services can update itself and still keep its privileged status, even though the phone OS hasn't been updated in years.
> That's irrelevant on Android because system apps can be updated without touching the /system partition, if the .apk is signed with the same key. The system will store the updated .apk file in /data/app, but otherwise grant it privileged permissions that only system apps can get. That's how google play services can update itself and still keep its privileged status, even though the phone OS hasn't been updated in years.
How is this relevant? Yes, in a custom ROM - USER NEEDS TO BE CAREFUL. (i.e) if someone installs random app - signed by AOSP keys (and that ROM was installed by AOSP keys) it will get installed.
I am yet to see proof that this causes major meltdown.
Assuming a phone was securely installed (after verifying sha/sig) with lineageOS RECOVERY and ROM - it will not accept a build with different sign keys. (i.e) AOSP keys.
>How is this relevant? Yes, in a custom ROM - USER NEEDS TO BE CAREFUL. (i.e) if someone installs random app
It's relevant because it's an exploit vector that can be easily closed with basically zero downside, but for whatever reason it hasn't. Besides the risk of having such holes in the first place, the lack of willingness to fix is indicative of the security culture of the organization as a whole (ie. not very good).
>I am yet to see proof that this causes major meltdown.
It doesn't cause a major meltdown because most people don't use lineageos, so mass infections don't bother targeting them. That doesn't mean the system is actually secure. It's like using netscape navigator to browse the web. It might not cause a "major meltdown", but only because nobody bothers targeting it, not because it's actually secure.
>Assuming a phone was securely installed (after verifying sha/sig) with lineageOS RECOVERY and ROM - it will not accept a build with different sign keys. (i.e) AOSP keys.
Right, but the allegation is that /e/os uses test keys, either intentionally or through incompetence.
GrapheneOS is an alternative OS, that keeps the same security model as Android. It's not a "custom, hacked thing that disables the security".
> Assuming a phone was securely installed (after verifying sha/sig) with lineageOS RECOVERY and ROM - it will not accept a build with different sign keys. (i.e) AOSP keys.
Do you know which keys are used by Lineage? My understanding is that some phones running Lineage use the testing keys. Simply because some phones don't allow "custom keys". But that means that it defeats the point of the signing.
Are you saying that the signing is useless in Android?
This does not sound very informed, to be honest. I can also throw random words like SELinux and NSO, but that's not bringing anything to the discussion.
- Trying to protect all your data from everything all the time is impractical and exhausting.
- There is no perfect option for security. Not everyone has the same priorities, concerns, or access to resources. Your risk assessment will allow you to plan the right strategy for you, balancing convenience, cost, and privacy.
- Some install custom ROM because they don't install 3rd party apps like WhatsApp etc but want to use only OpenSource Email
- Some may say - using original factory ROM is bad for privacy as Google snoops a lot but they have some assurance that some random script kiddie cannot take over
- Some want security but not privacy (i.e) get a ChromeOS - yes everything is given to Google but Google has one of the best security team in the world.
> Doesn't that mean that I could write an app, sign it with those keys (they are public, since they are for testing), and then have it behave like a "system" app on those devices?
This.. but whenever this is mentioned people will start the other point. Google is not for privacy.
I have become a silent spectator.
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