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Joined 5 months ago
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Cake day: June 16th, 2024

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  • On one hand, I get it. You’re used to Windows and want to use an environment you’re used to and apps you’re comfortable with.

    On the other, you need to be aware that you’re going to be constantly fighting an uphill battle. Microsoft doesn’t care that you don’t want those programs using resources, they’re going to install them because it’s in the best interest of their shareholders. The programs might be able to be removed using third party tools, but then you’re relying on random tools found on the internet to remove bits of your operating system without hurting anything or doing anything malicious.

    The data these programs gather is more valuable to Microsoft than the blowback because this is the exact stance people will take: sure it sucks that this is being forced upon me, but it’s still better than leaving. So I’ll either deal with it (99% if users are here) or ill find a random program and cross my fingers it does only what’s on the label.

    The only solution I see is to swap to something else, causing Microsoft to lose market share and thereby convincing shareholders not to force this on users.

    The choice is yours.









  • Even if law enforcement can get a warrant, unless there’s a backdoor in the encryption then the data stays private. That’s the whole point of encryption.

    The fundamental problem is law enforcement feeling entitled to snoop on private communications with a warrant vs the inherent security flaw with making a backdoor in encrypted communications. The backdoor will eventually get exploited, either by reverse engineering/tinkering or someone leaking keys, and then encryption becomes useless. The only way encryption works is if the data can only be decrypted by one key.

    Anyone else remember when TSA published a picture of the master key set for TSA approved luggage locks and people had modeled and printed replicas within hours?








  • Some of us manage to break the cycle, but despite how much I love Linux (ups and downs) I understand that it isn’t for everyone currently.

    What most people want is a stable system they can just use without understanding much if anything about how the underlying systems work. They don’t care that wifi drivers can be fixed through a few terminal commands, they rail against the fact they have to do much of anything at all besides click [Next >]. And I can’t blame them; that’s what Microsoft has trained them for.

    So many people with random toolbars and junk extensions in their browsers because the [Next >] button is how they get past whatever problem they have. The average user isn’t very tech savvy, and it takes someone with a desire to learn to truly thrive in a Linux environment.

    I’ve converted my mom to Kubuntu, and she does well, but she’s also an outlier (she has an expired CCNA certification).

    Linux suffers from a catch 22: there’s not enough users because there’s not a lot of commercial support because there’s not enough users because… And the people who are donating their time to make it better are saints as far as I’m concerned, but there’s only so much people can do for free. Things truly have gotten better, but until more typical user types can adopt Linux with little to no fuss, not much will change.

    And that fact hurts my soul.


  • Obviously there has to be an incentive for Jim-bob to tie up his retirement savings and credit worthiness in a house that he doesn’t live in. You may not like the fact that people have to qualify for bank loans to buy property, but this is the world we live in.

    Obviously if I think landlords are a leech on society, then I must also be in favor of free property for everyone! There’s no issue with having to qualify for a loan for a house, but don’t piss in my shoes and call it rain. All landlords do is drive up the price of living for someone who could have potentially bought the house they’re renting. If they’re able to rent it, then they’re clearly able to afford the mortgage payments, upkeep, taxes, etc. Plus extra to support the living expenses of the owner.

    Oh, your anecdotal evidence about your parent’s home surely beats my Nobel-prize winning economics study citation.

    I sure missed any citations in your post. Unless you think just naming a publication counts as citing it.

    Because I have anecdotal evidence for someone who bought a house for $400k in 2004 and then later sold it for $280k after the real estate crash.

    cool story bro. There’s always cases of people losing out because they buy high and sell low, but in your anecdote, what would the $400,000 home be worth today had the homeowner held onto the property? There is no stock portfolio that would appreciate in value the same way houses have.

    No, you get different scam calls which you assume are the same but are definitely not, since these ones just go out to names on lists of property owners, not random residents.

    Tell me more about the phone calls I receive and how they’re not ‘real’ scam calls.