I’ve said for years that the very last power we have as consumers is the ability to turn off our internet and still be able to use our devices. That is my minimum expectation of any company.
Fridge needs an internet connection, fuck you. TV won’t work unless it’s connected to the internet, fuck you.
But most especially (and this is why I moved to Linux originally), computer needs to always be connected to the internet even if all I’m doing is opening an office program that has nothing to do online? Go fuck yourself.
The ability to unplug my ethernet cable and still be able to use 99% of my computer with the exception of email and a web browser is the absolutely most basic human right left to us.
ptz@dubvee.org 8 months ago
Don’t want to sound like I’m proselytizing, but unless you run Linux, your computer really isn’t yours (closed firmware aside).
Microsoft is just as bad at treating your hardware as theirs that they so graciously allow you to use.
pearsaltchocolatebar@discuss.online 8 months ago
Forced updates are a good thing for most people, though. The general population doesn’t know or care about infosec, so they’ll put off updates for months or years.
Nia_The_Cat@beehaw.org 8 months ago
UmbraTemporis@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 months ago
No.
A notification, in the tray and elsewhere across the OS, with a short description like “Updates are crucial to the security of you and your device, they also provide the freshest experience.” would get the point across. What would be even better is if there was a one-click NQA button to initiate the update, perhaps even included on the notification.
kent_eh@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
Updates forced at inconvenient (or inapropriate) times aren’t a good thing though.
Don’t interrupt my work right bloody now.
You can update later when I’m done doing what I’m in the middle of.
derbis@beehaw.org 8 months ago
Let’s have the authorities force us to eat salad and exercise while we’re at it, it’s better for us
ptz@dubvee.org 8 months ago
Hard agree to disagree.
Zworf@beehaw.org 8 months ago
That’s their problem though. If they wanna get hacked, go for it.
But there should be a way to turn it off for us power users at least (without having to build a whole domain controller)
thingsiplay@beehaw.org 8 months ago
Don’t want to sound like I’m proselytizing, but there are other free operating systems not based on Linux: FreeBSD, FreeDOS or ReactOS in example. I wish, I could add GNU/Hurd to the list, but from what I know, its unusable at the moment. Redox is also a new OS written in Rust, but it’s not ready yet (I think).
Now, are these real alternatives to a regular Linux based OS? In some cases they are (FreeBSD and their family), but most probably would just use Linux for their PC. They aren’t even suited for gaming I guess, the likes of Steam. I was just “Acktually”-ing around that you don’t “need” Linux for owning your computer. I mean, you mentioned closed firmware, so technically I was allowed to. :D
PM_ME_VINTAGE_30S@lemmy.sdf.org 8 months ago
Yeah my position is really to recommend any FOSS OS in the large over proprietary ones. However, since my experience is primarily with Linux distributions, and I do think that Linux makes sense for a lot of use cases, I usually start by talking about “Linux” first.
But, from my experience, if a “solution” to a problem “forces” the user to make a choice, then they’ll stick with what “currently works” over having to make a choice. So when I talk to people about Linux IRL, I typically direct them to Linux Mint directly, even though other distros exist and it actually doesn’t fit my use cases. Once they’re comfortable in the Linux ecosystem, they can switch to a different distro or OS family if they feel the need to do so.
ptz@dubvee.org 8 months ago
Yeah, I know people running FreeBSD as their daily driver; totally left that one out haha.
The rest of them are either niche (e.g. FreeDOS for retrogaming) or not quite ready for daily driving (e.g. ReactOS – which I’ve been rooting for for a while now).
There’s also TempleOS lol
nightwatch_admin@feddit.nl 8 months ago
The Hurd hasn’t done anything properly in, what, 3 decades? I am actually surprised someone even remembers it.
acastcandream@beehaw.org 8 months ago
Would you recommend one of these alternatives or a Linux-based OS for a 2016 Intel MacBook Pro?
Diplomjodler@feddit.de 8 months ago
Don’t want to sound like I’m proselytising but do you have a few minutes to talk about our Lord and Saviour, Linus Torvalds?