Originally this was a reply to this article about a Windows feature called Recall, but there’s a good argument the author’s concerns resonate far beyond Windows and Meta to proprietary generally.
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One should be have been assuming since Windows 7 and automated online updates that the Microsoft key used to sign OS updates is in the hands of at least the NSA (and hence probably the Israeli equivalent) and they can push whatever they want to your computer as an OS update, bypassing all protections.
In fact the same applies to Linux updates of certain distros - if they’re maintained by a company based in the US they can be forced by FISA courts to provide the signing keys to the US Government.
More in general, just go read about FISA courts and their secret court orders - companies based in the US or hosting things in the US can be secretly forced to just “give the keys of the Realm” to parts of the US Government.
Since things like the Patriot act one should be treating companies based in the US as just as untrustworthy as companies based in China.
(By the way, some other supposed Democratic countries have similar or worse systems - for example the equivalent of FISA courts in the UK have things like secret court sessions were the side which is not the State is not authorized to have a legal representation, see most of the evidence or even know the decision of the court).
Have people already forgot most of what came out in the Snowden Revelations?!
I switched from Fedora to openSUSE recently and it has been painless. Would recommend to anyone who are looking to get away from US companies and US jurisdiction.
Was considering migrating from Fedora and getting a MacBook, but this is making me reconsider.
What does linux need to try?
To all the people who are criticising this guy for working for Meta, I would like to remind you of the phrase, “Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer”.
I am very much a left-winger, but I still read right-wing papers and articles, I like to know what the other side is thinking.
I use Ubuntu. Can someone tell me if that’s “independent and outside US jurisdiction”? I know it’s made/maintained by canonical.
What are some Linux distros that we should avoid? What are some that are independent?
Debian is a community distro. Ubuntu is downstream of it.
It’s UK based
I want to get into Linux and I need a new laptop. I’m happy to go secondhand but I actually want a half decent thing that can play some games, not the cheapest box I can put Linux on and use fake word.
Am I best off just buying a new windows laptop than I can dual boot? Or any other suggestions?
Windows is US$ 139.00. So I figured if I buy a laptop without windows it will be 139 less but I guess manufacturers get windows for like $20 so there are no saving anyway.
Yes, at least Lenovo Linux laptops are 140$ cheaper.
Take a look at Framework, or System76 for Linux first hardware.
Lenovo recently started shipping laptops with Linux at a discount. But its probably better to buy a laptop from a Linux seller so that you know the hardware compatibility is being maintained.
use massgrave[dot]dev for all the windows software. its very easy
FUCK YEAH, YEAR OF THE LINUX DESKTOP
It’s funny how they’re saying “You need to use Linux” and not “You need to get off Facebook”. How’s Linux going to save you from Facebook spying on you?
I think the be careful what you do on Facebook is implied. He’s highlighting something that’s less expected, where you may need to be careful what you do on Windows systems.
They mentioned Microsoft updating privacy agreements at the same time as other companies, and OP mentioned that the context was a discussion of a Windows ultra-keylogger type of feature, the implication is they’re in on this shit too, and Linux is a way to not use Windows.
Back in 2020 when I took my class for my A+ cert I remember the instructor directing us to a Windows 10 debloating video tutorial to speed up a Win10 computer. If I recall correctly In that video the host point’s out that one of the Microsoft services that ran in the background of every standard distribution of Windows 10 was a keylogger. It was one of the many things that got permanently turned off in the in the tutorial.
They literally work for the Fediverse branch of meta, sure its an evil corp and zucks intentions aren’t exactly pure (more than likely an effort to lower server costs) but it is something likely to put more eyes onto the fediverse which I definitely think will benefit the fediverse in the long run.
I read the post like you at first, but I don’t think he works on the fediverse. I think it was just a poor/unclear sequence of clauses in his post.
My uncle works at the fediverse and gets all the games before they come out
Threads has fediverse integration, the fediverse like the internet is decentralised its not an entity.
“im a henchman for a bad guy…and lemme tell you…I think we might be starting to do bad stuff…not sure yet…”
Thanks bud
Unfortunately, not everyone has a choice in who they work for in end-stage-capitalism. Work is about survival, not ideology. The majority of Americans are not far-right capitalists, but the vast majority of CEOs are, and it’s not really possible to survive long enough to start a small business in most of the US without investment from a far-right capitalist or inheritance (usually also from a far-right capitalist family member).
If you have the skillset and CV to work at Meta, you have a choice to work somewhere slightly lower on the scale of exploitation.
“Are we the baddies?!”
At some point we need to start welcoming people to the Light, instead of demonizing them for having been in the Dark. It’s pretty difficult for me not to dunk on people as they wake up to the nightmare that they voted for, but a lot them ARE actually otherwise decent folks. Making America Great is going to involve deprogramming a lot of people.
That’s all good and well and I agree with you, but I also believe if you have and are continuing to feed the machine, then you don’t get to be put on a pedestal or respected for recognizing how bad the machine is. This person is repeating something that is already very well known and accepted and is simultaneously adding to the alarm while causing it. I have extremely low patience for that particular brand of person. They are continuing to cause the problem they are rallying against.
If I were face to face with this person, I’d genuinely say “either quit working there or shut the fuck up.”
What about when it’s your family? I am estranged from a lot of people that I care deeply for because they refuse to engage with reason. I’m not trying to put anyone on a pedestal, good or bad.
I just want people to know that they are welcome to change their minds, nobody is going to mock them for doing so, or say I told you so. That’s what they expect, and pride is part of what holds many of them back from admitting that they were wrong. Because it’s what they would do. Unfortunately, we’re going to need to take the high road.
People gotta earn money to survive, I don’t blame the employees for this. And this is not just a case of Meta’s privacy being bad. This is close government involvement with potentially serious impacts and implications across all US based platforms.
“I’m only following orders!”
if they didnt know what they were signing up for, and they cant quit, you cant blame them
Yeah, just like the attorney’s who resigned when asked to drop the charges against Eric Adams.
That first comma is a bit out of place - ‘why won’t you just try, Linux?’
‘seriously Linux, just try your vegetables’.It can’t. Its just a kernel. Maybe with the right gnu core utils…
I was thinking one of those bio powered military robots
Or maybe with busybox :3 (I use Alpine)
Its a bit odd to see an employee of a company that has always had a terrible privacy policy now be suddenly alarmed.
See the context mentioned by OP. It was a reply to a post about Recall on Windows.
Things have changed. Before, the worst Facebook could do to its critics was ban them and those that they knew. Now Facebook can have ICE turnover your house without a warrant for a troll post. A private company is now working to suppress a specific kind of conversation that questions the judgement and actions of those in power. It’s a subtle but very dangerous difference in why a bad EULA may not have previously caused concern but the new one is.
I’d be leery about posting anything on any platform, especially one that has even your email or other personal info attached to it. Even on a random day that I go browse ahem the other place, I don’t really comment anymore. I don’t even have my email tied to that account, but I don’t trust spez’s greedy little pig boy ass, and I’m doing my damn best to fly under the radar while they build their databases. Nor would I trust MS, Google, or even Apple to not be tracking every thought and action online for resistance monitoring.
id ditch the account if thats what you want
Well, if they want to intimidate everybody who says anything anti-Trump…they’re going to be very busy. What I’m worried about are leaders of movements.
intimidating everyone is a lot of work, but having them on the list can be useful to disperse wherever they plan on doing next, or purge attempts to organize in a more decentralized way.
it can even be used to manipulate or target certain cohorts with propaganda and stuff in a way not possible before. surveillance brings control.
What are you scared of? There’s more of us than there are of them. Hiding in the shadows, too afraid to act is how they win. Be loud and deliberate in voicing your opposition. If they’re coming for you anyway you may as well face it head on.
Until those willing to stand up and fight build up into a critical mass, every individual is at risk of being disappeared by the thought police. So until then, there is a good reason to be scared.
Well, that’s not going to happen if everyone stays hidden until it’s safe to come out
He is kinda whistle-blowing about the next level of evil. Up and coming.
it wasnt them under the crosshairs before
This is a big oof.
imagine how great it feels to say this for like 10-15 years while getting dismissed as a conspiracy nut.
and then having it happen exactly as you said it would.
It’s called the Cassandra Complex, named after Cassandra/Kassandra of Troy.
If you think this is new, you’re very naive. They just have better tools to spy on you now.
i didn’t say its exactly new, quite the opposite.
its just that we can’t stop it anymore.
nah you can totally stop the surveillance. Just use tailsOS, live in the basement of a building under an aluminum ceiling (to hide from synthetic-aperture radar spy sats), near a busy highway (so the LIGO gravity-wave observatory cant record the sound of your footsteps), get food deliveries so you don’t have to leave, and connect to the internet using a neighbors wifi.
I was talking more about the panopticon surveillance phenomena, not the people individually trying to hide something which I’d guess its probably still possible.
But the surveillance state is here to stay and we won’t get rid of it easily is what i’m saying.
Switching from Windows to Linux isn’t going to block them from monitoring your use of online services. Facebook doesn’t even do anything in the OS space.
Know what linux doesn’t have? Your screen constantly recorded and sent to corporations who use this data to maximise shareholder value. Oh and the company is in a 3rd world dictatorial shithole with little to no user protection or regulations.
“But i disabled recall” Cool. They still use telemetry. You turned it off? Nice job, have you considered using linux so you don’t have to do the advanced user bullshit(and if you do, it’s way easier and more straightforward?)
I think what they are getting at is that Meta does this and they find it likely Microsoft might be doing something similar.
Yeah, this was a weird way for them to phrase this. You can use Meta stuff on Linux and Fediverse stuff on Windows.
They have an agreement with MS, so they are definitely doing something there.
