Your post sends an absolutely wrong signal! “Now that we know Linux is no more secure than Windows and it spies on use just the same, whats the point?” Besides of the fact that this statement is IMHO wrong the term ‘Linux’ is a very generic term and to compare it to windows is unreasonable. You need to compare a particular distro like Linux Mint cinnamon 64-bit 17.3 to for instance w10 pro and then make statements! “The lack of activity on this sub forum in recent months speaks volumes for the future of Linux.” Right! The more popular ‘Linux’ becomes the more it degenerates like windows and Android. To get the best for you individually you have to choose away from mainstream. This is a general rule. Yes Linux R.I.P. and spend us (few users) privacy and fun a long time as you are doing already. Never become a product for the masses
Apart from the elitist rubbish - this is quite meaningless, Yen. Can't make heads or tails out of this sentence... Could you clarify, please? I hope I misunderstood!
Ubuntu is insecure and spies on you, therefore so do all of its clones, this lot accounts for about half the distros in circulation. Opensuse is just as insecure and probably spies on you just the same as Ubuntu, that's another large chunk of the Linux universe. I don't have the time or the patience to list all the modded versions of just these two variations of Linux let alone all the rest. They are basically all the bloody same any way. I am talking desktop here, I know sweet FA about the server releases.
How is Ubuntu insecure? You claim to be insecure yet you cite no sources. Ubuntu is based on Debian GNU/Linux - Commonly used in servers. Same with the notion that Ubuntu and all it's derivatives spy on you, this is completely false. I'll assume what you meant by the spying was amazon's search. This "feature" sent your search queries in the Unity Dash to amazon. This was never placed in any version of Ubuntu other than Ubuntu Unity. It was easily disabled via a menu. No obfuscation whatsoever. This was never implemented in Ubuntu GNOME, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, Kubuntu, Ubuntu MATE etc... Even more, It's been disabled by default in 16.04 LTS If you don't believe me, search the articles
Nope! You got it all backwards. If you hate monopolies and undue influence due to a monopolistic position in the market, then you need Linux for the masses! Safe. Sound. Capable. At least as capable as Winblows. But for masses! Doing it all, at least like Win7! I don't mean eye-candy galore, like in W10, which contributes to slow responses of the OS, coupled with gathering and sending telemetry to the Mastahs of the Universe, of course... Just capable to do everything that Winbloes does.... But that means masses-friendly! Otherwise, you don't know what you are talking about or at least wishing for...
Yen I dont disagree with much you have said, but we do need a solid alternative to Windows/IOS. Any distro with a small elite user base could be safe and secure but it will suffer from very poor software support and be practically useless for a lot of tasks, big = versatile. I ran Mepis for years and really liked it, I ran it alongside XP, Mepis could not carry out all the tasks I required so I dropped it and went back to Windows. All these years later and nothing has changed other than there are now the security and spyware concerns that equal those with Windows. So what is the point?
Well, that's just cynical... Or do you prefer "realist"?!? To me, Ubuntu made huge strides towards a mass market - remember what it was like before them... They were the trail-blazers, then many followed... You mentioned only one... They had one bad episode and it is not beyond "repair"... You lost perspective... Remember... P.S. E2 now is everywhere, not just in Sat TV... Cable, terrestrial, IPTV... And it is quite mass-friendly nowadays... One of the culprits - you are talking to, right here...
As long as humans are addicted to profit it is questionable to compare an OS by quantity. One has to make clear what one expects from an OS and if one really needs them 'features'. What are the strong attributes of windows? Many applications/software available and supported, ‘established wide spread’, games, hardware support, compatibility…. An OS that should stay ‘independent’ never can have the same strong quantitative attributes. One needs to focus on the unique quality…..and to lower the sight on quantity. If one cannot then the quality of a Linux distro doesn’t seem to compensate the quantitative attributes of windows…. Since w10 I rather say no to some win only apps and use a simpler Linux alternative for them… ‘Realist’….but there is hope. IMHO a project like developing an OS that will be mass friendly and immune to ‘exploitation’ by capitalistic interests requires people with a strong altruistic ideology and skills of course…and many many voluntary works in spare time. Maybe also the idea at first sight to go ‘against’ giants….you gorski know that being involved in E2 dev.. One of a vision I have for MDL has a bit of that taste….a community with helpful people who have fun to help ‘by helping’….of course MDL is not capable to develop an own OS….not yet lol…. What I want to say is have a look at some members here..Serg008 for instance. He modifies BIOSES every day and is here at MDL . That is fantastic and wow almost speechless. Why is he doing that? Because he helps others and has fun There are many many other members who are here helping others in a community for the sake of a community… It is hard to get such people together and it is hard to have them together a long time….and it is hard to have the ‘altruistic’ idea over years staying immune to ‘temptations’… If such people come together and if they are skilled and organized and stay immune then an OS for the masses could be created…..out of open source and with 'profit aware' partners you need to publish/develop/maintain. This is the ‘maturity’ I am talking about….it requires a special group consciousness we (humans) still haven’t realized at IT over the time and that is the reason why product for the masses is still equal to the control of the masses by the product. Or in other words it is still true to say To control the masses you have to be mass-friendly...so Android became.
Wow, I had no idea you're such a cynic... E2 alone is questioning that... And then there's Linus... Most of Ubuntu... Knowledge... ...etc. etc....
I know. But I said there is hope. Maybe 'we' fail again with mint ..but you’re right saying if ..then Linux better said open source. The structure and organisation of open source is already fertile soil...GNU-Projekt, GPL and the like.....we just need to add 'enlightened entrepreneurship' (borrowed that term from somebody since I liked it).....it's just Android that has disappointed me much....
Already done by using catchy tunes on telly ads, that you end up singing in your head for the next 3 days
A sociologist in ex-YU wrote a book, opening it with his amazement, when his 2 year old shot up in the middle of the night and fired a salvo ""Stedite kod Lugobanke!" ("Save at Yugobank!") We do learn in an unconscious manner, too; we are susceptible, we... know about Goebbels... Enjoy!
You are sorely ill-informed.. It's tiring explaining the underlying reason for Zeitgeist, Geo-clue or whatever..(care to search the tech stuff rather than click-bait blogs? ) but if those believe it's spy-ware then go elsewhere.. the rest of us will be better off - rather than complaining without evidence, use discernment - Linux users are not brainless....right?