The thing that has struck me the most is the complete lack of opposition. Not of the incessant quibbles online, but real opposition in the streets by everyday people.
Users are never given an option in capitalist-American-spyware & -malware–suspicious ‘software’. You either accept unfair terms or… no. There is no option to decline. There’s always just an “ok” button. The fact that governments (the supreme body that is supposed to… well, um… govern) have just left this space, completely vacant… is very fucking odd. There are no governing bodies for software or for consumers of software. It’s a pure capitalist hellscape of no-choice. One giant monopoly that offers you not convenience, because there’s no choice. How can something be convenient when there’s no choices? I bring up convenience because it’s the term most brought up by users in their complicit use of totalitarian software. It’s the same as being dictated to by a communist-thug and mentally deluding yourself that you comply out of an overwhelming sense of it being convenient. You don’t get a choice.
The jab at communism isn’t out of place, because the cold war rhetoric stays in living memory and were we not told the communist states–even those too shy to admit it, but just brave enough to self-subscribe as socialist–were we not told they had the secret police? They had no consumer choices–only one brand of toothpaste; only one brand of shoe; only one brand of car: all brandishing the state’s logo. Yet look around you and it’s a global duopoly of America’s Apple & Google. You don’t get a choice. You have to comply, as any freedom loving capitalist would. You will accept American-spyware. The American-spyware-corps will look after you. You just need to comply, because it’s convenient. You don’t have a choice.
Yes, use libre mobile-computers, but the need for public governance of technology is now. Countries need to have software sovereignty. It’s embarrassing for a non-American state to publish their ‘apps’ only via American spyware companies. It’s ludicrous. To give them an exclusive contract in distribution and to pay Apple or Google to supply, whilst they turn around and tighten the hatch: making it harder for users to install packages that do not originate from their monopolistic ‘market places’. It’s a joke.
If you’re a developer do not publish on American spyware platforms. Do not do it. Do not compromise. Fight these duopolies.
Resistance/Opposition comes from coordinated efforts in person and online. So if the people want better then we got to keep building it up
Remember kids, always buy Google Pixels (or any other good phone where you can swap AVB keys) and flash GrapheneOS/LineageOS on it.
This is purely bound to official Google Mobile Services and to the Play store. So the degoogled Android ROMs will help.
Keep an eye for motorola. As GrapheneOS partner with them for the next generation of GOS devices
Google Pixels
Second-hand of course
Unfortunately can be kinda risky, as a pixel that was originally purchased through a Verizon plan has a locked bootloader thst I’ve read Verizon doesn’t generally unlock even after they unlock the carrier restriction, making it impossible to install GrapheneOS on. For those that go the used route, make sure it was not a Verizon phone.
Oh apologies, I’m not familiar with carrier locks so USians can disregard my advice :D
AFAIK Orange (the Slovak one) doesn’t do carrier locks. Also I saw the same with other EU operators.
In EU those were prehistoric times. Nowadays phones are unlocked.
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…and time to upgrade toa dumb phone.
Anyone got good recommendations?
IDK, but i looked briefly a couple years ago and I wasn’t happy.
Many of todays “dumb” phones run android just in a locked down mode where you can’t install apps. There are a couple other OS options, I can’t remember the names of those now. But they still had a full OS. Just running in a restricted mode.
To me dumbphone means just that. Dumb! No OS. Just enough h/w to connect to the cell network, like those HUGE oldschool cell phones in the 80’s. Except small for pockets now. Once my dumbphone runs android, it opens up attack surface I don’t want.
But I didn’t spent too much time looking. So could be my seach skills failed me.
Developers: global rollout of ditching Android.
Developers Part 2: Global switch to Mobile Linux
