I tried to find the video on PeerTube, from the end users perspective I think we should encourage others to choose community over corporate and use platforms like PeerTube to post these videos instead of YouTube (Alphabet).

I didn’t know it was a Cloudflare site, but I was happy to see it’s not running Google’s hardware fingerprinting Ajax scripts that I dislike more than Cloudflare services.

The flatpak has been working for me on Linux Mint, although the flatpak didn’t work on Ubuntu proper. From what I understand the Mint devs do some extra tinkering to support flatpaks better than vanilla Ubuntu. Have you tried downloading the binary and running it from a terminal?

The Appimage also works well for me on my Ubuntu XFCE box.

https://www.openra.net/download/#linux

Unless we want Google to complete the “Death Star” and totally control the Internet, I think using services based on their products still perpetuates Alphabet dominance of the web. I use Firefox based browsers and search engines like DDG and Brave that don’t depend on Google’s code base to exist.

I don’t blindly stand behind any of these companies, but I believe DuckDuckGo is privately held, so it doesn’t have shareholders clamoring for the greediest and most deceptive business practices like Alphabet and Microsoft. I know Brave is controversial, but lately their search engine has been working well as backup for DDG, so I can avoid Google all together.

Wow, I didn’t think of that. Thank you!

Companies don’t desire to be treated as people under the law, the 1886 Supreme Court decision that interpreted the 14th Amendment as corporate personhood was the most racist decision we still live with today. The amendment was written to grant freed slaves citizenship, but the same greedy capitalists that benefited from slavery used it to begin the neofeudaism that still enriches the few while causing suffering for the masses today and it’s only getting worse. Don’t “love” any corporation, they’re literally born out of the greatest evil in US history.

OpenRA, MineTest, Veloren

I think the automotive analogy is relevant, some think using technology means they understand it. I’m a pretty good driver, but it would be unwise to ask me to repair your car’s transmission. My grandmother spends more time on her computer glued to Facebook than I spend using my computer on a given day, but I’m not asking her to build my next gaming rig.

I use Brave as recommendation for my friends still using Chrome, since I tell them it’s built on the same code. Most of them are so scared to leave Google’s toxic ecosystem that they think just installing LibreWolf will get them on a gov watchlist, hell they’re probably right. 🫢

I don’t like how any of these big tech companies try and force us to use their spyware vs letting people make an informed choice. I don’t agree with the technique, but the silver lining may be that we desperately need competition with browsers and the reality is that this is how US predatory capitalism works now. Companies take advantage of people because we have no proper regulation in the tech space. Maybe some people will switch to from Chrome to Edge (reskinned Chrome) Ranking for privacy on a 1-10 scale imho

Chrome 0 Edge 1 Firefox 5 Brave 6 LibreWolf 9

Purism’s corporate charter recognizes them as a social purpose corporation, it sounds very good in theory, but I think it’s been a struggle for them to pull off. Under this charter they’re supposed to value creating products and services that benefit society more than simply making profits. Unfortunately, I think being so idealistic has caused them to over promise and under deliver, as was the case with the Librem 5 phone imo.

Another Linux tablet is definitely good news. I like Purism’s stated values and their laptops are very solid, the Librem phone was a disappointment for me personally though.

If I try to stop using every company or service that has an obnoxious CEO spouting ignorant views I’m afraid I wouldn’t even be able to access the web. At the very least I’m glad companies like Brave give lip service to privacy to highlight awareness.

I’ve had good experience with LibreWolf, but disabling the resist fingerprinting is QoL compromise with privacy easily accomplished in the settings.

Are you implying that Google’s primary business model is something other than the collection and sale of people’s personal data? Google services are discounted or “free” because they monetize user data through tools like their reCAPTCHA hardware fingerprinting technology deployed on System 76’s website. My point is that System 76 claim’s to be “extremely concerned with user privacy”, but chooses a payment processor dependent on the Internet’s least privacy preserving corporation and that is a contradiction of your “proclaimed” values.

Btw, I recently learned that Purism also deploys Google scripts with their payment processor and I wasted my money on a Librem 5 a year ago. It has the worst touchscreen and battery life of any device I own, so let me assure you I’m no shill for that company. I honestly buy my hardware from System 76 every chance I get, so when I feel they’re being disingenuous about their values (privacy), I take it personal, since I’m typing this on a Galago Pro.

I’ll probably relent and order the Lemur over the phone as Stetson suggested. I’m critical of System 76 because I want them to succeed and I think they should follow other companies (Valve, Discord, etc…) abandoning Google as their ship sinks because of shareholder greed.

https://www.pcmag.com/news/steam-ditches-google-analytics-over-customer-privacy-concerns

I’m sure a lot of people at System 76, like myself started using Google in the 90s and had an invitation only Gmail account, becoming enchanted with the company 20 years ago. Unfortunately, after their 2004 IPO, the shareholder’s have clamored for the increasingly relentless collection and sale of user data to advertisers and even government tax and intelligence agencies to the point that Alphabet has lost much of it’s goodwill in the tech community and many are now suspicious of Google like myself.

I made my post not to bash System 76, but to point out what I believe is a strategic error continuing to have Google as a business partner when payment processor’s like Stripe will allow hCaptcha’s (privacy preserving service) instead.

With all do respect friend, I’m assuming most of us here that really care about privacy ditched Gmail very early in our privacy journey. I think virtually every policy Google enforces, including phone validation has some element of data collection in mind. We can debate whether providing the phone number is an information grab or a security measure, but I’m fairly certain it’s both to some degree. If one cares enough about privacy to post in this community please start looking for a privacy respecting email provider, then start abandoning Google services like the plague at a pace you can tolerate. Don’t move too fast on your journey, the inconvenience is rough, but liberating your digital life is priceless one step at a time.

I appreciate your response Michael, but I don’t think it’s a misconception that Google monetizes user data and any service they provide is a means to that end. If the payment provider System 76 uses promotes a non-privacy preserving service, then why choose that payment provider?

Services provided by for profit corporations are almost never truly free. It usually means “free” in exchange for access to your user data or “free” if you watch these advertisements. That’s not free, it’s an exchange of your data that’s valuable for resell to a company or your time to watch their ads.

I’m a System 76 customer, as I stated in the initial post I made, which you apparently didn’t even take the time to read. Receiving Google services at a discount in exchange for access to System 76 user data is profiting from using Google’s discounted reCAPTCHA, versus competitor pricing models. Don’t think linking Google’s privacy policy that promises not to track your users is of any relevance, Google is currently under more litigation for violating their own privacy policies than any other company in Tech (research the case with Epic Games), not to mention the DoJ’s anti-trust lawsuit currently underway.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/03/judge-finds-google-destroyed-evidence-and-repeatedly-gave-false-info-to-court/

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-google-monopolizing-digital-advertising-technologies

Have you been to business school in the last decade Sir? Surveillance Capitalism is a mandatory subject in the contemporary world and I believe you’re pretending that isn’t Google’s primary revenue stream. Please have a look at he link below expanding on Alphabet Inc’s business model.

https://telegra.ph/How-Big-Tech-Revenue-and-Profit-Breaks-Down-by-Company-12-09