Bring back anti-trust regulations. Microsoft has been trying to acquire anything they can get their hands on, and really should be dismantled on principle.

The amount of dark subreddits is wild. I'm pessimistic that this will create any meaningful change on the platform, but really hoping either way that alternatives not backed by corporations will grow and compete.

Who in their right mind would pay for a dying social media platform? This reeks of desperation from a man trying to convince himself of his own supposed public image.

I'm very happy this space is flourishing. Lots of organic conversation and increased engagement. My only hope is that this revolt against corporate social media will be sustained. I would love to see this turn in to an existential threat to the companies selling our data and privacy to the highest-bidding advertiser.

It's wild how quickly reddit went from being beloved despite some missteps to an absolute pariah on the internet.

Been daily driving Asahi (first ALARM then Fedora when they transitioned) and it’s been exciting to experience in real time how far the project has come. When I first installed, audio didn’t work, the graphics driver was incomplete, and battery life left a lot to be desired. Skip to today and it’s evident how committed marcan and other contributors are to not just porting, but making everything feel right. Highly suggest following him or Lina on Mastodon.

I have been on Mastodon for a few months now, and just joined here. I have been wanting FOSS and community-based alternatives to social media for a long time, and now it seems the impetus is present based on the actions of large companies selling their user-bases out for larger migrations of people to these more community-centric platforms.

What is striking me now is that these once-revolutionary internet platforms and companies are all reaching an inflection point. Imploding one-by-one at the hands of their own hubris and exploitation of their users.

What I realized after switching to and primarily using these platforms over Twitter, reddit, etc, is that I had become so desensitized to the commercialization of the internet. I didn't know what it was like to browse and connect with people without constant advertisements and clickbait. The algorithms of commercial social media incite conflict because it drives engagement and benefits the bottom line.

I've never been on social media without feeling a sense of anxiety. Even when I pared down my consumption to my own interests, it was there. I really had no idea it was possible to have a space on the internet without that.

The fediverse so far has been an enlightening experience. Genuine conversation, no mysterious algorithms dictating what reaches your attention, and an unfamiliar sense of calm while browsing social media; traditionally stressful on commercial sites, but addictive as well.

I know places like this and Mastodon are unfamiliar to most and will not draw the same numbers as the larger, more established commercial sites. But spaces like this are worth investing time in, as opposed to selling your data to the lowest bidder. I say welcome everyone who has taken that step in to the fediverse and I look forward to chatting with you all!

How did they nail the Apollo look and feel in a web app? Incredible. Been on the Mlem testflight but this is just soooo familiar. I hope this gets an official app on the app store!

Simple and clean UIs are an improvement over what's now considered "modern web design" meant to manipulate your attention to particular things. It feels like the agency is taken away from the user. I am loving the fediverse for this reason and have been a fan and user of FOSS apps for over a decade because the design goals of the software match the actual use-case of the app without trying to tie you in to something else. No distractions, no advertisements, no walled gardens. Just, here's the app, here's the functionality, it's been delivered. Now use it as you see fit without an ulterior motive from the developer or their investors (or lack thereof.)

I miss these old 90s style buttons on websites. A much simpler time...

I'm really tired of the political class roping in entire nations in to conflict over things only rich and/or powerful people give a shit about. Most of the working and middle class just want to live their lives in peace without some game-theoretic geopolitical showdown happening at every turn in history. And this all over what? To say that our part of the map is bigger than yours? To say that we have access to these resources and they don't? What's the fucking point? We are all human and desperately need a better way of organizing our global society than stupid shit like this.

This is exactly how I’m feeling right now.

I’ve already migrated from Twitter to Mastodon, Reddit to Lemmy, looks like I’ll have to test disabling my traffic to YouTube. I control what content reaches my eyes on my devices, not Google. That is a hard line for me.

If we stay engaged and committed to lemmy, then it will survive. There's already a lot of growing activity here, let's hope it's the flywheel the platform needs.

I'll try to answer as best I can.

Windows is a proprietary operating system. This means you are unable to view the source code and have to trust Microsoft that it isn't doing anything malicious. This goes with any proprietary program you purchase or otherwise use. Trusting Microsoft is however a tall order. They have a notoriously terrible track record when in comes to privacy. Telemetry, keyloggers, injecting ads in to the desktop, etc. For someone like me who values privacy and is concerned with commercial creep in to my personal spaces, this is intolerable.

Conversely, any Linux distro is comprised of primarily free software. This means a majority of the operating system has been viewed and audited by many people, and any privacy concerns or exploits will be brought to attention sooner than later. Linux has a fundamentally different design and political philosophy than Windows. Contrary to its name, Windows is the black box you can't peer into and Linux lays all out to bare. Should you need a program to do something particular to your use-case, and it is free and open source, you may make those modifications with no legal repercussions. Depending on the license, you might even be able to share those modifications with other people so they might benefit as well. It's essentially the spirit of sharing vs. competition. Linux is a community of people wanting to make great software for others to use. Windows is a commercial product designed to lock you in to a cycle of consumption for the benefit of Microsoft, and Microsoft only. If you willingly give them your data for the sake of your own convenience, they will sell it.

For your use-case, Linux Mint sounds like a great place to start. VS Code is available on Linux, and is super easy to install on Ubuntu/Debian-based distros like Mint. I'm not sure about Vegas, but despite what I wrote previously, there is nothing wrong with using an operating system for a tool you need as long as you accept the conditions that will come with it. YouTube can be viewed on any platform easily, and Steam has come a long way with proton for gaming on Linux. I personally use macOS for audio production because the tools I need are there, but use Linux for the bulk of my computing needs.

Ultimately, which operating system you use is a personal decision. I'm not going to tell you to use something you don't want or need. I just hope you look in to whether open source software can meet your needs for your use and consider what you are agreeing to when you use commercial operating systems.

I hope this was helpful, and I'm happy to answer any questions you might have!

Most VPN services are a sham. They just hide your network activity from your ISP, however they have full visibility in to your network traffic. Some of these VPN providers are even owned by ad agencies, but advertise privacy as a selling point. You’re better off running your own WireGuard or OpenVPN server at home or with a VPS. At least you will have control over the server and limit your exposure to unscrupulous VPN companies. (Yes using a VPS is shifting the trust from one to the other, but you will have to make a decision that is right for you.)

Stealth. I hate hiding and creeping around waiting for an NPC to move. It's like, "oh, you want to play the game? How about not playing the game instead?" Infuriating.

Intellectual property law is such a farce. It's wild that he was on the hook for THAT hefty of a prison sentence just because he downloaded academic articles which should on principle automatically be in the public domain.

macOS is still Unix, so you’ll find yourself somewhat at home in the terminal.

Honestly, if you’re distro hopping a lot, find one that supports your hardware well out of the box with a desktop environment that suits you and works and stick with it. Futzing around with everything can definitely make it more frustrating.

I’ll echo others’ comments and say that operating systems are tools. Find the one that works for the job. If I’m doing audio production, macOS wins for me. If I’m gaming, I have a Windows install. If I’m doing anything else, Linux is my preferred environment. Don’t overthink it, go with what works for what you need!

Ayreon is awesome. That’s all I took away from this.