The worst thing is the past few years android updates brought fuckall exciting new stuff and just more spyware and worse performance .
Thank God for the Bixby button though.
I returned my Samsung phone over that button. Haven’t touched their shit since.
Fuck that button. At least let me map it to something else!
You can. They did an update to the S8 (and others, I assume) that let you remap it. I used some app before that, something from the Google Play Store but it’s been way too long to remember the name. Nowadays there isn’t a Bixby button anymore for us to remap. They tried to take over the power button with AI now, but thankfully you can remap this back to power as well.
Oh you reminded me that I also have the Assistant on long press power button, but I don’t use it almost at all, so…
That is the first “feature” I turn off when setting up any Android. Power off is the panic button, you don’t just give that to AI.
I installed e/OS when Google made the button to turn my phone off give me an AI prompt.
My recent (unwanted) update changed the lock screen to this weird format where the two-digit hour is above the two-digit minute instead of next to it separated by a colon like normal people use. I keep setting it back to what I want but this weird over/under format keeps coming back. Some fucking douchebag of a UX/UI designer thought this was a genius new way of showing the time and now it’s being jammed down my throat.
I always keep at least one notification so I don’t have to see that stupid format on my lock screen.
Huh, I’ll have to try that.
You guys do know that there is an option in the settings to just always have the normal clock?
Thanks! This wasn’t implemented when I got my phone, but it looks like they added it a couple years later. I never looked after the option wasn’t initially there.
Yeah, I was using stock pixel launcher forever until the most recent “update” that added yet another button to the search bar that you can’t remove, that I used daily, and the button went conveniently right where my right thumb tapped. Switched to Lawnchair, and it’s not without issue. Why can’t shit that has worked just continue to work the same way?
Why can’t shit that has worked just continue to work the same way?
Line must go up.
At the top of the world, we’re all just the bottom line.
I also swapped to Lawnchair not that long ago. The only thing I miss so far is the ability to use app shortcuts on the home screen. Like opening YouTube directly to my subscriptions, etc. It also uses black text for the status bar on the home screen making it invisible but that might be user error.
Edit: There’s a setting for “Dark Status Bar.” I don’t know if it was on by default or if I switched it. But now I can see it again.
Hey now that’s not fair, they also made the ui huge so it looks like a fisher price toy! No you can’t turn it off why would you want that??
Of course they did, the average American struggles to tie their shoes.
The recent OneUI update on my Galaxy is shit. Performance and functionality overall are worse than before. Smdh
Stories like this is very much why I severely limit the amount of time I spend on Windows. Having been with Windows nearly since the beginning of its history, it’s insane to see the amount of reduction of user control that’s gone into it.
One of the most egregious things is the lack of control around updates. Often I’ll finish a session with my laptop and go to store it in the bag. Windows will cheerfully inform me that there is a forced update and then I end up having to wait for my machine to finish its shit while I sit around tapping my toes.
Meanwhile, in Linux-land, I have as much control over updates as I wish. I almost breathe a sigh of relief when I reach my Linux desktop, because it’s still a place that feels like MINE. I feel like I’m some kind of sharecropper or temporary house guest when on Windows 11. It doesn’t feel like “my” environment. It feels like it’s Microsoft’s computer and they just let me use it occasionally.
For myself, I was lucky(?) enough to have wasted my best years playing with Linux and running Linux boxes is no problem now. For the average Joe that needs to mess with computers, I feel bad for them. Windows 11 feels like shit, MacOS sure isn’t great either, and that’s pretty much the only choice.
No wonder I’m seeing less and less households with PCs and laptops. I think the average person in 2025 has just given up on computers and makes do with their phone or tablet.
Thank fucking god for Linux, because if I was forced to use Windows 11 full time, I think I’d snap and go live in the middle of the forest or something. It’s actively annoying to even look at at this point, and I only see things getting worse. For example, the troubles with Windows “Recall” have barely even started.
I loathe to see what Microsoft has in store for us next, and I would guarantee it’s not user friendly.
I use my laptop for data processing, but most of my tasks can be adequately handled from my phone. There are days when I don’t open my computer when I get home from work.
I don’t know how you do it. My phone is mostly used for reading the news. I hate using it for anything more complex, cause all of that is just so much more convenient to do on my linux PC instead with a proper mouse and keyboard.
I routinely get a Samsung notification telling me to agree to some new agreement thing. I swipe it away. It just reappears in 48 hours or so. I swipe it away. We’ve danced this dance for years.
I don’t know what it’s for, I don’t care, and things are just fine as is. There’s nothing it it for me so, no.
Please click here to agree to our new Samsung privacy policy.
I’m sure that they would choose to interpret the swipe to clear it as a click
but yeah my last phone I did that for several years. nope, no thank you.
every time I start my TV I have to say I don’t want the new firmware because it comes with a new privacy policy / user agreement
I will need to buy a new TV soon, and the single biggest factor won’t be price, features, or quality, it will be the absolute minimum smart features available. I’m fine with a sleep timer, and built-in audio smoothing would be great, but I can add anything else I want with a dongle that costs less than $100 (or just attach a full-blown computer to it). I’m not made of money, but I’m fortunate enough that I can afford to buy a TV with something other than an opportunity to invade my private life for marketing.
The other thing I’m looking for is a decent non-Google/Apple smartphone with an eye to privacy. A decent Linux phone would be great, Sailfish OS looks promising, maybe there are other options. Hopefully my Samsung lasts until then. When one of their updates came out whose main feature seemed to be the ability to spy on you everywhere, I closed my account and don’t even have that logged in anymore. There are a number of interesting features I can’t use, and a lot of terrible features I don’t want, that aren’t available to me anymore. A smartphone that belongs to me, and not some corporate conglomerate would be nice. We’ll see.
Sailfish isn’t bad but its a compromise. I don’t like that it’s not open source. I’m happy to pay for it, but I’d prefer if it were a community project rather than something buiut behind the closed doors of an understaffed company.
That said I’m using it to type this comment so I must still think its better than the alternatives.
We bought a smart TV a couple years ago, and it was so hard to find a model without a built-in microphone… No I don’t want my fucking TV to listen to every word said in the room.
Same with WhatsApp for me, there are new terms and conditions that allow engagement with businesses and sharing some personal data with them, I’ve been rejecting that shit for four years now, they still keep asking.
And the app still works? Mine told me it was compulsory and would stop working if I didn’t agree
Sometimes it’s true but they’ll always let you agree later if they do disable things, so always reject them the first time, in case its an empty threat.
My Samsung forced update and installed bloatware. I’m looking forward to going back and getting a clamshell phone from
tothe 2000’sI do the same. I’m close to just delete my samsung account because I don’t really need and/or use it.
I stopped using a Samsung account a long time ago. Never used it with my current phone. It doesn’t seem to make a difference.
True. I genuinely don’t use i either.
Then again, I’m rolling an S20 Ultra+ that just does everything excellently still. If I want to extend its life as long as possible, I should just load on another OS and solve the Samsung issue that way.
I use an app specifically designed to automatically dismiss notifications and I use it to dismiss this Samsung one you mentioned and the voice mail notification, which for some ridiculous reason can’t be disabled.
Which one
I use Macrodroid for similar notification handling shenanigans. I even bought it bc it’s so beautifully customisable 👌
This one: https://joaoapps.com/autonotification/ lots of features, somewhat confusing, but I literally only use it for the auto-dismiss, which works so well the notification doesn’t even appear so it’s effectively disabled.
btw you might be able to block notifications from that app with long clicking
No, it doesn’t let you disable this notification unfortunately.
At some point it annoys me so much I just hit accept. It’s probably nothing anyway.
That’s what they want, so spite fuels my resolve to reject it repeatedly
I know, bad habit. But I just couldn’t care less about those stupid agreements. I just want the damn popup gone.
I legit got this notification on my phone while reading this comment. I do the same and will continue to do the same.
funny how a(n implicitly) rooted linux computer is fine, but a rooted handheld linux computer is the devil and insecure.
If PCs came out today there is no way you would just be allowed to install Linux on it.
New ARM laptops coming out right now have their bootloaders locked. So yeah…
Not Macbooks though surprisingly.
You mean
UNsurprisingly?Edit: I cannot read.
No, it’s surprising that Macs are not locked. Because the Mac OS ecosystem is usually locked tighter than a vir-, er, very tightly.
Ah fuck I read that as the bootloader being unlocked. My bad. Misread the comment you responded to
I am afraid you are right
don’t give them ideas
As Louis Rossman puts it: rape mentality
I am an it at a company. Forcing updates is a necessity for some of our users. We have 5 year old phones which have never been updated, and needs to be for their software to work right.
That said what works in consumer space and what works in corporate is two different things. As a consumer I’d hate this and have moved away from preinstalled android years ago. But as IT, this needs to be here.
Ultimately I just think its laziness of the company to either not have a toggle for it. Or have a corporate build for corporate customers
You’re an information technology?
Mr information technology to you
Sewer clown.
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“If we let you control your phones you’ll just mess them up!”
Which is our right. I paid for the phone. Google, Samsung, and Apple aren’t fucking paying me.
Which is our right. I paid for the phone. Google, Samsung, and Apple are
n’tfuckingpayingme.There, I fixed it. It’s time for a new FOSS phone OS to take over. GrapheneOS looks nice, but it only runs on select Google pixel devices. Maybe if phone manufacturers were forced to let the user chose their OS?
I would love to get GrapheneOS or some other similar OS but the lack of mobile tap-to-pay support just kills the idea for me.
I’d love to own my own devices but I’m so addicted to my phone I can’t handle pulling out my lighter, smaller, always charged debit card and so will continue to give up my ownership rights so I can continue to be mildly inconvenienced.
I’d love to stay private, but I’m so addicted to giving my financial information to banks that I can’t handle pulling out a lighter, fee-free, no-Internet-access-required, and nearly universally-accepted banknote from my wallet and so will continue to give up data about my spending so I can continue to be mildly inconvenienced.
Debit card? You let your bank know where you’re spending money??? Cash only for privacy
(I don’t actually follow this, I like credit cards and their rewards points, unless it’s actually cheaper to use cash)
I have this little offline only single purpose device that handles tap to pay for me. It is actually waterproof, survives falls, is light enough to not be noticed, and hasn’t run out of battery in a few years.
Jokes aside, what is wrong with good old plastic cards? If you don’t want an extra wallet (which I need anyway to carry ids, drivers license, cash, emergency ear plugs, a handy sticker or two…), just get a phone case with card/cash slot thingies.
As it is right now, my cell phone replaces a collection of about six plastic cards. I have not yet found a wieldy phone case that has space to store payment cards.
Realistically, this question could also be asked with cash. If you’re going to be pulling out a wallet-like item anyway, and you are that concerned with privacy, why not go with anonymous, fee-free, secure, actually offline paper money? Card processing is not offline. The card machine has to be connected to the Internet for it to work (offline card processing theoretically exists, but is not widely implemented enough to rely on and is not particularly secure).
If people are going to argue that wanting to pay with a cell phone instead of a plastic card makes me lazy because the card takes a few extra seconds to use compare to the phone, I’m going to argue in turn that they’re lazy for using a card when using cash, with all of its privacy benefits, also only takes a few seconds more.
How can you spend time thinking about phones, when there are children starving to death in Africa! See, I am can do that too.
Besides, I do carry cash for everyday expenses, and I do prefer cash. I don’t know where you got that idea from.
But the question was to replace tap-to-pay. Sadly, tapping people with a fiver makes them irritated at best.
I’ve got nothing against you. I’m just not willing to accept a lecture (from other people, not you) about being “lazy” for wanting tap-to-pay on my cell phone. My statement is that the convenience of tap-to-pay for payment cards and transit passes is not worth the otherwise marginal privacy benefit of switching to Graphene.
If you own a smartwatch that supports tap to pay, you can use that instead.
I don’t wear a watch at all. I view smart watches in particular as completely useless gadgets. What useful thing do they do that a cell phone doesn’t? Count your heart rate? Sell that info to advertisers so they know what time you stay up at night doom-scrolling? They have absolutely no utility for me.
I was looking at that too and came to the same conclusion. I should probably migrate off apple at some point but Android in its current state is not viable for me.
What about it isn’t viable? Genuinely curious
I can’t use it stock because cell providers can push bullshit apps I don’t want without my permission and I can’t fully disable Gemini. Switching to grapheneOS addresses those concerns, but cause new problems, like killing tap to pay and triggering security flags on games and banking apps.
Yeah that’s a fair point. Some android models do have minimal or none bloatware, like Google pixel… But also then papa Google owns your ass lol
I am reading this with a rooted LineageOS phone with MicroG installed.
wasn’t there also some concern about messing up the radio communication for a lot of users?
the idea was that you actually can’t mess with radio communications. if you send too much data, it kinda clogs the airspace of radio frequencies and that’ actually illegal to do in many countries. rooting the android phone lets you access the radio antenna directly, and you can’t let playful nerds mess up the city’s mobile internet for a million inhabitants every other day. especially since the source of interference would be hard to track down.
Now i wonder what that would mean for mobile internet usb peripherals that you can plug into linux laptop and desktop machines. how do they solve this issue?
Rooting the phone means playful nerds could potentially mess up radio frequencies, but they can already do that because they can build radios using readily available electronic components. We already have all kinds of regulations about radio use, and we go after people who actually cause problems.
You dont own something unless you install linux on it
this can be easily remedied by killing all of humanity except yourself
Are you telling me Linux doesn’t have automatic updates?
It does not. No normal Linux distro installs updates without user consent. You can turn that feature on though if you like.
Sure it does, if you turn them on. Here’s the relevant screen in Linux Mint Cinnamon.
Do note the bright orange warning!
Yep, because the feature is unnecessary when the updates are lightning fast and unobtrusive, but automatically changing things can cause issues too.
I’m using linux mint, which is beginner friendly. It doesn’t have automatic updates as default.
Here is my list of what any device really should have:
- Make me able to use my device as I want to.
If the Operating System don’t agree - there MUST be a way to install alternative OS with a SINGLE BUTTON CLICK.
Oh, god. Think of what kind of world that would open up with this simple rule. The device could be a smartphone, Windows machine, termostat, or a dishwasher. Anything would never be obsolete anymore and all users can be happy - a machine obeying the user. Wonderful. Please EU fix this!
What kinda magic fantasyland one button click smartphone dishwasher…
Finally my dishwasher and thermostat can all run templeOS
I have a desktop I built in 2019 with no TPM running. Windows 10.
Starting a couple of months ago, occasionally when it boots it will automatically open a full-screen ad for Windows 11.
It’s extremely disruptive because of my setup. I use my monitors and keyboard for my work laptop and have a KVM to switch between the two, and since I use that space for work I don’t like to spend much time there for recreation. So I often turn my desktop on and run it headless whenever I’m done with work, and don’t see the ad, which then messes up my attempts at streaming. So I need to walk back upstairs to switch the KVM and close out of it manually.
No matter how many different “permanent” solutions I can find on the internet it keeps finding a way to do it again every couple of weeks. I’ve moved to Linux on most of the rest of my personal machines, but this desktop has all my old music production software that needs Windows. I’m getting pretty close to just investing in a different music production platform that works with Mint though.
Or that “Let’s finish setting up your PC” box as if I haven’t been fucking using it for ten years.
Which is just fucking using Onedrive to save your personal files on Microsoft’s servers.
Fuck you, Microsoft! I don’t want to login with your fucking servers.
No matter how many different “permanent” solutions I can find on the internet it keeps finding a way to do it again every couple of weeks.
Can I ask which version of Win 10 are you running? I have never run into this with Windows 10 Enterprise (or Education) versions.
Alas, I am running the Home version. I did find in my research posts from sysadmins running the Enterprise version who seemed to have more luck permanently disabling it than I did.
if you wanna switch to the pro version, which should also be better in this regard, here’s a handy link:
https://github.com/massgravel/Microsoft-Activation-Scripts
turns out the windows activation is extremely insecure and easy to fool ;)
i’ve read somewhere that the microsoft activation support, if you have strange issues with activating your product, at times referred you to that page lol
edit: found it: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/microsoft-support-cracks-windows-for-customer-after-activation-fails/
My undergrad university offers licensed Windows desktop OS to Alumni free of charge. This is how I’m legally using Windows Education version (which is the same as Enterprise). I got the sense it was part of a packaged software benefit program MS offers to educational institutions. You may want to see if yours does the same so you could get it free too.
Have you heard about out lord and saviour the Linux kernel?
Hail to the minty freshness
I know it’s been rough for a buddy in a similar situation, but if you’re an ableton user, he’s found bitwig to be the closest thing to come to what he needs. But I believe he’s still had some driver trouble in places. I don’t do much myself as a full-time linux user, but what I ave done of late I’ve used in-the-box deals like an MPC Live for the heavy lifting, then recorded into
Microsoft Paint for AudioAudacity on my actual machine from the box.I can’t remember the drama with audacity, the usual over reaching and collection of data type shit I think but you should check out Tenacity instead which is a fork of Audacity.
I actually use Cakewalk Sonar X2 mostly. Cakewalk went out of business and has been bought-and-sold and resurrected multiple times since I bought it back around 2014-ish. Whenever I built my desktop in 2019 it was kind of a miracle I was able to get the license activated- I forget what ended up working but I remember having to do a bunch of online searching through forum discussions to get it done.
I downloaded the trial version of Reaper on my Linux Mint machine and it’s… Okay. And to be fair at $60 it’s a lot cheaper than the $150 or so that I paid for Cakewalk. Considering I’m not doing anything professional that’s probably what I will go to eventually.
Sometimes I look at the pace of technological progress and think that humanity is moving too fast for its own good. There’s constantly new companies and new products starting up and then going bankrupt and obsolete in a couple of years. The Cakewall software I have is perfectly fine- it could run just fine on far weaker hardware, there aren’t any features in other modern software that I feel like I’m missing. It just feels so wasteful to have to spend time, energy, and money to switch to a new platform because capitalism dictates I must.
Check out Ardour as well!
Have you tried GRC’s InControl? Supposedly helps prevent the win11 update attempts.
Oh thanks I’ll have to give that a shot later!
If it’s supported by your hardware and software you’re still using, I’d be tempted to blow away Windows 10 and put Windows 7 on there. I ran Windows 7 for several years after support ended - best Windows experience ever. Rock solid stable and no hassles of having to deal with updates. I eventually moved onto Linux after continuing to run Windows 7 for general desktop usage started to become unfeasible, but for something that just needs to run Windows to do some specific things, I’d definitely consider it.
idk what you are using but bitwig runs well on linux and is pretty modern and good, reaper is a little uncomfortable to use but extremly powerful
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Yea, that’s a Windows Home thing.
Upgrade to pro, where that stuff doesn’t exist.
Not to justify it, but the thinking by MS is “this OS is free, so you get ads”, like commercial TV or the rest of the nonsense on the internet.
Also, I’ve run Windows with updates disabled since Windows XP, and have rarely run into problems. I say this as someone who’s been in IT since the early 90’s. I’ve seen 10x more problems caused by updates at work than anything else.
At home I enable updates every 6 months, then go manually grab the updates I need, or else it’ll update things that will break my system.
Windows Home isn’t free, though.
Is Windows Home free? I’ve certainly never seen it be free. I’m ok with free stuff needing to make money somehow, within reason, but the second they start asking for creditcard information that shit better be clean as a fucking whistle.
That is a way to steal it(I ain’t no snitch, though) but it doesn’t actually refute my point.
not exactly, see here for an example:
https://feddit.org/comment/7945682
you’re not stealing anything using the script
Microsoft being bad at their jobs and leaving huge holes in their software does not mean you aren’t getting something for free that you’re supposed to pay for.
Microsoft Home does cost money, and therefore should not have any ads. That’s it, that’s the end of it.
At this point I don’t even know what I’m supposed to pay for. I had two Windows 10 Pro licenses, transferred those with Microsoft on the phone from OEM to virtual machines, then reinstalled them with Windows 11 and had to activate them with Massgrave scripts. Am I supposed to be paying for those? I don’t want to hire a lawyer.
I paid for my Windows license already, I think it was like $110. I’m not really interested in giving Microsoft any more money to continuing to use a product which is worse than the one I already paid for.
I don’t use my Windows 10 desktop a ton, but I’ve definitely gotten the full page “Update to Windows 11” screen a few times, and it has Windows 10 Pro installed.
Even better if you can get your hands on an Enterprise key. Even more configurable and is doesn’t have some of the annoying items.
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I hate that my phone is held hostage. My computer is free thanks to linux, it just sucks theres few linux phones that work in the US.
GrapheneOS is at least better than Google android.
GOS by all its strenghts, is following the paths treat by Google and Apple on defining what a smartphone has to be and how its security model has to look like, where only the OS distributor has full privileges, and you are just allowed to use it.
If you have the same requirements for your system as the people who designed these phones assumes you have, then GOS is great for you.
But if you want to tinker and customize, like we can with Linux systems, then Android and especially locked down systems like GOS aren’t for you.
I am using GOS myself, because it is good, but I also have a separate device of tinkering.
For me it’s a necessary compromise.
I’m a Linux user on my other devices and I’d love to have a fully libre and open phone, but the most important thing for getting my life tasks done is that apps work, so I’m somewhat hostage to where the apps are available and will run.
Graphene is me trying to achieve that in the least-bad way I can.
Sure, I get that.
But there are also people that don’t use banking apps or pay via NFC, etc. They use their phone just to call and text people, browse the web and take pictures. I will not recommend buying a Pixel and putting GOS on it, if they don’t specifically ask for a high security device.
If they are in the market for a new phone, I will recommend phones that are maintained for a long time and have a good active open source AOSP port community around them. For example the Fairphone with /e/ or Lineage with MicroG. Somewhere where people aren’t funneled towards google services. Since privacy is a bigger issue for most people than security.
What do you have for a tinkering device, if I may ask?
Well, my old phone, with LineageOS. It is a OnePlus 8, but I probably wouldn’t recommended OnePlus phones generally, I was hopeing that it eventually get mainline treatment, like the 6T, but that hasn’t happen yet.
I rooted it for managing battery charge limits, among other stuff. Having a root shell in termux makes debugging or fixing app and other issues very easy.
I have a Samsung sadly
Maybe you are lucky and have a model compatible with lineage
Sadly an s23 but im saving this link, thanks!
Graphene isn’t entirely better. It makes trades. Some of those trades get you things you might like but they also cost others things they may want to keep.
For example, I want a folding phone without fucking Gemini. I cannot have this without graphene os, but that also disables other things I still wants, like tap to pay or the ability to use certain banking apps.
locked bootloaders and complicated processes to getting phones changed are crimes against humanity layman can’t really perceive.
wish i had solutions.
I guess it would be good to have consumer petitions demand phones with unlocked bootloaders.
Edit: this inspired me to write this post.
or make our own phones equipped with blackjack and hookers after we take it over from the oligarchy
We’re getting close to the point where “running a stock ROM” is on the same level of inadvisable as “using a web browser without ad blocking”. The latter of which was, btw, also not that big if a deal like ten or fifteen years ago.
It was sort of a big deal. The forbes malware injection attack by ads was ten years ago. It still ranks as one of the most hilarious ‘poetic irony’ bits in computer security. I’m sure ads were doing other insidious shit in 2010 that just went unnoticed because it didn’t hit security researchers.
Praying for some stronger ROM support for foldables. As soon as ATT lets my phone go free (2 year contract) installing one would be the first thing I do, except my phone is a Razr Ultra 2025 and I can’t even find much for the Z flip let alone the razrs.
For now though mullvad stays on with dns blocking and I just keep to Fdroid and Aurora store if needed, not sure what else I can do
Same. I’ve never seen any alternatives available for my Z Flip. I’m thinking I’ll go with a Linux phone next time I need a new one. I don’t care anymore if they’re “ready” or not.
We really do need more viable open phone options. We are well past the point in hardware capability that we could have a linux phone that turns into a desktop when you plug it into a docking station. USB-c connections handle everything for my work laptop.
I have reverted back to using my Linux PC for most screwing around online. My phone, for the technological wonder that it is, is for communicating with family, listening to music, GPSing, and then occasionally computer stuff, looking things up, etc.
Canonical tried years ago and just didn’t get the funding they needed to release an Ubuntu phone. It would have been a dreamy device, especially in today’s tech market.
Graphene OS is a privacy focused OS that runs on Pixel phones.
Its not as seamless as native Google Android but it’s still production worthy and works well enough for me
I’m definitely glad it and others like it exist. But for phones isn’t the issue more with low-level hardware and firmware? I bet we really need Google to make “Pixel” an open platform and not just a device, so that we can have the “IBM compatible” of phones. But I trust the Google of today to do the opposite.
Maybe RISC-V is what I’m waiting for? An open phone is going to need to run the same software as Linux PCs to have all that good FOSS support, and I don’t think I’ve rad any rumors about x86 phones, lol.
there have been x86 phones for a long time, but they are kind of rare. I think they use more power too.
Risc-V is not going to be any better. Technically, the ISA of Arm is very well documented. Sure, it is created and licensed out by a single company. But that doesn’t matter when the device is either locked or has so many non-documented quirks and peripherals.
Bah, but thanks for the info!
:( 👍
Well hey, on the upside I have switched back to browsing on my Linux PC rather than my phone. I have the monitors on arms next to my end of the couch, so I can hang out with my family and watch a movie or whatever, but also have a 27" monitor hovering over my lap. And I’m already kinda old so it will help once my eyes start going, lol.
Sailfish OS existst, but it is far from beeing nice. Look out for Jolla OS too
I can’t wait until a PinePhone comes out that I actually want.
I’m impressed it’s only $200
As a security and privacy minded person im glad i CAN keep automatic updates enabled on GrapheneOS without having to worry about some crappy forced features being added.
I see windows users have to disable them too, its so crazy to me that people tollerate this stuff instead of just switching… Like yeah automatic updates that break things are annoying but “linux is too complicated”, so instead of learning to adapt to a new system, you adapt to just accepting that you dont fully get to control your devices a they will get progressively worse until eventually you have to get a whole new device. SMH
“linux is too complicated”
The worst part of this is that it’s no longer true. Windows is WAY more complicated than Linux (can be) at this point.
I switched to Linux and it is “too complicated.” Imo. There are a lot of compromises you have to make when you switch. I couldn’t even get my first couple distros to work because they don’t play nice with Nvidia.
I switched to bazzite because it would actually work graphically and I mostly only use steam anyway, but it isn’t all rainbows. I feel like I’m always switching Proton versions to get a game to load. I use Proton db, but idk I still have issues. GoG I use heroic and have the same problems. Also, installing software is a pain. It’s not that hard to use CLI but I get sick of it when I just want my shit to work with 2 clicks. Ive tried to run windows apps wlbut just gave that up. Also getting used to the folder structure and placements take time.
Plus, I can’t seem to Google (or whatever) my problems. The help you get in Linux forums is usually " just switch to insert distro".
I’ve worked IT jobs for about 10 years so I feel like I have some knowledge, but Linux has stumped me a couple times already. How is an non-tech person supposed to just switch?
I’ll never go back to Windows but you can’t expect people to leave something that works for something that they have to fumble with to get working.
Bro, Linux has GUI software installers.
Proton is a hack to run Windows game on Linux. Of course it’s not dead simple
Non-tech people who don’t game would be fine with something like Ubuntu or Mint.
Gaming is complicated because 98% of games are built for windows and then use Proton to try to translate (which is currently just built into Steam and then unofficial launchers like Heroic)
When using bazzite you can use fedora instead as that’s the basis. It should help with hitting more results.
What exactly are you installing through the CLI? They have an app store where you can find ( most? Probably? ) of the stuff you’re looking for.
You can use the CLI to find flatpacks and install them. And as a power user, sure why not. But if you’re not comfortable with it, why not use the GUI?
What games are you playing that are causing you issues? I don’t think I’ve had any game issues using the latest proton version , but most of the games I’ve played recently arent very old.
Yup. I usually search fedora when I’m looking stuff up. Usually, that helps but only so much.
I was installing mullvad. I didn’t see it listed in any store repo I had so I used cli. It’s not hard to do, but it was annoying getting the syntax correct because the instructions were for fedora but they didn’t completely translate to bazzite. Probably because bazzite is half locked down or something.
Games causing me issues were Elden Ring, Resident evil 4 Remake, and Black Mesa (I thought this would work right out the box, but it didn’t). They would usually launch then just close immediately. Eventually, I got the right Proton version that seems to work, but then I had issues downloading my cloud saves.
I see a lot of people are still giving me the “it just works out the box” talk, so idk. Maybe I shouldn’t have reformatted my ntfs drive and just got a new one, but I didn’t want to give up a 1tb ssd for no reason.
Eeeeh. I’m glad it’s working out of the box for all those people then. But that doesn’t really help you out.
Unfortunately I don’t own any of these games so I can’t test it to see if I could help out. Bizarre that you’re running into issues considering the games I checked are steam deck verified. Black Mesa people mention using the proton rather than the native ( Linux ) version.
If mullvad is wireguard based you can always import the wireguard config in your network manager and connect that way. It’s what I did for my VPN. Downside is that you won’t be able to use any features the app would offer you ( besides the VPN connection ).
Sorry I can’t be of more help. :(
I think setting up linux as a gaming machine is more advanced than most people would be able to handle right now, but I was referring more to just general computer usage. I was able to install PopOS on a 13 year old MacBook the other day and the most difficult part was getting the iso setup as a bootable USB drive - and even that wasn’t too hard. Although, to be fair, I think anyone who has problems doing an install of linux would also have a problem doing an install of Windows.
I feel Windows 10 and 11, which I am forced to use on various work computers, represent a new era of impossible to predict UI behavior. Like, hats off if that was intended, they succeeded. I can’t make heads or tails of anything anymore, and the things I want are several options deep now.
You know you’re on the right track when you click something, and suddenly the Fisher-Price interface goes away and it opens a dialog box that hasn’t changed since Windows 2000.
I’ve been writing software synthesizers for Windows since the Windows 95 era. The low-level audio API for that (sometimes called “waveOutX” and “waveInX” was a pain in the ass to deal with programmatically but once you figured it out it worked very well and totally reliable. I’ve been continuously amazed (and secretly happy) that for the last 30 fucking years they’ve just kept bringing that same exact API forward. Even Windows CE/Windows Mobile had that shit in it in the early '00s, which let me get my code working on PDAs and the earliest smartphones. Every attempt Microsoft has made to replace this API has somehow managed to be much more difficult to work with and simultaneously buggy as hell.
I think MS actually used to have some capable engineers (one of them who helped develop the waveOutX API I actually know by name, Larry Osterman) but they all fucked off with their tens of millions of dollars in stock options decades ago and what’s left is a disasterclass.
I’ve been an IT professional for nearly 30 years and it seems like every new version of Windows they do everything they can to make me feel like an idiot who has never used a computer before. Simple things like turning off the computer isn’t intuitive. I only use Windows at work now, my personal computers are all either linux or MacOS… and I just installed linux on my old 2012 Macbook and ‘it just (mostly) works’.
Simple things like turning off the computer isn’t intuitive.
Lol like that’s even possible in Windows. I can’t remember the last version I had where the “Power Off” option actually worked. I still just hold down the physical power button until I hear that click.
It used to be that if you disabled hibernate or something, it would actually shut down completely then start back up fresh when powered on, instead of that hybrid startup thing.
If there’s some new, worse version then I have no idea, lol.
Good luck keeping root access with your GrapheneOS auto-update.
Your comment doesnt make any sense, i wouldnt want root access from GrapheneOS, that would break pretty much all of the security benefits.
The point is to not need to use expliots and break security just to configure your device how you want in the first place.
The post was about someone losing root access via an auto-update which they disabled because it might remove their root access.
Your post was about GrapheneOS. If you rooted it, for whatever reason (maybe you need it to have privileged access to the apps on the hardware that you own), you will lose root access when you update it.
How does that not make sense?
I would rather think your post doesn’t make so much sense, because GOS doesn’t solve the root access issue when auto-updating, but it might honor the disablement of updates, I guess.
I am using GOS as well, but I wouldn’t suggest it to someone needing root access for whatever reason.
If i wanted root i wouldnt be using GOS, but its been years since root was needed for much other than than debloating devices without custom roms. There are custom roms that have root if its really what you want.
Me? Who is talking about me?
Granted I used and I am still using a phone that is rooted next to my GOS phone. Rooting makes it easier to backup app data, cleanup the device, customize battery charge settings, patch apps, edit app memory, and, debloat, I guess, but I never have done that. I just wasn’t assuming that the person rooting their android did it just to debloat, they might have more/other use-cases. But it is their device, they should have the freedom to do with it, whatever they want in all cases. How much security and against which kind of attacks and which attacker one might want to defend more or less and to what cost of personal freedom is a personal question, that cannot (and should not) be answered by some outside entity for an individum, if breaches only affect them.
Was it IRobot where the intelligence decided that in order to keep every human save, they are all placed under house arrest? Security has its cost, that shouldn’t be ignored.
If someone wants root access, the reason doesn’t matter, it is their device, they should get it. Asking that is like asking why someone want to leave their house, and were they want to go before letting them or trying to convince them that they don’t actually need to leave because it isn’t save for them and that they should be happy with what they have.
Rooting modern android essentially breaks the security model on a system wide level. Im not disagreeing with your sentiment, if someone wants to do that, they should be able to, but its not something needed on modern android for backups or anything else.
5+ years ago it was a different situation, apps like titanium backup back in the day would require root but in 2025 this is no longer the case with modern android versions.
The important feature is bootloader unlocking, if you have access to that then you have root access. Just as you wouldnt stay logged in as root on a PC its also not what you should be doing on a phone.
