Interesting. I never heard of Libreboot. But then, I use Linux. Gave up Windows years ago so I don't really have any PC problems. Windows is a pile of shit.
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Vaping ruined my Macbooks!
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I wonder if it could be something else. People use air freshener sprays, pesticide sprays, aerosol disinfectants, spray furniture polish. Even if they're not aware of some of it, their cleaning people might be spraying Pledge on the desk around the computer.
I have to wonder since I've never had one issue with vaping at my desk. I find the vapor floats off into the air, doesn't really land on me, though of course some of it hits the screen.
It's fairly new to me. I read of Libreboot in an article about the best pc's for privacy, which I cannot find again now to link to you, but here is Libreboot:
Their best model gets sold out. Maybe because of factory shutdowns due to Covid, I don't really know, but eventually they come back in stock. I was considering buying one from Minifree. You can get it with either a UK style keyboard or a US layout.
Thank you.
You have to be very specific with a luddite like me. Which part Liberboot goes with which part Linux?
Well Libreboot appears to be a GNU project. Gnu has several flavors/distributions of Linux. I use Debian and have used Ubuntu, Fedora. You could use Libreboot with Grub as your boot loader and boot to any version of Linux.
Did the same about twenty years ago. Do agree Windows became a steaming pile.
A few years ago I bought a new PC. I had already been running Linux a long time. But I decided to give Win10 a try since it was already installed. Well, it crashed in a couple of weeks, lol. I think MS programmers are actually installing dogshit into the hard drive.
I used Windows 3.11 for Work Groups and *ahem* gained acess to a Windows NT 4 server that was fire walled. Not only did I have access, it had become my "new" box. The man who had the server was an NT programmer and in Italy at the time. Walked him through how I did what I did. He swore he had taken what I had done into account. He had no clue.
"You know WFWG has Hytelnet, right?"
"Erm, um ... is that like kermit or something?"
Then, they started relying moire so upon the registery over text based *.ini files. Linux has .conf files which are similar.
"How is program G to act in a graphic environment, or a terminal?"
"Look it up in the .conf file, it'll be commented with documentation."
With the use of a centralized "registry" of configurations you're just painting a bull's eye for zero day worms. If you leave configs de-centralized, possibly use a system set and an individual user set, you keep targets minimal. Also using directory and, or file based ACLs (Access Control List) is helpful.
Think we got three fire walls covering my box here. Not too concerned. I also run a modified cerberus fire wall. It isn't only defensive. I use programs like root kit hunter, trip wire as well, f.a.m (file alteration monitor). My root pass phrase is stronger than military grade, yes, I have a buddy continually try "cracking" it. For twenty years he's not.
I also use F-prot, a background anti-virus/malware software. ClamAV is on here too, including the Tk version of a scanner app. I've had maybe two viruses in twenty years, one I put on the system deliberately, needed to explore some code. I've forgot a lot, don't know some, can go look it up, miss or add too many dots. *chuckles*
For me it's a hobby. Never have "applied" myself. Afraid if I did, I might be too good. Not a "rock star" here. Nope, not for me. That's my friend, he used to shudder in bed thinking about database crashes. *smh* Had to hold him and distract him. Then he would help me relax too.
But yeah MS is dung. In twenty years, i had hardware go bad not Linux itself, the hardware stopped. Linux has only crashed once for me. Granted I've done a few re-installs but you got to "get it right" for yourself.
I found Windows NT to be fairly solid from my point of view. When I came on the scene Win95 was in full swing on the corporate user's desktop. That was a nightmare. So NT was like a Godsend from a desktop/network-admin perspective. Everything was super manual and controllable. And very stable. Well, at least in the later service packs, lol.I used Windows 3.11 for Work Groups and *ahem* gained acess to a Windows NT 4 server that was fire walled. Not only did I have access, it had become my "new" box. The man who had the server was an NT programmer and in Italy at the time. Walked him through how I did what I did. He swore he had taken what I had done into account. He had no clue.
"You know WFWG has Hytelnet, right?"
"Erm, um ... is that like kermit or something?"
Then, they started relying moire so upon the registery over text based *.ini files. Linux has .conf files which are similar.
"How is program G to act in a graphic environment, or a terminal?"
"Look it up in the .conf file, it'll be commented with documentation."
With the use of a centralized "registry" of configurations you're just painting a bull's eye for zero day worms. If you leave configs de-centralized, possibly use a system set and an individual user set, you keep targets minimal. Also using directory and, or file based ACLs (Access Control List) is helpful.
Think we got three fire walls covering my box here. Not too concerned. I also run a modified cerberus fire wall. It isn't only defensive. I use programs like root kit hunter, trip wire as well, f.a.m (file alteration monitor). My root pass phrase is stronger than military grade, yes, I have a buddy continually try "cracking" it. For twenty years he's not.
I also use F-prot, a background anti-virus/malware software. ClamAV is on here too, including the Tk version of a scanner app. I've had maybe two viruses in twenty years, one I put on the system deliberately, needed to explore some code. I've forgot a lot, don't know some, can go look it up, miss or add too many dots. *chuckles*
For me it's a hobby. Never have "applied" myself. Afraid if I did, I might be too good. Not a "rock star" here. Nope, not for me. That's my friend, he used to shudder in bed thinking about database crashes. *smh* Had to hold him and distract him. Then he would help me relax too.
But yeah MS is dung. In twenty years, i had hardware go bad not Linux itself, the hardware stopped. Linux has only crashed once for me. Granted I've done a few re-installs but you got to "get it right" for yourself.
Yes, NT was stable. Did not exclude it from having easy access.
Okay, I'm lost, but thanks for trying. I think I'm getting it, that you're talking about downloading an operating system to the computer you have, as compared to using the OS that comes with the computer. I think I get that you recommend a Linux computer.
I think. I have about a year to keep studying it.
I agree with everybody who does NOT like Windows.
Thanks again.
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I've been using Windows since the current version was Windows 286 (what was that, about 1985/6 or so?) and I have never seen a worse version of it than Windows 10. It is one sorry POS. I bet that every day I work on this machine Windows idiosyncrasies take at least an hour of my time, spent closing down windows that opened when they shouldn't have, cursor jumping from one session screen to another, computer shutting down arbitrarily (has something to do with the UP arrow key but I can't isolate a unique key combination that causes it), closing dialog boxes that cover up areas of the screen I need to be able to see, I could name a dozen weird and unpredictable things it does. It makes me want to hurl my machine right out the front door many MANY times a day.
However, it is the supported operating system that my company uses, so I'm stuck using it until I retire, which at the rate I'm going, is not going to be all that far into the future. Still a POS.
Windows doesn't want to be used as much as it wants to use you. I have fended off an update since 2018, which would have added a keystroke logger to my computer, meaning nothing would ever be private again. When this computer was new, I disabled cloud storage and removed the Edge browser. I don't like to leave the computer on when I go out or go to bed, because I swear, the goblins know when I'm not nearby, and that's when they run amok.
When I was trying to figure out how to do the update disabling, searching through Tech Republic and other tech help sites, I'd see people saying you wouldn't be able to use your computer anymore if you didn't allow all updates. That turned out to be hogwash. IE and Google often don't work, and Bing sometimes gives me the "you have an incompatible or outdated browser" message, but I have other browsers that work just fine all the time.
My next computer is going to be a serious privacy fortress. I would like to feel like my computer is a tool, not my enemy.
After Win95 I got lost. Tried using Win98 but they had already began migration to the behemoth kernel. That and all the wide open access.
Yes, I have "nobody"s come on my Linux box. These are developers running install scripts and the like. Those "nobody" get special privilege based off distribution trust.
Now, Linux has gone to secured packages & even sand-boxed packages. Say for example I want to try version "Brand New" emacs but want to keep "Crusty Old" just in case. I can get a flat pack and sandbox Brand New by using it only as a flat pack "device/package". Brand New goes south, rm the flat pack of it, no worries.
Yes you could either download, or get a CD data set of a Linux distribution. Yes, I'm suggesting people use Linux
A few pros to using Linux.
Users are in full control.
The operating system is continually developed and kept secure.
Those two pros are also the biggest cons. Being in full control means you need to go look up various volumes of documentation at times.
"I want this feature in program Z. I saw user H with it on a web site. How can I do it?"
You'll often get a stock response of "RTFM." That means "Read The F-ing Manual" and most programs do use "Man Pages". A program called man, short from manual stores these pages in tar files to mysteriously be called from a command of say: emacs man $:.
Emacs one of many various text editors in Linux. I like Vi/Vim or Medit better myself but can use nano or pico too. And yes Linux has plenty of office suite type software, some even compatible with Micro Crap, er Micro Soft.
You'll find though most Linux users prefer RTF over doc format. Harder to insert virus into RTF. It can be done but you need good macro coding skill/s to do it. That's not studied or taught too much any more.
Though I guess someone using troff could feasibly do it with some ease. That would be seen too quick and a user could see troff's munging and close it out before it caused any real damage except maybe to the file itself.
Basic everyday "working" Linux isn't difficult to master. You needn't get into the arcane voodoo unless you really got that desire. And yes Linux has Graphical User Interfaces (GUI) like Windows/Apple/Mac.
I wish there were an option to delete a post. If there is, I haven't figured it out. If I've said something I regret, I just use "edit" to erase the whole thing, then replace the text with "Post deleted by member".
@Bliss Doubt
Windows is far from perfect of course, but Linux is actually even worse. There's always something that stops working after some update has been installed, and, on Windows, usually there's a fix that doesn't take very long to find, merely by searching the internet or by asking for help on a forum website such as Tenforums.com, just to name only one example. Also usually, the only hard part is to steer clear from outdated info that no longer applies to recent versions of Windows 10 (currently, the latest version is named "21H1"...) and misinformation/myths being parroted a lot. Finding a solution for a Linux problem can tend to be much harder, and, asking for help is easy, but getting the right answers is not. In fact, you can often expect to get no sensible answer in any way whatsoever.
There's just too many "dead ends" on Linux. Some of modern-advanced hardware devices I own either are incompatible with Linux or some of their functionality is missing as a result from having poor driver support on Linux. When it comes to advanced feature sets in various many situations Linux limits software choices, very often severely IME. So, either the piece of software simply doesn't exist or else it is lacking enough that you'll find yourself going back on Windows until finally, you come to realize that ditching Linux in favor of Windows is still going to be the most viable option anyway after all.
Windows is far from perfect of course, but Linux is actually even worse. There's always something that stops working after some update has been installed, and, on Windows, usually there's a fix that doesn't take very long to find, merely by searching the internet or by asking for help on a forum website such as Tenforums.com, just to name only one example. Also usually, the only hard part is to steer clear from outdated info that no longer applies to recent versions of Windows 10 (currently, the latest version is named "21H1"...) and misinformation/myths being parroted a lot. Finding a solution for a Linux problem can tend to be much harder, and, asking for help is easy, but getting the right answers is not. In fact, you can often expect to get no sensible answer in any way whatsoever.
There's just too many "dead ends" on Linux. Some of modern-advanced hardware devices I own either are incompatible with Linux or some of their functionality is missing as a result from having poor driver support on Linux. When it comes to advanced feature sets in various many situations Linux limits software choices, very often severely IME. So, either the piece of software simply doesn't exist or else it is lacking enough that you'll find yourself going back on Windows until finally, you come to realize that ditching Linux in favor of Windows is still going to be the most viable option anyway after all.
Thank you.
Do you know if you can download a Libreboot OS to a Windows pc, and would that even help, with regard to privacy protection?
If you are concerned about privacy, then the first thing you need to do is accept a life without internet. And, no mobile phones either. Only vape signals are allowed. So... prepare to up your wattage!
I only use my cell phone as a phone. I don't have it connected to the internet or email, and I've never explored how to use it for texting. It stays turned off in my tote most of the time , though I know that things can be imposed on it externally so it can be used to track your movement.
I hear that satellite phones are secure from tracking. I got a notice several months ago from my cell phone service provider, saying I had to upgrade my phone to a 5G compatible one by, I think, July 15. Haven't done it. If/when it stops working, I'm planning to get a satellite phone.
Yes, I know. I started hearing, in the Covid era of "contact tracing" that people were finding an app installed on their phones by a third party, and they couldn't remove it, or they they could think they removed it but it was still there. Also understand how you're tracked by cell phone towers. Well, I don't understand it inside & out the way tech geniuses do, but I understand. I use a faraday pouch but I'm not convinced even that works. One time I walked out of a restaurant downtown, and used my phone to call a taxi. It was bizarre the way the screen went crazy with all of these direction symbols and outward radiating circles, stuff I'd never seen, just because I turned it on outdoors downtown. I hardly ever use my cell in public, but I was so entranced by all this sh*t on the screen, trying to get past it to call a dang taxi, I was walking into people, just like all the people who annoyingly live on their cell phones and are always walking into people.
That's why I want to get a satellite phone.
I love Edward Snowden. I listen to all of his interviews, going back many years.