Edit: Guys I didn’t write the headline; the subtitle that I added, I’ve now fixed tho
Edit: Also, the information about there being no escape is out of date – here’s a quick guide to how to fix the problem in the modern day
Edit: Guys I didn’t write the headline; the subtitle that I added, I’ve now fixed tho
Edit: Also, the information about there being no escape is out of date – here’s a quick guide to how to fix the problem in the modern day
Don’t want to sound like I’m proselytizing, but unless you run Linux, your computer really isn’t yours (closed firmware aside).
Microsoft is just as bad at treating your hardware as theirs that they so graciously allow you to use (in between forced updates, criticizing your browser choices, and trying to trick you into storing everything you do in one drive)
Forced updates are a good thing for most people, though. The general population doesn’t know or care about infosec, so they’ll put off updates for months or years.
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I’d be fine with what you describe in the second paragraph, but that’s not what’s meant by “forced.” That’s opt-out. Forced is what’s really objectionable, especially when it’s abused, as discussed in the article and elsewhere in these comments.
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That’s their problem though. If they wanna get hacked, go for it.
But there should be a way to turn it off for us power users at least (without having to build a whole domain controller)
The problem is when those systems become part of a botnet.
Plus, you can just disable the update service if you want to leave your computer vulnerable to attacks.
It’s not that easy.
Except it is; you can add a batch script in your startup folder to disable it on startup. You could also just add the registry key that disables it.
If you’re actually a power user, disabling updates isn’t an issue.
Let’s have the authorities force us to eat salad and exercise while we’re at it, it’s better for us
Oh Christ, that’s not the same thing and you know it.
Meh. You’re not just talking about just making it automatic or easy or recommended, but actually forcing everyone to have to go along with it and taking away the option to not do it.
You 100% should have to keep your systems up to date. It’s a danger to yourself and everyone else when you don’t.
Even at the risk of Microsoft adding more spyware to my machine, reinstalling apps I deliberately uninstalled, reverting privacy settings I set, strongarming me into using their browser, etc? All of which has been reported.
My hardware, my choice.
If you want to phrase it as a “personal responsibility” thing, then you should frankly be criminally liable if your system is used for a DDOS attack.
Updates forced at inconvenient (or inapropriate) times aren’t a good thing though.
Don’t interrupt my work right bloody now.
You can update later when I’m done doing what I’m in the middle of.
The forced updates are usually after the system has bugged the shit out of you to update for a week or two.
Plus, you can easily disable it.
No.
A notification, in the tray and elsewhere across the OS, with a short description like “Updates are crucial to the security of you and your device, they also provide the freshest experience.” would get the point across. What would be even better is if there was a one-click NQA button to initiate the update, perhaps even included on the notification.
Those notifications have existed for years. People don’t give a shit.
All you have to do is restart your computer every so often and nothing will be forced.
Don’t want to sound like I’m proselytizing, but there are other free operating systems not based on Linux: FreeBSD, FreeDOS or ReactOS in example. I wish, I could add GNU/Hurd to the list, but from what I know, its unusable at the moment. Redox is also a new OS written in Rust, but it’s not ready yet (I think).
Now, are these real alternatives to a regular Linux based OS? In some cases they are (FreeBSD and their family), but most probably would just use Linux for their PC. They aren’t even suited for gaming I guess, the likes of Steam. I was just “Acktually”-ing around that you don’t “need” Linux for owning your computer. I mean, you mentioned closed firmware, so technically I was allowed to. :D
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Would you recommend one of these alternatives or a Linux-based OS for a 2016 Intel MacBook Pro?
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Yeah my position is really to recommend any FOSS OS in the large over proprietary ones. However, since my experience is primarily with Linux distributions, and I do think that Linux makes sense for a lot of use cases, I usually start by talking about “Linux” first.
But, from my experience, if a “solution” to a problem “forces” the user to make a choice, then they’ll stick with what “currently works” over having to make a choice. So when I talk to people about Linux IRL, I typically direct them to Linux Mint directly, even though other distros exist and it actually doesn’t fit my use cases. Once they’re comfortable in the Linux ecosystem, they can switch to a different distro or OS family if they feel the need to do so.
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