Google, Apple and Microsoft.

[rs55]

The way I see it is ; If you use the internet and want to use all the incredibly useful features ( like Maps , youtube etc) - you will be tracked. So, your browsing habits and your contacts and email are all fair game. So - the solution is to keep all important info in separate encrypted databases on your own machine ( not the cloud).

So - Google provides incredible value in exchange for whatever data collection they do. Chrome, gmail, Maps, Keep etc etc. Everything works , is slick and a pleasure to use. They also provide incredible machine learning software like tensorflow.

Microsoft on the other hand provides nothing of value - and provides a really really crappy experience in return. I really dont know why anyone puts up with the windows nonsense - random updates/shutdowns/failed updates - viruses galore. Why? Their software-as-service model requires them to have large open backdoors to your machine. You dont even own the software - you rent it. Just awful.

Apple - I dont know - never owned any of their products. Not a fan of their hardware design - all encased plastic - in that toilet bowl white. No proper thermal venting etc. And expensive .

As for the social media stuff - dont use them. Dont know why anyone would. never had a facebook acct.

[rs55]

The way I see it is ; If you use the internet and want to use all the incredibly useful features ( like Maps , youtube etc) - you will be tracked. So, your browsing habits and your contacts and email are all fair game. So - the solution is to keep all important info in separate encrypted databases on your own machine ( not the cloud).

So - Google provides incredible value in exchange for whatever data collection they do. Chrome, gmail, Maps, Keep etc etc. Everything works , is slick and a pleasure to use. They also provide incredible machine learning software like tensorflow.

Microsoft on the other hand provides nothing of value - and provides a really really crappy experience in return. I really dont know why anyone puts up with the windows nonsense - random updates/shutdowns/failed updates - viruses galore. Why? Their software-as-service model requires them to have large open backdoors to your machine. You dont even own the software - you rent it. Just awful.

Apple - I dont know - never owned any of their products. Not a fan of their hardware design - all encased plastic - in that toilet bowl white. No proper thermal venting etc. And expensive .

As for the social media stuff - dont use them. Dont know why anyone would. never had a facebook acct.

Current strategy: Have a collection of of the good thinkpads from 2010-2011 ( W520, X220, x230 ). Have MX Linux on them. Expose myself to Google - because I feel I get enormous value in return. Dont have anything of great value in emails, contacts etc. And dont particularly care if my browsing habits are tracked. Have separate encrypted databases for all information of any value.
Have considered divorcing Google - but have not found a really satisfactory alternative.

[Head_on_a_Stick]

all of the desktops I've seen (apart from those with a rubbish HP BIOS) have a setting to disable Hyper-Threading anyway. Isn't that setting enough?

My point was that Linux do not disable SMT by default because the kernel developers couldn't give a crap about the security risks.

Does the latest kernel version disable SMT for Intel processors? My buster system is still vulnerable.

[mx-2018]

My wounds from the Embrace, Extend, Extinguish strategy of MS are still fresh. So I put them at the top of the Evil list. Then followed by Big G (who stole my idea and destroyed the only existing proof it was my idea). Apple has not done anything bad to me (except made it hard to transfer files between my devices), so I put them behind Samsung (not in the list) who wanted to charge me $100+ to fix a $50 bluray player which stopped playing bluray discs after their mandatory firmware update.

[Sparky]

My wounds from the Embrace, Extend, Extinguish strategy of MS are still fresh. So I put them at the top of the Evil list. Then followed by Big G (who stole my idea and destroyed the only existing proof it was my idea). Apple has not done anything bad to me (except made it hard to transfer files between my devices), so I put them behind Samsung (not in the list) who wanted to charge me $100+ to fix a $50 bluray player which stopped playing bluray discs after their mandatory firmware update.

Least you get it my friend., the Chiken).

[GuiGuy]

Gmail from computer mail app stopped working today, although it still works via Android phone and webmail.
WTHIH?

[GuiGuy]

Somebody at Google got their finger out: it's working again now .

[Grey_2NE1]

Facebook, Twitter etc. should not be included in the list because you do not have to use them (I never have and never will).
The listed three are hard to avoid if you need a computer or smartphone.

something like 98% of net users do NOT block scripts from web-pages.
If you do not block FB scripts, you are using them... or at least feeding them your info.

[LU344928]

How would MX users rank them in order of evilness?

Google is the worst, the worst violator of your privacy and the worst in nearly all other respects, followed closely by M$ then Apple.

“We know where you are. We know where you’ve been. We can more or less know what you’re thinking about.”
~ Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, 2010

Google = surveillance capitalism

Interesting that Google's motto used to be 'Don’t be evil' yet that's exactly what this company has become, in so many ways. When Eric Schmidt, now Executive Chairman of Google's parent company Alphabet, visited Burma some years ago, he called for free and open internet use there. This is the height of hypocrisy when taken in light of Google's current censorship of anti-war and left-wing websites. This is is political blacklisting and is a gross abuse of power and an attack on freedom of speech.

My own opinion is that Google takes the top position; followed by Apple, then Microsoft in bottom place.
In spite of that I use Google search and Android phones every day

Heard of Start Page? An EU based search engine which acts as a proxy yet delivers search results the same as Google. That way Google doesn't know what you've searched for and you can reclaim some of your privacy.

Duckduckgo is another privacy focused search engine.

[alexjack]

I think that Microsoft and Apple were evil initiates for creating and pushing the concept that end users are licensees and not true owners of hardware and software. Google rapidly became evil by embracing and extending the notion that users' data is their data. I see Microsoft and Google as equal ongoing threats whereas Apple, due to their failure to meet sales expectations in the last few quarters, may be seen as a receding threat. Indeed, it may be that Apple has reached the market saturation point with its current market lines.

Since iPhone sales topped out at the 7, it will be interesting to see whether Apple seek to change their model and monetize in other areas in a more 'Google' way. I think that with Apple, although not great is a lot of areas, the deal you make with them is more up front along the lines of, "if you buy our very expensive pretty hardware every three years, we'll keep providing services and will keep your data reasonably secure / private."

With Google, you make a different deal where there is no cash up front, but you pay a lot more in other ways. It's not particularly clear what this deal is, and they can change how much they take.