Comment on Creepy companies don't ask for your consent.
mereo@piefed.ca 3 days ago
The only way to escape these companies is to prioritize your privacy. When you do so, you'll find replacements for the current capitalist platforms. For example, I switched from Windows to Linux and from Gmail to ProtonMail. I also switched from Dropbox to Nextcloud, which offers multiple services like a calendar and tasks. This means that I switched my calendar from Google to Nextcloud, for example.
TranquilTurbulence@lemmy.zip 3 days ago
When those companies roll out new features, are they opt-in, opt-out or sneaky stealth assassin features that just stab you in the back one day without any warning?
mereo@piefed.ca 3 days ago
Linux is a worldwide community project, and its source code is readily available. It's nonprofit. Proton is now a Swiss nonprofit organization without shareholders (https://proton.me/foundation). Nextcloud is an open-source project that you can host on your own server or in the cloud, which means you have total control over your information.
These are nonprofit projects that don't seek to monetize you because you're not the product.
otacon239@lemmy.world 3 days ago
I can’t speak to mail/cloud providers, but the big difference between 99% of open source software and proprietary software is that updates are manually installed by the user.
In theory, this allows the user the opportunity to read the new source before installation to verify it isn’t malicious or to check for any known compatibility issues or bugs.
For instance, “stable” Linux distros are not stable in terms of not crashing, but stable in the sense that functionality will not update and only security patches are applied. But the user always gets to choose when that happens.