Hi all
I have also posted this topic on the EndeavourOS Forum as it is the distro I am using but perhaps you lovely people will be able to help too:
I am trying to stop using Google and other spying systems (Facebook, etc) so I am currently looking at Purism’s new services, I just wanted to ask if anyone has used this [or something similar] as a complete Google replacement. If so, how easy did you find it? Do you feel more secure/private? and would you recommend it?
Also, I have literally thousands of DVDs, Blurays and CDs that are just taking up space. Does anyone have any suggestion how to replace them with digital copies (which I can redownload if accidentally deleted) that don’t require DRM or proprietary software? I have purchased quite a lot of tracks on 7digital in FLAC format and I am very happy with them but not all tracks I want are available - 3 albums that I bought were even remotely removed due to some dispute between the service and the music publisher. I haven’t been able to find somewhere to download my DVDs to replace and don’t like the idea of Netflix. I also don’t want to rip them and then get rid of the physical DVD as I would prefer to obtain the films legally. I realise that I can keep backups of my DVDs and Blurays on my harddrive or wherever but I would still have the physical disc and I want to remove the amount of clutter I have.
there was a similar discussion here a while back about how to replace some google services. i have linked it below.
i haven’t heard of new services by purism. if you could provide a link, that sounds like it would be interesting to check out. i personally use firefox web browser with duckduckgo for my web searches. one of the only things i use gmail for is because android requires it for google play services. i’m not sure there will be any kind of proper replacement for that until there is some kind of open source phone alternative, but there are plenty of other email services. in general all gmail gets from me is their own notices and/or spam.
i saw the movies and music and music issue was the better part of your request so i had typed in a response about how i rip mine and stick the discs in the closet. then i finally got to the part where you said you specifically didn’t want that thanks for the purism link.
they do look well put together and like they cover quite a bit of ground. i like that two of the apps can be found on F-Droid so they wouldn’t have to download through the play store. hopefully it will take off and give google a run for their money or at the very least provide a good alternative.
I’ve been “toying” wtih the idea for the last few years of taking all my optical disk media out of their jewel cases and tossing the plastic covers but boxing the media and sleeve/artwork/packaging - and so free up the space used by all those DVD/Blueray cases and CD jewel cases… but yet to get around to it…
I have no ethical qualms whatsoever about downloading less than legit copies of something I already “own” when it’s music or video or even a game CD-ROM… In fact on the odd occasions I do buy a physical music CD, I find it easier and more expedient to find a “dodgy” digital download of the same, than to actually rip the CD myself…
I usually do the same with e-books - I’ll buy it from Amazon (I rarely buy there, I really hate it when I’m forced to use Amazon - like I had to do for books 4 and 5 of The Mongoliad serires) or Kobo - I’ll buy the DRM version of the e-book, and either remove the DRM from it (never found a workflow in Linux that works for this - so use my work’s Windows 10 laptpp) or I find less than “legal” copies of the same without DRM…
It is 100% legitimate to download anything you own. Sometimes it is just not entirely legal. But certainly legitimate. What many people don’t understand is that theft has to always include someone who loses something. On the computer though nothing gets deleted, if you just plainly copy something. It’s like sharing knowledge. If you share knowledge, love, thoughts or anything like that, it does not transfer to the new user but rather replicates and grows. Therefore is knowledge an anti-capitalistic commodity and we should share it as much as we can.
i have seen it referred to a few times, but never used it myself. i feel like i have some good alternatives to google except when it comes to my android phone. when it comes to drm issues with movies or music, i’m not sure i know much about that beyond just ripping my dvd’s myself which wasn’t what the original request was for
Hey @abhishek & @Akito - Hope it is OK to add a WARNING here.
I followed your post and dived in believing the claims about my data and privacy and bought an eS7 from them. (ECorp) Yo! What a huge, very expensive 273,56€ mistake - do not believe what you may read.
After some time on the forum not getting any straight answers at all I returned the shiny gold ePhone and got a refund. I wish now that I had used my credit card and got all my money back.
Yo! what a disaster though possibly not as bad the disastrous security according to the German article by golem dot de.Quote (translated)
“This is also no excuse for the fact that /e/ is still in beta, because /e/ is already advertising users and selling devices with pre-installed operating systems without any indication of the disastrous security. However, this is not visible at least not for a less tech-savvy target group.(…)”
I think Golem is referring to me – Andy!
Privacy enabled ??? Spok; This is privacy Jim, but not as we know it!
Could I leave another warning? Do not bother to protest there either as you will get intimidated by their admin which allow hate mail or is it trolling you via the internal mail system! A very dark day for the FOSS community.
ps this is just the tip of the iceberg!
Very interesting insight. I guess, you never know what is going on with a product, until you actually try it… (That’s why I despise Amazon reviews so much. They have literally nothing to say.)
Can you elaborate on this topic in another discussion thread? Would be interested to read about the details.
thanks for the purism link.
