Excellent article about Linux

In article , Nomen Nescio
wrote:

or your own hardware, and it's not nonsense. there's a lot of
functionality that is not possible any other way.

It is markeing nonsense.

there is nothing nonsense about it.

the cloud provides functionality not otherwise possible.

you personally might not be interested, but the rest of the world is.

Citation needed. Who are you to make such a declaration?

the widespread popularity of many, many different cloud services is
ample proof.

On 2018-12-29, nospam wrote:
In article , Roger Blake
wrote:

Some people like to keep things under their own control and retain
a modicum of privacy.

nothing about the cloud prevents that. in fact, encryption is often the
default.

I think SnapChat is encrypted end to end. I don't see the point of being
stuck in the past. I welcome and embrace new technologies. If it does
something I will benefit from, why wouldn't I want it?

I bought 55" LG 4K TV recently, which is running webOS. A TV that has an
OS, and why not? At first I didn't get why they would want to do this.
But if you think about for a second, the TV itself has HDR. At can
automatically sense the video stream with HDR and work with that. And
developers can write apps for the TV. YouTube and NetFlix, Amazon Prime
and others are apps on webOS on my TV.

Let that sink in for a second. I don't need a cable box anymore. The TV
has Amazon Prime and YouTube. Connect the TV to the Internet and watch
YouTube directly. I thought maybe the TV lost the connection with the
Internet and ran SpeedTest from the TV to test for this. Nope, connected
just fine. Check the weather and so on.

On Apple TV to setup the Apple TV I just held my iPhone close to the
Apple TV and the phone setup the TV. With YouTube TV I have unlimited
recordings of everything. Tell it record the World Cup and I have the
world cup on any device that has YouTube. I can just stream it from
anywhere. No data caps at all. Unlimited recordings of ANYTHING on
YouTube TV. Sure beats a TiVo.

--
Peter Kozlov

On 2018-12-29, nospam wrote:
In article , Nomen Nescio
wrote:

or your own hardware, and it's not nonsense. there's a lot of
functionality that is not possible any other way.

It is markeing nonsense.

there is nothing nonsense about it.

the cloud provides functionality not otherwise possible.

you personally might not be interested, but the rest of the world is.

Citation needed. Who are you to make such a declaration?

the widespread popularity of many, many different cloud services is
ample proof.

There are something like 2 billion mobile devices users and I think
that's the active number. That's a hell of a lot.

--
Peter Kozlov

In article , Nomen Nescio
wrote:

or your own hardware, and it's not nonsense. there's a lot of
functionality that is not possible any other way.

It is markeing nonsense.

there is nothing nonsense about it.

the cloud provides functionality not otherwise possible.

you personally might not be interested, but the rest of the world
is.

Citation needed. Who are you to make such a declaration?

the widespread popularity of many, many different cloud services is
ample proof.

Citation needed. Who are you to make such a declaration?

On 29/12/2018 18.11, Jonathan N. Little wrote:
Carlos E.R. wrote:
My old TomTom device refuses to connect to the computer now. I replaced
the battery this year, did a map update, but now it doesn't connect at
all to the computer, it does not put up the USB interface. I guess they
intentionally bricked it remotely to force people purchase new units.

Toss it. I stopped using mine years ago. Google Maps on my phone does a
better job, easier to set and modify route and route has up to date road
conditions and no subscriptions....

I have a new one, so no, I'm not going to toss it :-)

The new one does not need a map subscription, either. It has certain
advantages to a phone held somehow on the dashboard.

--
Cheers,
Carlos E.R.

On 29/12/2018 21.22, Roger Blake wrote:
On 2018-12-29, nospam wrote:
or your own hardware, and it's not nonsense. there's a lot of
functionality that is not possible any other way.

It is markeing nonsense. Conceptually it is no different than using
a terminal to log into a computer service bureau in 1975 because
your local device doesn't have sufficient storage or power on its
own.

LOL! Far from it.

Those terminals were nothing but a terminal, totally dumb. The nowdays
devices are way smaller and many orders of magnitude more powerful on
their own.

(I also was there. Almost)

--
Cheers,
Carlos E.R.

On 29/12/2018 23.25, Nomen Nescio wrote:
In article , Roger Blake
wrote:

or your own hardware, and it's not nonsense. there's a lot of
functionality that is not possible any other way.

It is markeing nonsense.

there is nothing nonsense about it.
the cloud provides functionality not otherwise possible.

you personally might not be interested, but the rest of the world is.

*Citation needed.* Who are you to make such a declaration?

He is right.

--
Cheers,
Carlos E.R.

On 29/12/2018 20.45, nospam wrote:
In article , Roger Blake
wrote:


As I said, product activation alone is enough to
keep me away from Microsoft products aside from any other considerations.

then you won't be using computers anymore, since nearly all software
today has activation in some form due to rampant piracy.

Well, no, that's not totally true. I know you don't like Linux, but as
the thread has Linux on the subject line, and I'm replying on a Linux
group, I feel entitled to say that there is no activation needed to use
or update Linux :-P

Also, I bought an Android tablet some time ago that required no
activation or subscription. Yes, it runs Android, but needs no google ID
to get updates, albeit not from Google Play.

--
Cheers,
Carlos E.R.

On 29/12/2018 23.03, nospam wrote:
In article , Roger Blake
wrote:


there is no conspiracy to control what users do.

It is not a conspiracy, I agree. A willing, an interest in knowing what
they do... ;-)


then you won't be using computers anymore, since nearly all software
today has activation in some form due to rampant piracy.

Not FOSS. None of the software that I use requires activation.

that's not representative of the industry and you know it.

Well, now, that is not true either. Even if it is 15%, you can not toss
that away as "irrelevant". And that on the user side of things; in the
server side, the tables are turning the other way round.

--
Cheers,
Carlos E.R.

In article
"Carlos E. R." wrote:

On 29/12/2018 21.22, Roger Blake wrote:
On 2018-12-29, nospam wrote:
or your own hardware, and it's not nonsense. there's a lot of
functionality that is not possible any other way.

It is markeing nonsense. Conceptually it is no different than using
a terminal to log into a computer service bureau in 1975 because
your local device doesn't have sufficient storage or power on its
own.

LOL! Far from it.

Those terminals were nothing but a terminal, totally dumb. The nowdays
devices are way smaller and many orders of magnitude more powerful on
their own.

(I also was there. Almost)

--
Cheers,
Carlos E.R.

On 2018-12-29, nospam wrote:
your loss. they're very capable devices that can do all sorts of things
that were once considered impossible.

I don't see it as a loss. Nothing they provide is worth the tracking and
surveillance aspects. There is nothing a smartphone can do that I need
or want.

the entire concept is ludicrous. it's tinfoil hat material.

As in Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty Four" it may not be listening all the
time, but you don't know when or where it might be. At a minimum it has
to be listening for keywords to activate the AI functions and you don't
really know when or where it may be doing more. Devices such as Alexa
and Google Home don't even have the battery concern. Then of course there
is the GPS function that tracks everywhere you go. (How else is Siri
going to recommend restaurants that are near you?)

You might want to look up a guy named Ed Snowden if you believe that
being concerned about mass surveillance is merely "tinfoil hat material."

the cloud is much more than 'just a collection of servers'.

It is not. I've been working in technology for over 40 years and the
internet for over 35 years. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a
duck... guess what, it's a duck.

it's more reliable than anything you could possibly do with your own
system, unless you have a similar budget as they do, which is extremely
unlikely.

Nonsense. It is not difficult to implement one's own effective backup
regimen. If you think no one has ever lost anything in "thuh cloud"
you're delusionary. Start with the people who lost their stuff with
due to a bug in the Windows 10 1809 update.

you weren't streaming music or video in the 1970s, locally or the cloud.

That is irrelevent. From an architectural standpoint it is the same
type of client-server concept. You have a local device whose limitaions
require computing power and storage at a remote location. The actual
application does not change the fundamental concept, nor does it change
simply because you are using a smartphone with "thuh cloud" instead of
a terminal connecting to a remote mainframe.

missing the point entirely.

I would say you do not even have a point.

nothing about the cloud prevents that.

When processing and storage is taking place on someone else's servers
(which once again is all that "thuh cloud" really is), then you effectively
do not have control. You really have no idea where your data is being
stored, who will have access to it under what conditions, or even if
you will have access to it in the future.

--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Roger Blake (Posts from Google Groups killfiled due to excess spam.)

NSA sedition and treason -- http://www.DeathToNSAthugs.com
Don't talk to cops! -- http://www.DontTalkToCops.com
Badges don't grant extra rights -- http://www.CopBlock.org
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

On 2018-12-29, Peter Kozlov wrote:
Let that sink in for a second. I don't need a cable box anymore.

I've never needed a cable box. I use an antenna on the roof.

My take on entertainment is that is is of little or no value. In the
pecking order of things I concern myself with entertainment is at or
near the bottom of the list.

I have no need or desire for any of the things you describe.

--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Roger Blake (Posts from Google Groups killfiled due to excess spam.)

NSA sedition and treason -- http://www.DeathToNSAthugs.com
Don't talk to cops! -- http://www.DontTalkToCops.com
Badges don't grant extra rights -- http://www.CopBlock.org
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

In article
"Carlos E. R." wrote:

On 29/12/2018 23.25, Nomen Nescio wrote:
In article , Roger Blake
wrote:

or your own hardware, and it's not nonsense. there's a lot of
functionality that is not possible any other way.

It is markeing nonsense.

there is nothing nonsense about it.
the cloud provides functionality not otherwise possible.

you personally might not be interested, but the rest of the world is.

Citation needed. Who are you to make such a declaration?

He is right.

--
Cheers,
Carlos E.R.

On 2018-12-29, nospam wrote:
microsoft *can't* revoke activation because they feel like it.

Of course they can. If not due to concious activity, due to bugs
in their activation system.

you complained about iot devices not getting security updates and now
you're complaining about microsoft offering security updates. can't
have it both ways.

On my computer I want control of updates. Microsoft has largely removed
the ability to do that. In the Home version you have no control at all.
Some limited control in Pro.

that's not due to microsoft deciding to deactivate a system.

Even if due to deficiencies in their activation system it is completely
unacceptable.

nothing is perfect and sometimes things don't work as expected.

Then an activation system that can lock the user out of his or her
own computer is not acceptable.

most of the time it's due to the user doing something wrong or their
system is misconfigured and refusing to accept responsibility. less
often, it's buggy software.

An activation system that can lock the user out of his or her own
computer is not acceptable.

there is no conspiracy to control what users do.

I didn't say there was a conspiracy.

then you won't be using computers anymore, since nearly all software
today has activation in some form due to rampant piracy.

Not FOSS. None of the software that I use requires activation.

that's not representative of the industry and you know it.

Oh, how many web servers run Apache on top of Linux? You said NEARLY ALL
SOFTWARE TODAY has activation in some form. You are lying. There are thousands
of FOSS operating systems and applications used throughout the industry
and you know it.

that would be you.

No, that would be you. You continue lying through your teeth.

mainstream software, the stuff that people actually use to do real

You are lying once again. You did not say "mainstream software" - you
said "NEARLY ALL SOFTWARE TODAY." You of course have been caught in
a blatant lie, so you move the goalposts.

As I said, NONE of the software that I use requires activation.

i didn't say smartphone, but regardless, activation is required to use
them and other products.

You are conflating subscribing to a service with activating a piece of
software running on a device that you own. Lies, lies, and more lies.

--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Roger Blake (Posts from Google Groups killfiled due to excess spam.)

NSA sedition and treason -- http://www.DeathToNSAthugs.com
Don't talk to cops! -- http://www.DontTalkToCops.com
Badges don't grant extra rights -- http://www.CopBlock.org
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

In article
"Carlos E. R." wrote:

On 29/12/2018 18.11, Jonathan N. Little wrote:
Carlos E.R. wrote:
My old TomTom device refuses to connect to the computer now. I replaced
the battery this year, did a map update, but now it doesn't connect at
all to the computer, it does not put up the USB interface. I guess they
intentionally bricked it remotely to force people purchase new units.

Toss it. I stopped using mine years ago. Google Maps on my phone does a
better job, easier to set and modify route and route has up to date road
conditions and no subscriptions....

I have a new one, so no, I'm not going to toss it :-)

The new one does not need a map subscription, either. It has certain
advantages to a phone held somehow on the dashboard.

--
Cheers,
Carlos E.R.