Topic: Replacing Windows with Linux - page 2. (Read 699 times)

It depends *a lot* on what the "suppliers" have to do for you. If you state you need certain level of security and privacy are necessary for that certain contract, obviously the suppliers that want to earn your contract will have to comply.

On the other hand, the wages to feed my family come from software development 100% for (and on) Windows (at work and at home too!)



I guess that you are a bit overly concerned about your privacy. It's your right and I won't judge you for that.
Others are not. And not necessarily because of laziness. The fact you don't see their reasons, it doesn't necessarily means there none.

Ok, so imagine this scenario:

I run a business, I need a supplier. You guys, NeuroFish and JetCash, are both suppliers in contention for the role.

Obviously there are alot of factors that will lead me to choose who I will work with, but one of them is definitely how much information about our relationship will end up being sold to my competitors by Google or Amazon.


TBH, I treat even just regular people like this. Are you so lazy with computers that you're practically just one of Google's brain cells? I don't talk to people like that much.

I've had Ubuntu on my netbook for a couple of years now, but I really only use that when I don't have access to mains electricity. I'm on it now for example. I've installed Kali to experiment with penetration testing. That is on a mini-desktop, and I bought a 10" monitor to use with that system. At some time I'll try to drive the ASIC miner from one of them, but I still haven't sorted the power supply.

It is really the constant software upgrades, and the constant changes that I was forced to make that drove me away from Windows. I'm not too obsessed with privacy, I want stability and predictability in a computer system. I'm switching from Irfanview to Gimp, and that seems to be giving me more options for editing images. My idea of booting from the old drive via USB doesn't work, so I'm going to have to re-install the old HDD, and list all the logins and passwords that I use. I'll need to remind myself of some of the URLs for minor sites. I should have done that in the planning stage. Cinnamon seems to be working well, but it messed up when I tried to install the Brave Browser.

Mint was advertised as the obvious replacement for Windows. So it's mostly used by people that don't know and don't understand much about Linux, many jumping to Linux because it's free and stable and cannot be touched by viruses, not necessarily because it would ensure more privacy. (I know it's not right, that's not something to debate.)

For many that come from Windows, some privacy "flaws" are not a problem. (! not joking !)


PS. I am still on Windows and I don't see a chance to go away of it in a foreseeable future.

this is somewhat a case of jumping out of the fire and into the frying pan


Mint (and also Ubuntu) have been openly shipping spyware software in their Firefox package for years now. Guess who the beneficiary is? Amazon.

(don't forget that Amazon is more of a web server company than anything else now, so if one assumes shopping habits at webstores that aren't Amazon is what they're analysing, think again)

Edit: So really, Mint/Ubuntu is jumping out of one fire and into another


Best bet if you're starting with Linux is (IMO) Debian, or Devuan. Mint/Ubuntu are just versions of Debian anyway (so most web advice for Ubuntu/Mint also works the same on Debian).


And if Mint will sacrifice your privacy openly, what kind of standards do it's developers have at all?

I'm also worried about Microsoft spying policies, it is not about "knowing what kind of music do you like" anymore, it is about knowing even your mouse movements, dystopic.

I replaced Windows in all of my computers, and installed Linux Ubuntu, except in one of my home computers, which I need for Autodesk and Adobe products (my job). I hope I can learn to use Gimp soon, and buy a BricsCAD license (for Linux) to replace Autocad (for Windows), and I'm done with Windows for ever.

I'm a complete Linux noob, but I made a guide about making a custom encrypted installation with success, so hope it help to those who want to change but feel fear of trying a new OS:
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/tutorial-install-ubuntu-encrypted-custom-install-5129040

Congratulation for moving away from windows.

All the computers I personally own are on Linux.  I stated about 7 years ago and never got a windows since.
As I a matter of fact I'm still using the 7 years old second hand laptop I started my linux journey with. Still great performance for basic stuff.

I do however work on a windows at work.
To be faire the company I work for could save so much money if they decided to move to linux, We are  only using an email client, word, excel and pdf.
All of those have a free version on linux.

For my own little business I have a macbook. It is not much better than windows for the DRM and Big Brother stuff but it is just so great to work with it, my iphone and also my apple watch.


All my crypto is accessed through the linux laptops, same for my media center and of course the encryption of data /backups.

I'm also using the Mint distro, such a great one.

As this is the complete opposite of JackG's thread, I thought I had better start a new one for the topic.
I've been using Windows for quite a few years, and I've become comfortable with quite a few programs that rely on the Windows OS. However, I have become increasingly distressed with the current Microsoft policies, and they seem to be in the forefront of the control and monitoring of people's behaviour. I experimented with a few Linux variants, and I decided that the Cinnamon version of Linux Mint would create the least amount of work to complete the shaking off of the Windows shackles.

I removed the HDD from my notebook, and replaced it with a 2Tb SSD. Reluctantly I bought this through Amazon, and I feel bad about this, as I believe Amazon to be a destructive force. However, the price saving and convenience ( for me ) were so far ahead of any alternatives, that I decided that it is better to take advantage of the globalists, rather than trying to fight them in every area. The disk exchange was extremely simple ( remember to remove the battery and disconnect from the electricity grid ), and I bought a cheap USB case for the old drive. This allows me to access all of the old files. I installed Mint by flashing a USB stick with an ISO image, and booting the notebook from that. You may have to change the BIOS to allow this  ( I hit  the f10 function key during startup to enter the panel). I answered a few simple questions, and Mint installed and started without any problems at all.

Installing the Bitcoin node should have been simple, but I hit a number of problems. I was attempting to do this via the Terminal using the commands.
~ $ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:bitcoin/bitcoin
~ $ sudo apt-get update
~ $ sudo apt-get install bitcoin-qt
I was working in a public library, and with my limited knowledge, I was having problems in trying to resolve the problems. Eventually I realised that a firewall was blocking part of the installation. I abandoned the attempt, and restarted it when I was in a McDonalds restaurant. This time the installation was very straightforward and painless. The advantage of having the old hard drive available through a USB connection is that I can just copy the blockchain onto the new hard drive. Copying the wallet info as well means that I will just have to resync the blockchain to be up and running. Core asks for the location of the copied files when it starts for the first time.

I've started this thread in the Ivory Tower  to encourage members to move away from Microsoft. Their accelerating moves towards the removal of privacy, collection of information, and control of surfing behaviour is becoming quite a threat to our futures in my opinion.