Buying Android phones and tablets based on what is supported by LineageOS is what I do.

If China can’t do it then nobody can. I’ll only be worried if China manages to successfully block out VPN use in their country.

Ltsc is the better route for those staying on Windows with no Microsoft login being required.

Windows 10 ltsc will get security updates until 2032.

Go with Windows 11 ltsc if you won’t move to Linux. That way you’ll get security fixes but no new AI for a while. Doesn’t even come with the Microsoft Store or onedrive, so pretty barebones. It’s already stripped down compared to regular Windows people try to debloat then can run into issues with after new updates bring new “features”.

If you just want security updates and no new AI stuff go to ltsc.

I like used thinkpad. Was sold after I picked up a t480s for real cheap and impressed by the keyboard on it. Then put Linux on it. So route I’ll take going forward is ThinkPads for cheap once warranty ends and businesses start offloading them.

I think I saw it when i went to go update and then somehow the instructions on syncthing 2.0 being its own separate app, since straight up update could cause issues. Not sure if it was pop up within the syncthing app or descriptions page for it on f-droid. Well I do use droidify to install f-droid apps since I prefer the UI so maybe that’s why I saw something.

I knew because I install through F-droid instead of github so ended up getting like a notice informing me that to upgrade to 2.0 I should back up the settings then uninstall 1.3 then install 2.0 then back up settings.

But, if retrieving from github or obtanium then maybe message wasn’t relayed.

During the update to 2.0 you had to uninstall the 1.3 version then install and restore your syncthing-fork settings. So if you are still on 1.3 that’s probably why you aren’t seeing it. Should pop up if you search F-droid for the 2.0 version.

Absence of capitalism would not stop privacy infringement. Its centralized powers that want to retain their power that leads to surveillance to monitor groups that might be a threat to unseat them.

Only thing that’s really changed compared to the past is technology that is available to authorities in power. Its always going to be a constant battle to retain privacy from governments that want to know everything even if monetization was snapped away. Privacy infringement is just another tool to be used by governments.

True haha. Is funny though that lot of those “I have nothing to hide” types react when privacy is actually invaded and publicized as opposed to being theoretical. Even that they wear clothes and don’t keep bathroom stalls wide open shows they want privacy.

I wonder how they’d react if you started a profile on them of them of the plates of the car they drive, eating habits, personality, their address, and whatever other observations and public records you can find then posted them around the office for everyone to see.

I didn’t see ads until I got an iPad and it was because I had been rooting before that with adaway on Android. I didn’t know talkings ads existed. Then when it came to buying apps it was hard finding ones that didn’t have subscriptions, and the apps didn’t have a clear label of whether it had ads or not before installing. Finding foss options was even harder.

So outside of official apple apps I found the app market trash on Apple with it not letting me know if an app had ads, subscriptions, and no easy F-droid type alternative to seek out for foss apps.

Might be more “private” than Android but i found Apple a more ad infested experience, and didn’t help that their third browsers are so gutted compared to Android options to make adblocking when browsing the web better.

I’ve used windows 11 ltsc with games including ones that use anticheat like Finals and didn’t run into compatibility issues yet.

Feels like normal Windows experience except no copilot, no Microsoft store, no ads, no preinstalled tiktok/messenger. Just a regular clean Windows install without the need to run debloating scripts. All the ai updates that keep being pushed on regular Windows like paint and notepad aren’t present. Its just normal old paint and normal boring notes.

Its an experience closer to Windows 7 era before online accounts were integrated into the OS and nagging people to login.

Of course Linux is the better option.

I think if you uninstall the xbox app gaming copilot goes away. Might just be for the ltsc version though, which comes with a regular game bar and no Xbox app and only gets that ability from the Xbox app.

Odd to be using vpn and supposedly 2 proxies but not using an adblocker. I wouldn’t even know if I’m getting targeted ads because I don’t get ads and stay away from apps that have ads.

If there is a kanban extension or something of the sort you might get the drag and drop list you want.

There is another Google Keep like app called NotallyX. Can even import in your Google keep backups. You can set up password protected auto backups with the app.

As for syncing syncthing as others have mentioned would be the best solution that would let you be able to use whatever you choose to go with.

I’d probably be the same if it wasn’t for video games. Wanting to build my own PC was what educated me the most about computers and how they work and learning basic desktop usage. Especially getting into Skyrim and Minecraft mods. There whether someone wants to or not they will have to know basic folder structure and where things are saved and located.

But, without a self driven reason to dive further beyond mobile devices it doesn’t seem like schools are teaching people computer basics anymore. So not something learned by everyone by just every day life.

There’s always going to be exceptions among those with a more natural tech based interest, but it used to be that everyone was exposed to using a desktop and not something that someone had to individually go out of their way to learn.

This article all day way from back in 2021 showed professors having to rethink how to teach the basics, since now skills that were expected to be known were starting to not be common knowledge.

Gradually, Garland came to the same realization that many of her fellow educators have reached in the past four years: the concept of file folders and directories, essential to previous generations’ understanding of computers, is gibberish to many modern students.

https://www.theverge.com/22684730/students-file-folder-directory-structure-education-gen-z

So yeah people who are more interested in PC gaming, streaming, and even pirating are more likely to find resources to be self taught. But, the regular people who are increasingly growing up only using phones as their computing device aren’t doing the same until forced to.

Those are probably only on mobile so their knowledge of navigating a PC is probably worse than a boomer and don’t even understand the concept of folders and files.

That is cool so data from the watch is retrieved and seen through gadget bridge if I’m getting it right for the features it is able to access?

I’ve never had a smart watch, but I guess with the way it would work with gadget bridge for supported watches is that you can keep it not connected to the wifi and just rely solely on Bluetooth to communicate with gadget bridge?