[HN Gopher] Why I'm getting off US tech
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Why I'm getting off US tech
Author : NickDouglas
Score : 23 points
Date : 2025-05-01 19:47 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.disconnect.blog)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.disconnect.blog)
| bigyabai wrote:
| I don't even know how people can argue this with a straight-laced
| tone when their header image is a Mac screenshot. On a Substack
| blog.
|
| It's like selling your "Boycott Amazon" bumper sticker with free
| Prime shipping.
| samus wrote:
| Did you read the rest of the article? They are openly admitting
| that they won't be able to get off all US platform. For now at
| least.
| mikestew wrote:
| And with the commitment to come back and tell us what they
| found as alternatives. JFC, TFA wasn't even all that long.
| alaxhn wrote:
| The author's online identify seems to revolve around being
| critical of tech and Silicon Valley. I guess employees of
| Silicon Valley companies should be relieved that not even life
| long critics of our companies seem to be able to escape
| providing revenue for our services.
| malfist wrote:
| This has the same energy as "You criticize social, but yet you
| live in a society. Curious."
|
| People can criticize things they belong to or work within
| WorldPeas wrote:
| > I'm also not getting rid of my Macbook and iPhone, at least for
| now
|
| I say it far too much on here but it's a right shame that there's
| still no decent alternative to these devices. No operating system
| offers the same battery life, stability and power as they do, not
| to mention the ecosystem that while annoying, forces devs away
| from the downfalls of modern code (mostly). If the EU really
| wants sovergnity, they aren't getting it from linux alone, either
| they work with a tech giant there to bolster a stack or they
| continue ambling along with Microsoft technicians around their
| ankles and Amazon around their neck.
| Tepix wrote:
| Last time i used a phone with GrapheneOS, it was a very good
| experience.
|
| The Macbook hardware is tough to match, but if you are looking
| at budget notebooks, Apple has very little to offer.
| commandlinefan wrote:
| What Apple offers that nobody else seems to is _consumer-
| friendly_ high-end hardware. I've been given company-issued
| Dell laptops (for example) that zipped along beautifully, even
| with Windows installed. When I asked the IT department where
| they bought them so I could buy one myself, they weren't even
| sure where they came from. I'm sure they cost the same as a
| high-end macbook (and performed comparably) but apparently you
| have to be a multinational conglomerate in order to procure
| one.
| mixmastamyk wrote:
| Dell is easy to find, although they have too many models.
| Take the model number and search their website with it.
| Searching the support site with service tag will get
| information as well.
| dismalaf wrote:
| Linux alone is good enough, when you choose the hardware it's
| rock solid. Europe also has 2/3 of the major Linux vendors
| (Suse and Canonical). Battery life on Gnome is as good as
| Windows on Intel and AMD, compared to Apple though, there's no
| good ARM processors for Linux (Qualcomm drivers aren't ready).
|
| The other problem is finding an alternative for Android and
| Google.
| jazzyjackson wrote:
| My Xperia 1 V is super nice hardware, one of the rare models I
| could find made in Japan. Haven't put graphene on it yet
| because I can't decide if I want Google location services or
| just deal with subpar GPS
| __aru wrote:
| I wonder how viable Mac + Asahi Linux is right now. While I
| personally prefer AMD + Linux, for Macbook users perhaps Asahi
| can help break the dependency on MacOS.
|
| As for smartphones, ironically the best option for to break
| dependency on Google services is to get a Google Pixel + install
| GrapheneOS + F-Droid. Google Pixels are some of the very few
| devices with a fully unlocked bootloader, so it's viable to
| install alternative operating systems.
| PhilippGille wrote:
| I think there are some issues recently with the M4 chips:
| https://appleinsider.com/articles/25/04/08/asahi-linux-m4-su...
| jazzyjackson wrote:
| Very solid on M2. I've been out of the "try 10 distros" game
| for a long while and out of the box gnome fedora won me over. I
| like the GUI to install and update software, I never have to
| touch a terminal unless I want to. Only setback is no HDMI over
| USBC, and it didn't like my particular Bluetooth audio device,
| but a USB DAC does just fine.
| bsder wrote:
| tl;dr -- "I'd go protest, but it's so _annoooooying_. I might
| drop my latte! "
|
| FFS: getting out of the Apple ecosystem is the easy part.
|
| Avoiding the Windows ecosystem, for me, has been much harder.
| Generally, there is somebody that will incidentally pull you into
| it for work.
| mixmastamyk wrote:
| You may be done with MS products, but they aren't done with
| you. Like tryin' to quit the mafia.
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