HACKER Q&A
📣 istingray

Two weeks after Apple's CSAM surveillance, what have you changed?


Curious to hear what changes others here have made.

Whether in your thinking, purchases, or future purchases.

For me: I purchased a System 76 laptop to replace my Mac. Planning to move my other devices off Apple's ecosystem.

(If you haven't made changes or don't care about Apple's surveillance, no need to state that, I understand the majority of people have not made changes)

  👤 auslegung Accepted Answer ✓
Nothing yet, but next personal computer purchase will almost certainly be system76 or similar. Phone will be non-Apple. I’d like to get my photos out of iCloud but I’ve been trying to move them from Google to Apple for like 2 years and still haven’t finished that lol.

I’ve hidden iMessage on my phone and put Signal on the dock so I use it more.

👤 wdb
If I would switch manufacturers of my notebook I would go for a European one but I haven’t really found one yet. If anyone know a European brand, please don’t hesitate to share!
👤 allears
I decided to keep my child porn off of my iPhone.
👤 istingray
Here's the following message I just sent to System76 where I purchased a laptop. I will revise for Purism and Protonmail but send them more of my journey. I'm planning to be vocal with the vendors I purchase from -- none of these options available today meet my requirements, but I buy anyway to support that future.

Hi, Writing this to document my process switching from Apple to a Linux system. My intent is to help System76 improve as quickly as possible to reach and exceed what Apple offers.

1. Given Apple's new surveillance push, 14 days ago I started looking into other options. Initially I focused on phones, I had followed Purism and was curious about their offerings. I started to learn that switching my laptop would be easier than my phone, so started there.

I initially ran Linux in Parallels on my Mac to get a feel for the options. Then the t2linux.org community helped me get Linxu Dual Booting on my laptop. However, despite all their help, my microphone still doesn't work which is a must for virtual meetings for my remote work.

2. So I needed a true Linux machine. After reading, I wanted to go with a Purism or System76 machine. I wanted to support a Linux-first company that explicitly supports open hardware and software. Purism takes 8 weeks to ship, and System76 was out of stock and I couldn't even configure one to tell what the price is (Idea: Allow configuration and pricing even when sold out. Idea 2: Allow pre-orders even when sold out)

3. I ended up initially ordering a Dell XPS 13. It seemed like the "safe" option for Linux newbies (which was the headline of an article I found). It resonated.

(Ideas: System76 could market a laptop for Linux newbies. Maybe this is an expensive market full of people with high expectations. But yeah. No one really owns this right now. Dell doesn't really give a damn about Linux, it's just a side project.)

4. It turned out Dell would take 5 weeks to arrive. The next morning, I got an "in stock" notification for the Lemur Pro. I ordered it immediately, rushing the order since I didn't really know how to configure it since the options had been disabled when sold out.

5. Feel pretty good about my order. I went back and checked which features I ordered.

Why Lemur Pro? Basically, offsetting the trackpad seems like a nonstarter for me. Same with the weird lines/bends in the other laptop models, reminds me of gaming laptops. I'm coming from Apple, I want simple, sturdy, well built, gets out of the way design.

6. This enables me to start switching from an Apple laptop, tablet, and headphones.

I've contacted my email provider Protonmail about how they can replace iCloud with true E2E encryption.

👤 slater
No.

Cos a) i've never had nor will have that kind of imagery, and b) the whole slippery slope nonsense is just that.

And don't even get me started on "BuT WhAt AbOuT ThE HaSh CoLLiSioNS?!?!?"