Software Tyranny

[Shibblet]

Let's start from the top... Here's the data: https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market...ktop/worldwide
The reason I used this chart, is because it is specifically based on Desktop OS's, and separates Linux from ChromeOS and Android.

We have watched a steady increase in Linux based OS's from 1.45% in 2019 to 4.44% in 2024.
Windows has declined from 77.64% in 2019 to 72.1% in 2024.

That's a little more than just Linux, of course, but Linux is definitely a large chunk of that change.

What we are seeing at this point, is the beginning of a form of Software Tyranny. Tyranny is defined as: "cruel, unreasonable, or arbitrary use of power or control." In this particular case, we are going to use "arbitrary" with a dash of "unreasonable." Many people have noticed this trend well before now. The FSA, and people like Richard Stallman have watched computers change from devices that people could use with their own free will, into devices that literally have dictatorial software that force the user to use their computer the way the software designers want you to.

Not only do they install software on your PC that you don't want to be there, but they are "grooming" an entire generation of people to ignore things like EULA's. This allows Microsoft to claim that the software was installed because you agreed to the EULA.

I've watched this process in full form. Picture this: A kid fires up his X-Box to play the newest game with all of his friends. When that game starts for the first time, it has an EULA that requires agreement in order to play the game... I have watched as these kids mash the controller to get past that crap as fast as they can. They don't care what the EULA says, at all... all they want to do is play their game.

Lesson learned... ignore the EULA, and just agree.

Regardless of how long this has been coming, we are about to see a major forced change in the name of A.I. coming to everyone's Windows desktop. And the claims are that it "can" be turned off, for the time being, but it will require some steps to do so. That means most people won't do it... they'll just let it live and learn.

[grahammechanical]

The same thing applies to websites that give the option to Reject; Accept or Manage Cookies. I always click Accept and I do remember the days years ago when we first heard about cookies and what information they were capable of collecting. It was the published distrust of the website owners that prompted websites to put up those three options. If I remember correctly governments made doing so a requirement. Those options are so common place that they have become meaningless. I imagine that even suspect websites will give the visitor those options and few people investigate what information the web site actually collects.

Regards

[currentshaft]

d

[baltic]

Worry not! Microsoft is slowly falling out of relevance. It's windows devision is not profitable for many years already.
And the future is with android like systems. Where everyting is thouroughly isolated from each other and the system. No way to sneakily do something

[currentshaft]

censored

[werewulf75]

Thank goodness increasing numbers of people are becoming a bit more privacy and security concerned and look to protect themselves from privacy spies and so on. This can only benefit Linux of course, and also open source privacy software generally.

Personally, nothing and nobody is getting hold of any of my data. Not even MS - minimal Window 10 install (have to use that occasionally for specialist software and specialist hardware support not available in Linux, alas) with all spying stuff removed, the only thing Win can check on is registration, everything else that remains is blocked, and they can't even get my real IP. And stuff their and everybody else's EULAs - what they can't get they can't get. (Not that I have any but three EULAs left under Windows.) All said and done, no software tyranny here.