#decentralization Google is inescapable and they built their businesses and partnerships that way, we didn't want this when the Microsoft Antitrust trial happened we should not accept it now. #surveillancecapitalism
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RT @threadreaderapp
@JimFl Hallo, please find the unroll here: @randfish: Holy sh*t... I'm reading through the US Congress' trove of internal Google docs (avail here:… threadreaderapp.com/thread/128
twitter.com/threadreaderapp/st

@onepict we really need to convince small/medium businesses that GAFAM is suboptimal and sketchy compared to owning your own online resources even if its less effort (particularly important for small businesses in skilled trades and vehicle repair, which seem to be the worst for delegating their entire marketing and much of their customer support infrastructure to the USA corps, and are yet unable to correct outdated/inaccurate info that particularly Google seems to hold about them >>

@vfrmedia
It's really difficult as SMEs tend to go to local stores who stock commodity hardware with windows preloaded and a whole host of other stuff. You also have small business training provided by folks who know MS but not free software. We can train the next generation but we need more people to provide the training and guidance to folks so that they go to them. Not just to Walmart and buy any old PC/laptop

@onepict I find with the trades/car repair its also a sea of wrong/flawed data from online search places (and even the businesses own websites) combined with a lack of both basic and tech literacy amongst the (mostly young men) involved which goes back to high school.

The old way of getting partners/kids to do this admin work isn't feasible any more (many workers are single/childless!), but something else needs to replace it as these places are losing work to bigger corps..

@vfrmedia
They are, but Certainly ensuring information resources are online is a critical part of this, people can often self support on windows because those resources are online. It is possible to support yourself on Linux but the more of us helping out in that regard the better. But unless we start getting more Linux consumables out into places like target the less likely people will try it out.

@onepict there is currently an issue with Redmond subsidising Windows 10 licences for both new and refurb computers (exactly how this is legal anywhere I am not sure); and a wider problem with SMEs abandoning web presences they already have (or not responding to customers using anything other than Facebook messaging), or struggling to process detailed enquiries.

I suspect that attempts to try and use mobile phones for everything rather than full size computers is the source of this..

@vfrmedia @onepict we badly need a viable Linux mobile platform - modern ARM SoCs (even the ones on @PINE64's PinePhone) are more powerful than desktops of the 2000s, but between proprietary software bloat, the overhead of surveillance tracking, and entrenched legacy apps we still don't have a proprietary phone/tablet that can fully replace a traditional PC.

@kravietz @vfrmedia @onepict @PINE64 my impression is that with LineageOS etc. you can extend the life of existing hardware, which is nice, but you're inevitably beholden to Google (for AOSP) and the vendor for the binary blobs.

It's a good step but we probably need a totally independent alternative as well.

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@michel_slm @vfrmedia @onepict @PINE64

It's a spectrum :) Vanilla LineageOS has zero Google services, except for connectivity check.

Now, the critical factor is Google Play Services, the classic vendor lock-in trap.

Most people - myself included - deal with it by using lineage.microg.org/ a Google API emulator essentially.

There's also

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