
Should (and could) you ditch Apple, Google and Microsoft? - Kittykn
https://www.thememo.com/2016/01/04/should-and-could-you-ditch-apple-google-and-microsoft/
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datalist
There are fundamental flaws in the argument

> He now uses a Lenovo ThinkPad laptop

And that is relevant in what way?

> with GNU and Linux software

Alright, fair enough.

> he’s swapped Microsoft Office for LibreOffice

As before, fair enough, if one believes in FOSS being "better" than commercial
software.

> he doesn’t use Gmail but Mozilla’s Thunderbird

Apples with oranges. The former is mail provider, also offering a web
interface. The latter is an email client, which is pretty useless without a
place where you receive emails. So what is actually using instead of Gmail?

> and, despite considering the iPhone the best on the market, he uses an
> Android handset with the Cyanogenmod operating system.

Not only contradicts the "ditching Google" credo, but is also a useless move
in this context. If he really wants to follow through with his FOSS approach
he should be using Sailfish OS, Tizen, Ubuntu Touch or Firefox OS.

~~~
NoGravitas
> Not only contradicts the "ditching Google" credo, but is also a useless move
> in this context. If he really wants to follow through with his FOSS approach
> he should be using Sailfish OS, Tizen, Ubuntu Touch or Firefox OS.

I kind of disagree, though those are all worthwhile projects. Running an AOSP
or CM ROM with _no GApps_ is a reasonable choice for mobile if you want to
avoid Apple/Google/Microsoft services.

~~~
daschwa
The other day I convinced myself to flash CM 12 on my HTC One M7 without
GApps. However, within a couple hours had no choice but to flash it. Open
Whisper Systems doesn't provide Signal's APK outside of Google Play
(surprisingly Spotify does), and neither does Pebble. In addition there is
some bug in messaging that prevents me from sending any SMS at all. I'd argue
that GApps is a requirement for any Android device today. Unfortunately I see
the iPhone as the only smartphone where it's even _possible_ to avoid Google
services.

~~~
ickwabe
At least for something like Signal you can compile it yourself. They even
provide instructions. So you could avoid gapps for that one with a bit of
work.

[https://github.com/WhisperSystems/Signal-Android/wiki/How-
to...](https://github.com/WhisperSystems/Signal-Android/wiki/How-to-build-
Signal-from-the-sources)

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taylodl
I've completely ditched Microsoft, mostly ditched Google, and haven't even
tried to ditch Apple, yet. Of the three I think Google is the hardest to ditch
entirely - and that's because of the ubiquity of YouTube. There's a lot of
DIY, how-to, product information and conference videos on YouTube.

I've willingly allowed myself to be lulled into the Apple ecosystem because
their hardware/software combination is so good. The wife and kids also like it
and yet I still retain a Unix work environment. So ditching Apple probably
isn't going to happen for me anytime soon though for me personally I'm
thinking when my MacBook Pro dies I'll probably replace it with a ThinkPad and
run FreeBSD on it. The family will more than likely still be running Apple.

------
MCRed
I'm completely in bed with Apple, ditched Microsoft 20 years ago and am slowly
weening myself off of google (primary reason I used google now is work
requires uses google docs.)

I'm very happy with the stance Apple is taking regarding privacy and security.
When the FBI director is bitching about a companies products being too secure,
then that's a company I want to give money to.

Also, personally, I've been using Apple products for 30 years, and when
they've had problems Apple has always gone above and beyond in helping.
Recently, I ran into a problem, that I thought was a hardware problem, went to
an Apple store, saw a Genius without an appointment and it fortunately turned
out to be a software issue easily fixed- but that's much better than the 2-3
week turnaround I could expect shipping another companies device off to be
serviced.

Apple puts the user first in a way that other companies do not (though to
their credit Microsoft is clearly trying these days)... and I reward that with
my money.

That said, I don't quite like my choices for laptops these days, and am
considering going with a generic laptop running Linux or a hackintosh... I
just wish Apple would offer 32GB in a laptop and/or more discrete graphics
options.

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nik736
Ditch the iPhone for Android, uhm, ok, apart from the fact that Android =
Google.

You could use Thunderbird with GMail, so that argument doesn't make any sense.

etc. etc.

~~~
gtk40
CM is based on OSS code largely developed by Google, yes. But if you avoid
Google apps you're sort of ditching Google.

Google is one of the biggest contributors to Linux and also contributes to
Mozilla in various ways, for example. You can't (practically) avoid all the
fruits of Google, but you can avoid directly using them.

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Aoyagi
Well, nonsense in the article aside, sure you can, but only for isolated
personal use.

As for myself, I've actively been avoiding all of them. Not because
"everything FOSS is better", but because none of them are someone I like.
Personally, I have never owned or used an Apple device or service (for my own
need), the only Google thing I use is Youtube. As for MS, that's "worse". I
need Windows with DirectX for entertainment and I need MS Office for some
work, as much as I'd love to use LibreOffice if just because of the UX...

------
hogogo
Most people work for a company that make software and hardware decisions, and
the user cannot make such choices to ditch a brand, unless they also decide to
ditch their job.

~~~
bovermyer
Computer ecosystem is a factor when I consider a job. Granted, it's not high
on the list, but it's there. I suppose though that this consideration is far
less important for, say, a waiter, whose reliance on Windows for their POS
system doesn't really affect his job much.

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mathgladiator
I've gone the opposite and decided to jump into bed with Microsoft; I got the
surface book and upgraded everything to windows 10. Besides the ads in the
games, it has been delightful.

