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On 01/03/14 08:22, Gordon Henderson
wrote:
On Fri, 28 Feb 2014, Tremayne, Steve wrote:
OK, LPIC question aside...
I've just given in to family pressure and bought a "tablet" for
sofa surfing (even though I'm building another MythTV box which
can do it anyway...) ... but the ambient temperature of hell
would have to reach absolute zero before I gave money to Apple
:o)
So, I got a Nexus... and the first thing it wants to do is lock
me in to the googlesphere... right then (I think), time to break
free
So, I've heard of CyanogenMod and F-Droid, but before I get too
heavily involved (or brick it!), I thought I'd ask if anyone has
any recommendations about freeing up "my" (not google's) device?
OK... I'll bite... ou're just bought a device that Google helped
to develop the software for and now you want to escape google...
OK - that's your right to do so, you do own the device afterall,
but why?
I went through this with my current google phone - and it is a
Google phone - Nexus 5.
So what do I have to give google in return.. There's some personal
details, but you need to give those to anyone these days if you
buy something online, but the real data stream is when you're
using it. Google has a copy of my contacts - which from my point
of view is convenient as I can see them on other Android devices
and via their web interface. I think I can turn this off on the
device.
Google wants to know where I am - some of the time. I can turn it
off. In return for this, Google uses the data to improve location
accuracy for everyone else. (Wi-Fi and cell information)
Google know what "apps" I download via their app store - which I
can see on other android devices and via the web on my desktop.
They also have a copy of my calendar - which I can see on other
devices.
There may be other stuff that google keeps track of that I've
forgotten about, or am not aware of.
So... For that I get a really cool phone, at a good price (£299),
Google backs up my contacts and calendar. I could use "G Drive"
and backup my photos, but I do that via another way.
You can turn off location sending in apps - e.g. firefox, twitter,
etc.
Google is trying to get me into G+ but I'm resisting by simply
ignoring it.
I have dumped hangouts though - gone for the sms client in CM
which is advert free.
And you know what... I'm getting to really like it. Googles voice
recognition works well too and I'll have G-Wallet soon and be able
to use the NFC facilities the phone has for small payments. (well,
so they promise)
So why not just give it a go?
If you're woried about stuff like google handing the data over to
the various TLAs (and eTLAs) then there's nothing to wory about.
They have the data already.
The real evil place IMO is the apps that you'll want to download -
and they are the same no matter what OS you're running. Facebook
now wants access to your contacts for example (I don't use FB, but
the advice seems to be to stick to the web version!) Just watch
for apps that seem to want access to stuff you think they
shouldn't need access to...
Gordon
Cheers Gordon - that's exactly why I'd go Linux.
Tom te tom te tom
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