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From: Andrzej Matuch <andrzej@matu.ch>
Subject: Re: cpu-x
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On Fri, 17 May 2024 02:50:18 +0000, RonB wrote:

> On 2024-05-15, Andrzej Matuch <andrzej@matu.ch> wrote:
>> On Wed, 15 May 2024 13:49:34 +0000, RonB wrote:
>>
>>> On 2024-05-12, Andrzej Matuch <andrzej@matu.ch> wrote:
>>>> On Sun, 12 May 2024 18:07:49 +0000, RonB wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>> The agreements are seemingly made in such a way that the
>>>>>> corporations behind them can, whenever they want, come after us
>>>>>> whenever they want. It's unlikely that they will, and that's why
>>>>>> most people don't bother to read them, but the power to do so is
>>>>>> still in their hands. That understanding is one which should push
>>>>>> people to use free software instead, but I think that most people
>>>>>> won't bother unless a corporation does, indeed, eventually come
>>>>>> after them.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Yep. That's why I don't take it seriously. It's all skewed against
>>>>> the customer. A contract is supposed to be an agreement between two
>>>>> parties,
>>>>> but these corporate wonks change the contract constantly, and it's
>>>>> always "take it or leave it." In other words you buy the software,
>>>>> plan to use it for several years and they pull the rug out from
>>>>> under your feet by demanding you agree to a new contract (not the
>>>>> one that came with the software in the first place). I think I use
>>>>> about two or three proprietary applications (maybe more, but I can't
>>>>> come up with more right now). One of those applications is Fade In.
>>>>> Basically one man. I've mentioned a couple times to him that such
>>>>> and such tweak would be nice — within a couple weeks there's a new
>>>>> version with that tweak implemented. The license agreement is
>>>>> basically, don't give it to anyone else — you can use it on your own
>>>>> computers (as many as you want) and they can be any combination of
>>>>> Linux, Windows or Mac OS. Updates are always free.
>>>>> 
>>>>> The other proprietary software (that I can think of now) is office
>>>>> suite that comes with TextMaker. They provide five licenses that can
>>>>> be divided between any combination of Linux, Windows or Mac OS
>>>>> machines. They're a German outfit, and seem to be well liked. But
>>>>> I've never read the fine print in their EULA. Maybe they have the
>>>>> "right" to take one of my kidneys with two hours notice, who knows?
>>>>> 
>>>>> I would imagine that a lot of these EULAs could be challenged in
>>>>> court if anyone cared enough to do it.
>>>>
>>>> I imagine that corporations would make the excuse that if their EULAs
>>>> are challenged and they can no longer set whatever conditions they
>>>> choose on the user, they will simply stop producing software. They
>>>> tend to play with that kind of stuff quite a lot, telling whoever is
>>>> in charge that lots of people will lose their jobs, their livelihoods
>>>> and by extension lots of tax income if they don't play ball. The
>>>> power corporations have with governments, by itself, is a good reason
>>>> to avoid proprietary software if you can manage it. Companies aren't
>>>> all bad, but the bigger the company, the worse it gets.
>>> 
>>> Agreed. If you absolutely need the application there's not much you
>>> can do. But just by using Linux I have very little proprietary
>>> software.
>>
>> Even though I can afford to buy proprietary software, I usually find
>> that the open-source ones are either better or good enough. As long as
>> they don't eventually kill themselves as useful applications the way
>> that Thunderbird just did, I continue using them forever.
>>    
>>>>>> I recall one woman refusing to use proprietary software because her
>>>>>> financial information had repeatedly been stolen. The loss came as
>>>>>> a result of bugs in proprietary software and malware, and she swore
>>>>>> that she would never allow herself to be a slave of such
>>>>>> easily-compromised software again. I know that she has a blog, but
>>>>>> I don't remember what it was.
>>>>> 
>>>>> I believe that. My wife's credit card has been compromised five or
>>>>> six times. She uses Windows and Windows applications.
>>>>
>>>> Mine was compromised a lot in the 2000s, but it seems to have had a
>>>> lot to do with the machines used at gas stations more than anything
>>>> else. My wallet also did nothing to block RFID signals at the time.
>>>> The last time it was compromised was when I bought this laptop. My
>>>> wife eventually let me know that Best Buy, where I bought it using a
>>>> credit card, had a number of complaints over the years. Whoever
>>>> purchases there is basically give his credit card away to thieves...
>>>> I don't know if it's BestBuy itself or the terrible security on the
>>>> site, but it was compromised soon after the purchase.
>>> 
>>> It could be a coincidence. And she uses her card a lot more than I use
>>> mine.
>>
>> Yeah, you don't have much of a choice other than PayPal if you're
>> making online purchases though.
> 
> I understand. I had to change out my Visa debit card a month or so ago
> because some moron was using it for Google Pay. I've got a good credit
> union, they get this kind of stuff stopped quick. But it is a pain to
> have change out my card number for my monthly bills. (First world
> problems — or should that be "soon to be former first world problems?")

I can't imagine how bad the security of these institutions or our software 
is that this continues to be a problem. My card used to get cloned all the 
time back in the 2000s when I was using a wallet without RFID blocking and 
blindly trusting the machines at convenience stores to be secure. It's 
been a lot better since, but it sucks that my card had to yet again be 
cloned when I bought this laptop because I dared to make an online 
purchase. Luckily, I caught it quick: I was waiting in the dentist's 
office and noticed a few charges for Ubers.