Our Smart TV is offline 99% of the time, so I rarely see the smart features. We’ll sometimes have company stay over and they’ll connect the Ethernet to use the built-in streaming apps with their own credentials, so it’s a nice option to have and it doesn’t impact us otherwise.

JF’s UI hasn’t really done it for me for whatever reason…I have it running in an LXC already and mostly use it at my workstations.

I have a JF instance running on Proxmox as well, but it hasn’t won me over yet. Still, I know a lot of folks do prefer it to Kodi and others so there must be something to it.

As others have said, just buy a TV that meets your A/V needs and don’t connect it to the internet.

I know everyone talks about Jellyfin these days, but Kodi is an excellent option too if you don’t need streaming to multiple devices. I use Kodi via LibreElec on an rpi4 and it’s been great. All media is stored on my home server and shared over Samba, but you can easily store it locally on the box if you don’t have a server.

For music streaming, I run a separate instance of miniDLNA on my server, since I like to browse-by-directory for my music instead of relying solely on metadata. This also allows you to stream to any DLNA-friendly device on the LAN.

I’ve digitized my disc collection and just keep the physical media as a backup. The local library has a huge selection of media too…and if we don’t use it, we’ll lose it.

That sounds like a time saver for sure. I imagine that some of those elements (grammar rules) are widely available everywhere, while others (practice dialogues, activity suggestions focused on the use of language) would require a fairly specific training model.

Thanks for sharing! I’m probably too set in my ways to ever utilize AI for things like this. I never use virtual assistants like Alexa or Google either, as I like to vet and interpret the source of information myself. Having the citations would be handy, but ultimately I’d want to read them myself so the IA/VA just becomes an added step.

If a layman may ask, what are folks even using AI/LLMs for mostly? Aside from playing around with some for 10-15 mins out of simple curiosity, I don’t have a practical use for platforms like ChatGPT. I’m just wondering what the average tech enthusiast uses these for, outside of academia.

Quite a lot of apps cease to provide real-time notifications/messages, if they work at all, when Google Play components are not installed under GOS. At the very least, Google Services Framework is required for many mainstream apps.

Not OP but I think they’re just saying they’re not invested in Android as an ecosystem.

For what it’s worth, GrapheneOS includes neither Google Play nor Android Auto. Like nearly any Android-based OS, it allows you to install apps of your choosing, but it does not include either of those. It is a FOSS project through and through.

Yep. My only real goal is to reduce the amount of advertising I’m exposed to on a daily basis, and to that end it’s working…for now.

No cable, no streaming services, no broadcast radio, automated downloads of media, ad blockers everywhere, DNS sinkhole, etc. Thankfully, it’s all low maintenance once in place.

First, it’s important to realize that Meta is likely tracking you already through its ad-related services even if you don’t have an actual FB account. Countless retailers and services are using Meta and Google for ads and analytics and it’s virtually impossible to be completely off their radar if you do any online shopping, banking, or service consumption.

Even with the use of VPNs, uBlock and other tools, Meta likely already has your particulars, including full name, phone number, email, and physical address simply by way of family members and colleagues saving that information to their own address books which are then shared to Meta through FB, WhatsApp, etc. In this way, your name, phone number and/or email address has likely already been associated to otherwise anonymized data through retailer back-ends.

That said, if Marketplace is important to you I would simply create a FB account and use it solely for that. I would avoid installing any FB/messenger apps, and opt for a browser-only experience in order to minimize additional privacy infringement. Use FF containers, incognito mode, or a separate browser altogether for FB access if you feel it’s necessary.

Meta has taken a hardline approach to fake/obfuscated accounts, so I suggest using legitimate tombstone info but only provide what’s necessary for account generation. Anything less and you’ll risk a deactivated account, or Marketplace ban.

Don’t overthink it. If you use the platform with basic care (no apps, no persistent cookies), then the most they’re going to glean is that you like shopping for retro games and other used goods.

While Reolink hardware is perfect for Blue Iris and other self-hosted solutions, I try to warn everyone that Reolink’s own Android app now captures your device’s clipboard whenever accessed. The same may be true for their desktop or iOS apps, I don’t know.

I have several Reolink cameras and I’ve been happy with their overall image quality and capabilities, but I do not trust their software whatsoever and recommend keeping them isolated from the internet entirely.

Honestly, any enterprise OEM will be similar, such as Dell or Lenovo. Yes, their mainboards are proprietary, but you can easily source them from legitimate parts vendors. That’s why there are so many refurbished Optiplexes and ThinkCentres on Amazon. They’re trivial to repair and most don’t even require tools.

You cannot easily upgrade to a dedicated GPU unless replacing an existing unit, which is standard for laptops as well.

Perhaps more importantly, websites can determine which fonts are installed on your system (regardless of which you’re enforcing), making fingerprinting much easier.

Simple SMS, obtained from F-Droid, is probably the best universal option until the Fossify project adds the fork to their suite (assuming they do).

If you have the ability to toggle network access for your apps (GrapheneOS, etc.), Google Messages is a very solid SMS app that receives regular updates. I would normally only recommend FOSS apps, but many of those options are limited and/or dangerously outdated for SMS.

Relevant topics also missing from the survey:

• Choice of desktop operating system
• Choice of mobile platform and OS
• Use of email encryption
• Use of cloud storage
• Use and method of disk encryption

The bottom line is that GrapheneOS is the most security-focused mobile operating system available, and the Google Pixel is pretty well the only mainstream phone with an unlockable bootloader.

If Alphabet were to ever lock down the Pixel’s bootloader, the GOS devs would undoubtedly jump ship to a lesser available platform in order to continue the project. But until then, no other hardware comes close with respect to embedded security.

For what it’s worth, I use F-Droid and the Play Store via the Aurora store frontend, all without a Google account.

I don’t install the Google Play Store bundle, as I feel it defeats the purpose. I do install Google Services Framework though as most apps rely on it and it doesn’t require network access.

I generally don’t use any apps that compromise user privacy, so apps like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Spotify, YouTube, and Google Maps are all a no-go for me. If and when I need to access their services, I use an alternative front end or simply use a browser.

Even if you do need to use the above apps though, you’ll find GrapheneOS a much more secure and privacy-respecting way of doing so.

How does GOS work with apps, or how would a proper Linux OS work with apps?

For the former, GOS works really well for what I want from a smartphone. Self-hosted contacts and calendaring, Signal for messaging, Firefox and Vanadium for browsing, markdown editor, file sync, etc. all work great.

For the latter, a proper Linux-oriented release would be something like a mature version of the GNOME Shell mobile project. I don’t need specific Android apps, but rather the ability to complete certain tasks (banking, appointments, email, etc.). With Linux, there’s already an app for most of those tasks. The only exception might be Signal, but I’m sure if GNOME Shell matures enough we’ll see a solution for mobile Linux activation too.

Pixel 7 with GrapheneOS. It’s the first and only time I’ve ever felt I was in control of my own smartphone.

If GOS is ever no longer an option, I will likely stop using smartphones altogether until a proper community-based Linux OS with similar features is available.

I use the flatpak version, which keeps all of the cache and config directories together, and I’m fairly certain I’ve simply copied the flatpak data folder between computers in the past. I could be wrong though; I might have only copied it between distros on the same hardware.

Gmail will work fine, including push notifications, assuming you enable Google Play Services. Using either will of course come at the cost of privacy.

Cloudflare is becoming entrenched in every aspect of hosting. It’s all fine and dandy until they’re bought by the likes of Google, or Meta.

I use Firefox for most trusted browsing, largely due to its bookmark sync and extension support. It has also been my desktop browser of choice for decades. I always browse in private mode on mobile, and with strict protection enabled (no 3PC), so essentially no cookie or data retention once the app is closed. FF sync for bookmarks only, no search suggestions, autocomplete, etc., except for search bookmarks. DDG as default engine.

Passwords are managed with KeePass autofill, and synced to many other devices via Syncthing.

I love that Vanadium is the default WebView browser though, due to its support for site isolation and other hardened features.

Fingerprinting is still virtually impossible to prevent until/unless the overall web browser model changes.

Running outdated versions of software, whether on your phone or the desktop, will generally expose you to more vulnerabilities and is not best practice from a security perspective.