How can I go back to using Google Drive, Gmail, downloading the WhatsApp application, trusting proprietary software in general?

How can I go back to convenience knowing what I know now? Constantly aware that I'm trading my privacy and my data for convenience? Why must this road be so arduous?

Genuinely struggling with this, how do you all manage? Do you just accept it and use this stuff trying to minimize how much information on yourself you give away? Or have you resigned to self-hosted email and wood cabins (unable to fully interface with payment systems, government bureaucracy, modern technology)?

I ended up picking up a bluetooth mechanical keyboard around 7 years ago. I've just dug it up again and I've realised that the bottom left "Ctrl" key is not working. What are my options for fixing it? I can easily take off the key caps and access the switches, but is there anything that can be done? Is there any chance reseating the switch will fix it?Thanks

As someone who's looking to to get into the hobby, I'm curious to hear if there are any recommendations for budget friendly mechanical keyboards. I had/have a Corsair cherry red mechanical keyboard that I used probably around 10 years ago at this point when I was into gaming, but now I'd be looking for something a bit more refined, and possibly vintage as I quite enjoy using old tech. Any suggestions? I'm in Europe if that matters at all.

I'm aware of what constitutes a decent password, but typing in 15-30 random characters each time I lock my computer screen is starting to get a bit taxing.

How secure does my user password really need to be and what are the threats to it? Does the same apply to a root-enabled user as a "regular" user when it comes to password security?

For context, my threat model doesn't need to account for real people breaking in and accessing my computer, the damage would be very contained.

Bonus question - what are the risks of having a weak password on a root user on a spare laptop on the same network as my main device that is used exclusively for web browsing? Thanks.

Hello, any recommendations for a libre PDF with support for dual page (with the option to adjust which 2 pages are displayed)? Normally I use MuPDF, but there's a document I would like to read which would greatly benefit from some additional features...

I'm a little bit underwhelmed, I thought that based off the fact so many people seem to make using this distro their personality I expected... well, more I guess?

Once the basic stuff is set-up, like wifi, a few basic packages, a desktop environment/window manager, and a bit of desktop environment and terminal customisation, then that's it. Nothing special, just a Linux distribution with less default programs and occasionally having to look up how to install a hardware driver or something if you need to use bluetooth for the first time or something like that.

Am I missing something? How can I make using Arch Linux my personality when once it's set up it's just like any other computer?

What exactly is it that people obsess over? The desktop environment and terminal customisation? Setting up NetworkManager with nmcli? Using Vim to edit a .conf file?

Bonus question: what email inbox client do you use?

I'm almost sorry to ask this, but does anyone have experience with Firefox on Linux taking a long time to open? I'm running Pop!_OS on a fairly modern machine. All other programs open pretty quickly, but Firefox seems to drag its feet on startup. Once it's open it's great, no problems with speed.

I have tried disabling extensions (ublock origin, sponsorblock, decentraleyes, i still don't care about cookies) and I have tried setting my default profile as one without any custom user.js (I have a profile with Arkenfox and one with Betterfox's user.js). Nothing I have done so far has seemed to make any difference, but Help->Troubleshoot Mode allows Firefox to open quickly, so there must be something that I can disable that is causing the issue... Any ideas? Thanks.

Edit: Seems like swapping to the flatpak version made things much faster. The Pop!_OS .deb version must be snap like you all said :) Thanks everyone!

I was watching Eric Murphy's video on "Privacy faigue" and it certainly provided some food for thought. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ab6ryHD_ahQ)

I like how he conceptualizes privacy as multilevelled, with no one-size-fits-all solution, which should be tailored based on the individual's threat model.

So, with that in mind: what would y'all consider your threat model?

As far as I'm concerned I suppose my main goal is to avoid advertisements, particularly targeted advertisement. Additionally I would obviously like to avoid getting hacked, but I know I'm not being targeted particularly (and wouldn't be a worthwhile target anyway). Curious to see if I have any obvious blindspots that could be remedied based on everyone else's answers.

I can't say I've been using Lemmy for long, but from the get-go it seems that the communities, memes, opinions that get upvoted seem to reflect left-wing ideas.

I'm certainly not complaining, it honestly feels like a breathe of fresh air compared to other social media sites that seem to shift further and further to the far right, though I am curious to hear why this might be the case? Does FOSS tend to attract more left-wing minded people, or does this just happen to be a broadly left-wing microcosm/bubble?

Hope you all have a great day.