My rule for buying into #technology is:
get the #software separately.
Buy a laptop → install #Linux .
Get a router → flash #openwrt .
Sign up to a messenger → Use an open client.
Browse a #web app → Use an unrelated browser.
Why? The vendor can't resist the control. I don't know why. They make the experience suck. Bloat, ads, locked features, antifeatures, phoning home. Even #OpenSource .
Independent software would not survive if it did that. People would install something else.
I think this is basically the idea behind promoting open protocols rather than open software.
@dcz Open protocols must be used in free software to be a valid choice, and even then people have to exercise #vigilence. Even open protocols and free software can be encapsulated into a closed system; not a totally closed system, but one that is virtually closed in an effective manner.
