From a non techy perspective, having what is used and installed being secure is a big one. I am new to Linux Mint. Mostly user friendly until something gets corrupted or suddenly can not be verified.

Looking for why is not always simple, and there are some explanations/instructions easier to understand than others.

I preface most of my searches with Linux mint (whatever I am searching for) for dummies. This helps some.

Then they suddenly started helping Microsoft exclusively, which has been criticized many times for being a monopoly,

Iirc, Microsoft has 49% of it. OpenAI is having another round where it is speculated Apple will contribute along with Microsoft again.

Wasn’t Altman in charge of World Coin where he wanted everyone to scan their eyes for money to encourage a universal ID/wage?

Public transportation does not operate in the middle of nowhere where the closest store is more than half an hour away.

Why will they not use F-Droid?

I can’t stress strongly enough how badly I am opposed to ads.

Not much to be done with a work machine, but for personal use, I believe the more people moving away from Windows the better.

Microsoft believes if they worsen the enshitification of Windows 10, more people will just upgrade to 11 quicker.

I decided to move to Linux and my other family went with Macbooks.

they don’t care and can’t be bothered to look for a better way.

This implies they are fine with it by tacit agreement.

My jaw dropped when I saw that. Not sure how many people are aware if it.

Samsung is also trying to make its ACR data more valuable for ad targeting, including through a deal signed in December with analytics firm Experian.

This should add to their profits.

People deserve better and should expect/demand better.

Average users will not have the knowledge or patience for work arounds.

Imo, the larger problem seems to be the majority of users appear to be fine with ads and data collection just to watch a movie or series.

Imo, the current meaning for AI is just another way for companies to take even more of your data and embed more invasive technologies.

Edit: No thanks

We know of no rigorous study showing that toughened digital marketing privacy policies produced tangible economic benefits for anyone, let alone lower-income consumers.

You do not need a study to see the numerous headlines of companies having their data breached of your personal information they did not even have permission to collect.

I suppose the significant amount of money spent on fines, repairs, lawsuits, ransomware do not count.

Paying for ads is a terrible idea companies have forced into the narrative, without users really caring.

I choose not to pay for ads.

People have become accustomed to the corporate and government invasion of their lives little by little. This will most likely continue until it is too late.

A sad world indeed.

Automakers should not even have access to any of your information!

Given Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI and strong marketing of its own Microsoft Copilot AI features, the company has a strong interest in maintaining the perception of continued progress, even if the tech stalls.

I believe this sums it up.

Mozilla has added special software co-authored by Meta and built for the advertising industry

No thanks, I’ll pass

Not sure if it will work for you, but I installed Firefox and made that the default. Then changed it back to Samsung as the default so now I get the pop up for which one to open with.