If a soft or service is trustworth or not, only depends on the author and the community behind. Nothing worse and dangerous than a software unattended or abandoned by the author, more so if it is OpenSource, where it is easier than in closed source that an asshole add or modify some lines as a little gift,when there is nobody to control it. FOSS is great in new projects, because allow to an coope developement and the access of needed resources, but it isn’t necessarly sinonym of privacy and security, most APIs included in a huge amount of soft are OpenSourcemade by big companies, like Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon and others and not precisely because privacy. Adding also a huge amount of FOSS made by these companies. The normal user only can relay on the TOS and PP, or audit the product with Blacklight, WebbKoll, DomainDigger and similar.

The first and best measures are not only privacy apps, but a good security education, explaining well the risks and a correct use of the mobile. The biggest segurity hole is ignorance. You can’t avoid with apps the missuse of the Phone by an teen with nonsense in the head. Establishing a strict Kiosk mode on the mobile is not the right way. A localisation app is of course a good idea, also InviZible Pro with permanent enabled DNScrypt is a good protection

The first I remember is Odysee, Vimeo es often used by the Vivaldi blog.

Google kogs the searches and present the suggestions on the base of it, that is the main drawback to use Google search, apart of privacy, the filter bubble effect. Same as someone which always agree with you, even if you are wrong. Same for Bing, and others which log searches, they are not reliable, no valid.

If they colored it. they also can play Twister on it

Every OS nowadays need a good DNS server and better DNScrypt above. An app to control the traffic, like Portmaster or Pi-Hole is also recommended, irrelevant in which OS. Most activity of everyone is online and there is important to protect the privacy, because there is the biggest privacy hole, not in the OS but PEBCAC

I use PC before MS DOS times and I also used several Linux distros in the past, last Kubuntu and Mint, always in dual boot. But I never saw big advantages above a gutted Windows, but problems with a lot of apps which I needed. Currently I’m on a heavy cleaned W11 which works fast, stable and exactly how I want 100%, why because of this I have to change it, installing another OS? There are no practical reasons for it.

That is the point, but Linux, as said above isn’t for everyone an option.

Comments in the web:

**Linux faces several key challenges that limit its broader adoption and effectiveness: **

1. Software Compatibility Major commercial applications like Adobe Creative Suite and industry-standard business software often don’t run natively on Linux^[1]. While alternatives exist, they frequently lack feature parity or full compatibility with industry file formats.

2. Hardware Support Complexity Device drivers and hardware compatibility remain inconsistent. According to ZDNET, even basic tasks like printer setup can require manual configuration^[2]. Multiple competing package formats (deb, rpm, flatpak, snap) create confusion for software installation^[3].

3. Fragmented Development Focus The Linux ecosystem suffers from too many competing distributions and desktop environments. As MIT researcher Jonathan Birge notes, “It’s downright laughable that an OS with single digit market share would further dilute its market share by having two competing desktops”^[4].

4. Learning Curve Despite improvements in user-friendly distributions like Ubuntu, Linux still requires more technical knowledge than Windows or macOS for many tasks^[1:1]. The command line remains necessary for certain operations, intimidating new users.

*(With this point I am not in total agreement, Windows with its plug & play and intuitive UI only SEEMS more simple, but to remove the bad habits, bloatware, telemetrias and other crap, are required a more advanced user to get it, entering quickly into Comanche territory. I think that Windows need a more advanced user as modern Linux distros) * 5. Support Structure Unlike commercial operating systems, Linux lacks centralized support. Users must rely on community forums and documentation that can be overwhelming for beginners^[3:1]. Enterprise-level support often requires expensive consulting contracts.

6. Market Share Impact With desktop market share around 3%, many software vendors can’t justify developing and maintaining Linux versions of their applications^[4:1]. This creates a negative feedback loop - fewer applications lead to fewer users, which leads to less software development.

Summary: the best OS is allways the one which best fits the individual needs, a perfect OS for everyone don’t exist. Every OS has its drawbacks, certainly Windows the most, but at least it’s possible to fix.

Yes, dual boot is an option, but for certain things user need to use Windows. But you can make Windows a valid, fast and private OS, not so easy but possible. Telemetries re a minor problem and easy to avoid not needed. My W11 instalation has less than 1 GB and there is nothing working in the background which I don’t want. Certainly I don’t use any of the default Windows apps, nor the infame powersHell. Only the Defender and security updates.

InviZible Pro is a good option. Download from F-Droid

How do you want to read this Brick above without bleeding eyes?

Andi Summary:

How to Upgrade to Windows 11 While Maintaining Privacy and Control

Before You Start

1. Back up all important files to an external drive or cloud storage
2. Verify system compatibility using Microsoft’s PC Health Check app
3. Disable third-party antivirus software temporarily to prevent installation conflicts

Most Efficient Method

1. Download the Windows 11 ISO file directly from Microsoft’s website
2. Mount the ISO by right-clicking and selecting “Mount”
3. Run setup.exe as administrator from the mounted drive
4. During installation, select “Keep personal files and apps” for fastest transition

Privacy-Focused Settings

1. During initial setup, decline optional data collection and analytics
2. Skip the “complete installation” prompts for Edge browser and OneDrive backup
3. Go to Settings > Privacy & Security after installation to disable unwanted tracking features

Maintain Control

1. Move the Start menu back to the left: Settings > Personalization > Taskbar > Taskbar behaviors
2. Restore classic context menus and file explorer views for better efficiency
3. Set up default apps through Settings > Apps > Default apps to avoid Microsoft’s preferred applications

Recovery Options

• Within 10 days of upgrading, you can roll back to Windows 10 through Settings > System > Recovery
• Keep your Windows 10 backup for 30 days until you’re comfortable with Windows 11

Sources:

• PCWorld - How to upgrade to Windows 11: Every option explained
• Prajwal Desai - Best Guide to Upgrade to Windows 11
• PCWorld - How to update from Windows 10 to Windows 11

_________________________________________________________________________________________________–

I’ll add also WindHawk, which is imperative in W11

Vivaldi is an employee owned cooperative

I do, adding also Free Jazz and Stockhausen with countriy music in between.

The problem is privacythis don’t change if the AI uses sources from big bompany - Google GPTs. I tested several free AIs from Hugging face, Futurepedia and Futuretools, and since over two years I use Andi as main search, I didn’t find anything better. It use an own LLM, because Andi was the first AI search ever, former LazyWeb, long before the others released AI searches.

Yes, you can use an locally hosted LLM, but these never can be so powerfull as an AI with a lot of servers supporting. We have to difference it, between mere Chatbots, relying on its own database, often outdated and with the tendece to invent answers, and AI supported search engines, like Andi, You, DDG AI and others, which retrieve informations in realtime from the Web. But there is important that these are capable to difference trustworth sources from those which are not. Andi does a very good job here, because compare informations from several sites for the answer.

The main reason, at least for me, is the mencioned. Too long the EU was the Frog, boiled by the US.

You can’t generalize so much, the reasons are much broader. It is mainly that it is not desirable that a single country controls the largest part of the internet, and until now that the EU depends almost entirely to applications and services of the US, which, especially in the current situation and the policy of Trump, this dependency and subordination will have dire consequences. Is to promote the technology of european, to convert the EU as a sovereign state at the height of the eye with the current giants technologicas that account for all the market, many times abusive. Monopolies are never desirable, because they tend to be destructive…

Use Andisearch, there are zero privacy concerns and it’s apart the most accurate (independent Benchmark)

Yes but already a long way ahead, but at least the way is there.

The CPU monopoly can change, until now there are only Russian and Chinese alternatives to nVidia and AMD, but also the EU is on the march with Rhea. We’ll see.

But yes, currently there are no real alternatives yet, …well https://techtelegraph.co.uk/open-source-alternative-to-x86-and-arm-could-take-off-in-2025/