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@ L's workbench
2023-07-26 20:39:43You're at your computer, browsing, writing, networking, gaming, or whatever it is you do.
A notification in your lower right corner of the screen informs you that your PC is finally eligible to install the latest Windows 11 build, and it is also free! That's great - no need to pay those 80 bucks for something that, let's be honest, you searched for product keys on sketchy websites. Yeah yeah, you got a virus by clicking on that phantom download button, but who cares, Avast took care of that. But now that problem no longer arises since you didn't pay money to Microsoft for Windows 11!
As you revel in the new shiny UI, centered buttons, and Microsoft Office suite at your fingertips, you start to question the security of it all. But you can feel something is wrong. Is it okay to run your favorite software wallet or companion app for your hardware wallet on an OS that you know was made by Microsoft? How secure is it? Can someone detect me when I'm writing down my private keys into my wallet? Is something monitoring my connections? Do they know to whom I send my sats to? Is it sate to store personal informations and documents on this PC?
In the depths of your mind, the big "why" lingers: why didn't I pay for this? Yeah, why didn't you pay for it? Then you think of a mantra:
Oh, so is Windows 11 free because Microsoft wants a capillary diffusion of this OS? Why? Why not gain profit from it? What is their intention? I don't trust such a gigantic and powerful company that has the political reach that Microsoft has.
Bitcoiners taught me another cool mantra:
As you dive deeper, seeking transparency, you head to Microsoft's GitHub page to inspect Windows source code But to your disappointment, the treasure trove of information remains undiscovered. Microsoft does not publish their beloved product's source code.
This isn't right.
Alright, you're now fed up, you are bitcoiner goddammit! You require that key components of your digital life, like the OS, should be free, freely available and free.
An old memory in the back of your mind surfaces in front of you. Some weird IT guy at you old job talked to you about some weird stuff, this ~~Linux~~ GNU/Linux. He said it is FOSS and everybody can contribute. It was 2006, all this tech mambo-jumbo was not your strong suit. You somewhat read about Linux, but what the hell is FOSS, what's a GNU and why would you care? To be fair now you know about private keys, public keys, UTXOs, ~~hardware wallets~~ signing devices! You also now know about nsec, npub, relays and NIPS! All the weirdest stuff! It's time man, you are now the weird guy, embrace the weirdness, you finally decided to approach Linux!
...to be continued...