I’m always surprised about how unperturbed some people are when their data is spewed all over creation — like what is happening with Windows 10. Do they not understand the risks? The danger? Or are they just plain morons? (I vote the latter.)

I thought this comment said it best about it all, from here.

I think this speaks to the heart of the issue– The desktop environment is the oldest and most capable computing environment there has ever been for the user. It can do more and therefore is more important than all other OS environments. It has existed without the need for modern telemetric intrusion for decades, and there is really no reason why it cannot continue to offer users, at the very least, a choice in the matter.

The comparison to phones as a justification for this spying is also ridiculous, as phones are built (and evolved) as communication/notification hubs. Without mass telemetry, phones are literally useless. The desktop can be used for this, but is also capable of producing work and personal content storage that is critically important. When telemetry gathering becomes unavoidable on desktops, there will be no computer environment left available that is private and completely personal.

Lots of folks do not want or need their desktop environment to behave like a phone. There should at least be some option for users that is not crippling or needlessly complicated.

I can’t make sense of why people are willing to give away so much for so little gain, and then go on to tell others that they are wrong and bad when they also do not want to do the same thing.

I do truly think that most people actually find authoritarianism and oppression comforting. When Sartre observed that one is “condemned to freedom,” he knew exactly what he was on about.