Softening my Technical Stance
Through the years I have been quite hardline with my usage of technolgy. I was only interested in Linux, or I was only interested in Free Software, or I was only interested in some particular hardware, or the old way was better, etc. I have mellowed out so much in recent years that many of my friends have commented on the change in my personality. Some of this, I think, is because I've worked very hard to reduce the amount of negative thinking and speaking I do daily. I've also tried to avoid immediately shunning any new ideas.
Another contributor to this change in my attitude (especially regarding digital privacy) has been that I am exahusted with the world at large. There are so many awful things happening all the time that it's worn me down a bit. I no longer have the fight in me like I once did. I'll spare the politics side of this and stick strictly to tech but I thought it might color the thoughts a little better.
For this post, I'll list a few services and devices I'm using now that I would have balked at in the past. This post was initially going to be about software I use on a daily basis but I noticed the stark change in my use of technology over the years. I thought it might be worth dumping some of it out of my brain for my own benefit (and perhaps your amusement). As is the style with most of my posts, this is simply a stream of consciousness in no particular order. It is unlikely to have been proofread.
Hardware and Operating Systems
Weekly, I find myself using my big beefy desktop, my Pixel 7 Pro, a Microsoft Surface Pro 7+, and an Xbox Series S. My work-provided laptop is a ThinkPad but I'm going to mostly stick to personal usage here. Of these devices, the desktop is likely the only one I would've been caught dead using a decade ago.
The desktop is relatively open and I'm generally free to do what I like with it. I have built it such that it's a workhorse now and is upgradable over time. I am hoping to reduce e-waste in this way and have a capable machine for the various computing tasks I do. In the past I might have even scoffed at this because my general process for finding a new machine back then would be to recycle and salvage parts. At some point I became annoyed with the effort involved in all of that and went straight to brand new parts I could deal with over time.
I am running Bazzite with GNOME on the desktop (and its cousin Bluefin on the work laptop). Utilizing a touchpad, I navigate GNOME pretty swiftly but gestures are something I would have frowned on heavily. I would have preferred something more spartan like XFCE (or hell, AfterStep, fvwm, or some tiling thing). Containers and immutability of the system would've driven me crazy in the past. Perhaps my work shifting to container usage softened my opinion but I'm all in on this immutable buzz at the moment. It's a liberating feeling but it's also uncomfortable given my former preferences.
The Pixel 7 Pro is a huge leap for me. First of all, it's produced by Google and I'm always distrustful of them. Secondly, it was purchased brand new. Lastly, it has all sorts of creepy sensors that I still worry about. I've installed GrapheneOS on it, which alleviates some of my heartburn. I do use a Google account (strictly for the Play Store). I'm not comfortable with it entirely but I've found it to be a decent compromise between technical liberty and dealing with the modern world. I am composing this post on that device right now with a bluetooth keyboard and a fan tethered to it. Yet another departure from my previous behaviors.
The Surface Pro 7+ is from a former job and it runs Windows 11. I kept it around because I occasionally needed a copy of Windows for side-hustle work functions. I've found myself using it more and more as a couch computer. Windows 11 is a privacy nightmare and I've tried to disable what I can. I have contemplated putting Bazzite on this machine as well. I need to make absolutely certain I don't need any of the Windows tools, though. If I were told a decade or two ago that I'd be using Windows, I'd probably have a hearty belly laugh at the idea.
The Xbox is a reflection of my current state. It requires a Microsoft account, which I detest, however it provides me with pushbutton convenience. Perhaps this is another part of the overall theme? I am tired and simply don't want to mess with technology. I have traded my personal information for the ability to mash a button and play a game. All the games are digital, I am essentially renting them (and I even enjoy streaming some, too!). All things I would have been uncomfortable with but I have now settled into as part of my routine.
Software... nee ~* APPS *~
Everythign is an app. Apps, apps, APPS. These days the bulk of my software is Open Source (not necessarily Free Software). As a card carrying member of the FSF, there was a time when I was using only free software all the time. I've found this to be difficult and frustrating to keep up, especially when work is involved. I'm still a member but I use a handful of proprietary applications mixed in with my permissively licensed stuff. The horror.
This is another ease of use thing for me. It's another reason why I've enjoyed Bazzite. I get the app experience but I can still tinker if I like.
Games
In the past I was strictly a PC gamer. Rodent and Digits all day. I did have an Atari Jaguar collection but I abandoned consoles when I became an adult. There were a couple of years when I wasn't gaming hardly at all but now I've all but migrated completely to a controller. I've lost my dexterity with a keyboard and mouse.
My game rotation is a mix of emulation, whatever is on the Xbox, some games from Steam (that I can play with a controller and my low-end GPU), and shockingly: mobile games. I never would've imagined paying for a game on a phone but here we are. I even use a controller that snaps onto my phone. Game streaming and that controller has been super nice when I'm traveling. I've bent a knee to the convenience.
Tech Bubble Buzz Words
Crypto and AI (LLM/ML... whatever). Both are fascinating to me from a bunch of different angles. Both are full of bad stuff, too. I pay for two AI services (one indirectly) and I occasionally poke about in cryptocurrency and smart contracts. Why? Because it benefits and amuses me.
AI is like an eager junior programmer mixed with a search engine on steroids (and mescaline). It's helped a lot with my work, especially when I get into areas I'm not terribly familiar with. It's also saved me a bunch of time by summarizing articles when I'm trying to get an overview of a piece of technology.
Cryptocurrencies are fun to watch. I used to trade Forex and I enjoy trying ideas out on currency markets. Various crypto charting services let me play the Internet money video game without spending a dime. Smart contracts are curious little coding realms where I can play with something weird. Sort of like oblique strategies of a sort.
Privacy
Privacy is a difficult one to talk about and quantify. On one hand, I use odd software, I pay for a search engine, I use various ad blocking services, and sometimes I use a VPN. My digital footprint is likely a bit more rough around the edges and complicated than the Average User ™ but I'm likely still very easy to track. I use my real name online and I have accounts with many of the big tech players. I'm not sure much can be done about that and I try my best to control my identity.
I am not so severe on this anymore. I used to buy burner phones and use an alias for work travel and now I simply don't care. It's so much effort and I am so very exhausted about avoiding a single slip-up that might expose me to the ad networks. It's easier to just obfuscate my data and block ads/ad networks whenever possible.
Closing Thoughts
So what's really changed? I think it's my overall exhaustion in life. I have two jobs, a family, a room mate, four cats, and a gym habbit. I just want things to work. I also think that I've internalized the idea that many of the ills of the world are unavoidable. I can minimize my interaction with these things but I can't outright avoid them without severe effort. All of that culminates in me relaxing my hard-line approach to some technologies and provides me convenience that I wouldn't have otherwise. It's neither good nor bad but it is a mix of both.