Where I work we have brand new Media Servers for a 4 beamers video wall running on W7 - software vendor says it's the last "unobtrusive" windows that just does what it is told to do. Remote control is via whatever, but the servers are 7 and will stay so. VNC'ing into those is quite the time travel.
You forgot the longstanding heritage of soviet designs from the Gaz and Zil limousines. The greenhouse is very rolls, but the front end is Pure Soviet Regurgitation (also it is a design from 10 years ago).
The real horror here isn't in the poor choice of tablecloth - it is still cotton, it is not entirely dishonorable.
Now have you noticed in what glass they poured the red wine? Have you? I... I need air, I need a cute eyeballs-cleansing fluffy cat or something, this is too much. This is enough internet for today, argh.
Belgium: French Fries, yes. Common Tourist Etiquette Mistake: don't put ketchup on it, just don't.
Laos: Laap (of fish preferably) and sticky rice, the dry on eyou make a ball with your fingers, grab a tiny bit of extra-spicy Laap, and let it explode in your mouth. Chew lengthily to allow the rice to restore balance in your innards.
Morocco: Couscous. Not a joke, so good and also kind of mandatory on Friday Noon. I love my Fridays!
I posted the above for the sake of precision - OTOH, I had my workplace buy an ipad and that was impossible to setup without email + creating an apple id. I don't care much (used work email), but still. Same with:
Windows 11
my latest kobo ereader
Stay away from Sonos loudspeakers too
Since I'm borderline psychotic about this, I always create a temporary access point on my phone that I delete right after setup is done, over a disposable email address from simplelogin.com.
Disclaimer: Linux user through-and-through ; I have a modern "m" mac for some work specific applications.
Setting up a macbook today doesn't require an apple id or even an email address. My warranty is with the non-apple authorized retailer I bought the computer from, I don't use the software store (but I think it would work) nor do I use any apple services like itunes, or, without the apple id, I don't have icloud backups. And I don't/can't buy anything from the store, of course.
I am able to update the os, I have just one notification in the settings about setting up the account but no showstopper at all.
So what does apple get from me? I'd guess crude location (from my vpn), hardware/OS version and maybe installed software? That's not much, and since it's a work machine it's offline all the time, I can't see that device doing much behind my back.
If apple is indeed looking deep into that laptop, then I guess they'll see I also have Asahi on it. And maybe they are really really intrusive and notice I'm using that Asahi partition 80% of the time (;
Joking aside, if you need macos, it is possible to use macos. With some limitations: handle your own backups, get your software from the vendors and... And that's it.
You wonderfully deviated this conversation towards the real threats we are facing in the near future, and right now. That was very well said, thank you.
OP's premises may be not wrong on the first point, is in need of some realignment on the second, and I have no idea about the third.
The idea of a post-piracy world can still be envisioned and discussed; will it be full of FOSS and CC-BY-SA? Will it leaves us with only secondhand pulp comics while our roku devices blast 23h out of 24 of ads? Who knows?
Yarr, mateys, all sails to the Public Library! We'll drop anchor at the secondhand bookshop on our way back! And drop all that electronic ballast, it's only slowing us down...
You are absolutely right; I hadn't thought of it this way but a post-piracy world should be a frugal one, could be a quiet one. A planet-friendly one.
There's a difference here that I describe as "pro" meaning specialized, complex software targeted at big businesses vs individual tools of the trade: Vectorworks is gonna get paid for happily by companies needing support and relying on it for critical output, while your next door young architect will run an outdated, cracked version of AutoCAD because it's just too expensive - that kid could (and should) run Qcad.
Where I see pirated software surviving is also as a form of legacy support: if you run old hardware (i.e. 32bits), that's where "pro" software is gonna suck & leave you dry, while torrents are still out there.
In gaming or media, cracking looks like a sport, I feel people just want to have fun blowing restrictions to pieces. It's heartwarming!
Back to the 'tools of the trade" category, I am happy to pay a moderate price to support a talented dev (Isadora, D::Light) but get understandably annoyed at huge businesses practicing insufferable licensing schemes. I wish people start looking, and using then supporting more alternatives out there - but isn't photoshop still crack-able because it helps it dominate the market where The Gimp would do if it was the standard?
I use NewPipe ; I appreciate that the YT ads are removed but not the content creator sponsor segment - I respect the right of a creator to choose to have their channel supported through advertisement.
I also like that my "feed" is only the channels I subscribe to, not the terrible crap yt thinks is going to "engage" me, and this without having a logged account.
Add in the many customizable defaults, the tab organization, and NewPipe on my phone is the only way I ever watch yt, ever.
Where I work we have brand new Media Servers for a 4 beamers video wall running on W7 - software vendor says it's the last "unobtrusive" windows that just does what it is told to do. Remote control is via whatever, but the servers are 7 and will stay so. VNC'ing into those is quite the time travel.