startpage uses Google's search index. However both DDG and startpage shield the user's identity from Microsoft and Google, as you probably know so ... a lot of people feel those sites do serve some useful purpose as far as privacy is concerned. (shrug) ideally there would be more organizations indexing the web, something i've talked about a bit and will talk about more as we get our projects underway.

Thank you for your leadership and for all that you do. You are a patriot and I thank God for you. My file transfer from word doc to Libre should be completed by today, thanks to you. May Jesus continue to richly and abundantly bless you in all that you do. 🙏

Order Linux for Dummies!

Just got mine in the mail yesterday.

My husband is a linux fan and he has me on bitwarden, vivaldi, and Linux manjaro. The switch was not hard and I'm super pleased. I don't think I will ever like gimp though and that would be the main program I'd use. 😢

StartPage feeds money back to Big Tech because StartPage uses BigTech's ad system.

Just hover your mouse over one of the "Ad" links and you will see the URL in the bottom of your browser status bar, pointing to Google or such. Brave search, (search. brave. com) is the only one that I've found that doesn't feed revenue back to Big Tech.

(See attached screenshot)

For sure. I’m starting below beginner level with zero skills. Need to be shown like I’m a 3 year old. But DETERMINED….

One thing that Linux does offer is the excitement of discovery. Every day you learn something new and you end up - honestly - improving your IQ on everything. It’s amazing how technical knowledge helps set strategies in life.

I know they spy on us!! How does someone (like me) who is clueless start this process?

Windows and MacOS are bad, Replace with Linux.
Software that you can't see the code for yourself (to check for backdoors and bugs) is bad, replace it with software that gives you the code.
Your phone is spying on you, replace it with a phone that doesn't.

The rest is just details of *how* to do the above. Don't sweat them so much.

Brave Browser is available as an App for iOS and Android, and it's also available for Windows, MacOS, and Linux.
https://www.brave.com

I switched everything when I was having a casual conversation with my dad one morning about his day at the golf course the day before... This was about 5 years ago and I had disabled FB from my phone and deleted the messenger app after a close friend had died. My dad is a phenomenal golfer but I have never, not once, picked up a golf club, lol. I had my phone within reach of me during this conversation but never picked it up. The next day when I got on my computer to check email, messages, etc, every ad on every website, FB, everywhere I looked, everything was for GOLF STUFF 😂🤣 I knew I hated Firefox, Opera, etc, but Brave has been great.

I installed linux on a 16yo laptop the other day. Ran 5x faster than Windows 7 did on the same device. You're going to have a good time.

The only plus is I know what my husband is looking for, it pops up on ads on my laptop and it helps with 🎁 buying lol but really it’s creepy

FYI Lenovo is owned by the PRC (Chinese communist government).

I would not at all be surprised to learn that all Lenovo devices are essentially Chinese malware.

"Hi Big Brother, can you give me a recipe for Enchiladas?"

Now i can be guilt-free for saying Lenovo products are inferior garbage all these years.

The windows and apple folks don't even realize there are desktop choices.

Yes. A screamingly fast linux rig. You'll want to use something *extremely* recent (ubuntu 21.10 is out in a month) so that your video card has really really good support. But other than that, you'll have a good time.

Knowing Lenovo is owned by the prc is making me super paranoid now, I'm going to have to look into this