You are right. From what I saw Linux-based OSs have come a long way. The issue with Linux is when it comes to professional environments, that are not IT-related: There are niche programs that are used in certain professions that were written to work on Windows computers exclusively. They are not availiable for other OSs, because they are not wide spread or popular with non-professionals. Also, Microsoft Office (especially Outlook and Excel) is very dominant within the professional field - up to a point that it can’t be changed easily. All this does not apply to users who use Linux computers outside a professional enviroment, as there are alternatives for popular programs and services already.

I can relate. It is like those tool bars that were installed automatically if you weren’t attentive while installing software when Windows XP still was around.

They like to suffer, I let them.

Me too. I always suggest to them to install UBlock origin (or any ad blocker compatible to their browser), along with add ons that get rid of cookie consent banners. If they follow my advice, I will invest my time into helping them to make their OS a little bit less annoying (e.g. switching off telemetry data and uninstalling Copilot). If they can’t be bothered with at least installing an ad blocker, I will not waste my time on them. They clearly want to suffer.

Edit: The screenshot displays a Windows Vista UI. These Toolbars must have been aorund also while Windows Vista was around. I didn’t know that, because Vista made me settle into the other walled garden.

Knauf. They produce drywall boards, among other building materials. You probably dwell a home where these products are built in. Excerpt from linked Wikipedia article:

In 2022, after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, Yale University published a list of companies that chose to remain active in Russia. According to this report, over 600 companies have withdrawn from Russia — but some remain. Knauf is still operating across 14 sites in Russia but has claimed to have suspended new investments.[5].
In November 2023 Ukraine listed Knauf as an International Sponsor of War for promoting mobilisation in Russia by sending its employees to the war against Ukraine.[6].
According to German public-service broadcaster ARD, Knauf has been active in collaborating with the Russian military in its construction efforts in the Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.[7][8]

Another source (German), 2024 states, that due to investigation of a news outlet, they allegedly withdrew their actions.

Withdrawal in response to ARD investigation?
Only recently, the plaster company from Lower Franconia hit the headlines because of its activities in Russia: Research by the ARD magazine “Monitor” suggested that Knauf had violated EU sanctions against Russia. Whether the withdrawal from Russia is connected to the allegations made was neither confirmed nor denied by the company to BR24 today and a press spokeswoman did not wish to comment on the matter in response to a written request.

They probably wanted to have a foot in the door when it comes to rebuilding, when the war will be over finally.

Another, probably more known company is Claas, a manufacturer of farming equipment like combine harvesters and such. Another source (German), 2023 claims

The company condemns Russia’s attack on Ukraine, said Mohr. Nevertheless, Claas cannot and does not want to withdraw from one of the world’s most important agricultural regions. “Both countries are enormously important for feeding the world’s population. That’s why farming must continue there,” Mohr told the SZ newspaper, adding that harvesting machines were essential for this.

Yes, all these email services want you to pay up for them. I think this is the price tag for privacy.

I have switched to Mailbox org a couple of years ago. I had a freemail provider before that. Unfortunately, this providers’ data got leaked, and therefore I got pwned, luckily only resulting into a tsunami of spam. The entry-tier with Mailbox is 1 € per month (= 12 € per year) which is compareably cheap in my opinion. Of course, it depends on what features you desire - more features cost more money. They also offer a free trial for 30 days (but it is wise to start the free trial at the begin of a month, as far as I recall).

The process of switching the email provider took me at least 6 months, where both the old and the new email adress have to exist simulatiously.

If you need to register quickly to an online service, i can recommend Temp-Mail org. Its free, but you need to have the tab opened for the registration process, as all data (including the free temporary email adress) will be deleted once the tab is closed. I used this service to register with my home instance, because back then I didn’t want to expose my real email adress.

First of all - don’t overthink it! There are so many factors that play into this whole ordeal that a single person can’t change. As other posters have said: Not all is bad. Always keep in mind that on the internet, these things seem to be much more dire than they are.

When it comes to the things I described in my post: Try to buy consciously. Assess if you really need the thing (example: If you alredy own a laptop and a smartphone - is there really a need for a tablet?). Try to buy things that last longer. Most products come in basically three price ranges: cheap, mid-price, overly priced. On most occasions it is sufficient to go with the mid-price range. This mostly offers the best price-performance-ratio. If you buy cheap you buy twice in the end (first for the cheap thing, then for the more expensive version that you should have bought to begin with). If you buy overly priced you probably are wasting money for a thing that could have been cheaper in the first place.

If you are not satisfied with digital services, then leave them for an alternative. For instance, I was unsatisfied with my bank. They tried to pull something off, thinking I will put up with it. I did some research and now I have changed my bank, even with better conditions than before. It was easier than I thought. The same goes with email providers or phone providers. If they enshittify their service for you, go to their competitor. Nowadays you can port your phone number with you. Companies are accounting for their users’ laziness. That is why they can pull shit off in the first place.

When it comes to computers and operating systems, there is something you can do already: Go through all your settings and switch off all things you don’t need (e.g. telemetry data, uninstall programs you do not use). If you don’t know what a specific setting does or if it is needed, just look it up on the internet. Chances are great that at least one other person on this planet has the same question (that has been answered hopefully).
If your computer reaches its end-of-life, because the upcoming operating system is not compatible any longer, try to look out for an alternative. With a Linux-bases operating system, your old hardware might get some extra years to come. I think these have come a long way. 25 years ago I experienced myself with Linux, and it was awful! That might have changed now, and especially here on Lemmy there are many resources and users happy to help.

Try to use alternative programs, perferrably free- and open source. Or, alternatively, look out for programs that you can buy once and that do not operate as a subscription service. If you own a program legally (by having it bought once), it can’t be taken away from you. When you subscribe to a program, companies always can take features away or make you pay more for them. This also applies for media as well.

With these things taken into consideration, you will feel less powerless and a bit more in control of things. And it probably will save you money in the long run.

Additional to that I believe that the car industry had a say in the design of EV charging infrastructure. When you go to a normal gas station, you can pay with any of the already established payment methods (e.g. cash, credit card etc). But when you want to charge your EV at a charging station, you have to register with the energy provider beforehand in order to use it. This is an additional hassle to convince people of overthinking their decision to switch to an EV.

You can’t pay with the established payment methods at a charging station - at least, in my region.

You should look into this

The root source of things being shit nowadays is capitalism. Capitalism only nows one direction: upwards. Each quarter profits have to exceed the preceding quarter. The result is that products and services get worse over time, because in order to make more profit than the last time, corners have to be cut.

The new iteration of a product gets more flimsy, because they use cheaper materials, or they alter the design to save on material. Or products have a built-in life span (e.g. batteries that cannot be replaced or limited software updates or intentional software incompatibility).

When it comes to digital services, features will be stripped over time or the customer has to pay additionally for a feature that was once included. Or they arbitrarily limit the number of devices one can use the service on. They can do it, because most customers are not prone to change a specific online service, beacuse it either is a hassle or existing alternatives do not offer the same content diversity.

The same goes for operating systems, albeit they are rather not stripped of functions, but new bullshit features that no one asked for get implemented (best example is the implementation of AI features into the operating system (Windows - Copilot or Apple - Apple intelligence) that - in case of both - forces users to even replace their hardware). Tech companies know they can pull shit like this off, because (and this mostly applies to professional users) some users need to run specific niche software on their computers that is programmed for a specific OS exclusively.
The whole AI craze is just to make money (selling data) off of the user and also forcing them to buy the new thing, because tech companies took care of deliberately designing everything in a way that it is incompatible with older hardware.

One major problem with this is that, although capitalism is the cause of it all, we all grew up with capitalism and are stuck inside the system up to a point where we profit off of it in certain parts. Having the new shiny thing availiable at any time is the nice part of it. Having to work more for less compensation (because company already builds everything cheaper and now comes for your wages/ salary in order to make profit) is the disadvantage of it. There theoretically is a solution for it: Socialism. Theoretically, because it doesn’t account for the desire of people to gain power over stuff and/ or other people.