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Reflecting on this, likely given the poster, bait tweet, but a good discussion to be had: You should be free and able to use what you want. What's not valuable to somebody may be valuable to somebody else. I'm a complete nobody with a normal life and I use GrapheneOS, Monero, I2P, LUKS etc. like this picture says. However, there is a different conversation to be had that you could use this same image with. Many people treat software choices like a subculture purity test. Software choice is treated like Console Wars or sports teams. There are certain groups of people who use things simply to be performative rather than just being honest that it is a preference. It serves no relevance in their threat model to use what they have to (counterargument: threat model doesn't need to be your sole reasoning to use something anyway). Some like to believe you need to be part of a certain group and you need to follow the rest of the trends of that group to fit in. Used Linux? Now you got to use Firefox. It's fine to say GrapheneOS is superior to something (we say that a lot). What is not fine is believing you are a superior person for using it, same with any other software. Classical FSF bros, Reddit users, and performative activists stink up discussions like skunks with this attitude. Every major project has this problem. If I had to TLDR this, then: Don't be sheep. Use everything in your preference, not to just reflect looking like others. You shouldn't see all these and be like "I want to use all of this!!", because really, you likely do not. image

Replies (3)

This tweeter is correct and privacy fans need to have a bit more self awareness. Unless someone actually catches a person and uses their private activities against them, that person's attempts at anonymity are entirely personal and subjective. Until someone actually gets them, they are just larping as a secret agent and their thoughts on real anonymity have zero objective value. Personal privacy and anonymity cannot and should not be viewed as a personal obligation or a necessary measure. Instead, it should be viewed as a hobby. Thinking about and working on my privacy and anonymity are some of my favorite passtimes actually. I personally believe that working on one's infosec is a great hobby, and that a person should never be ashamed of or persecuted for their privacy hobby. Shit man, I'm a pedophile and I will argue that my interest in privacy and anonymity is almost entirely academic. And many people would say I'm the kind of person who has the MOST reason to run away and hide my identity.