Because of the Facebook data scandal, should Linux Mint delete its Facebook page?

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ylevental

Because of the Facebook data scandal, should Linux Mint delete its Facebook page?

Post by ylevental »

This page: https://www.facebook.com/Linux-Mint-185238108180410/

After all, Facebook is proprietary software, and Linux Mint puts a strong emphasis on free software and security. Does the Facebook page even matter that much?
Mattyboy

Re: Because of the Facebook data scandal, should Linux Mint delete its Facebook page?

Post by Mattyboy »

Why? What for? It doesn't affect Mint users. Besides the Mint team are well known for avoiding political issues.

Nothing on that page anyone could consider private.... cutting nose off to spite the face?
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Re: Because of the Facebook data scandal, should Linux Mint delete its Facebook page?

Post by jimallyn »

I don't see any reason that they should delete their Facebook page.
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Re: Because of the Facebook data scandal, should Linux Mint delete its Facebook page?

Post by Faust »

ylevental wrote: Thu Apr 05, 2018 7:14 pm ...... Does the Facebook page even matter that much?
Interesting question ....
I have no idea ..... I'm a complete ignoramus regarding social media .

I guess if it increases awareness / interest in Linux in general , and Mint in particular , it's probably a positive thing .
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Re: Because of the Facebook data scandal, should Linux Mint delete its Facebook page?

Post by Pjotr »

No need whatsoever. After all, no one's personal data are at stake.

And Facebook still serves its purpose as a means to make Linux Mint better known. So it would even be harmful to quit it.
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Re: Because of the Facebook data scandal, should Linux Mint delete its Facebook page?

Post by Moem »

ylevental wrote: Thu Apr 05, 2018 7:14 pm After all, Facebook is proprietary software
Facebook is software? I'd say it's a website. Sure, there's an app, but that's not what you're talking about.

I don't use Facebook. But I can see how it could be useful for a business or an organisation to use it. And I don't see how the data scandal is a reason for the Mint folks to stop using it. I don't expect them to make a stand here out of principle. They offer us a great OS, not a worldview.
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Re: Because of the Facebook data scandal, should Linux Mint delete its Facebook page?

Post by Pjotr »

Moem wrote: Fri Apr 06, 2018 6:26 am I don't use Facebook. But I can see how it could be useful for a business or an organisation to use it. And I don't see how the data scandal is a reason for the Mint folks to stop using it. I don't expect them to make a stand here out of principle. They offer us a great OS, not a worldview.
Likewise (I'm no Facebook user, never was and never will), and well put. Moral hairsplitting is not what Linux is about.... :mrgreen:
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Re: Because of the Facebook data scandal, should Linux Mint delete its Facebook page?

Post by Faust »

Moem wrote: Fri Apr 06, 2018 6:26 am Facebook is software? ......
Technically not , I suppose .
But they have outstanding in-house algorithms for collating and cross-referencing vast quantities of data ,
and they most definitely are software .

Perhaps envied by state agencies ?

Ha ! .... what am I saying ? - :mrgreen:
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Re: Because of the Facebook data scandal, should Linux Mint delete its Facebook page?

Post by Cosmo. »

1. Whoever does voluntarily enter the lion's den does a mistake. Nobody in real life with common sense would do that. If somebody has does so I do not believe, that he recognizes this mistake and corrects it.

2. According Zuckerberg Big Brother (aka Facebook) needs years for solving the current problems. "Years" can be anything between 2 and eternity. IMO this leaves the following conclusions:
a) They simply want to win some time and hope, that at any time people will forget the FB disaster because of other concerns. This will most likely mean, there will never happen any real change, just perhaps some cosmetic corrections.
b) The beast is so complicated, that it is near to impossible to get control over it back. In real life such a beast would be killed - game over.
c) The responsible persons at FB are so few competent, that they are simply at the wrong place. They are perhaps able to make profit out of other people's data, but nothing more. Responsibility appears for them (in any language) to be a foreign word.
d) Any combination of a) to c).

I will watch, which excuses and confusion Zuckerberg will present next week at the front of the US Congress. I expect nothing than that.

It is a pity, that there are authors like George Orwell and people do not learn anything, when they read their books. Or take the movie "Colossus", where 2 networked computers take over the complete control over mankind and rectify this at the end with the claim, that they do this only for the benefit of mankind and that the expect to get loved at the end.
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Re: Because of the Facebook data scandal, should Linux Mint delete its Facebook page?

Post by silfox2000 »

Mint's security doesn't have anything in common with Facebook's scandal. In that regard I really can't understand your question! You are free to use or not Facebook. If you are concern that Mint facebook page will be used for data collection about mint developers or Mint OS itself... well don't.
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Re: Because of the Facebook data scandal, should Linux Mint delete its Facebook page?

Post by Redact »

Cosmo. wrote: Fri Apr 06, 2018 7:42 am It is a pity, that there are authors like George Orwell and people do not learn anything, when they read their books.
I question whether he or anyone else is even read these days.
But yeah, I'm constantly shaking my head at the obliviousness to what's gone before in history and in the writings of great men/women.
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Re: Because of the Facebook data scandal, should Linux Mint delete its Facebook page?

Post by Pierre »

the status of the LinuxMunt Facebook page,
would be up to the Project Leader Y'know
:o

and there is an interesting thought on How FaceBook is Tracking Non-Users:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... law-report
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Re: Because of the Facebook data scandal, should Linux Mint delete its Facebook page?

Post by trytip »

And Facebook still serves its purpose as a means to make Linux Mint better known. So it would even be harmful to quit it.
i have not used Facebook in 10 years and Facebook was not my point of entry into Linux. Linux mint should boycott Facebook at least a year only for the fact that indeed it was caught swindling peoples's data for profit. People always say "it doesn't bother me, i have nothing to hide"
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Re: Because of the Facebook data scandal, should Linux Mint delete its Facebook page?

Post by Pepi »

What 'personal data' do people have on Facebook? I have a FB account and I have nothing personal about me on it. I'm more concerned about these companies like 'Credit Reporting' that really have all our personal data and they are just giving it away :evil: When Equifax got hacked both my Visa and Discover cards were hacked within two week after the breech. :evil:
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Re: Because of the Facebook data scandal, should Linux Mint delete its Facebook page?

Post by coffee412 »

I dont use any of the social stuff online. However, Here is my opinion on the subject:

When you join FB and other sites they do have a terms of service. Nobody reads it just like installing that MS software. So, They basically give away your rights when you hop on sites like FB. Its not really FB's fault. Its the person signing up. When is it against the law when you offer a service and provide a terms of service and users do not read it?

I think the free market takes care of itself. We do not need the government (US) to step in and do anything. If you do not like the TOS then do not join up. There are alternate service for stuff like google (Startpage, DDG,ect) and FB (Mastodon,ect). Free market always solves these issues. Thats how new businesses get a foot hold in the market. Find a kink in the competitions armor and then exploit it. Make a better service that appeals to the users and move on. Just like Mint did when Ubuntu came out with Unity and all that. A lot of us moved to Mint.

Same goes for this Amazon deal. Why cant the companies (Walmart ect) look at Amazon's website and learn from it. Instead they have (IMO) cheesy websites that do not compare at all to Amazon's. The future tends to be online buying instead of the 'brick and mortar' style. If this is the case these companies should look to Amazon as a great example and learn from it. Instead they complain.

Just my .02 worth here.
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Re: Because of the Facebook data scandal, should Linux Mint delete its Facebook page?

Post by Moem »

Pepi wrote: Fri Apr 06, 2018 9:40 am What 'personal data' do people have on Facebook?
To name but a few: information about their phone calls and texts, information about their surfing habits (not just on Facebook but all over the web), information about their contacts (who in all likelyhood never consented to that), information about their location, and all of this in most cases connected to people's real names. Plus all information from third-party apps that are linked to people's Facebook account. Some people have as many as a hundred.
What you actively post on Facebook is just a small part of the information they collect.
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Re: Because of the Facebook data scandal, should Linux Mint delete its Facebook page?

Post by Flemur »

What scandal, exactly?

Facebook clearly tells people that it reads/analyzes all their information "including when you sign up for an account, create or share, and message or communicate with others" and then "shares" the information with its "partners".
https://www.facebook.com/privacy/explanation

And then what happens? Do they send goons to your house to extort money from you and break your kneecaps?

Or do they just show you different advertisements?
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Re: Because of the Facebook data scandal, should Linux Mint delete its Facebook page?

Post by Cosmo. »

Pepi wrote: Fri Apr 06, 2018 9:40 am I have a FB account and I have nothing personal about me on it.
Such a post immediately below the quote by Edward Snowden is revealing.
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Re: Because of the Facebook data scandal, should Linux Mint delete its Facebook page?

Post by Cosmo. »

Flemur wrote: Fri Apr 06, 2018 10:04 am What scandal, exactly?
Are you informed, that Zuckerberg has to appear at the US Congress? Surely not because of FB's public declared policy, but because of those things, where Zuckerberg already wrote an apology. An apology for what? For which changes does he need years, as he demands? Perhaps you stand to near in front of a tree to see the forest at all.
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Re: Because of the Facebook data scandal, should Linux Mint delete its Facebook page?

Post by Flemur »

Cosmo. wrote: Fri Apr 06, 2018 10:18 am
Flemur wrote: Fri Apr 06, 2018 10:04 am What scandal, exactly?
Are you informed, that Zuckerberg has to appear at the US Congress?
Wrong. He doesn't "have" to appear, because he's not subpoenaed. He just wants to cover his ass.
Surely not because of FB's public declared policy, but because of those things, where Zuckerberg already wrote an apology. An apology for what?
Well, yeah, he IS "apologizing" for Facebook doing what they said they would do:

"The ads, which take the form of an apology penned by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, attempt to clarify the situation by reiterating that the company has already stopped third-party apps from “getting so much information,” and that Facebook has started “limiting the data apps get when you sign up,” an announcement the company made earlier this past week."
Last edited by xenopeek on Fri Apr 06, 2018 10:39 am, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: personal insults removed
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