Okay, so let's first stop demonising the people who try to get away from Google, and Microsoft, and companies like them.

First let's stop pretending Linux is a "free" "alternative" to Windows. It's not for cheapskates and it's not for people who failed at Windows so they need an alternative. It is very much its own thing, and its use is valid. In fact, there are a lot of reasons Linux is the best operating system out there (insofar as it is not an operating system, it's a kernel, Linux pedants are a thing, but, we all know what is meant). There are also a few reasons it's the worst, but they mostly come down to users not willing to learn what it is and isn't, and not using it properly. Linux is actually pretty powerful, but like any powerful tool, it can be turned against you if you don't do some simple things. Fortunately, there are a lot of people who can help you do that. Just don't call it an operating system or they'll correct you first.

Second, how about we also stop pretending Apple is just as bad as Google and Microsoft. Gods forbid someone wants a computer where they're the customer and not the product. I'm mostly speaking as a Mac user here. I am also an iPhone user, but that platform's harder to defend. Sure, it's still more private than Android, but that's not a high bar. They both collect telemetry, but Google will tunnel around your security software to get ads on your device because ads are the point of Google. They are an advertising company. Paying iPhone money for a phone that spies on you, even if you're gonna wipe the OS and install a privacy-based Android fork (like Graphene), you're still giving the advertising company money. The best computer is probably one you build yourself and Windows never touches the storage device (which ships blank); you install Linux on it. But if you don't want to go through all of that, a $500 Mac mini is a thousand times better than a Windows machine. iPhone... is kinda okay if you have other Apple stuff, and it's more private than Android, but lack of good sideloading options, a shitty keyboard, and a failed AI platform (though some, myself included, like that) mean that while it's better than the next best option, it's still far from ideal. I will also add that, unlike Samsung, they haven't demanded you allow them to sell your data to anyone to continue using Apple Health, like Samsung Health did a year or two ago. Like I'm a guy, I'm not that worried, but every woman using Samsung Health today and using the cycle tracker on it should be worried about right-wing political groups buying their data to potentially weaponise against them. I won't say "Apple would never," but Apple hasn't yet.

Third, we need to promote and use viable alternatives to Google, Microsoft, Meta, and the rest. Talk about them IRL, post about them online, and, if you have the skills, contribute in some way. Word of mouth is big but some people up here can write code. I'm not a coder, I'm a gamer, and I'm always hearing about projects needing code help, art help, stuff like that.