Re: [libreplanet-discuss] Free software is not trusted software

[bill-auger]

On Sun, 20 Jan 2019 19:01:02 +0100 Nicolás wrote:
> I think we should make a distinction here
> between malware, features that could have potentially malicious
> consequences, and anti-features that can be disabled).

there is one other distinction lurking in that statement that many tend
to conflate as one and the same - that is the distinction between
malware that is malicious in the sense of what is more commonly called
"spyware" which is entirely a subjective privacy concern, and the sort
of malware that actually does objective physical damage to your system,
or data - it should be obvious to everyone that many people (perhaps
the majority) have little or no concern for online privacy; but surely
no one wants their data stolen or their OS broken

for the overwhelming majority of computer users, regardless of how
adamant or indifferent one is about online privacy, there is a huge
demonstrable difference in the actual severity of the "consequences" of
those two forms of malware - they should not be so readily conflated,
as i often see