• needs root
• no easy way to install

but… supports not just CLI apps, or a terminal, like Termux, but also KWin with Wayland, so GUI, not just TUI.

Comparison with existing alternatives, e.g Termux, please.

My documented process https://fabien.benetou.fr/Content/SelfHostingArtificialIntelligence but honestly I just tinker with this. Most of that isn’t useful IMHO except some pieces, e.g STT/TTS, from time to time. The LLM aspect itself is too unreliable, and I do like 2 relatively recent papers on the topic, namely :

• No “Zero-Shot” Without Exponential Data https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.04125
• ChatGPT is bullshit https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10676-024-09775-5

which are respectively saying that the long-tail makes it practically impossible to train AI to be correct in rare cases and that “hallucinations” are a misnomer for marketing purposes to be replaced instead by “bullshit” used to convinced people without caring for veracity.

Still, despite all this criticism it is a very popular topic, hyped up to be the “future” of computing. Consequently I did want to both try and help others to do so rather than imagine that it was restricted to a kind of “elite”. I try to keep the page up to date but so far, to be honest, I do it mostly defensively, to be able to genuinely criticize because I did take the time to try, not reject in block.

PS: I do try also state of the art, both close and open-source, via APIs e.g OpenAI or Mistral but only for evaluation purposes, not as tools part of my daily usage.

Check my notes https://fabien.benetou.fr/Content/SelfHostingArtificialIntelligence but as others suggested a good way to start is probably https://github.com/ollama/ollama/ and if you need a GUI https://gpt4all.io

It does not even matter, namely if tomorrow quantum computers were to become a commodity then we would at the same time switch to quantum resistant encryption, e.g https://csrc.nist.gov/projects/post-quantum-cryptography

The name “post quantum encryption” sounds super complicated, and to be fair the math behind it is beyond my understanding (and I won’t even claim I would have enough time in my life time to study it and assume I can formally prove all of it to be correct) yet switching is actually relatively trivial, namely your software, say a browser like Firefox or Chrome, and the server it communicates with, e.g lemmy.ml relying on e.g nginx or Apache, “just” have to have at least 1 matching encryption scheme, one way to exchange data that is post-quantum resistant. In practice that means configuration files on both sides that you, as a user, do not even know exist and that can be done through basic updates.

TL;DR: most users will switch to post-quantum encryption without even realizing, and then even if say the NSA were to buy a $1T quantum computer, even your $1K computer and the $10K server it communicates with would be able to handle it no problem, even a $30 Raspberry Pi computer will.

PS: I’m also morally perfectly fine with cracking and pirating software trying limit your freedoms assuming you did properly pay for it once, even if it’s illegal. I’m wary of enshitification overall.

Yes, which is why I bought Baldur’s Gate 3 and not other games. It’s not “just” because it’s an amazing game, it’s also because IMHO the way it has been produced respect its content creator but also the way it’s been delivered, respect players.

So when I say be pragmatic I also don’t mean to imply to accept any kind of behaviors from software publishers and rather when you can, do pick the good ones, obviously.

Indeed which is why I was honest saying “it was hard requiring a lot of effort but, step by step, I removed a lot (not all!) of those terrible behaviors from my life.” (bold added)

Namely I don’t even aim for perfection, just pragmatism. I have to use Windows at work (sometimes) and I hate it. Still, I do my very best to compartmentalize, namely I do not install such work related tools on my personal or even professional computers or phones.

In your specific case I would argue that have the free email from Microsoft but not using it for anything else and deleting it as soon as it’s not absolutely needed is an acceptable compromise. I would also do my best to understand what “leaks” via this email or how you use it. Anyway my overall point being to be pragmatic because perfection leads to inaction.

PS2: I also notice you start with content. Well for that at home I have a RPi with minidlna, serving videos to any device on my network.

PS: something fun I did a while ago, and still repeat whenever I can, is offline holiday. I still take a bunch of devices, e.g phone, RPi, SteamDeck, etc but I do NOT go online. Instead the RPi becomes a hotspot and I can code or enjoy content on any of my devices, but still within the privacy of my own network, without any notification. It’s a very fun and empowering experience

Yes it’s a pain … but it’s because your are considering a state compared to an ideal state, e.g feeling trapped with devices you don’t trust versus running in an empty field. It’s simplistic and it’s not now versus then. Instead consider where you were, where you are now, and how it is a succession of decisions. Nobody forced you to buy a smartphone. Nobody forced you to install a chat app made by an ad company. Nobody forced you to have a free email.

Instead, for years, you made terrible decisions and now you are “waking up” to it and it sucks.

How do I know? Well, I did the same.

I even felt terrible about it and it felt impossible to change. I also discovered the concept of learned helplessness. How I was convinced that not only it was bad but I could do nothing about it.

Then I changed. I made a ProtonMail account (which I paid for, still am), moved my data from GMail. In fact I downloaded ALL my data from Google, and moved away from it, e.g from YouTube I installed on my own server PeerTube. I warned family, friends and colleagues I wasn’t using WhatsApp anymore but they could reach me with email, SMS, phone, Signal, Telegram, Matrix, etc. I then deleted Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, etc.

I could go on but hopefully you get the idea : it sucked, I realized it sucks, I tried to change, it was hard requiring a lot of effort but, step by step, I removed a lot (not all!) of those terrible behaviors from my life.

TL;DR move away from learned helplessness by DOING things, taking a single step in the right direction makes a world of difference.

Nobody I know refuses to use email or SMS. They might find it odd but usually don’t even bother asking. There are equivalent outside of Meta for everything I know, from ads (e.g CraigsList) to events (e.g neighborhood public calendar) so I understand the feeling but I’d argue, just like people who use Amazon for everything, it takes little trying to find viable alternatives and weeks or even days later you’ll forgot what Meta even was.

Kudos, it’s indeed a long road but a bright one!

Regarding what’s left :

• I still use Steam, and even have a SteamDeck (running only Linux) but if you want to avoid that itch.io is probably a good option, namely no launcher, only what game developers provide
• Discord, well you could use the Web page, that’s what I do and even calls work. If you want to remove it entirely you will obviously lose your contacts so trickier problem
• banking, same principle, you can do most of it via the Web. Some convenient options won’t work, e.g QR code to login or pay, but overall your bank probably have solutions that don’t require anything but a Web browser and your physical cards, do ask them and if it’s not up to your standards, check for other banks that might have better terms than the big ones

You don’t have to immediately drop the few left but IMHO it’s not about being a purist or completionist but rather a journey and you already did a lot!

Normal people: Gladly give google maps access to location data at all times and never think about it

Yet also same normal people get utterly genuinely shock when they see a map of their past locations for the last 3 months.

I for one don’t talk about it… because I don’t use Google Maps. I briefly mention OSM or CityMapper when people send me GoogleMaps links but otherwise better to show than tell IMHO.

What do you mean non public? One can also hosts Jitsi Meet.

Answering my own question here, since nobody actually helped :

• Steam Settings
• Interface
• Start Up Location
• change “Store” to “Library”

Thanks for the clarification but seems I wasn’t clear. I know how to start a game without Steam and how .desktop work (made some before). What I meant is rather can I start Steam itself to avoid their welcome screen and go straight to my game library? This way I would avoid their “suggestions” which are, in fine, ads (and thus what I imagine they collect private data for).

Curious to learn if it’s limited to data within Steam itself or more. So far the only thing that I saw that could change my behavior is the start screen on Steam (even if I start games, e.g BG3) straight from my KDE menu. Curious to know if that can be disabled.

Has been for years already sadly. I recommend https://github.com/user234683/youtube-local to watch directly and https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl to download. They both remove the dark patterns trying to abuse the attention of viewers.