Thanks for your input!

For playing on a computer and controlling with your phone? If so, there's KDE Connect that has multimedia controls. That might be what you are looking for?

I love Linux since switching nearly a year ago. Yet, I still once in a while find myself in situations where I screw up and I think to myself "Oh, I'm glad this is not my work computer". If you have no experience with Linux from before, maybe you should consider getting a personal laptop, install Linux on that, and get comfortable using it before transitioning your business to it. That way, the first time you accidentally uninstall your desktop environment (I managed to do this not once, but twice....), it is not 10 minutes before an important client meeting.

Ok, then I don't think that I am missing out on much based on my usage. But I can understand that it can be a pain to rely on some of these built-in systems if you use them a lot.

I don't use these kinds of tools in private unless I have to, and when I do, I found that OnlyOffice has better compatability with .docx-files. I recently had to make some changes and format a .docx-file, and after struggling to make it look correct in LibreOffice*, it did not show up correctly in Word. Output was more or less the same in OnlyOffice as in Word, and after redoing it in OnlyOffice, it looked almost completely correct in Word.

• This is, however, always a problem with these kinds of programs in my opinion.

Hehe, I will from now on!

As commented below: if they do, they are breaking the law, and generally I trust that my bank is GDPR compliant. I have requested insight into the data they have on me and will specifically ask about third parties if I can't find any information in the data dump.

But yes, they still do have all that data stored. There is no anonymity even if my assumptions about GDPR compliance is correct, but my privacy is in that case better maintained because the number of parties with access to the data is limited. Cash would increase anonymity, but cash only is not really viable where I live anymore.

I'm based in Europe, so banks are legally bound by GDPR. There does not seem to be any mention of third parties in the terms of service, and I have never explicitly agreed for them to share my data with anyone after that. So legally, they should not be able to sell my data. It seems to me you are US-based, and maybe finding a credit card that does not by default sell your data is difficult there?

Your comments have made me very curious about the extent of data collection by the bank, though, so I have just requested to see what data they have stored on me. If I can't find any direct mention of third parties in the data dump, I will also directly ask them whether they share my data with third parties, and if so, with which.

Yes, that someone is the credit card issuer, in my case my bank. However, at least here, these bonus programs are typically affiliate programs where a substantial data exchange takes place between who knows how many parties. For example, one of the most used credit cards in the country I live (which I previously used) is issued by the largest grocery store owner in the country, that owns several of the largest grocery stores. All your purchases are then directly associated with your profile, and they personalize offers and ads. They are also affiliated with a large number of other retail stores, which also exchange data with each other as part of being a part of this benefits program.

As I said, there is nothing wrong with saying "OK, you can have my data in exchange for these benefits". My point is simply that these benefit programs are usually not a case of them just trying to get you to shop with them, but will usually involve data exchange that you may or may not know the extent of. This should be factored in when deciding whether to take part in the programs or not, as it is part of the real cost of using the credit card.

I could most likely find a program that does not as extensively hoard my personal data as the example above, but since the extent of data collection and sharing is often quite opaque, I prefer to limit the number of actors with which I share this data as I don't consider the benefits good enough to make such a compromise on my privacy.

I don't anymore. The rewards are not only in exchange for the return business they hope for, but also partly for the data you allow them to collect on you. It is perfectly fine to make that trade, but it is good to factor that into any pro/con balance you make when deciding what programs to participate in. Seeing what was collected on me turned me off the idea, and I now use a standard credit card without benefits for my shopping.

Yeah, it's about finding the right balance for oneself. I know WhatsApp is very much needed many places, in the same way Facebook Messenger still is here (but to a much lesser degree than before, so there's hope!). Discord I also have, and will keep, but if I find communities I'm looking for on Matrix instead, I rather go there first. Amazon does not really work well in my country, so that is not a big deal to delete.

Regarding e-mails: to prevent lock-in, I set up custom domains that I use with Proton, that I can easily migrate to another service provider if needed in the future. I have one for personal communications, and use a mixture of catch-all aliases and SimpleLogin for new signups and accounts I want to keep. I also have one domain for semi-anonymous accounts more associated with my "online personas" than my real identity. This fits my threat level nicely.

I have also rid myself of streaming accounts now (last one is heading towards expiration within a couple of weeks). But instead of not consuming any media, I must admit I have taken to piracy again. The goal is to be a lot more conscious about the content I consume - too much time has been spent on mindless browsing for something to watch on Netflix and garbage movies / shows. Now I host Jellyfin locally, and I control exactly what content is there in the first place.

As to your last paragraph, I did not really understand what you are asking about?

It's showing up in the list with a bunch of sub-processes that looks like https-requests (I posted the output below). Which logs could I check to learn more about what's happened?

When you say remove the file, do you mean the lock file?