In this case, the lack of Linux is the point. :)

They are just another sketchy large tech company. The first release might be a little less obnoxious for PR reasons, but they don’t give a fuck about anyone’s digital privacy.

It’s kinda the point of the meme. :)

“Apple Intelligence” is the name of their AI feature-set in the next release of iOS.

“We sent our DDoS-missiles against websites in russophobic Spain,”

Nice shitpost from the russian security goons.

I did have occasional issues with using a VPN and it was clear services were somewhat suspicious about me (very aggressive use of CAPTCHAs, additional login validation etc.).

That being said, outside of netflix (circumventing region-lock), I never had any issues with outright loosing access to tech oligopoly services.

Is it really that bad? I let my NordVPN subscription lapse as I didn’t need it due to personal matters, I’ve heard a lot of good things about Mullvad and was considering them as my VPN provider.

Thanks for the list!

One point I will add is that Startpage is actually owned by an American spamming company:

https://restoreprivacy.com/startpage-system1-privacy-one-group/

I used to use them a lot before the system1/Privacy One acquisition, but then decided to switch back to google (never liked DDG’s results, but might have to try them again).