TIL Chrome is scanning your files, including private folders, in the background as an anti-malware measure
https://twitter.com/swagitda_/status/979477998142476289
There’s currently no “off” switch, but apparently the devs reassure that scans are local and not “cloud” based. But this still has consent and privacy implications
@cypnk Is it windows only?
@Shamar @cypnk @angristan everything built on Electron and thus Chromium would disagree?
@jasondclinton @angristan @cypnk
Yeah, that's funny indeed.
An #OpenSource project that do not even have a link to build instructions in the README, providing prebuilt binaries instead.
Note that I've nothing against #Chromium (nor against #Chrome). It's a superb browser.
Just it's not #FreeSoftware despite being open source #software: you can't really try to maintain a fork for whatever reason. They would say it's "accidental complexity" but, no, it is not accidental at all.
@Shamar @cypnk @angristan Well, that's the difference between "open source" (or even plain openwashing: e.g. using the word "open" or "opensource" to promote proprietary stuff) and #FreeSoftware
@angristan Windows only so far. I believe Chromium is also unaffected since it has different priorities and it’s open source. If you run Chromium, you should be fine
@angristan @cypnk when I asked how much time it took to compile #Chromium in a Lobste.rs thread about #FreeSoftware licenses, someone marked it as a #troll.
To me however is pretty evident that despite the license, some projects raise the bar so much that very few people can exercise their right to modify the sources.
The license is not enough to ensure your right. And many companies producing #OpenSource #software do not care about #freedom nor #privacy. OpenSource is just a #marketing tool.