You can use adb on a computer to remove chrome.

https://android.stackexchange.com/questions/188524/how-can-i-uninstall-google-chrome-on-my-android-and-recommend-a-suitable-replace#231279

Unless you deny network permission for Photos, which I highly recommend.

It would help if plenty if public services, government websites, and even large companies could actually sort out their certificates so it didn’t happen all the time on actual official websites.

Maybe banks could use a way to authenticate the user a second way, that doesn’t involve a password. If only. (Sidenote: why do banks still insist on sms 2FA?)

Are you sure it’s engineering you adore. Left as an exercise for the reader? That’s physicist speak.

Ah, I see. Definitely possible to set up something like nextcloud or immich for file and photo backup. Then use a VPN like tailscale or wireguard to access while out of the house, or setting it up publicly available (usually being a reverse proxy).

Absolutely. Plenty of backup software will work with an external drive, provided it’s plugged in. Hell even a cron job would work.

That’s apple. Android has traditionally allowed sideloading. They aren’t be forced to open up anything, they’re just adding restrictions.

Unless you own the domain. Then switching providers is a simple DNS/MX/DKIM/DMARC update.

Wireguard/tailscale in?

I recently set up owntracks. I do like it, but to be honest, it was kinda a pain. I have not yet attempted real-time sharing which I think is more difficult in own tracks.

What’s challenging about paywalls and not wanting to spend money is not necessarily not wanting to spend, but convenience and cost. If it costs me 10 cents for each blog or tutorial or github page I look at while working on a project, or 1 cent for every funny video, that adds up. And do I have to put my credit card in for every site? Hope that every site has good enough security to prevent payment information leaks?

And I don’t think anyone is interested in a Netflix-style internet that fractures into 6 different subscriptions to get every site you need on the web.

Yeah, but I really don’t want my computer to look like my phone. And I hate that they keep moving toward that and “app-ifying” computers (specifically windows).

It doesn’t help that plenty of places still follow old IT guidelines that are bad, so they all get lumped together. E.g. change password every 45 days, can’t BT the last 10, must have 4 characters different, and we don’t have a password manager.