Neko

Devices

This part handles smartphones, operating systems and desktops/laptops. Things can get technical here, so I'll try to keep it simple.

Smartphones

The smartphone industry is a pain in the ass. If you don't pick Samsung or Apple, you'll either get hit with security breaches or spyware most of the time (e.g. Nokia and Huawei respectively). The smartphone industry really wants you to keep buying, too. Planned obsolescence is still a big problem. That said, you don't need a smartphone, even if the industry tries to tell you so. Take Yuval Noah Harari, for example. They're a historian who published Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI. He knows a lot about how information is (ab)used. He didn't own a smartphone up until ~2023, and even then it's only used for travel and in case of emergencies.

When it comes to sustainability, smartphone manufacturers have done a lot to decrease energy consumption during the phone's lifetime. Problem is that the production emissions now outweigh the lifetime emissions, which combined with planned obsolescence isn't a good thing. So the best thing to do is try to extend the tool's life for as long as you can. Apple does good when it comes to "refurbishing" second hand phones, but I really am not a fan of their business model. I still have a 6+ year old Samsung right now, but there is a company I want to try out after my phone finally breaks.

Fairphone is a Dutch company founded in 2013, with the goal of minimizing the ethical and environmental impacts of its devices (it also makes headphones). The numbers back them up too, as the most recent model (Fairphone 6) provides 7 years of Android OS updates, 8 years of security patches and a 5-year warranty, which blows all the other smartphone companies out of the park. British magazine Ethical Consumer ranks Fairphone at a score of 98/100, titling them as the most ethical smartphone in the world. With that score, they are 51 points ahead of the runner-up Crosscall and 73 points ahead of Apple's iPhone.

Operating Systems

An operating system is the underlying system that manages everything on a digital hardware device. There are 4 largely used operating systems as of today: Android, the macOS/iOS family, Windows and Linux. Others like SerenityOS exist as well, but I know nothing about them. Android and Linux are open source, although Google has recently been trying to put a stop to Android's open-source nature (Android is mainly developed by Google, and there are a lot of legal issues as a result). That said, we might see some more forks of Android in the future, so I wouldn't write it off just yet. Before things get too technical with Linux, I know some people may not be up to using it. So here's how to lobotimize Windows 11 because Windows 10 was better in every way:

Some context, Windows 11 is filled with a fuckton of bloatware (software which takes up far too much processing power and memory for what little use it is). All the AI features they're trying to add are just the tip of the iceberg. Windows has a ton of telemetry processes which track what you do and send it to Microsoft, slowing your device down. You can disable telemetry or limit it using the methods in this article. I recommend using methods 1, 2 and 3 in succession. Here's an archive link in case it gets taken down (if it does, please let me know). I also advise you to go through your machine using Winaero Tweaker and this Windows 11 Debloat script to get rid of apps that you either cannot normally delete or just don't need and Windows bitches about. There are certain aspects of Windows that are unable to be removed. The file explorer for example is directly linked to the software used for showing your desktop, so if you delete that, goodbye desktop as well. I do recommend disabling Windows Search and not using it at all since it checks the internet using Bing before it checks the files on your computer, and it is just super slow as well. Use voidtools' Everything instead, stuff's a lot faster.

Linux is a tough cookie since it's not a complete operating system. The Linux kernel is basically the core of an operating system, its beating heart, without all the rest. It is developed by Linus Torvalds, bless his heart. The Linux kernel is prepackaged by other people using other software (most of which is GNU software, which is also free and open-source) and distributed as "Linux distributrions" or distro's for short. As such, there are a lot of different Linux operating systems, and they rarely come standard for regular consumers. The most popular ones are Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Fedora Linux and Arch Linux, mentioned in order of how involved the user can or needs to be with the system. Setting up Linux is a big challenge, especially for people that aren't computer savvy. The easiest thing to do is using a Virtual Machine to run the distro on, but this is often times slow. You can also run it "natively", either by replacing your operating system (not recommended) or setting up a dual-boot with your existing operating system. This can be quite difficult and can lead to a lot of issues if not handled correctly. I haven't done it myself yet, but I plan to use Linux Mint in the future using a dual-boot with lobotomized Windows 11.

TL;DR I recommend Android for phones, Linux for desktops and laptops if you're somewhat tech savvy (plus, tutorials exist everywhere online) and if you're not tech savvy then I recommend lobotomized Windows 10, not Windows 11. If you've got macOS/iOS, then again, I'm sorry for your loss. You practically have no privacy on those, nor much ownership of your device either.

Personal Computers

When it comes to desktops and laptops, stuff isn't looking so good. Ethical Consumer ranks Acer TCO Certified Desktops as the most ethical desktops, only getting a score out of 58/100. The next in list are regular ACER, Lenovo TCO desktops, regular Lenovo, ASUS, Dell TCO Certified desktop computers, regular Dell, MSI desktop computers and Apple Mac/iMac with a score of 38/100. In general for PCs, Laptops and Tablets, GSG ranks MSI at the top followed by ASUS, Avita, Honor and Venturer, though none pass the Ethical Accreditation.

One company that I didn't find on these lists and seems to be under the radar for most people is Framework, which sells both laptops and desktops with a focus on allowing to user to repair and upgrade their device as they go, working with a company known as Compal and specifically working with their Taiwanese branch. Compal also is seemingly at the top of the list when it comes to labour ethics. Thanks to Reddit user quick_charles for bringing this brand to my attention. If need be, the DIY edition on their website also allows you to specifically not buy certain parts so you can replace them with your own, which is an incredibly consumer-friendly business model. Plus, it allows the user to install Linux on it easily. To my knowledge they do worldwide shipping. One important note however is that Framework's sponsorship approach raised questions very recently (as of writing this, not even a month ago). The approach may change in the upcoming months as the thread is still extremely active, but basically they sponsor projects solely based on their alignment with Framework's open-source and right-to-repair goals, neglecting the politics of the owners. One such an example is Omarchy, authored by a far-right conspiracy nut who believes the UK government is importing immigrants to increase the birth rate, while also believing the country should be ethnically cleansed of non-whites. This comment by Aaron_Baff does a great job condensing the situation since it's very poorly communicated and the thread has 1800+ comments. I hope they release a formal statement soon.

You could also always try building a PC/Laptop yourself and sourcing the parts yourself as well, though this is a daunting task for many people (myself included). There are plenty of tutorials online if you do wish to dabble in building your own device, but I urge you to do your research so you avoid making mistakes. Another plus to building your own device is being able to repair and upgrade it on your own.

VPNs

VPNs are becoming more and more popular. They do have one problem though: A lot of them are owned by Israeli companies for some reason??? Basically there's this zionist-owned company called Kape Technologies going around buying other VPN companies and services: CyberGhost, ExpressVPN, Intego, Private Internet Access, ZenMate and even the VPN reviewer Webselenese. There might even be more. There are of course a lot of safety concerns regarding that. Note: that some VPNs have servers in Israel does not mean they're owned by Israel. Onto the safe options.

The Swiss Proton VPN probably sits at the top. The Swedish Mullvad follows suit and I commend them for actively fighting against Chat Control. IVPN seems to be a really good VPN as well and is based in Gibraltar. Windscribe is a Canadian open-source VPN with a great reputation. Surfshark and NordVPN are also on the table despite being on the more expensive side.