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Mint Linux project’s anti-netneutrality hostility toward Tor and privacy is why I dropped support for Mint users - Sopuli
sopuli.xyzI stopped distributing Linux Mint to the low-tech users who I support roughly
~10 years ago when the project jailed their docs in tor-hostile Cloudflare
websites (e.g. readthedocs.io [http://readthedocs.io], IIRC). A recent general
search for info on getting a piece of hardware working on linux led to
forums.linuxmint.com (the query had no relevance to Mint specifically). This
website uses #Sucuri for elitist tor-hostile gatekeeping. There is no action for
me to take since I already quit supporting Mint, other than perhaps to ask
others in my local linux support group to also drop Mint support because our
users should not face a choice between software freedom and privacy. Certainly
when I am asked to install Mint for someone, I will refuse and try to steer them
to Debian, perhaps with Cinnamon. Screenshot attached. Not sure how long
linuxmint has been using Sucuri for crude IP reputation discrimination, but note
that the Debian project that feeds the Mint project demonstrates respect for
people’s privacy. Mint adds value in some ways, but at the same time worsens a
good distro by jailing information. This is not a “something is better than
nothing” scenario. It’s actually destructive. When you host a discriminatory
access-restricted forum, you create an attraction for useful info and
simultaneously become an obstacle to the information that would otherwise find a
better host. If forums.linuxmint.com did not exist, the discussion would still
occur somewhere and it would have a chance at occurring in an open access venue.
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