I'm old and JS trapped
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I'm 60+ and my spouse is on Medicare. We are both retired teachers with health insurance provided through or supplemented by our city as retired municipal employees. Like everyone our age, we have numerous health issues that require regular attention. Nothing serious, but there will be someday, hopefully not too soon.
I've been proudly using Trisquel since late 2010 for most of my computing as a matter of principle and privacy. For regular web browsing, I use Tor browser and don't run Javascript. I occasionally use abrowser with LibreJS (e.g., as I type this). If a web site doesn't run well enough in either case, I don't worry about it and move on.
However...
It is impossible to navigate the wide, ugly world of Social Security, Medicare, hospitals, insurance companies, mandatory online phramacies, doctors and all of the associated financial transactions, including banking, without using non-free or non-trivial Javascript. We simply couldn't get these important things done, so the Javascript trap is unavoidable. My wife recently had a hip replacement, which went very well, and we could not have navigated this episode without Javascript. For these transactions, I use a Mac laptop that I otherwise ignore. None of this makes me happy, but health comes first.
I've been considering purchasing a second computer to run Trisquel, use abrowser with Javascript and manage health and house-related related issues (insurance, banking etc.). I.e., just use this machine as the 'financial computer' and then dump the Mac. At least I'd be running free at the OS level. Then again, non-free is non-free, so I'm not sure just using the Mac is any worse.
Don't get old.
Cheers.
Back in 2013 I didn't want to use the web, but I got help from a "Navigator" for the Healthcare Marketplace.
Recently, I purchased a few items on e-bay to build a computer. It required me turning off JShelter's fingerprint detector to purchase things.
I had been going to school remotely, and it required using Adobe Connect with Flash and then teams. Teams then changed it's requirements to needing latest version of Firefox or Chrome. I had some trouble getting into the course even though I used one of those browsers so I purchased a new computer with Windows 11. I found it peculiar that it would advertise in related to a certain religious doctrine. I got rid of Windows 11 and run Trisquel on that computer.
I haven't finished school, but it has been a while since I went back. If I want to advance in anything I might have to bite the bullet this time and run Firefox or something. I am not going back to Windows 11. :D
I don't think you are alone here.
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| Then again, non-free is non-free, so I'm not sure just using the Mac is any worse.
I've been pondering similar questions recently. For me, the conclusion was to use free as much as possible, and only use non-free when I can't avoid it (of course, I'll consider the financial side as well - I'll probably not purchase a new device if I have one that I can make less non-free, even if it would still not be as free as another one).
Can you perhaps install Trisquel on the Mac? I've replaced the OS with Debian on a 2010 Macbook Pro recently, and once I have the chance I'll try to install Trisquel on it. Would save you some money, and would be less e-waste, while getting closer to a free system.
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I did the same on a MacBookPro from 2013 as reported at https://trisquel.info/fr/forum/successful-trisquel-install-macbookpro-132.
Try booting on a live Trisquel USB. I think you need to hold the option key (not sure, needs checking) in order to see a menu that allows selecting from which drive to boot. Of course, the wifi won't work (you will need to use ethernet or a wifi USB dongle that runs with only free software) but you can check whether it seems to work with Trisquel.
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Yep, I'll give it a spin with my USB dongle - good to hear it is possible on the 2013 model, let's hope it'll work on the 2010 as well. I don't see why it shouldn't.
The boot menu of the MacBook is horrible in my opinion, it's part of the reason why I didn't bother earlier to try other distros after finally installing one successfully. I also forgot to take notes about things like disabling the loud boot sound for example, so unfortunately I'll have to browse through my history in hopes if finding the right command.
I ran Trisquel on an old scavenged Intel MacBook for quite a while and it worked great. The machine finally died and I moved on to a couple of librebooted Thinkpads. The Mac in the house now is more recent and not yet compatible (Apple SoC). In any event, that wouldn't resolve the JS trap, which indeed gets worse as one ages.
School can be a problem. I was thinking about taking courses at a local college, but that would require using non-free JS to apply, register and communicate with professors through the school's course management system. I decided to learn on my own and use free software. During my teaching career, my schools were surprisingly accommodating of my code of ethics regarding free software and I managed pretty well using Trisquel for many years. They didn't know the difference.
Phones are another issue. I need a phone to keep in touch with my spouse if out and about separately and there are 'verification' texts for all manner of health web sites, some of which I can do via email if I'm at home. I only have the bare minimum of 'apps' installed on the phone. I hate the thing and would love to go phone-free, but I need something. If I lived alone, I wouldn't have a cell phone. I rarely talk on the phone.
My primary healthcare provider (NYU Langone) implemented palm scanning for check-in using a system installed by Amazon. I wait in line and check-in in person while they look at me like I have 10 heads when I ask, 'Why would anyone submit to biometric scanning.'
I'm not yet convinced that there are degrees of freedom (outside of statistics) and that any degree closer to free is actually better none-free. While I don't make any exceptions on my computer running Trisquel, I'm non-free in other areas of my life. Overall, I'm, therefore, non-free. :(
I'd be curious to learn how other aging free software advocates navigate these issues.
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I kind of feel like everything you've said could apply to people of all ages. I can only really describe how it applies to me, and how I personally handle/live with this issue, but I don't think it'd be much different were I older.
School was one thing, I've recently graduated which allowed me to get rid of windows on my partition which I only kept to write my thesis. In turn, however, the company I currently work at is fully into the microsoft "ecosystem" so as long as I work, I can't be fully free (ironic how I'm a linux sysadmin there...).
But if I isolate my work life from my personal life, it still doesn't make me less non-free: I need to use a smartphone (unfortunately) for communication but also for my commute, travels, banking etc. If it was only one or two person, I could probably convince them to use matrix or something, but even then, the fact that I use android (and not something like replicant) instantly makes it so that I can never truly be free as long as I own a phone.
I've come to terms with the fact that I can never be completely free - from the moment I was born my data is in a myriad of non-free databases running on non-free systems - and I mean it in a quite literal way. Although I don't interact with these systems or the data on it directly, any given time I visit a hospital I contribute to the usage of non-free technology.
This is, ultimately the reason why I chose to accept being "good-enough" instead of "perfect". I'll never stop striving for perfection (as I believe stopping at good enough is foolish), and going as free as possible ensures that step-by-step I'm inching closer to the top (which I know well that I'll never reach). In practice, it means for example me installing Trisquel instead of my previous gnu/linux distribution, using webapps and websites that are free from JS (as long as it's possible) and supporting or contributing to the projects that fight for this freedom - even if their ideals, in my opinion, falls into the category of "good-enough". While good enough is but a guesthouse on the neverending road to perfection, it is still on the road to perfection - I just make sure to never get too comfortable, and move on to the next "guesthouse" as soon as possible.
My experience upon my spouse and I reaching advanced age is being far less free than I was 10 years ago and most of that difference is healthcare- and age-related. Increased reliance on technology (all non-free) by healthcare and the governement is certainly a factor. I miss the days of showing my card at the Dr. office, getting treated and receiving a statement in the mail.
"Good-enough" or "the best I can do" is probably the best / healthiest way to look at it.