I hadn't really thought of it that way, that we're moving back to walled gardens. It's kinda funny. Anyway, I guess people like the comfort and convenience of walled gardens. What really bums me out isn't that the large majority of people like them, but that highly technical people do as well. I know people who, no question, can install anything including an XMPP server on extremely cheap, low power consumption hardware and yet they don't bother. They find smartphones, Windows and Apple products too delightful. When Apple insists that only Apple users can use iChat with their phones, tablets, and desktops, it compells others to buy these products as well to stay in the loop.

So, yeah, out of principle I avoid IOS and Android and stay Debian/Open Source everywhere I can. It's not a perfect solution, but it's the best one I know of.

"It means that the intel community, the military community, and law enforcement are going to work harder."

Yes, I agree. Good conclusion.

Possible, but even assuming this, the main issue is that AV in general is considered a relevant safety measure when perhaps it should not be. The assumption by itself can lead to a false sense of security. Frankly, I'd rather run multiple VMs on a machine at the very least - MS Windows for games and Debian for serious work. I don't do serious work on a Windows machine or on any Apple device for that matter - I'd rather my OSs and apps be open source and subject to comminity scrutiny.

Sadly, it's a shame that people put much faith in AV programs given their effectiveness (http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/05/antivurus-pioneer-symantec-declares-av-dead-and-doomed-to-failure/). I think author R.R. Martin has it right (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5REM-3nWHg), keep separate machine for different purposes - one for serious work and one for messing around with. It doesn't feel like a good idea to use one machine for everything.

Jar Jar Binks. Not even close. Not too many thinks are worse than Jar Jar Binks. Maybe Xbox One is worse.

Who messed up worse, Microsoft with Xbox One or George Lucas with the Star Wars prequels? Blows my mind that they couldn't figure out people would have a problem with a camera staring out into people's living rooms.

Yes. The sooner the better. You would be surprised at how many small shops are doing their own web stuff who need help. Even if you didn't have quite that much experience, dependable and conciencious tech works are in short supply. There are PLENTY of tech workers, but few of them are grade A material. Most good shops, in my experince, are happy to at least throw the ball to anyone who looks like they can help them. As long as they're dependable, smart, and conciencous employers will at least want to talk to you.

I'm with you, pal. We're all trying to forget, but some wounds never heal.

I wanted to stay away from that joke, it was "all too easy" ;)

. . . because there was no reasonable chance of this happening with Lucas. Man, how do you mess up Star Wars?!

Here, read this https://threatpost.com/legal-g... .

"Remember, we are Apple's customers."

I am not an Apple customer.

The rest of your points - Are you being serious? No, sorry, you're completely wrong about every point you made. Here, read this; http://articles.economictimes....

So, let me understand your point better. You're saying that you believe what Apple publishes on its own security mechanism?

I think the best answer is to start off asking yourself the question, "What are you interested in building". Technology and programming languages should be thought about after you figure out what you want to build. It doesn't make sense to think about what kind of building materials your interested in using before you know what kind of house you want to build, right? If you want to build an open source based dynamic web site, for example, then you will need to learn some Apache, PHP (probably), CSS, MySQL (probably), Debian (hopefully), Javascript, some regex, the list goes on (and it can be a long list). You could be spending up to the next 5 months learning how to build a dynamic web site, but the time spent is well worth it because it will teach you lots of other things like whether your interested in front end (like CSS) or back end (like MySQL) tech. You will also learn about cloud servers like Amazon Web Services or whether you would like to build something on a DIY system like Raspberry Pi or, my favorite, Cubieboard. You'll also need a StackOverflow account to ask questions for when you get really stumped.

So, yeah, just figure out what will keep you interested for a few months then go for it.

Thank you for the advice, much appreciated! Some of the chromebooks are sweet, putting Debian on one sounds like a sweet combo.