My GF is a non-tech-savvy linguistics bachelor who uses elementaryOS as her only operating system on her only laptop. I'm not responsible for this, I only helped her install it instead of Windows when she asked me to do so.

She's a living proof that the stereotype of Linux being "too hard" or "exclusively for geeks" is outdated to say the least. Yes, Ubuntu and elementaryOS are not as kewl as Arch and Gentoo, but they are still better than a popular blue-colored American operating system that sends unencrypted screenshots of your desktop to some unknown IP addresses every 10 minutes.

Wait, what? Does it happen? For real?

Evidence?

@tonypolik @Floydimus

Here's the most detailed video, but it's in Russian. Though, everything is clear as day: https://youtu.be/gkqpqaXMtjU?t=255

@kiki thanks. This is creepy.

Also, I think could be turned off via Settings but I am not entirely sure and don't trust MS at all.

In windows 11 they perhaps are doing it in 11 minutes

@kiki what does the video say about settings in the end?

It's been well known for years that Linux is easier than Windows for older people with little tech knowledge. Windows is easier only when you already know how to use it.

@kiki
As a Gentoo user i call bullshit on the auto-screenshot-every-ten-minutes hypthesis.

But there seems to be a default-off feature, you can use to send screenshots to onedrive whenever you actually do make one:
https://tenforums.com/tutorials/...
Obviously, you need to first sign up for a onedrive account for that to work...

But yes, mainstream Linux distributions are more easy to use than Windows since a decade now.
DEs got better. Installers are GUI-based. Hardware support got better and all drivers are included in the installation (including proprietary Wifi and nVidia blobs).

The biggest benefits from using a Linux distribution for muggles still are:
Not having to collect basic applications from random websites.
Whole-system updates just work.
Don't have to share your disk IO speed with Defender.
Old hardware most likely still works fine with Linux.

@Oktokolo it’s not a hypothesis. It’s a fact. Watch a video I posted above.

Or better even, don’t. Stay in your own bubble where world revolves around those who can install gentoo.

@kiki
Hey, Gentoo isn't hard to install - the experience is just a bit more text-oriented.
Also, the handbook really is holding your hand all the time and the individual steps are small.
So if you can read and type, you probably also can install Gentoo.

Rant starts: "my GF..."
1-My eyes goes to the profile picture.
2-My brain throws "InvalidArgumentExcpetion".
3-I crash out from the function of reading the text and instead I comment this.

@kiki gee, I just open it and see that I previously stopped at 4:11 timestamp...

Come on, these claims are going from questionable to downright asinine.

Diss the filth that is windows all you like, but if you think every windows 10 installation sends screenshots every 10 minutes to MS off the back of some random russian YouTube video, you're fast heading towards flat earther territory.

@vintprox the timestamp is in the link

But is she THICC?

@AlmondSauce yeah, until some other source verifies this, it's more likely that the video is a setup or the dude has installed malware by accident. And that probably won't happen because the video is years old.

@electrineer damn, thanks. It thrown me off for a bit there.

@electrineer If this was true it'd be all over the internet and verified by everyone long ago.

@electrineer @AlmondSauce google it. There are posts like one on LinusTechTips. It can be disabled, but ms will do anything to enable it with their next update. Do YOUR research.

Last but not least, it’s not some “random dude” — it’s Dmitry Bachilo, author of “16 bits ago” show and overall a very credible source akin to LGR and 8BitGuy. Do YOUR research before you say.

I understand you. The new knowledge of windows 10 sending screenshots requires a major re-evaluation of your entire worldview and your brain aggressively rejects it to conserve energy and mental resources.

@kiki this thread went nowhere, is there a better one? https://linustechtips.com/topic/...

I wouldn't trust LGR alone either if they made a claim like this.

@electrineer it IS preventable. You can disable it. I also believe Windows 10 privacy policy clearly states about screenshots. There IS a switch to disable it.

Yet by default it is enabled, and if you just clicked through the installation process like 95% of users do, this will remain enabled.

@Fast-Nop do you know something about this?

@electrineer lol, you just summoned fast-nop? Okay. @Root, do you believe that Windows 10 sends screenshots to Microsoft by default?

@kiki I remember he was so critical about windows 10 that he kept using windows 7 until upgrading his whole family to Linux

@kiki I have wasted 5 minutes of my life googling it. There's zero verifiable sources. Zilch. Nothing. And quoting two other random unrelated YouTubers doesn't help your case.

I'll change my worldview gladly on the back of actual evidence. I've yet to see any.

@kiki I don’t know. I’ve honestly avoided learning about 10+ because I don’t intend to ever use Windows again.

@electrineer I've never heard about this one.

However, the video is easy to misunderstand because it dates from 08/2015, i.e. after the official Windows 10 release, but he was using an outdated insider preview version (look at the lower right corner), and I don't know what the privacy conditions of that one were.

This was not reported anywhere else, and the Russian hacker scene is highly respected so that this should have caught attention. We have to consider the possibility that his computer or the VM may have been malware infected.

That said, I do think that Windows has become spyware, and its privacy problems were actually a major Linux selling point for my family end users, especially for those who grew up in surveillance commie states and hence know that kind of shit.

@kiki omg. Proposing to rename Microsoft to Evil Corp. That is just crazy level of insecurity. Easy way to leak all your passwords.

@Fast-Nop there is a possibility. Russians often used pirate windows versions, perhaps this one was with an additional surprise.
But we can't know for sure. More extensive research is better be done.
Perhaps it is regional setting.

@darkwind I can guarantee the version in the video is genuine. This is a small, niche blogger with an extremely loyal audience.

I'm not saying that they don't do that but there are easy way to collect data other than screen shot. Screenshot needs to be analyse so it's not efficient way.
Key logger, bakcup, read file in background these are more efficient way. Screenshot is the worst way

What's also really odd is how the PKI seems to be used here. To recap: the system sends out an RSA key that the blogger uses then to decrypt the messages.

Wait, what?! The system encrypts with its public key and sends out its private key? Why not, uhm, using the public key of the other end, like that's how asymmetric encryption is meant to be used?

Is this even real, or are we looking at a fake here?

@blindXfish your comment is funny but doesn’t make sense