Over the long term, we definitely need something like Linux phones. I find it bizzarre by how little companies support this mission of Linux phones.
We need corporations and governments to stop locking down and gatekeeping vital software to closed ecosystems.
A Linux phone doesn't help me when my government's 2FA system (BankID) only runs on Android and IOS phones and can only be acquired with an app store account.
If you can't get the government to do this for you in Norway the US has very little hope currently.
We need some standard of minimal digital accessibility. Too much of our lives mediated by digital interactions with capricious systems.
Europeans are doing this to themselves.
Now, my card info did in fact get compromised recently, and that's probably why I ended up needing that stronger auth flow. But the fact that I literally can't complete that stronger bank authentication without Google or Apple is... yeah. No.
I have since signed up for a different credit card that I plan to use from here on out.
I mean, tbf the situation was fine until the US transitioned to an autocracy, and the companies went full surveillance state evil, completely supporting the autocracy. Which is a relatively recent development.
But sure.
Most places here are working as fast as possible to decouple from any reliance on the US, and I would expect Norway to switch to the new EU digital ID system currently in development.
this is too funny coming from a continent constantly at war with itself
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_backsliding_in_the_...
The new base agreement with the US, for instance, for practical purposes declares several areas in Norway to be US territory. It's rampantly against the Norwegian constitution of course, but that doesn't matter because the parliament seems to have agreed to just unanimously consent and not talk about it further.
Sea bed mining was a farce. Everyone said it was a terrible idea, including Equinor itself. Approved anyway. My assumption is that someone from US/NATO whispered "strategic minerals" into some party leader ears, and they suddenly decided to fast-track it without further discussion.
It would surprise me a lot if there weren't similar fast-tracked, no discussion, "it has been decided" deals about digital sovereignty. Norwegian politicians may not like the guy currently in charge over the Atlantic, but they view him as a temporary aberration and an occasion to prove their loyalty (to the crown, rather than the guy currently wearing it).