Saw this today and now I’m reconsidering if Boost is right for me. I’m really hoping this is shitty boiler plate that was accidentally copied and over looked because that is some bullshit to say “unless we decide we want to use your personal data for whatever we want”.
I know “legitimate interest” is a phrase from the cookies law but there is no legitimate interest justification for this. My data is my data and I decide who has a legitimate interest in it so advertisers can fuck off, as can Boost if this the direction it’s going.
Edit to say this blew up. I didn’t realise I was kicking as big a hornet’s nest and haven’t read all the comments yet.
To be clear, what I don’t like about this and other provisions in the terms is the language and implications around data use. I’ve no problem with ads being shown - I want developers to get paid for the work they do and that makes it possible for users to have “free” access to software if they can’t afford to purchase.
I also want to add the response from Boost’s dev below to make sure it’s visible. You’ll see that it is boilerplate but required by Google and was present in Boost for reddit. I just hadn’t seen it because I purchased it immediately based on a recommendation. It doesn’t make me happy about it but does remove some doubts I was having about the direction Boost is heading.
I will be purchasing the app to support the dev because I do like Boost but I understand not everyone can afford everything so you’ll see some other suggestions in the comments below that don’t have any ads if you’re not happy with the free version and ads with their associated loss of data privacy.
Dev here.
The dialog and its content is not created by me, it is a standard solution from Google to comply with GDPR and other laws. More info here: https://support.google.com/admob/answer/10114014?hl=en
The consent dialog is also required by Google AdMob to show ads, and it is shown when the ad network is initialized.
When the app launches, first it checks for the remove ads purchase, and if it is not present, it will initialize the ads sdk. The ad network is not initialized if the remove ads purchase is detected.
Boost for Reddit was using the very same ad networks and consent dialog.
It’s honestly a huge turn off to Lemmy writ large. Look at what happened when Dawson released Sync.
A few weeks ago someone posted to c/techsupport with an issue with their Office install. Every. Single. Comment. was "uSe LiBrEoFfIcE” or something to that effect, some going as far as to insult the OP for asking a tech support question in the tech support forum, because MiCrOsOfT bAaAaAd.
I was the only one to offer a real solution. If I were that OP, I wouldn’t come back to Lemmy.
Damn, that’s really frustrating, and literally doesn’t help one bit. Even if OP wanted to switch.
I use LibreOffice because I keep spreadsheets of my vehicle kilometres and whatnot, but my girlfriend, who works in a professional setting, would never be able to use anything other than Microsoft Office. The compatibility, features, etc. make nothing else a viable alternative, unless you’re keeping stupid at home spreadsheets like I am.
Meanwhile I work for a HUGE fortune 500 company that uses libreoffice on work laptops.
Sure you do.
#79 on the list, would you like to see my installed software on my company laptop? They are cheap bastards, not sure why since they make a ton of money by gouging customers on the regular.
LibreOffice is great for random at home spreadsheets, but no fortune 500 company is using it. Fortune 500 companies require perfect compatibility with all of the other people they work with and for, you know, the reason they achieved the fortune 500 status.
Not to mention when you’re a large company, you’re using Microsoft Volume Licensing, which dramatically reduces the cost.
I just can’t believe the fortune 500 company you work for is using libre office.
So weird that there’s so many down votes for this comment.
It’s because it’s not helpful.
Good for Chronos’ “fortune 500” company that can do what they need to do with LibreOffice. It’s not a solution for everyone and responding “just switch software vendors” is unhelpful in the extreme when you’re asking a tech question about a completely unrelated program. But for a minute they get to feel good about having virtue signaled as “one of the good ones.”
You’re assuming a negative connotation without any proof of such.
Not everything said is always a virtue signal. Sometimes someone just truly believe in what they’re saying and they know it from their own life experiences and perspective.
As far as the subject goes, I’m just repeating myself at this point, but …
I’ve seen it done before.
Usually how it’s done is that you install LibreOffice in parallel to Microsoft Office, and then you transition people over, over time.
Not that hard to do.
Sure, but again just saying “switch to x” is NOT HELPFUL when someone asks for support for a completely different product.
I too have seen (and overseen) large entities switch away from Office. I don’t doubt it can be done. I’m saying telling someone to ignore the problem they’re having and use your preferred FOSS baby is useless for them, absent any other advice.
And forgive me for assuming malice, but I’ve seen now two non-FOSS Lemmy clients release and the VAST majority of comments are indeed virtue signaling.
I wasn’t virtue signaling at all you moron, I was commenting on a fortune 500 company being such cheap penny pinchers they would rather use an inferior product. I would much prefer they use office.
Moron. What a nice guy you are.
Your prior comment definitely didn’t come off that way. You probably could have said what you just said here, but you didn’t. Given the context of the rest of the FOSS evangelists in this very thread, is it surprising your message wasn’t clear?
That’s because context matters, maybe read the comment I replied to. I called you a moron because you attacked my comment without any merit or proof of my position and accused me of shilling for freeware.
Because its most likely a lie since most companies on the fortune 500 list are older then libreoffice itself. No company that size could change its entire office suite without essentially stopping all office work for a few months.
I’ve seen it done before.
Usually how it’s done is that you install LibreOffice in parallel to Microsoft Office, and then you transition people over, over time.
Not that hard to do.
My company is currently #79 on the list and I can screen my work laptop right now if you like. They did it because a Libreoffice license is $50 per computer while office is $300+.
Have they done that mandatory for all users without exception?
No employees in accounting, finance, sales still using Excel?
I have no clue as I don’t work in those departments. But it sure seems silly to use Office in one department and Libre in others. I just know IT said it was done as a cost cutting measure and they figured since both software suites are technically compatible as long as you save all your files in office format it should be fine. (It’s not)
In that case you have no clue just how absurdly versatile Excel is.
You only want to make some tables and perform some basic operations once a day then sure, any alternative would work. But there are some things that can be done only via Excel.