This is very alarming. My eyes have never been opened so widely as they are in the last two months since I started ungoogling and FOSSing. This post has veritably split my eyelids.
this post was submitted on 05 May 2026
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uninstalled Chrome a looooong time ago on my Win 10 machine
Uninstalled Chrome and Windows a looooooong time ago on my computer
You had Chrome installed?
That's your fault for using Chrome.
Remove and prevent 4 GB Gemini nano install into Chrome, on Windows 11:
- Backup registry
- Start
- regedit
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies
- right-click Policies, New, Key
- confirm Google, Enter
- right-click Google, New, Key
- confirm Chrome, Enter
- right-click Chrome, New, DWORD (32-bit) Value
- confirm GenAILocalFoundationalModelSettings, Enter
- right-click newly created key, Modify
- set value to 1
- OK
- Restart computer. https://pureinfotech.com/stop-chrome-gemini-nano-download-windows-11/
Or, you know don't install software from companies owned and operated by psychopaths, like Google and Microsoft.
"Linux is hard" but godawful reg key hacks are fiiiiine, eh.
Naw, Linux is easy, until OBS won't start virtual camera because V4L has dependency on the previous kernel which is pretty old.
if you did't run it right after the update, you might not even put together it was a kernel issue.
No easy errors, start obs from cli see v4l errors out, start digging into v4l, it's not hard, but you have to know about it, then you have to know grub well enough to select an old kernel.
I think the overlap between people who think using Linux is hard and the people who would open regedit in the first place is basically zero.
I'm in the overlap where I can easily follow reg edit direction and similar tutorials but can't actually diagnose it myself. I wouldn't have a clue. These known regedit edit workaround posts exist and are spread because there's a ton of people in this overlap. We just aren't vocal because it's not one of our hills to die on.
But I can deal with cars, fix older models, and avoid buying an internet-connected model. Shit, I even learned how to fix drum brakes to maintain my options. I also disconnected my smart TV and grabbed a retired pc with win 10 pro or whatever to get some control back over that.
I do what I can, but at the end of the day, I still need to relax at some point.
I was about to type something something about just switching to Linux and at least Firefox but you already got there in the end
And Apple, don't forget Apple.
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Is most consumer hardware even capable of running this model?
The article says it has hardware requirements to even download it. But yeah, you can run lots of stuff on the CPU, just at a fraction of the speed.
It’s like the new Bitcoin miner.
It's worse even, at least a Bitcoin miner would get you Bitcoin, this gets you slop for the same amount of GPU cycles
Remember how few years ago there was a massive outcry when U2s album was downloaded to devices without permission?
My mom never used iTunes on her phone, meaning she never once put any music on her phone, and so she was completely confused/angry when she'd get in her car and suddenly it would pair and start playing this U2 album. She didn't know how to stop it, so it would play over and over (she'd just drop the volume). It also didn't help that the cover art is among the gayest things to ever appear on her phone screen. I'd come home to visit and get in her car and she'd just start hollering "this stupid thing, where did this come from?!?"
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(16 replies)
Is it sleazy? Absolutely. Is it exploitation of a massive power imbalance? Undoubtedly. Is it illegal? Probably about as illegal as a game pre-loading 4gb of DLC I'm not going to buy as part of an automatic update. The terms of your agreement with Google for Chrome allow them to update their software as they see fit. Their gamble is that you won't switch.
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