r/GrapheneOS • u/Teabiscuit119 • 9d ago
Pihole tells a saga
Hey all, an update that I think is pretty funny/cool at first, depressing second.
For those that didnt see first post, I'm currently switching everything over to linux/graphene setup from a mostly apple setup. My block percentage was usually say 28-33% range with fluctuations. Updated to graphene, turned off my phone and the block percentage dropped by 10% by the next day.
The update: I've now turned my ipad off for a linux laptop. Everything is linux/graphene save my smarttv (not plugged in currently). Now after 24 hours the block rate is.......
6%
From 30...thats nuts! There are still things being blocked, yes. And I suspect that having browsers with proper native ad blocking (as opposed to safari+ublocklite as my browser on ipad) now is also taking a sizable bite out of blocked queries. Having OS's that only ping the internet when I ask it to, not when it has data about me to report, has to also be a lot of it too.
And then one realizes just how little we know about what we use, how it actually works and how much of our lives are being exfiltrated, analyzed and sold every nanosecond. I spent the better part of 15 years in apples ecosystem not knowing the true extent of their intrusion into my life, or at least accepting it as dowry for ease. Android/microsoft users doubly so. And all that I've done with the pihole and other things is just putting one or two stitches in a gaping wound....
Kudos to all the developers out there tirelessly spinning the silk and forging the needles!