That is not an NDA at all then! A very different contract and you are absolutely right to refuse signing it. The company is totally acting outside of a normal legal practice, worth suing.

Been there. What is the problem with signing it and getting the cash if you are not going to sue the employer?

By the way, installing Adguard (or something similar to cut out ads device-wise) helps to decrease the shit they are trying to install dramatically. Highly recommend. Family link works for me so far, though the kids are a bit younger.

It may not be too bad for users: a lot of people are simply always logged on, so they’ll not see any difference. What is the current share of Chrome?

Then you really are the target audience for all these “go active” advice, which is actually great! The thing is, exercises are great for most relatively healthy people (the ones who do not require professional mental help), as they strengthen your body in the same way as savings strengthen your financials. You just can do a little more of anything with it. So - you are not a lost cause, congrats! ) That said, you do not need a gym to stay fit. Not sure where you live, but there are normally public spaces with fitness equipment available in many urban areas. Or you can google some fitness sets that only need a flat surface for you to do. Something like this would be a good start. And remember, that too shall pass.

Two things, actually. “You are fired”, and “You are hired”. Also, does “I do” count?

Lets be frank, the main reason is that only like 1% of the market has an articulated preference towards free software and privacy. No money to be made equals no product in our cruel world. And of course FOSS, even if it is free to a user (as in you do not have to pay to use it. You do need to spend your time and resources to learn it though, and that is not free already), is by no means free to develop. The time spent on it by devs has to be compensated somehow, enthusiasm is unfortunately not the only fuel our bodies need. And then, for phones, the hardware required is not free as well. And then we need a manufacturer, who would be much more interested in making a billion Android phones than a million of a niche product.

Does Google actively try to stop development of the alternatives? Unlikely, because they don’t have to. They do not make it easier of course, why would they. And they do buy out everything they can, because they can use it to improve their products.

I do not see a good way out of this loop for now. Do you?

Ok. You are right. It does sound crazy.