Recall for Linux

Project and Satirical Elements

• The repo is a satire of Microsoft’s Recall: the “.exe” is actually a bash script for Linux that loops, takes screenshots (via grim), runs OCR with tesseract, and dumps PNGs and logs into ~/.recall.
• The .exe extension on a Linux script, the emojis in the code/README, the curl | bash via tinyurl installer, and the license are all played for laughs.
• Several people initially assume it’s “AI slop” because of the style, then conclude the oddities are part of the joke—though a few still suspect it was AI-assisted.

Interest in a Real, Local “Recall”

• Multiple commenters say they would genuinely like a Recall-like tool: a personal “exocortex” for bad memory, billing/time tracking, or “where did I see that?” searches.
• Existing or related tools are mentioned: screenpipe, openrecall, ActivityWatch, selfspy, Dayflow, rem, rewind.ai, local logging scripts, and even OS-level deterministic replay (Eidetic OS).
• Some note limitations on Linux (Wayland compositors not exposing capture APIs, weaker OCR tooling) but emphasize that the satirical script already works as a crude base—swap in a different screenshot tool or local AI as needed.

Privacy, Security, and Trust

• Strong consensus that Microsoft’s Recall is problematic because of trust: long history of dark patterns, bait‑and‑switch, and changing defaults/EULAs makes people expect eventual data exfiltration or paywalled “cloud features.”
• Many stress that who runs it matters: a transparent, open-source, local‑only implementation from a nonprofit or community org would be far more acceptable.
• Others argue that even purely local Recall is a huge risk: malware, abusive partners/family, employers, and law enforcement gain a searchable transcript of everything on screen.
• Comparisons are made to browser history, email logs, IRC/IM logs, and password managers: some say Recall is not fundamentally worse; others say a unified, OCR’d, time‑indexed screen archive is qualitatively more dangerous.

Views on Recall’s Usefulness

• Supporters frame it as solving a real “where did I see that?” problem and liken today’s tools (history, bookmarks, file hygiene) to searching only by title/author instead of full content.
• Critics say the actual need is infrequent and can be handled by better habits, note-taking, or general AI chatbots; they see continuous full-desktop capture as disproportionate and “boiling the ocean.”
• Several emphasize that a good implementation must be local, encrypted, user‑controlled, and easy to pause, scope, or exclude sensitive content.

Windows vs. Linux and Ecosystem Frustrations

• Recall and similar “telemetry‑heavy” features push some long‑time dual‑boot users to drop Windows entirely, citing exhaustion with having to constantly disable unwanted features.
• Others respond that Microsoft will tolerate losing technical users as long as consumer and enterprise markets stay; some point to slow but visible governmental and organizational moves toward Linux.
• A long subthread discusses that gaming is no longer a hard blocker for Linux due to Steam/Proton and related tooling, though kernel‑level anti‑cheat remains an issue.
• In contrast, one commenter moves a home server to Windows because of frustrations with Ubuntu’s TPM‑unlocked full disk encryption reliability, prompting debate over BitLocker vs Linux FDE and what “secure enough” looks like.

Install Methods and Packaging Debate

• The curl -fsSL … | bash instruction is itself a joke but triggers a serious discussion: many see this pattern as an immediate red flag (hard to audit, hard to uninstall).
• Some argue developers are pushed into this by the lack of a single cross‑distro packaging standard; others counter that .deb/.rpm plus tools like alien or fpm already cover most users.
• Flatpak is viewed by several as preferable to curl|bash for GUI apps, while CLI tools still have an ecosystem gap; Distrobox and Homebrew are mentioned as partial answers.
• There’s disagreement about risk: one side emphasizes minimizing attack surface and avoiding unaudited scripts; the other claims the marginal risk over running the binary itself is low and serious curl|bash exploits are rare.

Meta and Cultural Reactions

• Some see the satire as “naive” because it blames the concept rather than Microsoft’s implementation and rollout; others insist the concept itself—continuous total recording—is inherently disturbing, like a “big brother camera over your shoulder.”
• There’s tension between those who want exhaustive personal data capture (screens, cameras, location) under their own control, and those who consider “you can’t leak what you don’t store” the overriding security principle.
• Several comments highlight that even local, fully controlled logging still widens the blast radius of any compromise, yet others accept that trade‑off as the price of a richer personal memory system.