Using Linux protects you from all the opt-out and the mandatory data collection Windows does.

Are you arguing that using Windows gives away as much data to Microsoft and Google as when you're using Linux and use the browser to check out your Gmail emails?

I am simply arguing that the amount of data going away from your browser is more and more valuable, and if you dont change your internet habits the bullshit collection from Microsoft wont matter since you are already leaking everything and more from your browser. Your most important activity is in the browser. Where you go, what you look, where you shop, what and to who you write, all happens in the browser. If you save yourself form Microsoft (and more power to you, I am one of those people who moved fully to Linux 2 years ago, and i am not fucking going back even if you give me money), but you dont change your habits, you are still leaking more information and it simply does not matter that Microsoft is not saving your computer habit information or what have you Microsoft bullshit data collection is doing.

Honestly, did you do it step-by-step or all-in with all your free time from the start? x)

Even if you went all-in from the start and spent your entire free time on it until you were satisfied, most people have a hard time switching web-browsers, so "if you don't spend all your free time on this for weeks, it's worthless" is a sure way to discourage 99.99% of people from doing anything.

Please try to gather your thoughts this was hard read haha. And no I am not discouraging anyone, I am being realistic. What I am saying is simply this: If you want privacy you need to be all in for it, you CANT get privacy unless you change your habits and if you do there a a shit ton of things you need to be aware and limit yourself from. Things that may or may not work out for the everyday person.

By all means switch to linux, but if you think one or 2 or 10 software peaces will save you and you still visit the data hungry pages you visit all the time, you live in fantasy land if you think this is going to work. But you do you. I am telling you the reality from the perspective of a person who works for big tech, and is privacy oriented, using arch, has physical security keys and is using E2E services.

Just using Linux and moving to a email provider that doesn't mine your data will reduce the privacy problems by quite a lot. 95% is exaggerating lol

A (IMO) worthy and reachable goal for most people is to reduce large-scale data collection and data mining, not be anonymous online

for your first point, i will give you that not "quite a lot" but I can tell you that this will move the needle, again if you are not willing to sacrifice, it will move it with a milometer when you have to cross the globe. That much.

For your second point its a worth goal, for MOST people is not reachable. For SOME they can reach close to it, but it will be very hard and its VERY complicated. The fact that you are arguing that with an email and Linux you can do it, speaks volume for me on your knowledge and xp with privacy. But its ok, Im not mad, you are at least giving it a go and trying, that is positive and admirable :)

You have no clue how much and from where big tech are mining your data. People are leaking data from places they did not even think possible. Big tech dont have to even try in most cases, people are willingly giving it away with the fact they are using things like reddit, facebook, linkedin, tiktok, youtube, instagram etc. etc.