Yes, I use half of the RAM as compressed swap. The performance hit wasn’t noticeable in my workflows and at least it doesn’t wear out my SSD.

Using zram genuinely feels like downloading ram.

Tasmota can help getting rid of the cloud bullshit on most ESP based devices. Of course it requires some tinkering and is not accessible to all users.

Stockholm syndrome…

It seems to me that the issue is how we consume the web versus games: We’re used to pay to play but not to browse the internet. Valve is able to make money without relying on affiliations or donations.