Decentralized software alternatives

colak · 2019-01-30 12:04:03

Destry · 2019-01-30 13:48:20

colak wrote #316352:

The revolution has started.

That German campaign has been going for at least a year now, I think. I see it circulating in M’don a lot. Good on them for protecting their ground.

Meanwhile, back in the US, people can’t breath without Google.

Seriously, though, these studies that small rag ‘journos’ do, periodically, where they test-drive Mastodon, or quit this big tech platform or that one for a week, are ridiculous and from a Silicon Valley perspective. They send the worst possible message, which is supposed to be unbiased, presumably.

This one from Hill at the Gizzard sounds like you can’t quit Google (because you’re too addicted from years of being a greedy lab experiment with no neural cortex) so you shouldn’t bother trying. That’s not what she’s saying, exactly, but that’s the impression a reader takes from the way she writes it, and with the assumption that everyone uses all of Google’s things.

Well, maybe in the US the shoe fits.

Makes you wonder if there’s not some under-the-table handshake between Giz and Goog, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there was. Who isn’t sleeping with the Googli-goo? Even privacy conference organizers take Google sponsor money and advertise on Facebook. Until the privacy advocates — and growing numbers of we little people too — practice and demonstrate what we preach, nothing’s going to worry big tech.

The key, though, is not doing it all at once for one lousy week. That’s not how the 12-step plan of AA works. Or Weight Watchers, or whatever other health-related addiction you want. And make no mistake, big tech conveniences are an addiction, the psychology manipulation is coded into the software. You can get a master’s degree in it now and have a six-figure job waiting. Miss Hill’s own Google-infused scenario sounds like a crisis of her own doing, with a little help from her pusher employer.

No, it doesn’t go down like that, all at once. One needs to have a process, specifically considered to one’s own situation (based on an audit of one’s digital footprint, accounts, software, and routines), and one must tackle it wisely and consistently, unrelentingly, over time. But it can be done, for one’s health and piece of mind (privacy/security-wise), and that of those one is connected to (and should respect and care about).

We need better writing on these topics, not from the angle that so many rag writers try, the head-on approach. It’s like climate change, you can’t argue it logically, with facts and evidence. Opponents and deniers can’t be swayed that way. You have to find some round-house swing that clocks people by surprise, makes them think about it in a completely different way. Something that touches a value, hits home somewhere, somehow.

Don’t know.

I will try my own armchair approach to one eventually, based on my own self-auditing efforts. My round-house swing.

bici · 2019-01-30 19:52:12

speaking of google… why do they own .DEV domains??

.DEV, the latest domain name from Google, is almost here!

michaelkpate · 2019-01-30 22:48:00

colak wrote #316352:

The revolution has started.

From 2003:

Of course, Google does need to be watched: the company is developing an iron grip on search, leaving competitors trailing with the quality of its product and brand. We should be keeping an eye out even if, unlike many market leaders, Google has to defend its near-monopoly every day. It is a simple task for us to switch search engines if our trust is abused. The trouble is that when potentially legitimate concerns about Google’s weaknesses are shrouded in conspiracy theories, and other stuff that’s just plain wrong, we all reach for those in-built filters far stronger than anything Google can supply: the ones that help us smell BS from afar, and route round it without further ado. Then, one day when Google really does get it wrong, the message will be all the harder to get out. – The blog clog myth

michaelkpate · 2019-01-30 23:00:52

bici wrote #316360:

speaking of google… why do they own .DEV domains??

They were allowed to register it as a TLD a few years ago – but it didn’t matter until 2017 when they started forcing Chrome to only use secure connections.

“When applications opened for gTLDs in 2012, Google didn’t just apply for .dev. They applied for 101 gTLDs, including .google, .play, and .app. However, Google wasn’t the only company to apply for many of these gTLDs. For some applications, it took years for applicants to negotiate who would end up with the rights to the name. Google’s application for .dev was pending for over a year. Finally, in December 2014, their application for .dev was granted.” – Use a .dev domain? Not anymore.

Interestingly, Google said in their original application they only intended the domains for internal use. That has now changed and they are available to developers for a fee.

colak · 2019-01-31 05:27:45

bici wrote #316360:

speaking of google… why do they own .DEV domains??

.DEV, the latest domain name from Google, is almost here!

The same reason e-flux owns .art domains, which helped them monopolise the art world. They offer them to the highest bidder. The whole system is corrupt.

bici · 2019-01-31 05:30:42

colak wrote #316363:

The same reason e-flux owns .art domains. they offer them to the highest bidder. The whole system is corrupt.

who owns COM,NET,ORG…etc? are they not “open”?

colak · 2019-01-31 05:57:45

bici wrote #316364:

who owns COM,NET,ORG…etc? are they not “open”?

Wikipedia re .com, .net and .org.

More interesting, check out Bridle’s text on the .io domain and its colonial infrastructure.

Destry · 2019-01-31 08:00:32

Destry wrote #316355:

Even privacy conference organizers take Google sponsor money and advertise on Facebook.

Here’s a well-written article in an interesting magazine I wasn’t aware of. This piece talks about how destructive it is to functional communities that use FB to cordinate events.

I love this, Facebook is just ‘communication theater’.

And, getting back to the purpose of this thread, the article mentions Loomio as a more ethical events coordination tool, and Loomio doesn’t even use the .io extension. :)

colak · 2019-01-31 08:45:15

Under creative commons here are some downloadable publications

There is also a number of talks online. These are from the 3rd coference

Destry · 2019-01-31 08:46:49

michaelkpate wrote #313889:

Nothing shows your love of decentralized software like publishing your essay on Medium. :)

Speaking of which.

I wonder if that means iA Writer can’t integrate now either. Not that I ever used it for that. But that was a big thing for them for a while now.

colak · 2019-02-04 18:16:22

enjoy:)

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#85 2019-01-30 12:04:03

Re: Decentralized software alternatives

#86 2019-01-30 13:48:20

Re: Decentralized software alternatives

colak wrote #316352:

#87 2019-01-30 19:52:12

Re: Decentralized software alternatives

#88 2019-01-30 22:48:00

Re: Decentralized software alternatives

colak wrote #316352:

#89 2019-01-30 23:00:52

Re: Decentralized software alternatives

bici wrote #316360:

#90 2019-01-31 05:27:45

Re: Decentralized software alternatives

bici wrote #316360:

#91 2019-01-31 05:30:42

Re: Decentralized software alternatives

colak wrote #316363:

#92 2019-01-31 05:57:45

Re: Decentralized software alternatives

bici wrote #316364:

#93 2019-01-31 08:00:32

Re: Decentralized software alternatives

Destry wrote #316355:

#94 2019-01-31 08:45:15

Re: Decentralized software alternatives

#95 2019-01-31 08:46:49

Re: Decentralized software alternatives

michaelkpate wrote #313889:

#96 2019-02-04 18:16:22

Re: Decentralized software alternatives

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