Old Fucking Punk @lwriemen@librem.one

@doctormo @lightweight This is actually the emerging trend right now. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/10/how-to-build-digital-public-infrastructure-estonia/

@lightweight @downey

The first step is to consider computer software and business standardisation to be INFRASTRUCTURE.

Using Microsoft Office is, to me, the same as giving a company a private toll road right through the middle of your local city and business districts.

@lightweight Microsoft/GitHub are big sponsors and speakers at this year's UN Internet Governance Forum where a major topic is digital sovereignty. 🤯

"Farmers have already told us that they’re buying older tractors to avoid the software repair restrictions that manufacturers like Deere put in place." https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/wxd8wy/the-used-tractor-market-is-far-wilder-than-the-used-car-market

Also sometimes you'll see the narrative "Look how much we can accomplish when we work together! Millions of lines of code!" This is thankfully dying down, but I think it's problematic in a different way.

Because when a project's too large, it's impractical to exercise any of the Four Freedoms you might legally have. To e.g. alter Chrome or Firefox & keep it working.

And I do reckon established projects should invest in solid governance to give non-programmers influence over it.

4/4

What do I view as being toxic?

* Insist everyone must want to put time into customizing their computers.

* Insist every Linux user (or worse computer user) needs to understand how computers work.

People may have other things to do!

* Villify software projects you don't like; You don't have to use them! systemd haters can have their own distros!

Often a fossbro will villify a project for hiding configuration options...

* Telling others "just fork it" and/or villifying subsequent forks.

3/4

The digital sovereignty discussion is growing louder in the EU... https://www.euractiv.com/section/digital/news/french-government-seeks-to-speed-up-deployment-of-open-source/ Wouldn't it be refreshing if our NZ government caught up, and codified our national sovereignty (and use of open standards and #FOSS!) in its new Digital Strategy!?

This is some great reporting. We need a lot more of this. I don't want to hear what some talking-head pundit thinks, I want to hear from the workers.

The year in staff resignations: Food industry workers recount what drove them to quit en masse

https://thecounter.org/solare-seattle-fleishers-dollar-general-burger-king/

Our local regional council seems to have been asleep at the wheel... or it's been corrupted by corporate interests. Or both. We need better local government and regulators, because the corporates will privatise profit and externalise costs 'til the cows come home. We need better people to hold them (who, in many cases, aren't great people, no matter what they might think) to account. https://www.newsroom.co.nz/ecan-exposed-regulator-hides-damning-report

O.K., brits. I got word back from New Zealand's negotiators of the UK-NZ free trade agreement on my opposition to copyright extensions.

Apparantly "The Agreement in Principle confirms changes to some aspects of New Zealand’s copyright law will be required." I need your opposition too!

Seriously! How are we supposed to reel these unjust copyright laws back? If we can't halt copyright term extensions, how are we supposed to revoke anticircumvention laws!?

How to Cheat in an Argument
(or, even better, how to catch yourself doing it):

https://leanlogic.online/how-to-cheat-in-an-argument/

Sign this petition to demand a living wage for workers at REI #Coop ✊

https://www.coworker.org/petitions/a-living-wage-for-rei-greenvests

$2000/month to every American #moneyforthepeople #covid19

https://chng.it/Q7wwFTJnxW

Hot taker: “the problem w/ open source is…”

Me: no, it’s time and money

HT: ok but what abo…

Me: no, it’s time and money. Everyone is telling you it’s time and money.

HT: surely it’s…

Me: what is motivating you to pretend it’s something other than time and money?…

I recently decided to go all-in on trying to have a "writing career" without giving in to monopolistic corporations like Amazon and Google.

I'm selling my fiction directly to fans, Patreon-style, instead of putting myself thru the endless stress of subbing to magazines.

Check it out!
https://newsletter.eleanorkonik.com/the-laundress/

I'm using open-source software, no cookies or trackers. The only "middleman" is the credit card processor (stripe).

I'm really proud of myself.

For Microsoft, it's all about cultivating total dependence among its users: https://www.ctrl.blog/entry/microsoft-edge-protocol-competition.html There's nothing admirable about their approach. They jealously guard their ability to frame most computer users' every interaction with the digital world. Despicable.

"If trillions of dollars can be found to sort out the banking crisis or the Covid pandemic in a few weeks, then it can surely be found to help countries transition into a low carbon world..." #COP26
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/13/heres-the-truth-our-leaders-at-cop26-have-failed-us-the-rest-is-spin

Open source solar power for anyone - A new book teaches how to build your own solar power system at any budget

See https://opensource.com/article/21/11/open-source-solar-power

#technology #solarpower #environment #DIY #tocatchthesun