I mean, I think that’s too far. RMS’s personality is no doubt pretty controversial, but that does not invalidate all the outstanding things he has done for us, and I’d argue that we most likely would not be where we are today without him. I do however, think we need more people speaking out about these issues, and also trying to make change. Once we get people convincing politicians, and famous people to start using properly privacy respecting, FOSS apps, I think the future of tech will start to mature a bit. Right now, it’s looking kinda sketchy.
Just as an example, Ted Cruz switched over to Parler last I heard, they offer no real benefits over other social media (and wouldn’t surprise me at all if they payed him), all on a promise that they will not censor you. If he had switched to a Fediverse platform instead, and payed someone a few bucks and ran his own instance, he’d be in complete control over everything he says. I feel strongly that politicians should not be using centralized, un-federated, private, social media such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, etc. and that instead they should be running their own instances on platforms such as Pleroma, Pixelfed, Mastodon, PeerTube, etc. where they are in complete control over their posts and uploads.
Especially after Twitter censoring Donald Trump’s posts now, this is absurd. He is wasting time “regulating” social media, where instead he has all the tools to move to another platform. I do think partly it is ignorance, on-top of not being knowledgeable in the subject, as well as not even knowing the Fediverse exists. But if Trump moved to the Fediverse, payed someone to set up an instance for him and whoever else, and a sysop to maintain it, think about the absurd amount of outstanding traffic and press that would bring to the Fediverse, that is exactly what it needs. And you can argue, oh well the Fediverse is small, and cozy and bringing politics and thousands of people into it will ruin it… I disagree. If we are talking about an un-federeated, centralized platform, I’d agree. You can just start up your own instance, and block the instances you do not wish to see. You have the power of choice. We need people to start encouraging big names to proper alternative platforms, instead of meme platforms such as Parler, or removedute that do not provide any benefits in privacy, censorship protection, or freedom, and if anything are just as bad or worse as the current platforms.
I mean, I think that’s too far. RMS’s personality is no doubt pretty controversial, but that does not invalidate all the outstanding things he has done for us, and I’d argue that we most likely would not be where we are today without him. I do however, think we need more people speaking out about these issues, and also trying to make change. Once we get people convincing politicians, and famous people to start using properly privacy respecting, FOSS apps, I think the future of tech will start to mature a bit. Right now, it’s looking kinda sketchy.
Just as an example, Ted Cruz switched over to Parler last I heard, they offer no real benefits over other social media (and wouldn’t surprise me at all if they payed him), all on a promise that they will not censor you. If he had switched to a Fediverse platform instead, and payed someone a few bucks and ran his own instance, he’d be in complete control over everything he says. I feel strongly that politicians should not be using centralized, un-federated, private, social media such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, etc. and that instead they should be running their own instances on platforms such as Pleroma, Pixelfed, Mastodon, PeerTube, etc. where they are in complete control over their posts and uploads.
Especially after Twitter censoring Donald Trump’s posts now, this is absurd. He is wasting time “regulating” social media, where instead he has all the tools to move to another platform. I do think partly it is ignorance, on-top of not being knowledgeable in the subject, as well as not even knowing the Fediverse exists. But if Trump moved to the Fediverse, payed someone to set up an instance for him and whoever else, and a sysop to maintain it, think about the absurd amount of outstanding traffic and press that would bring to the Fediverse, that is exactly what it needs. And you can argue, oh well the Fediverse is small, and cozy and bringing politics and thousands of people into it will ruin it… I disagree. If we are talking about an un-federeated, centralized platform, I’d agree. You can just start up your own instance, and block the instances you do not wish to see. You have the power of choice. We need people to start encouraging big names to proper alternative platforms, instead of meme platforms such as Parler, or removedute that do not provide any benefits in privacy, censorship protection, or freedom, and if anything are just as bad or worse as the current platforms.