Most proprietary software has a catchy name and branding, a single website to visit, and a push to “sign up” or “download now”. In contrast, most FOSS have goofy or even unpronounceable names with little or bad branding, no clear authoritative website (especially with federated services), and there’s too much friction to sign up or download the software.

Additionally, you and I see a clear benefit to open source software, but most people either don’t know what it is or don’t really understand or care why it’s beneficial. It seems so clear and obvious to us, so much so that we’re willing to put up with all kinds of rough edges and hurdles to use.

This is even worse with federated social media because of the network effect. If there’s no friends or celebrities already there, it’s not clear why I’d want to be there, and there’s very few organizations that have accounts with useful information that I want or need. Even worse, what good stuff does exist is spread across a bunch of different instances and interfaces so if something gets shared on other networks, it’s not clear where it came from or where I’d go to get more of that.

I’m sure if you look around there are other examples in your life where you haven’t put much thought into things beyond your obvious needs. Do you care enough about ethically sourced diamonds or coffee or other products to make the extra effort to only purchase those? Do you scour labels at the grocery store to ensure they’re sourcing ingredients from reputable places and avoiding using certain chemicals or drugs that you don’t want? Do you care if you’re using services built on clean energy or if they pay fair wages to their employees? Maybe you do all that, but most people find worrying about all that stuff exhausting and just want something to eat, a product that is useful to their life at a fair price, a helpful service that is affordable, etc.

Happy birthday! I got you a government shutdown.

Still not as weird or gross as cat shit coffee.

If only there was a clue… like this being posted in programmer_humor.

Feels like this is the same logic that is used to ban sex education - they shouldn’t have sex until marriage so you shouldn’t teach them about it. I accept that kids will have access to fully loaded genitals, so I want them to understand and respect the consequences and to be able to act responsibly.

As much as I would like firearm access to be restricted and regulated, I accept that in the world we live in they’re not going anywhere, anytime soon. I also think alcohol is deadly, both for the consumer and the people around them, but I’d rather teach my kid to drink responsibly than send them off to college unprepared; I’ve seen too many sheltered kids go fucking crazy once they’re out from their parent’s thumb.

I’ve always felt that harm reduction was an admirable thing. Accept and work with human nature instead of against it. I don’t want people shooting up heroin, but I support giving away free, clean needles to prevent even worse outcomes. Doesn’t mean I endorse or encourage the activity.

Just a reminder that the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe in charge of beating the Nazis and other fascists was later the Republican President of the United States, among whose goals was preventing the spread of communism. You don’t need to be leftist to hate fascists.

Copycat