1,030 karma · joined December 25, 2023
Just like most people don’t care about freedom of speech, since they don’t “utilize” it. It’s only utilized when you get sued, and then you can exercise that freedom in court.
IMO we, the techy people, have a responsibility to society to argue for this freedom. Since no one else cares or understands it. But without it it’s too easy for history (in this aspect) to go down a not so good path.
The value of general computing freedom is like any other freedom: it is needed when it people are trying to express you.
And not just you. Anyone! So evaluating whether a freedom is necessary turns into a much more nebulous question of “would anyone really need this at one point now or in the future? Is this a thing we should protect in general, even if it does seem like we need it exactly now?”
For example, could Apple/Google at one point be strong armed (by any government) into including spyware onto all devices? And listeners to make sure no one ever says bad things about $DEAR_LEADER?
If the probability of yes is anywhere around 10% over the next decade, maybe it’s a good freedom to have.
/s
There’s something here about the journey not just the destination.
Press a button and problem solved is not too fun
IME on the lock screen I’ll be interacting with the media controls and the screen will just turn off, like I’m not doing any interaction.
It’s funny how that basic of functionality is broken.
Sometimes just having a local machine that you can do everything on is what you need
Quality, maintainability, simplicity, understandability, flexibility etc all still matter at $DAY_JOB, where you’ve got paying customers. We’ve got a responsibility to write good software that adds to people’s lives.
I’d recommend to try to raise the bar. Commit messages written by humans, no PRs above a certain size, any PR needs an introduction / explanation by author first for the reviewers.
A feature, not a bug!
You need to be super up to date to be involved! Have all the devices!
There’s some effect of corporate name changing in order to have a reputational reset. I’m opposed to that.
Real people OTOH I’m happy to call them whatever they wish
They’re Facebook in many people’s minds.
“Meta” doesn’t convey the same meaning that “Facebook” does. And it’s also squatting on an important term in English. Mets is used all over the language, like metaphysical.
No thanks, I’ll use Facebook
I can imagine programming being an absolute blast if phone OSes were open like desktop.
Just imagine publishing little apps for your friends and family, easily, without asking anyone’s permission!
I recently replaced my $HEALTHCARE_APP with the PWA of their website. It was the *exact* same. The app was just a webview (and a pretty good one at that!)
It makes me really question how much “security” these services need when they have websites that can do everything the app can do.
Simpler than that: money and control.
Marked up replacement parts for and the inability to compete because “not Apple certified” comes with disabled features.
The best part of market capitalism, no market! Pure profits because we make the rules!
Putting the potential negatives under the rug for a second…
I would be nice to have email that (1) you can’t get locked out of arbitrarily, (2) acts similarly to US mailbox (in its protections and universal service), (3) acts as an identity
Is this a bad idea?
I’m sure I could train my brain to ignore the random sounds around me, since I grew up in a not super noisy city.
It really does help me ignore the distracting sounds. It gives my easy something to focus on rather than distracting noises.
Most of the time the protocols are not locked down, and if it’s a popular device chances are someone else already did it for you.
You can get help by decompiling the Android app for the device which should give more info about the content of the Bluetooth messages.
That’s the level I’m at right now. Oscilloscopes and all that look intimidating to me too!
It should work just like a physical button. I don’t appreciate the “we know better for you so we’ll adjust the behavior accordingly” MITM.
Look at DSLR cameras: take out in 1 second, put in in 1 second, physically robust.
We absolutely can have the best of both worlds. We just need to align the smartphone manufacturers to user serviceability and right to repair… even if they go kicking and screaming since they decided their bottom line is most important.
I like the issues faced on Linux more, since I can solve them. I too have a handful of repair scripts.
I feel like an adult to be given access all the internals. I don’t feel that way on Windows (and any other locked down OS).
We should put in the volunteer hours to upstream these fixes to make it nicer for normies :^)
I don’t use Snapchat but have been meaning to increase personal and family security (security from government in TFA’s case, which is a sad thing to say)
Sure! Apple can do whatever they want with their devices. But when they sell them to people, it’s no longer theirs.
People are (IMHO rightfully) not happy with a general computing device not being open.
Societies are pushing back against this practice through legal means, which is good!
The best part is if people want to stay inside whatever ecosystem, they can! It can be opt-in to enable developer mode to do what you can already do on any desktop PC.
If you want to lock down gran and gramps iphone (or PC for that matter), you can! Make an admin account and have them use an account with less privileges.
We can have the best of all worlds. An integrated ecosystem. Security. User computing rights.
This was one of the very embarrassing things that happened to Donald as a boy, done by Freddy Trump (his late older brother), when everyone had enough of him.
IIRC Chromium based srcset will never “downsize” to a smaller image, whereas <source>’s media is like a real media query.
Use if you want jumpscares at specific sizes lol
See? “Development machine” just means the ability to do what you want with your own machine. No third party interference.
Let Timmy Can’t-Tune bring his guitar to someone who can. Let grandma have her new phone be setup by her grandson appropriately so she can’t install malware.
Freedom. Digital rights.
Most people won’t care or understand about this openness. Their needs are satisfied with the limitations. Similar to other freedoms we have (at least in the US), like speech, assembly.
I think it will take very brazen acts on Apple’s part (or other gatekeepers) to get the everyday Joe/Jane to care about things enough to learn more or look for alternatives.
Things like blocking certain websites, removing super popular apps for not following monopolistic rules
It also makes me “:(“ when I think of an alternate reality of where phones were as customizable and open as a plain old desktop. Open boot loader, manu supported open drivers (no blobs).
Makes me seriously consider Ubuntu touch / graphene or something else and a $200 low end / 2nd hand locked-down phone for everything else.
I’m guessing it has to do with how intensely focused / scared my brain was with the little guy
It seems for any particular problem/comexity there is an estimate of how many LoC is needed (written by humans, good coding practices). And after reaching maturity (and not increasing scope) the LoC converges.
My experience with LLMs so far is it’s a constant battle to not explode the LoC. There’s always pressure away from “maintainability” and a “small elegant cohesive” codebase.
Morality exists outside of the business world (and it should inside as well).
Further, it is a societies’ right to enforce the boundaries of what business are allow to do / not do.
For example: banning ads along roads and scenic areas.
Idk, the whole idea of “how much fines will I get doing X shitty business practice” is just gross. I’d rather see harsher enforcement to keep businesses on the straight and narrow more often than not.