Nora, Tech Aspect / is on Nostr

nora // trans white ashki USian // professional computer toucher/author/witch // amateur radio operator/musician/photographer

no prisons, no bombs / in olam haba 🇮🇪✊🇵🇸

"Make me a lullaby so sweet and fine / That I can sing my weary world to sleep."

i don't follow people from this account, it's not just you

pronouns: she/her
age: 24 +/- 3
born: under the Great Comet
website: https://nora.codes

Last Notes

2024-06-12 18:32:21

- reply

go for it!

2024-06-12 17:49:37

- reply

this is generally true, but what's got me thinking about it is Maven scraping fedi posts and putting them up without interaction or linkbacks
Fedi discussion: https://social.wake.st/@liaizon/112603447990005434
Maven discussion: https://app.heymaven.com/discover/1190743

2024-06-12 17:47:48

fundamentally the difference between scraping posts from fedi to put on a closed platform and federating via ActivityPub is the difference between *exploiting* the communities here, as if they are a natural resource, and *participating* in the communities here.

2024-06-03 23:03:22

I'm sympathetic to the idea that we shouldn't expect end users to choose their own OS. I am completely unsympathetic to the idea that we shouldn't expect organizations - including businesses, nonprofits, and universities - to protect their customers' data by not using Windows, when Windows is becoming spyware.
#Window #Linux #FreeDesktops #Recall #Copilot
https://cdn.tenforward.social/media_attachments/files/112/555/172/743/905/060/original/da0c66f947d943b9.png

2024-05-22 15:50:00

- reply

There is dysfunction. There is bad decision-making. I have been as fast as anyone to criticize specific organizations for specific missteps, and to call for specific changes that I think would be beneficial. For instance, I think that Ubuntu's commitment to Snap packaging is a foolish decision that ultimately doesn't serve their users or customers, and I've written about that.
But the vast majority of the problems are because you, personally, whether you use Linux or BSD or Windows or Mac OS, are under attack. What you want is not opposed to what the corporations want; it is simply irrelevant. They do not care. Microsoft will scrape your screen all they want and we will suck it up. Apple will remove LGBTQ+-friendly apps for "adult content" and we will suck it up. Google will terminate developer accounts without reason and we will suck it up. Because we have no choice; because they are building a world where the "non-default option" is as hard as possible to build, to use, and to sustain.
The post ends by saying, "we need to be trying to make the better, harder thing more accessible, not blaming people for not using it." I agree with that. Scolding people for running Windows is cruel and unproductive. Mocking people for being harmed by harmful things that companies do is cruel and unproductive.
In equal measure, though, it's necessary to understand why things are the way they are. If you're truly okay with your digital life being controlled by Microsoft, and Google, and Apple, then by all means, sit on the sidelines and throw peanuts. Talk shit about how only nerds use that, how everyone who uses Linux is a privileged jerk with unlimited disposable income. (This sentiment erases the contributions of volunteers marginalized on any axis you choose to name, which are many and hard-won, by the way.) But understand that it's not those "nerds" making things worse for you.

2024-05-22 15:49:22

- reply

Finally, "time consuming." This, I basically agree with; there is effort involved in changing the underlying infrastructure of your life, and if you're in a situation where the time and spoons aren't available to learn to ride a bike (or use Linux), then, you know, don't do that.
But it's worth stepping back and asking - why? Why is it time-consuming to use something non-corporate? Is it because those darn Linux people just don't give a fuck about users, or is it because corporate software manufacturers stubbornly refuse to adopt standard, open technologies? Is it because the GNOME Foundation doesn't care about accessibility, or because it's a difficult problem being tackled by a desperately underfunded organization?
The idea that using anything non-corporate is "complicating your life voluntarily" is a framing that plays directly into the hands of corporations and capital. It is acquiescence to corporate capture; it makes sense only if we start from the premise that buying is the default, and using freely available things is not.

2024-05-22 15:48:56

- reply

To be blunt, the idea that using free software is expensive is a falsehood. Windows is not free. If you buy a new computer, it is often included, but buying a new computer is very expensive; if you are, say, a broke college student whose laptop screen got smashed - ask me how I know - you can get up and running with a machine that'll carry you through the rest of school for $300 with a used Thinkpad and an SSD. Windows will not be included. Tell me again how dropping another $100 is less of a sign of privilege than downloading a free OS at the library?
Similarly, I'm very confident in saying that there are few situations where a copy of Windows is available locally when a copy of Linux is not. If you have access to a Best Buy and not a library, that might be the case, but how common is that, exactly? This is not to mention the many mail-order services that will sell you Linux installation media for a pittance.
This might be a reference to bike infrastructure being unavailable, as a metaphor for software or hardware not supporting Linux. This is a pretty good point, if taken very narrowly; to extend the analogy, responding to complaints about public transit with "have you considered a bike?" when the poster lives in rural Nebraska is not particularly helpful. On the other hand, this doesn't make it inherently unreasonable to suggest riding a bike, unless you *already know* that bike infrastructure isn't available! Many people, including non-"tech people," use free desktops just fine for everyday tasks, just as many people, including non-"bike people," use bicycles to get to work and school every single day.

2024-05-22 15:48:28

I am frustrated about this post in several dimensions.
https://social.coop/@afewbugs/112483297951627956
The post likens using a free desktop (Linux) to riding a bike in three ways: that it is expensive, time consuming, or not available locally. I disagree with all three, in different ways.

2024-04-28 03:01:35

much discussion of a mastodon fork recently, and i have to ask: would people actually use and contribute to a "maintenance mode" fork? a mastodon fork that didn't develop new features for users but focused on improving performance and moderation tooling?
i kind of doubt it, based on the history of ForkTogether.

2024-03-26 14:50:59

So serde-yaml is unmaintained.
Today seems like a good time to remind people that, no, open source isn't your supply chain, it's the commons. If you want open source software you use to have specific properties, you need to do the work to make that happen.
"I don't want to work on this anymore" is the absolute right of any open source maintainer and that doesn't go away just because your company was relying on their free labor.