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Richard Stallman on Data Autonomy [video]

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Re: Richard Stallman on Data Autonomy [video]

#81

Post by nextos »

iheartmemcache wrote: post #68
nextos wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know. I'm not saying we should ignore desktops. But things are on the right path there, I think. I can order a brand new (and inexpensive) Rockchip Chromebook tomorrow and get it going on a fully open stack. Not even CPU microcodes, although I don't know about its SSD microcontroller. I think this is remarkable. Now, if we talk about mobile, there are only a few niche projects like Neo900 which might release extrem…

Bunnie Huang (of MIT fame, original cracker of Xbox, proponent of open hardware [see: Chumby, Novena, etc]) has a really interesting talk given at the Media Labs in '15 at his alma mater[1]. It's about 1:15 but fully worth the watch including the QA, if you have any interest in 'open hardware'. That Rockchip run's on a fairly complicated 4core ARM. So which while the instruction set may be open, so is Intels. They'll…

We need Nokia to buy Jolla and release a N900 successor.

Re: Richard Stallman on Data Autonomy [video]

#82

Post by mynewtb »

pmoriarty wrote: post #28
nextos wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hope Stallman focusses on mobile now. Desktop, laptop & server are pretty satisfying free software platforms. But mobile is incredibly dissatisfying, and it's quickly getting a decent share of users. Incidentally, FSF is running a vision survey to establish strategic goals: https://my.fsf.org/civicrm/profile/create?gid=403&reset=1

Another frontier that the Free Software community should set their sights on is virtual reality. The potential impact of VR is enormous, and one of the leading VR development and content creation tools (Unreal Engine) recently open-sourced thier product (though I'm not sure if it was done with an FSF compatible license). Unity, the real giant in the VR arena, and Oculus' own code are closed, if I'm not mistaken. I'm…

>ne of the leading VR development and content creation tools (Unreal Engine) recently open-sourced thier product (though I'm not sure if it was done with an FSF compatible license).

Nope, sadly absolutely non-free. A blnice example how the term 'open-source' is ugly.

Re: Richard Stallman on Data Autonomy [video]

#83

Post by Liru »

artlogic wrote: post #40
bcrack wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what ways do you find SyncThing lacking when compared to BTSync? I started using it for work (cautiously) a couple of moths ago and have found it to be very similar (with respect to stability and ease of use) with BTSync, if not superior. Note though that I haven't used BTSync since its first days.

My guess is this: > I was able to share 15 GBs of vacation videos with 10 of my non-techie friends by sending them a read only key to a shared folder. All of them got it right away with no technical questions or issues. I appreciate SyncThing's security first stance, but it would be incredibly helpful if it was a bit easier to share specific synced things with non-techies.

This is the one thing that I was looking for in an alternative to Sync. It made me sad that the main alternative to it didn't have this.

Re: Richard Stallman on Data Autonomy [video]

#84

Post by crdoconnor »

nbadg wrote: post #65

I'm sorry, but this is profoundly naive. If the name "Richard Stallman" weren't attached to it, you wouldn't have watched this video. The world doesn't have time for everyone to deploy their own server. I mean, honestly, ask yourself if you even have time to do this, or if it's just yet another project that's going to get piled on top of the Raspberry Pi and Beaglebone Black you have sitting in your projects box. Plu…

>The world doesn't have time for everyone to deploy their own server.

I heard people say the same thing about smartphones before the iPhone - that they would always be the preserve of nerds with too much time on their hands.

>I mean, honestly, ask yourself if you even have time to do this

I'd actually like to once there's a sufficiently easy to use project to automagically set up and configure a raspberry pi.

Something like this but with fewer manual steps: https://github.com/sovereign/sovereign

Re: Richard Stallman on Data Autonomy [video]

#85

Post by WhatIsDukkha »

such_a_casual wrote: post #9
joesmo wrote: post #4

Trust is indeed a huge issue that seems to be misunderstood and misapplied in the software community. Stallman's views on trust may seem radical, but he's pretty much right. Over and over I see the things he warns about come true and I trust companies and other entities less and less. It's kind of disheartening to see the huge potential of cloud infrastructure, amongst other technologies, going to waste.

His views only seem radical because of the way he presents them. Easily his biggest mistake is naming his movement Free Software instead of something like Software Liberties or Software Rights, and then refusing to change the name at any point after the realization of this error. Then he says things like, "They're trying to put a cloud inside your head." Which is just laughable. Most of the time he's speaking very ge…

I think your thesis is at least worth reading and thinking about in regards to communicating with the ideals of Free Software to people.

I'd be very cautious in assuming it was correct.

Stallman has tested his thesis about how to communicate his ideals over many decades and has achieved more then we can really fathom or appreciate.

Why don't you test your thesis in talking to others and seeing how it works?

Re: Richard Stallman on Data Autonomy [video]

#86

Post by zanny »

iheartmemcache wrote: post #68
nextos wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know. I'm not saying we should ignore desktops. But things are on the right path there, I think. I can order a brand new (and inexpensive) Rockchip Chromebook tomorrow and get it going on a fully open stack. Not even CPU microcodes, although I don't know about its SSD microcontroller. I think this is remarkable. Now, if we talk about mobile, there are only a few niche projects like Neo900 which might release extrem…

Bunnie Huang (of MIT fame, original cracker of Xbox, proponent of open hardware [see: Chumby, Novena, etc]) has a really interesting talk given at the Media Labs in '15 at his alma mater[1]. It's about 1:15 but fully worth the watch including the QA, if you have any interest in 'open hardware'. That Rockchip run's on a fairly complicated 4core ARM. So which while the instruction set may be open, so is Intels. They'll…

Are there any non-license encumbered protocols similar to USB? I know DisplayPort is royalty free. How does that even work when you can run USB over Displayport?

I know there is no open band 4G standard, and while WIMAX is close its only advertised for support on restricted radio bands, which is not good enough. But radio spectrum allocation already is an extremely fucked up mess that needs dissolved all on its own.

Re: Richard Stallman on Data Autonomy [video]

#87

Post by yarrel »

DonHopkins wrote: post #49
pmoriarty wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another frontier that the Free Software community should set their sights on is virtual reality. The potential impact of VR is enormous, and one of the leading VR development and content creation tools (Unreal Engine) recently open-sourced thier product (though I'm not sure if it was done with an FSF compatible license). Unity, the real giant in the VR arena, and Oculus' own code are closed, if I'm not mistaken. I'm…

High Fidelity [1] [2] [3] is an interesting open source [4] VR platform, developed by Second Life pioneer Philip Rosedale [5]. [1] https://www.highfidelity.io/ [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Fidelity_Inc [3] http://venturebeat.com/2015/10/28/virtual-world-pioneer-phil... [4] https://github.com/highfidelity [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Rosedale

I can build it on Debian 64 bit but it always crashes. Otherwise I'd be using it already.

Re: Richard Stallman on Data Autonomy [video]

#88

Post by zAy0LfpBZLC8mAC »

Frondo wrote: post #66
kordless wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stallman does a good job of calling out cognitive dissonance, as do most individuals with wisdom. The question is why are you and others "fine" with running your services on someone else's systems? I think the answer lies in what Stallman said about keeping your software and data "under your control". If someone has control of the services you use, or the data you store in those services, there exists a clear manner…

I'm fine with relying on other people because I do it for every other part of life already. I don't grow my own food, I don't produce my own medical supplies, I don't build my own wifi devices and I don't pave my own roads. No one engaged in modern western-civilization does; we all rely on everyone around us all the time to live and do things. Cloud backup services, VPSes, photo-hosting sites, Twitter, whatever, they…

You are essentially completely strawmaning the argument ... or, more likely, not understanding anything at all.

Nobody suggests that we should give of division of labor. Got that? That's just one big fat straw man that you made up. People (like RMS) simply analyse what kind of power structure results from how specifically the division of labor currently works/where it currently seems to be headed. And then he points out where those power structures might not be in your interest, so you might want to do something about it.

So, sure, you don't grow your own food. Nobody suggests you should. People just suggest that maybe it's not in your interest to sign a contract that prevents you from buying food from anyone but Foodle Inc., even if they promise you the easiest food on planet earth. Maybe with one option out that has "migration costs" of 10000 USD attached to it. Or that it might not be in our interest to have any entity know everything about us, because that makes them a very powerful entity, with huge potential for abuse of power. Because there is a difference between your doctor knowing very private things about you and one company having a database of all of those private details of all citizens.

Also, you might not have noticed, but someone is trying to inform you that something isn't fair and just. But it seems like you aren't listening. And what people are also pointing out is that finding an alternative is not really an option if you are locked into a service affected by network effects.

Re: Richard Stallman on Data Autonomy [video]

#89

Post by yarrel »

andygmb wrote: post #46

In the video stallman states that nonfree software is in the control of the developer who owns it, which is true, but isnt a developer of free software equally in control of their software? I dont look into the source of every program on my OS, even though if i was to use 100% free software, I could. This means I am equally depending on the developer of the free software not to be malicious as I am the nonfree softwa…

They're not equally in control, as you can study, modify and redistribute the code. If you want to make your own version of the software, they can't stop you. So they're not equally in control.

You are relying on them to not be malicious, but you can also rely on anyone who wants to examine the code not to be fired or imprisoned for doing so. That's better than with proprietary software.

Re: Richard Stallman on Data Autonomy [video]

#90

Post by zAy0LfpBZLC8mAC »

nbadg wrote: post #65

I'm sorry, but this is profoundly naive. If the name "Richard Stallman" weren't attached to it, you wouldn't have watched this video. The world doesn't have time for everyone to deploy their own server. I mean, honestly, ask yourself if you even have time to do this, or if it's just yet another project that's going to get piled on top of the Raspberry Pi and Beaglebone Black you have sitting in your projects box. Plu…

> The world doesn't have time for everyone to deploy their own server. I mean, honestly, ask yourself if you even have time to do this, or if it's just yet another project that's going to get piled on top of the Raspberry Pi and Beaglebone Black you have sitting in your projects box.

If there is something naive here, I would think it's this? What is so inherently difficult about deploying a server? If you want to find out what the right thing to aim for for the future is, it's not useful to base that decision on what is currently the case. By that measure, thirty years ago, you would have argued that computers for everyone was naive (honestly, ask yourself, who would have the time to learn how to jumper the IRQ and IO port assignments and all that?), and yet, somehow, we managed to end up with everyone carrying computers around all the time. Notice, though, how people don't actually manually assign IRQs on their iphones?

I mean, what is even the fundamental difference between a "server" and a "client" that makes one of them so incredibly difficult and dangerous, but not the other? It's both just software talking to other software over the network. Yes, if you have crappy software, you can end up with huge security problems. Ever heard of Windows 95?

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