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LibreTaxi – A free and open source alternative to Uber and Lyft

libretaxi.org

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Re: LibreTaxi – A free and open source alternative to Uber and Lyft

#291

Post by tekklloneer »

thinkloop wrote: post #288
tekklloneer wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And those three markets also accept (and even more highly value) stable currencies. Bring a Euro to any store in Belarus and it'll be accepted at a greater value than the listed exchange rate.

> it'll be accepted at a greater value than the listed exchange rate. Didn't realize how dire the listing situation was there :-p

It's simpler than that, currency exchanging costs money. If you're using a foreign currency, then you don't have to pay those fees. If, that currency is even available in your country (in some, using certain countries is prohibited)

Re: LibreTaxi – A free and open source alternative to Uber and Lyft

#292

Post by Kalium »

namlem wrote: post #289

I don't think this is the right approach. IMO, what we need a platform for regional driver co-ops. You obviously wouldn't have the consistency of Uber and Lyft, but the service would take only a tiny cut since they don't have to provide anything other than the app. When you want to hail a car, you'd be able to choose from any local services, which are responsible for the vetting and insurance of drivers. It has its f…

It's possible that consistency may be a large part of the value proposition of Uber or Lyft. I can go across the country and get a ride with a company I have some level of trust in. Regional co-ops do what taxi companies did, forcing me to re-evaluate everything all over again in every new place.

Re: LibreTaxi – A free and open source alternative to Uber and Lyft

#293

Post by ralmeida »

bcook wrote: post #272
ralmeida wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does cash vary in value? If you have a $50 bill, you can expect to buy a very predictable amount of food (for example) next week, regardless of what happens. Not so much if you have 0.0521 BTC.

There are plenty of cash currencies, aside from USD, that fluctuate wildly.

That's true, but most vary fluctuate wildly with respect to the USD, not in their purchasing power within their country of origin, even less so in the span of weeks or days.

For example, if I was paid the equivalent of a 50 USD ride in Bitcoin in Jan 4, and were to go to buy food today, I could only buy 40 dollars worth of food.

Which currency does that? Sure there may be a few examples in case of extreme inflation, etc, but it's not the norm at all.

Re: LibreTaxi – A free and open source alternative to Uber and Lyft

#294

Post by Dylan16807 »

em3rgent0rdr wrote: post #279
Dylan16807 wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Web of trust doesn't have a centralized determinator. You assign trust to people you've interacted with, and they assign trust to people they have interacted with, etc. Putting it on a blockchain doesn't make that more effective. If you look at the reviews of strangers, you have to figure out which ones are real and which ones are fake... it works exactly the same with or without blockchain.

putting it on the blockchain provides a mathematical proof that entity X got score Y. That itself doesn't solve the problem of proving that entity X corresponds to person P. Although person P could tie something such as driver's license number to entity X. Of course that could be done with a centralized trust system as well. But with the centralized trust too, but also requires trusting the centralized trust, and mak…

Traditional web of trust has private keys for everyone. It's already decentralized and secure.

Re: LibreTaxi – A free and open source alternative to Uber and Lyft

#295

Post by bogomipz »

Kalium wrote: post #292
namlem wrote: post #289

I don't think this is the right approach. IMO, what we need a platform for regional driver co-ops. You obviously wouldn't have the consistency of Uber and Lyft, but the service would take only a tiny cut since they don't have to provide anything other than the app. When you want to hail a car, you'd be able to choose from any local services, which are responsible for the vetting and insurance of drivers. It has its f…

It's possible that consistency may be a large part of the value proposition of Uber or Lyft. I can go across the country and get a ride with a company I have some level of trust in. Regional co-ops do what taxi companies did, forcing me to re-evaluate everything all over again in every new place.

Where's the consistency in getting into a stranger's car every time you use a service? The consistency would be the app? Often Uber drivers also drive for Lyft and vice versa. If the same drivers also embrace Libre Taxi I fail to see any fundamental difference in the experience.

Re: LibreTaxi – A free and open source alternative to Uber and Lyft

#296

Post by pitaa »

Kalium wrote: post #292
namlem wrote: post #289

I don't think this is the right approach. IMO, what we need a platform for regional driver co-ops. You obviously wouldn't have the consistency of Uber and Lyft, but the service would take only a tiny cut since they don't have to provide anything other than the app. When you want to hail a car, you'd be able to choose from any local services, which are responsible for the vetting and insurance of drivers. It has its f…

It's possible that consistency may be a large part of the value proposition of Uber or Lyft. I can go across the country and get a ride with a company I have some level of trust in. Regional co-ops do what taxi companies did, forcing me to re-evaluate everything all over again in every new place.

Definitely true. My parents recently went on vacation to a US city that isn't exactly the safest (IMO). Their hotel didn't offer an airport shuttle, and they've been burned by taxi drivers in the past. I explained the concept of uber to them, installed the app on their phone, and told them to press the button when they wanted someone to pick them up and the ride would automatically be billed to their credit card.

When they returned they told me how "nice all the drivers were" and how they weren't going to pay for shuttles ever again.

There's no way I would have given them the app for some local taxi co-op, but uber I trust enough to assume its generally reliable in any US city.

Re: LibreTaxi – A free and open source alternative to Uber and Lyft

#297

Post by tibu »

spIrr wrote: post #131

I'll post a comment from ProductHunt, which might give a bit more context to where the founder sees this going, and why cash rides make sense under certain circumstances he designed the app for: […] I have gone to the founder's blog and it provides a better understanding of where he sees it going: Uber (and similar apps) will never reach many remote villages, cities and regions around the world (and don't have to), b…

So we think that they live in remote villages using smartphones but no electronic payment? Is this really a valid use case?

Re: LibreTaxi – A free and open source alternative to Uber and Lyft

#298

Post by fenwick67 »

jstejada wrote: post #230

If becoming a driver is so easy, what about security for passengers? I'm from a city that has been known to be "dangerous", and the main reason I use Uber there over taxis is for security. How does LibreTaxi prevent bad actors from becoming drivers?

Uber is not inherently safer than a taxi. Why do people always say this?

Re: LibreTaxi – A free and open source alternative to Uber and Lyft

#299

Post by cryptozeus »

tibu wrote: post #297
spIrr wrote: post #131

I'll post a comment from ProductHunt, which might give a bit more context to where the founder sees this going, and why cash rides make sense under certain circumstances he designed the app for: […] I have gone to the founder's blog and it provides a better understanding of where he sees it going: Uber (and similar apps) will never reach many remote villages, cities and regions around the world (and don't have to), b…

So we think that they live in remote villages using smartphones but no electronic payment? Is this really a valid use case?

This is very much the case I have seen atlest in India. People have access to cheap smart phones.
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