431–440 of 988 posts
I hope more apps start allowing to directly download an .apk file from their website. I don't have Google Play Services or the Play store installed on my phone nor do I want to install them. Yes, it's my responsibility to update the app, whatever, just give me the file.
Whats wrong with F-Droid?
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> usable if you're willing to hack on it Most people need things just work.
I concur. But if we have a platform that is actually suitable for the community to work on, we can get to that point. Much like Ubuntu made desktop Linux a viable prospect for many people, after being enabled by Debian, I could see a future libre smartphone being enabled by the work done on PinePhone.
They're great for developers, but they've been unable to provide a usable and simple alternative for most people. Imo, partly because a lack of incentives since developers tend to create for themselves. Partly due to fragmentation leading to projects moving in every direction at the same time, which does not lead to a consistent or simple user experience.
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Can we just please pass some legislation to break Google and Apple's app installation monopoly already? Sure, they built the phones, doesn't mean we can't demand more rights than they decide it's profitable to give us (or put another way, just because the king's ancestors founded the country doesn't mean we shouldn't demand freedom and democracy).
It's amazing that bureaucrats fined Microsoft for putting IE as default and keep allowing apple to do what they want. Europe should force these companies to allow users to install any software they want in their devices as long as it is legal...
The difference is that Microsoft attempted to use its operating system monopoly to win the browser wars. Bundling Internet Explorer with Windows made it difficult for other browsers to compete on an even playing field.
Apple doesn't have an operating system monopoly on the desktop or mobile. MacOS and iOS have a smaller userbase than both of their main competitors. It doesn't have an app store monopoly either.
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> Element is a Matrix client just as Chrome is a Web browser, and just as it’s possible to view abusive material via Chrome, the same is true of Element. > However, we abhor abuse, and on the default matrix.org server (...) we have a fairly strict terms of use (...) which we proactively enforce. These two sentences are contradictory. Either you are a road or a road restaurant. You can't have it both ways.
The first sentence is about Element. The second sentence is about matrix.org
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But Google is a private company and can decide who they want to see in their stores. Right?
It's not that simple. Let's say that Google sell a tv half or even a quarter the price of normal tv, but it can only access channels authorized by google, and the authorized channels can change anytime. Furthermore it can only access consoles and devices only authorized by google. At first, the authorization is very permissive and the unauthorized channels or devices are very rare. People begin to buy the tv, and cha…
It seems all those deplatforming started really recently with trump/parler and turned into a witch hunt. It's now totally out of control and we start to look like CCP
We really are seeing the cultural revolution of technology. The era of open innovation and freedom of expression is over. And because both sides of politics can only see as far as the next election, they will just use this to their advantage to deplatform their opponents. And who loses? The proles, of course.
Before, network effect makes Twitter/Google Store/AWS etc dominant over alternatives, because everybody could be on there. There is no reason to use XXX, because why not Twitter.
Now that they make it clear that they are not unbiased moderator, and they remove apps/people from their platform, a bunch of people become refuge. Alternative stores and social media become viable, because they could grab those audience. I can see that in the next few years, we will have more fractured platforms.
> because both sides of politics can only see as far as the next election, they will just use this to their advantage to deplatform their opponents
Meanwhile, there are other countries.
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It's not that simple. Let's say that Google sell a tv half or even a quarter the price of normal tv, but it can only access channels authorized by google, and the authorized channels can change anytime. Furthermore it can only access consoles and devices only authorized by google. At first, the authorization is very permissive and the unauthorized channels or devices are very rare. People begin to buy the tv, and cha…
That was the parent's point - made via sarcasm.
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I quit Reddit, Amazon, Twitter, Google, Instagram and Facebook. My life has never been better. Minor inconvenience does not outweigh major improvements in my mental wellness. (Edit: I mention mental wellness because those products, and the ads they carry, are designed to be addictive.)
So let me ask you a question, how were they negatively impacting your mental wellbeing? I ask this genuinely, because I have a tendency to feel these tools only negatively impact people who use them in stress-creating ways. That, however, feels like victim blaming. There's a difference between a using a circular saw dangerously and a circular saw that is MADE with electrical failures that shock you. Let me give the e…
I came to the same conclusion. It is much easier to blame some internet website (which is basically just some pixels on a screen) instead of figuring out internal psychological reasons for being addicted. If a person is looking for addictions, they will find them. If it won't be facebook, it will be porn, binge-watching, sugar, compulsive excercise, compulsive talking, etc. etc. The list is endless.
I just don't buy an idea that some pixels have more responsibility for their choices than the person itself does.
Also when they start mentioning "dopamine" it makes me laugh. Brain just doesn't work that way. Dopamine doesn't make you do things, you make you do things. Dopamine is just a way for the brain to encode whatever you like. If you want to be addicted to facebook - it will encode facebook. If you want to have a healthy life - you'll get your dopamine exactly the same way when you get up in the morning, look outside and just think for yourself "this is a beautiful day", or when you solve a particular puzzle in your work, or when you say hi to a stranger. Brain has no shortage of dopamine and it is you who decide when it is released. Unless you are addicted of course. But don't blame the thing, work with the addiction instead, it's the only truthful way to stop being addicted.
Now, for some people who are highly addicted, quitting facebook completely - might be a good thing. Like for an alcoholic, it might be good to quite 100% of alcohol for a while. But it doesn't mean that a healthy person can easily enjoy a glass of wine every now and then and don't have any problems with it.
Anyway, you may try contacting Google using EU regulation 2019/1150 violation procedure, see https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/9969397 for more information. This may be more effective than using a regular contact procedure, as it would show Google that you are aware of this regulation and they are unlikely to win.
Note that I'm not a lawyer.
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Good point. https://hydrogen.element.io works very well as a PWA, but doesn’t have push support yet.
HSTS preloading blacklists may at some future point, block PWA as well. The real problem is indeed how much power society has given these corps. It's time to take back some power or we will never be able to.