To me it is retrocomputing and "Web 2.5", or whatever you may call it -- people building fast, compatible websites that really work in "any browser"
The good things in the current age in tech
31–40 of 120 posts
Re: The good things in the current age in tech
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
On the other hand, almost everything comes with hidden costs and risks as well. Pretty much every new technology or cool gadget comes to the public as a double-edged sword especially when it's "free" or inexpensive. In the open source/developer space things are often far better, but the general public is just screwed. Right now our lives are filled with very cool tech, but nearly always at a hidden price no matter wh…
You bring up a great point: how do we deliver high-quality software to the general public that is stable, easy-to-use, and secure, yet respects user privacy? Ad-tech and other forms of surveillance technologies have become quite prevalent in consumer technology in recent years, such as the proliferation of smart TVs with ads. I find free, open source software to respect my privacy and generally be stable and secure,…
I'm not sure why you're discounting Chromium, which powers Electron which makes it trivial for anyone with web skills to deploy desktop FOSS. Am I missing some component of your take? [edit] As far as how polished the UI is, your mileage may vary, but the avenue is there.
Re: The good things in the current age in tech
#33My 8 year old son has a Nintendo switch. I recently showed him a video of the 80' "Mattel Electronic Football Handheld Game" which is essentially just a handful of dim LED's and some control buttons. I used to fight my brother to get time playing on that old thing. My son may never truly appreciate how far we've come with respect to technology. The other thing I'd like to point out is that you either could afford som…
Thanks for raising our future generation on videogames and smart phones. I'm sure you're raising a productive citizen, there. A Switch is $350, by the way, not including games - money that you could have put into your son's education, nutrition, skill-building, etc. The next generation is going to be a bunch of talentless game addicts.
What even is this comment? What a weird projection on the commenter's part.
Love the part about calling out the price of a Switch, without considering that the parent might also spend tons of money on education as well.
To top if off the guy is an options trader! Lol!
Re: The good things in the current age in tech
#34People bemoan the quality of software (and certainly all the complaints are true, we have a long way to go as an industry quality wise), but 10-15 years ago I remember it wasn't uncommon to buy a piece of shrink wrapped software that should be compatible with your machine and it would just not work. Failure to install, or crashing on startup, sometimes even requiring a reinstall of the entire OS. This would happen in…
That's because the distribution is being controlled by central entities, e.g. distros, app stores, etc. People mostly gave up trying to distribute release binaries on their own. Independent distribution now happens primarily by sharing the source. So the whole not working aspect is still very much alive for source builds, which rarely work; at least, not unless you run them inside a Docker container that's exactly the same as whatever the developer uses. Particularly if the software was written recently, and isn't a decades old C program or simple Python script without dependencies.
Re: The good things in the current age in tech
#35>Debian has been an extremely reliable distro that i've used in a number of scenarios and has largely avoided the problems that Ubuntu or even CentOS (RIP) have run into.
What problems are being referred to?
Re: The good things in the current age in tech
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
You bring up a great point: how do we deliver high-quality software to the general public that is stable, easy-to-use, and secure, yet respects user privacy? Ad-tech and other forms of surveillance technologies have become quite prevalent in consumer technology in recent years, such as the proliferation of smart TVs with ads. I find free, open source software to respect my privacy and generally be stable and secure,…
> You bring up a great point: how do we deliver high-quality software to the general public that is stable, easy-to-use, and secure, yet respects user privacy? You have an honest business model where people pay for things. "Free" is the cornerstone of surveillance capitalism.
You really just need an honest product. Plenty of companies are perfectly happy to charge several hundred dollars for their product and then still use it to spy on their users so that they can stuff their pockets with even more money at our continued expense.
Re: The good things in the current age in tech
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
On the other hand, almost everything comes with hidden costs and risks as well. Pretty much every new technology or cool gadget comes to the public as a double-edged sword especially when it's "free" or inexpensive. In the open source/developer space things are often far better, but the general public is just screwed. Right now our lives are filled with very cool tech, but nearly always at a hidden price no matter wh…
You bring up a great point: how do we deliver high-quality software to the general public that is stable, easy-to-use, and secure, yet respects user privacy? Ad-tech and other forms of surveillance technologies have become quite prevalent in consumer technology in recent years, such as the proliferation of smart TVs with ads. I find free, open source software to respect my privacy and generally be stable and secure,…
Many of us leapfrogged the desktop age and instead skipped straight from CLI apps to WWW apps. Most of the computers I've used don't have desktops because they're in a datacenter somewhere, or inside something like a Docker container. It's easier to get the backing of big corporations when you've created something that can be part of automated backend infrastructure. Those are the people who want privacy the most, since protecting confidential information is a big concern. Backend systems also usually have the necessary tools in place that make sure programs don't do anything evil. That's a feature where most desktop operating systems leave much to be desired, and it therefore means that desktop apps still require a similar level of trust as a web service. But the automation aspect is probably most key to getting support, since desktop apps are better for consumers, and consumers want convenience more than privacy. If you're really passionate about privacy then backend CLI is something worth pursuing, since that's where you're most likely to find people who share your values.
Re: The good things in the current age in tech
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
On the other hand, almost everything comes with hidden costs and risks as well. Pretty much every new technology or cool gadget comes to the public as a double-edged sword especially when it's "free" or inexpensive. In the open source/developer space things are often far better, but the general public is just screwed. Right now our lives are filled with very cool tech, but nearly always at a hidden price no matter wh…
You bring up a great point: how do we deliver high-quality software to the general public that is stable, easy-to-use, and secure, yet respects user privacy? Ad-tech and other forms of surveillance technologies have become quite prevalent in consumer technology in recent years, such as the proliferation of smart TVs with ads. I find free, open source software to respect my privacy and generally be stable and secure,…
> how do we deliver high-quality software to the general public that is stable, easy-to-use, and secure, yet respects user privacy?
I don't think volatilizing users' privacy for money helps to make a product more stable, secure, or easy to use. It's just something companies do because they are allowed to and it makes them more money.
> I find free, open source software to respect my privacy and generally be stable and secure, but I find it harder to use than proprietary alternatives
It's a problem certainly. It's not universal (VLC comes to mind), but the trend is real. Open source software does tend to lack the polish but the authors often lack the resources of commercial software.
> If even experienced software engineers struggle to find the time to contribute code to FOSS projects, then making such a contribution would be almost impossible for members of the general public, the vast majority of whom have no coding experience.
I'm not sure the goal should be for non-coders to contribute to code. I think projects could try to make the process of submitting code less intimidating, maintain standards that are clearly defined, and try to avoid cliques that might make it hard for newcomers.
The best thing non-coders can do is what they love doing already: complain and offer suggestions. If something in a program like libre office is counter-intuitive let them know. If the UI in firefox is terrible let them know. It does mean that the people working on those projects have to be willing to accept criticism and respond to their users concerns though.
> Another challenge is thinking of new funding mechanisms for FOSS
I agree that this is an issue. The fundamental problem with software written by single dev hobbyists or many volunteers in their spare time is that is that the result is about what you'd expect. The more money there is behind a project the more likely it'll be polished and professional looking, but there's only so much you can if you want to keep the F in FOSS
Re: The good things in the current age in tech
#39So, I want to give a shout out to -- "pessimism" as one of the good things?
Weird, I know. But I would say that a little over a decade ago, it feels like Facebook wasn't even being questioned and that everything new in tech was always awesome. And was always like, we are screwed if people don't begin to see how creepy this stuff is.
Now, I mean, there's work to do, but I don't get seen as the paranoid weirdo when I criticize Facebook anymore. :)
Re: The good things in the current age in tech
#40Kinda minor, but nice:
1) SSDs ubiquitous and don’t suck.
2) 3D printers that work well and are cheap, open source ecosystem. Prusa and Ender.
3) VR that is actually good, doesn’t require external sensors and wires, and is pretty cheap. oculus Quest 2.
More major: 1) cheap Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries. Good for DIY. Long cycle life, less likely to start on fire, Cobaltfree and dirt cheap. Being used on base Model 3s and Ys. Makes going off grid feasible when combined with solar power which is also crazy cheap.