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Stallman: "Facebook is an international parasitism project."

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Re: Stallman: "Facebook is an international parasitism project."

#232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

p.s. If the parent comment resonated with you, you might like this presentation: http://www.infoq.com/presentations/A-P2P-Digital-Self-with-T...

That resonated like hitting a 40' bong. I remember ... X person used to say about Y, in my family... "Why the hell would anyone wanna live under his roof, and live by his rules? Even if they had to sleep on the street it'd be better". I reckon it's about the same for self-respecting men living with Zuckerberg.

By his own words, if you use trust him with your data you are a dumb fuck.

I am willing to take him at his word on that one and not use his service.

(must extricate myself from google, somehow. not feeling that smug, really.)

[edit] and at least he was honest about it. In some ways, that makes me trust him more than google.

Re: Stallman: "Facebook is an international parasitism project."

#233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That people voluntarily gave facebook a temporary claim to certain inalienable rights is undeniable. What happened was that the userbase shifted and became larger, the power of the individual became weaker, and the rights and obligations vested in the company in the initial user agreement were eroded to the point of meaninglessness, without ongoing consent from the user. So at this point, your data is theirs. Moreove…

> no one who's signed up for it can ever free themselves from its grasp, nor their personal information from its database. I've personally deleted all my personal information from my first Facebook account a few years ago. There were zero consequences for doing so. I didn't even loose any friends, so I put it back up after a year offline to make it easier for people to find my email address and phone number. > My poi…

I think you are vastly discounting social pressures of peer groups that prefer convenience, have very limited technical understanding, and avoid contemplating issues that may arise later. I don't use FB, but I now often feel left out of conversations with people whom I've known for 15 years.

Re: Stallman: "Facebook is an international parasitism project."

#234
post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, there is the mailing list incident where, when someone congratulated another contributor on the birth of their child, Stallman labelled the entire phenomenon of childbirth as "menacing" and went on to say "these birth announcements also spread the myth that having a baby is something to be proud of, which fuels natalist pressure, which leads to pollution, extinction of wildlife, poverty, and ultimately mass sta…

Also the conversation a few weeks back where free software enthusiasts who developed non-free software at their jobs were talking with him... http://lunduke.com/?p=2273 > You see, I make software for most of my living. And I talked with Stallman (in email) before the show, about how I would love to get any ideas he has on how a developer, of proprietary software, can move that software to a Free and Open license… whi…

Stallman may be misanthropic but not his message.

Re: Stallman: "Facebook is an international parasitism project."

#235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Some people just like camp And that, my friend, is the tyranny of the majority. It is the people who just like things the way they are who opt willfully to take the side of the-way-is. You attacked, wrote a comment, preserving the status quo simply because you happen to find yourself with that preference, rather than considering the much more existential plight of the minority.

I don't think I understood what you are saying. But, would you suggest that by using (and enjoying) fb, I am oppressing people who don't want to use it?

I don't want to speak for niels_olson, but in short, yes. Especially if you do any of the following:

-use a smart phone w/ friends' contact info entered and the FB app installed

- talk about those friends on FB

- or upload pictures with them in-frame

Re: Stallman: "Facebook is an international parasitism project."

#236

So am I the only person who thinks this characterization of facebook as a "parasite" or a "disease" is meaningless, useless hyperbole? Facebook isn't any more of a "parasite" than email.

I'm not taking any sides on this, but yours is another hyperbole, Facebook is definitely not as harmless as email. If every email from everyone around the world went through the same company, and they could data mine it as they wished, then they would be on equal terms.

I didn't say anything about harmless, I said they're not a parasite.

Neither is hosted email. They are centrally-managed communications systems which you are free to use or not use as you will.

Re: Stallman: "Facebook is an international parasitism project."

#237
post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see privacy, but how do you give up free speech?

Can you post a picture with nudity in it? No? There you go.

This has to be the most vapid and ridiculous example of free speech I've heard in a while.

The reason nudity is not allowed is because minors are on Facebook and it would be illegal to do so.

Re: Stallman: "Facebook is an international parasitism project."

#238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> no one who's signed up for it can ever free themselves from its grasp, nor their personal information from its database. I've personally deleted all my personal information from my first Facebook account a few years ago. There were zero consequences for doing so. I didn't even loose any friends, so I put it back up after a year offline to make it easier for people to find my email address and phone number. > My poi…

I think you are vastly discounting social pressures of peer groups that prefer convenience, have very limited technical understanding, and avoid contemplating issues that may arise later. I don't use FB, but I now often feel left out of conversations with people whom I've known for 15 years.

I agree to the existence of economies of scale and social preference for standardization but not to your ad hominems.

Questions: Does Facebook constitute a monopoly? Is there a difference between natural monopoly and coercive monopoly? Does Facebook compete in the narrow market of personal webpages, or in one of the broad markets of information, media, or time? If Facebook is bad, is television better? If I choose not to watch the same TV series as someone, and cannot hold a conversation regarding the characters, would I be right in blaming the television manufacturer, the television channel, or the show's screenwriter? Is it possible for me to forcibly obtain social fraternity from others without also denying them their liberty?

Re: Stallman: "Facebook is an international parasitism project."

#239

So am I the only person who thinks this characterization of facebook as a "parasite" or a "disease" is meaningless, useless hyperbole? Facebook isn't any more of a "parasite" than email.

I'm not taking any sides on this, but yours is another hyperbole, Facebook is definitely not as harmless as email. If every email from everyone around the world went through the same company, and they could data mine it as they wished, then they would be on equal terms.

A LOT of email goes through Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail each day.
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