02.28.21
Gemini version available ♊︎If the Web Can Be Increasingly Replaced (or Complemented) by Gemini and IPFS Etc., Then Large Monopolists Will Try to Dominate Those
That’s just what those people do…
“The Internet? We are not interested in it.”
–Bill Gates, a famous criminal, back in 1993 (a few years before he would Embrace, Extend, and try to Extinguish the Web by monopolising it with ActiveX and other proprietary ‘extensions’)
Summary: Monopolists and sociopaths won’t be clapping and cheering for whatever stands a chance of replacing the Web (or Big Banks); if they ever embrace those replacements, it’ll be to dominate and in turn undermine these
THIS year has been a productive one (thus far). In spite of serious ISP issues last month (they issued compensation last week), we’ve managed to produce quite a lot. Since the 14th of December we’ve uploaded 225 video files weighing at 21.3 GB (22,894,785,563). That’s almost 10 GB per month and about 100 videos.
“This is the sort of thing that doomed the Web (Adobe Flash, Microsoft ActiveX, or more recently DRM/EME to name a few) and we don’t want to be pushed around by “big players” with their “big money”.”Weeks ago we transitioned ever so slowly to Gemini, which we don’t expect to replace the Web site but become complementary. In the past day (weekend) 69 unique hosts connected to our capsule and that number grows each week (now that we are indexed in Gemini search engines it is getting easier to find our stories).
As a sort of word of caution, we must certainly not expect monopolies and Web giants to sit idly and ignore the alternatives forever, especially if those alternatives gain serious traction and become potential ‘advertising revenue source’ (or even worse and more malicious things).
There’s already some heated discussion in Gemini mailing lists, for instance, about the threat of a browser ‘near monopoly’ or (de facto) standards being ‘extended’ ad hoc e.g. Favicons in Amfora). This is the sort of thing that doomed the Web (Adobe Flash, Microsoft ActiveX, DRM/EME to name a few) and we don’t want to be pushed around by “big players” with their “big money”. They too often get their way at the end (hiring key people, ousting strong and charismatic leaders, bribing institutions and so on).
Being “embraced” or “accepted” by Google or Microsoft (e.g. Chrome/Chromium or GitHub, where sadly a lot of Gemini-related code has been outsourced to) may seem like a sign of “success”, but it is certainly also a sign of danger. It’s important to prepare to this. █
“Linux infestations are being uncovered in many of our large accounts as part of the escalation engagements.”
–Microsoft Confidential (before Microsoft ‘joined’ this “infestation”)
ᶃ Gemini Space
This post is also available in 
Content is available under CC-BY-SA