Bonum Certa Men Certa

Focus on the Concepts, Not the Brands

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Oct 31, 2023,
updated Oct 31, 2023

Cults don't improve people's lives, they typically con people for their hard-earned money (to the point people borrow money that they lack so as to signal loyalty to brands)

Computer, Notebook, Coffee

THE truth of the matter is, Apple is not the opposite of Microsoft and just because it's not Microsoft does not mean it's a human rights-friendly company. It never was.

Apple's marketing was always made to mislead. That's just what marketing does.

As we noted yesterday, don't look for Google to redeem us from Microsoftism, even if somehow it completely obliterates Microsoft. Google hired many Microsofters and it still shows. The problematic people merely relocate, bringing ideological baggage with them.

The problem is not limited to Apple, Microsoft, Google, or even "GAFAM" (a term I coined with Julian Assange about half a decade ago). There are also the O (Oracle), the Is (Intel, IBM), and many others.

The problem is primarily proprietary software. IBM has been taking Red Hat further and further in this direction, which is why Alex Oliva left the company (he publicly said they had moved towards proprietary clown computing, which he deemed unethical).

Society needs to move towards transparency, sharing, collaboration and cooperation, not monopolisation, consolidation of power, and price-fixing cartels (mostly "validated" by patents).

Remember not to focus too much on the brands. If we keep focusing on brands, then people will just "hop" from one brand to the next, never liberating themselves or emancipating their data. What we're seeing in RHEL (Red Hat) is the sad fact or belated realisation that even choosing GNU/Linux distros these days should be a careful process. Canonical values Microsoft more than it values your freedom and IBM values nothing but money. With "CentOS Going Away" and Fedora probably next to get the 'chop' (even if there's a repeatedly-delayed release next month), we really need to "take the hint" and mass-migrate to community-run distros rather than "vertical software [integration] monocultures" (this was what Theo de Raadt said about Wayland earlier this month).

The enemy or the threat isn't some brand (heck, companies can change their names at any time like Facebook did, turning GAFAM into MAGMA) but the actions. Talk to people about what the companies actually do that's wrong. Promote the way out of those behaviours, not just away from the brands. Each GAFAM company has its own variant (or brand) of listening devices, chaffbots etc. and what's inherently wrong is not "Alexa" or "Siri" or "Cortana" but the snooping itself.

Last year Richard Stallman explained to Andy and I that one issue he noticed was, unless we collectively refuse to "fixate" on only Microsoft, people might flock to Apple, not GNU or software that's freedom-respecting. Seeing what happens in richer nations like Australia, this sort of makes sense. Many people believe that escaping Microsoft to some other "master" will leave the problems behind. But no, in practice that creates new or other types of problems.

Other Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft Windows Falls to 19% in Congo, Only About 1 in 8 Windows Users (or 2-3% of Web Users) Are on Vista 11
The estimated share of Vista 11 fell sharply this past month
Twitter as X-Rated Hatred: Criticising Microsoft is Not OK, Calling for Beheadings (With Bounties on People's Heads) is OK
Twitter automation missed 'hit job' advertising
 
Another Case Study Regarding Edge's Death
people adopt Chrome and a lot more people use obscure browsers than adopt the latest Edge
[Meme] A Question of Interests
'The Internet? We are not interested in it.' -Bill Gates, 1993
In the Romanian Browser Market, Microsoft is the 2% (Edge Down to 2.3%)
the Wintel era has ended
Gemini Links 17/08/2024: Selfishness and Offline BBSing
Links for the day
Frans Pop & Debian Day 2024: 31 years of deception and modern slavery
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, August 16, 2024
IRC logs for Friday, August 16, 2024
Links 16/08/2024: YouTube Bans and Surveillance Expanded
Links for the day
We Were Right All Along and the Collaborators of Microsoft Helped Competition Crimes of Microsoft
Once again vindicated regarding UEFI "secure boot"
[Meme] The New Windows Slogan
stat me up
Addendum: Associate's Notes on Free Software as a Labour Issue and the Connectivity Swindles
these are related issues/causes
Microsofters Infiltrating Roles of Authority and Government Positions to Protect Microsoft and to FUD Microsoft's Competition
friends of Microsofters who bully me and my wife
Links 16/08/2024: UK Skills Deficit and Kim Dotcom to be Extradited to the US (for Doing the Same Stuff GAFAM Does)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 16/08/2024: Overgeneralisation and Games
Links for the day
Russia's Yandex 5 Times Bigger Than Microsoft... in Ukraine
They'd rather rely on the Kremlin than on Microsoft
[Meme] Gemini is Different, So What?
different, not worse
Now It's "Official": Over 4,000 Known Gemini Capsules in Lupa
For the first time ever
Clown Computing
Reprinted with permission from Dr. Andy Farnell
[Meme] What Freedom Means to IBM
Free labou
Balancing Activism Against (or With) Basic Necessities and Daniel Cantarín on Our Collective Battle for Software Freedom Around the World
"I'm VERY angry about lots of stuff happening here in Argentina, all of it shielded behind the word "freedom"."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, August 15, 2024
IRC logs for Thursday, August 15, 2024
From 99% in 2012 to 27% in 2024: How Microsoft Lost Georgia
What we're seeing is a migration from Windows to other platforms, notably GNU/Linux
To Understand Cisco's Mass Layoffs Look at the Company's Soaring Debt (Same at Microsoft)
Look what's happening to Intel - down almost 60% since the start of the year, 57% to be precise
Windows Flying Low at 25%
It's another all-time low
[Meme] Long Texts You Never Bother Reading (Because Life is Too Short, Unlike Those Texts)
The devil is in the terms of service
Links 15/08/2024: Monkeypox Hysteria and Modern Homesteaders Living Off the Grid
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/08/2024: Confession of a Convention Game Master and Some Release nostalgia
Links for the day
Congratulations to Romania, Where Windows is Now "Minority Market Share" Platform
Time will tell if GNU/Linux can pass 5% on the desktop/laptop "form factor" there
Why It Matters That 4,000 Gemini Capsules Are Known to Lupa and Why Gemini Protocol Matters to Us
I have no doubt Gemini Protocol will continue to expand because it solves a real problem
Links 15/08/2024: Avast Surveillance Scandal Unsolved and Facebook Still Censors Terror Sympathisers
Links for the day
Daniel Cantarín's Response to Alexandre Oliva's Talk on Achieving Software Freedom in the Age of Platform Decay
Soylent News caught up with the series
4,000 Gemini Capsules
it's basically one capsule short of 4,000
"Microsoft is a Sponsor of The New Stack."
Many articles turn out to be just ads
New Highs for Android in Russia, But It's Reportedly Working on Its Own Linux-Based Operating Systems (GAFAM-Free)
statCounter isn't equipped to properly parse user agents or to keep up
Upcoming Series: Terms of Service (TOS) Under the Microscope, FSF Party, GitHub Scandals, Clowns, and More
Right now we have way more material than we have time to cover. But that's a good thing.
Gemini Links 15/08/2024: Lies of Therapy and Web Applications
Links for the day
Software Freedom in Perspective - Part 5 - When Richard Stallman Came to Argentina
It might seem a bit harsh, but a discussion at the end of this series will tie things together and explain why those things were said
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, August 14, 2024
IRC logs for Wednesday, August 14, 2024