Bonum Certa Men Certa

YouTube Has Thrown Free Software Users Into a Crisis

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Aug 14, 2024

Logo of YouTube (2015-2017)

OVER the past few days in our IRC network (where we have an Invidious bot) we've pointed out, repeatedly in fact, the rapid explosion (or implosion, as seen from within) of Invidious instances, which ceased to work or went offline altogether (because they could not be made to work anymore).

Yesterday my wife noticed the same thing (totally independently) and pointed it out to me. Watch this:

invidious redirect

That was a few minutes ago.

Only about 5 working (or known) instances of Invidious remain? Some of them don't even work anymore. Only about 5 work at this time. There used to be many dozens.

"YouTube Will Probably be Next to Die," we wrote 3 days ago. For many Free software users, who rely on Invidious, YouTube is nearly dead already. It's very difficult and time-consuming, trying repeatedly and very stubbornly to find the remaining functional instances. Some go offline due to overwhelming demand (or buffer a lot, or downscale - the lesser evil).

Hours ago we went with the headline "YouTube Getting Worse", citing this report which says: "The popular iOS music streaming app Musi may be fighting a losing battle against YouTube’s efforts to crackdown on API abuse [sic]. In 2023, YouTube began targeting apps that block ads on YouTube for its free users, with pop ups asking those users to disable their ad blockers."

So one can see the direction YouTube has taken. Please, people, stop uploading videos to YouTube or streaming things in YouTube. You may be doing a great disservice not only to audiences but also - in the long run - to yourself/ves. Google is NOT your friend and YouTube is NOT free hosting; you and your audience/s pay some other way - a covert way. You will come to regret it one day. Don't kick the can further down the road. Quit YouTube and quit uploading to YouTube to help others quit too. Break the chain of dependency or "network effect".

Other Recent Techrights' Posts

New USPTO Memo Makes Fighting Patent Trolls Even Harder
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) just made a move that will protect bad patents at the expense of everyone else
An "EU OS" Would Need European Components
There are many European (or Europe-led) distros of GNU/Linux. EU OS developers ought to look at those.
 
Gemini Links 24/03/2025: Working With Music and Unconscious Influence
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, March 23, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, March 23, 2025
Critics of IBM's Strategy Aren't Racists, But...
the situation is saddening as it serves to obscure the severity of the problem
Mauritania: Windows Falls to All-Time Low of 6% (It Used to be Over 99%)
Windows is 0% in mobile
Outline of Open Source Initiative Coverage to Come (Now That Consensus is Changing)
Policing Wikipedia and attacking critics is not a sustainable strategy
Gemini Links 23/03/2025: "Connor of the Cats" and CSS Naked Day
Links for the day
Links 22/03/2025: Science and Antoine Beaupré on "Losing the War for the Free Internet"
Links for the day
We Probably Served Close to 100 Million Gemini Requests
Many of these requests probably came from bots, but it's hard to distinguish (to block them) ... This coming summer Gemini Protocol will turn 6
Just Because Microsoft Resents Techrights Doesn't Mean SLAPPs Will Silence Techrights
To confront lies the best solution is to speak truth
Windows at New Low Levels in Madagascar (Population About 33 Million)
Madagascar does not need Microsoft
Slop Images Are Bad Optics, Including for Perl.org
Slop devalues one's genuine work
What Happened to the Open Source Initiative (OSI) Elections: Proprietary Software Companies in Control, the Scandals Cannot be Hidden Anymore
We'll talk about it later this month and next month
Slopwatch: Fake News About Security Using LLMs That Make Fake 'Articles' About "Linux" (With Slop for Images)
This cannot end well
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 22, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, March 22, 2025
Gemini Links 22/03/2025: "Ukay Ukay", Microplastics in Tea, Jujutsu, and More
Links for the day
Links 22/03/2025: Johor Flooded, Ador Traps Young Musicians With Contract
Links for the day
[Video] Richard Stallman on What Patents Would Have Done to Music (Covered by Copyrights)
Our WebM version can be played using Free software, independently of the availability of Invidious mirrors
Our IRC Community Turns 17 Very Shortly
A few years from now our IRC community will turn 20
Microsoft Destroys and Exploits, It Does Not Create
A race to nowhere
Linux Foundation Buys Misleading Puff Pieces About Itself, Earns Some LLM Slop to Accompany the PR (Openwashing and Propaganda as a Service, With the Brand "Linux" Needlessly Borrowed)
Isn't it funny that after the "LF" (misusing the brand "Linux") flooded the Web with press releases and fake articles (that it had paid for) it now gets some LLM slop doing the same?
It's About So Much More Than 2 Microsofters, It's About Freedom to Speak About Crimes at Microsoft
Suffice to say, if some people related to our professional field attack women and get arrested for it, then there's nothing immoral about relaying this information
Links 22/03/2025: Social Security Attacks and More Attacks on the Press
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/03/2025: INTERPOL, DDoS by "Hey Hi" Hype, and RSS/Feed Readers
Links for the day
Links 22/03/2025: Alzheimer Research and Mega-breaches in the US
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, March 21, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, March 21, 2025