In the last post I mentioned Gnu Jami as a solution that meets my personal privacy requirements (I could have also mentioned tox, which is always great and works with the same principle, but the Gnu Foundation has a better governance of the project in my opinion) , and obviously the discussions have arrived on the fediverse.

Too bad there is to drop the arms.

In practice, alternative software is rejected if it is not "comfortable enough" and if it does not have "all the features of Facebook / Zoom / Fascistame vario". These people, who call themselves “digital activists” are the main reason GAFAM always win. And for which they will always win.

When Windows 95 came out in 1995, which established Microsoft's monopoly (there was also OS2, for example), could you use Linux? Yes.

It was enough to connect to a BBS, and download 72 floppies, plus four if you also wanted XWindows, that is a glimmer of a graphical interface.

This:

that was the height of luxury. Yes, you could also use PINE for email, or TIN. By terminal, we mean.

Here it is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine (email client)

Uncomfortable? Yeah. Because on Windows you had Eudora.

But some have continued to use Linux. Many have continued to use it, and so finally Netscape has produced its client for Linux.

But you would have abandoned Linux. In our place you would have abandoned Linux, and Linux would not be what it is today. Today is luxury, you know?

When it came out, you had to know the exact working frequency of your video card's DAC to get the interface. Depending on the type of mouse, it could cost you an afternoon to get it working. To get a non-Sound Blaster Compatible sound card (220h, 1, 5: does anyone remember?), You had to recompile the kernel. About a day of work. (I'm talking about a stupid MAD16, in my case).

For this you have linux: because someone did, instead of buying the fucking Windows 95 CD, or OS2 warp.

Do you know what it meant to download 72 floppy disks from 1.44 to 28.800 BAUD, unzip them on floppy one by one (with 40MB hard disk, they didn't fit) and then install?

It meant missing a weekend.

But that's why you have Linux today. Because if in the 90s people had said “but how uncomfortable it is”, now you would be discussing which Windows build you have on your PC.

This is the point: digital activism is not comfortable.

Comfortable are the "products". Industries make products. Industries want something in return.

if the problem you have with Jami is that you have to click three times to do one thing instead of one, don't look for a solution to the privacy problems. Look for a PRODUCT with privacy inside.

Well, I'm sorry: but the products are made by companies. Asking a product for privacy means moving from Facebook to Apple. Greetings and sons. Download iWhatsapp and you are good to go. Why are you digital activists if one more mouse click is too much?

If you are divanosexual (sexually attracted to the couch) you cannot "fight". You can sleep. Activism derives, in fact, from the root "active". And someone who considers one more click "too much" has a divanosexuality problem: if you are attracted to the sofa you are not active, and if you are not active you are not an activist.

Let me be clear: I have nothing against divanosexual couples. If you want to marry your Poltrona Frau, you are free to do so. But you cannot be a divanosexual couple and be "activists at the same time".

if one or two more clicks are enough to discard a solution, and you are looking for a ready-made product, activism is not for you. Stop posing as a privacy activist, because activism requires not only commitment: it also requires FATIGUE.

And if you don't want to spend two or three more clicks (that's the zero point something per million of a saw's effort, in the end), what you're looking for is a product. Not an alternative.

Sure, Linux has gotten better today. But do you know why? Do you know why people made distributions? Because there were millions of assholes (like me) who would dump it … to try it out . It means having a free WeekEnd and saying "hey, this weekend I'm trying out this new stuff, here, Debian / Slackware / Whatever".

But you want a product. When someone tells you "use Jami, it's not perfect yet but it offers you more privacy than Whatsapp", the answer is "but the product is more comfortable and it's perfect".

Of course, just invest a few million in it and throw ten thousand slaves on it, and you can have everything immediately.

But unfortunately, the GNU consortium doesn't have millions to invest in, and it doesn't have ten thousand slaves. This was the point.

Linux today is a haven of convenience and is simple to install compared to 1995. You had to know computer ELECTRONICS to do that. (which helped you to get to know it, on the one hand, because it made your PC a digital electronics laboratory. You know what a UART is, right, "hacker" of my furry balls?).

If people spent their time on it, it was because they knew they would have users, some annoying, some grateful, some cooperative.

But you would have abandoned him, "activists".

you are not activists. If for you the inconvenience of a platform is a problem, you are just posers who use some labels for the purpose of making politics, when not to impress the few ladies of the salons you frequent. Assuming they are living rooms and ladies.

There is a substantial difference between a product and an OSS alternative.

• The OSS alternative evolves over time to cover many of the features of a product, thanks to the support they receive when they have a significant user base.

• The product is built (and I know because I build products starting from the prototype) meticulously engineering each use-case. And that's why they're comfortable.

If for you comfort is a problem, if for you comfort is THE problem, then what you are looking for is a product. Point.

Now the supporters of KDE / Gnome will come and tell me that no, the OSS can also be comfortable and beautiful to look at. They will tell me that they gave a PC with Gnome to their ignorant mother, and she is happy as well. And I believe it: offer a support system engineer , 24/7, FREE, to any company, and they will be happy too.

You tell me that even Gnome and KDE have very comfortable features and that they could easily undermine MacOS?

Sure. This is why I am sure that 2021 will be the year of the linux desktop. It is an easy bet. In January.

It's time to start understanding this:

using alternative software to products is a CHOICE THAT IMPLIES WAIVERS.

So if you want to use alternatives to whatsapp, there are things that no OSS manufacturer can EVER do: because it doesn't have the Facebook resources. So get this in your head: activism is TIRED.

It is a CHOICE that IMPLIES WAIVERS.

Like it or not, if you use the metrics of a commercial product to judge software, USE A COMMERCIAL PRODUCT AND DON'T BREAK FUCKS FOR YOUR PRIVACY.

You must begin to understand that data privacy, that free software, that open source, that digital rights and digital freedoms ARE A PROPERTY OF A SPECIFIC ELITE.

That elite who doesn't mind spending a weekend installing something new to try it out.

Those things you have (LINUX, FreeBSD, FOSS) have relapses. If you have this cool 8GB Raspberry 4 today it's for those assholes who bought version 1, downloaded OS version 1 and spent the nights seeing what can be done with it. If you have Linux with Gnome it's for those assholes who wanted to try it and trust it.

You are enjoying the fallout from the trust and work of an ELITE of people, who have been willing (by passion or vocation) to WAIT for the software and hardware to improve.

But if we had done it, as you did, you would have NOTHING today.

AND NOTHING is what you will leave behind you, for the simple reason that if you are so eager for the product, and the alternatives are inconvenient (and "then nobody uses them"), then

do me the fucking favor of using Whatsapp. It is the product for you. I repeat: product.

Alternatives are choices, and they are choices that require renunciation. If you don't like giving up, use products. Industries make products. Industries are asking for something in return.