The rub there is that the government probably now has a record of every site you have an account on.

What we really need is a system that’s anonymized in both directions. Where the website can verify the specific claim, age, nationality, etc, but the issuer of the verification, aka the government, can’t track where that verification has been used.

I think this should be possible, but it’s different from the way standard identity providers operate, and I haven’t heard of any of these government identity providers operating this way. That may be because it’s easier, and it may be because governments like the idea of knowing everything we do.

The last time I recall having engaging, thoughtful discussions on the internet was way back in the days of forums. And that was so long ago I’m skeptical of my own memory of it.

Lemmy comments may be different from Reddit comments, but they’re not better. I’ve concluded it’s structural. This format simply does not produce useful conversation.

None of the other social media formats produce it either. Perhaps it’s the result of optimizing for attention, which all social media does, whether by deliberate design or natural selection. Platforms that get attention grow. Those that don’t, languish. It may be that things which gather attention to themselves best are repellent of deeper, slower, more careful thinking.

Actually, maybe I can think of one example. I’m stretching the definition of social media, and I haven’t firsthand experience, but the way that Wikipedia operates may be a clue toward how to build a platform that produces useful dialogue.

That experiment has been pretty thoroughly discredited.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment

Does anything other than the style of the skull and crossbones of his ex-tattoo suggest that he is in any way a Nazi or fascist?

Finally got my last PC switched off Windows. It feels good.

Fucking cool, and also remember to leave your phone at home, or at least on airplane mode.

It would be interesting to learn something about the demographics on Lemmy.

I usually liken the bad vibes on Lemmy to being stuck with a bunch of cynical teenagers. Nothing is ever good enough, nothing good can happen. They know this with absolute certainty.

I am also probably older than average here.

They do, but I’m a little surprised by how well they’ve positioned themselves on this one. It seems to me that the most likely scenario is that the Republicans will give nothing on principal, the shutdown will go until November when the premiums increase, and the country will see that the Republicans would rather close the government for two months than spare them a doubling or tripling of their healthcare costs.

And all the while Trump trashes the government in an attempt to retaliate, without really understanding that the government provides services that people, his voters included, depend on. I’m not sure, “the Democrats made me do it,” will save him with anyone other than his cult members.

I am cautiously optimistic.

Is this another one of those where Steam Deck gets lumped under Arch?

A counterpoint would be to ask which platforms digg and reddit began as clones of. Seems they were pretty unique and yet exploded almost from the beginning. Snapchat? Vine? They were both pretty unique.

To OPs point, basically all of the fediverse apps are clones, which aside from the federation element, don’t add anything to the formula they are cloning. Even if you prefer the incremental strategy, where things are basically the same with a few new features, it would be hard to argue the fediverse apps even meet that bar. To the average user, federation is a technical issue they’d rather not be bothered with.

So I’m inclined to agree that this first wave of open source, federated social platforms have ended up, in terms of social features, pretty uninnovative. But before I sound too critical, I appreciate the work these app builders have put in, and clearly use the apps myself.

It may be a question of project scope. If what you aim to do is liberate yourself and your fellow nerds from corporate platforms, the clones suffice. If, perhaps, your aim is to liberate everyone, you’ll need innovation in both the backend, and the social features to draw in everyone else.

Caveat - I’ve only really used Mastodon and Lemmy. Perhaps others are different.

I sort of don’t believe this. We’ll see what really happens.

“Leaks” are a good strategy to draw attention.

A few references:

Generally, open source refers to a computer program in which the source code is available to the general public for usage, modification from its original design, and publication of their version (fork) back to the community.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source

The program must include source code, and must allow distribution in source code as well as compiled form. Where some form of a product is not distributed with source code, there must be a well-publicized means of obtaining the source code for no more than a reasonable reproduction cost, preferably downloading via the Internet without charge.

https://opensource.org/osd

The term open source refers to something people can modify and share because its design is publicly accessible.

https://opensource.com/resources/what-open-source

having the source code freely available for possible modification and redistribution

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/open-source

I haven’t read any open source licenses, so it’s possible you are correct in some technical sense, but that is not what people mean when they use the term open source.

Clearly the OP was using the common definition, or most of the post wouldn’t make any sense.

If the source isn’t publicly available, it’s not open source. It sounds like you’re suggesting that the software remain closed source until some later date where it then becomes open source.

Cyberchef does this and so so much more https://github.com/gchq/CyberChef

I’ll begin by confessing that I also tend to apply philosophies situationally, but I’d be curious how you’d respond to the criticism that such an approach sort of gives away the game that philosophical applications are all post hoc rationalizations for our existing, non-rational preferences. I’ve found that to be the strongest criticism of such an approach.

I think you should stop writing post titles

Volunteer work is also a good option.

sheepishly raises hand

Get an EV. Get a garage charger. Put panels on your roof. The future is now!