Notices by Strypey (strypey@mastodon.nzoss.nz), page 129

#DavidWiley asks some challenging questions on his #OpenContent blog about whether the "commons" is really the right metaphor for thinking about #OER (Open Educational Resources). Could the same argument apply to other digital public goods like artworks under #CreativeCommons licenses or #FreeCode software?
https://opencontent.org/blog/archives/5800

I'm not convinced "private" is the right word here either. As with fudging together privacy and privatization, "private" in this context is used to fudge together the "personal" and the "commercial", and manipulate people into thinking they and the corporations have interests in common in protecting themselves against the "governmental". In the current system it's often very important for people to use the governmental to protect the personal against the commercial.

"When we talk about the private/public distinction, we sometimes mean to refer to what might better be called the privacy/publicity distinction ... The private/public distinction is often used, however, to mean something analytically different. It refers to a distinction in the legitimate locus of power that might best be called the private/governmental distinction" - Professor Peter M. Shane
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-m-shane/privatization-is-not-privacy_b_5132844.html

@stevenroose What we need is something like a read-only USB key I can buy that contains a unique set of ID credentials. When I insert that USB into any computer, it gives me access to anything that only I ought to have access to. That way, all email could be encrypted by default, and email addressed to me would be decrypted only when that USB was plugged in. Like an ignition key for a car.

@stevenroose I also found it annoying that I couldn't read my stored email if I wasn't using my own computer (because the webmail client can't decrypt it). Email #encryption will never become the norm as long as this is the standard UX.

@stevenroose I also found it annoying that I couldn't read my stored email if I wasn't using my own computer (because the webmail client can't decrypt it).
Email #encryption will never become the norm if this is the standard UX.

@stevenroose to use #PGP with email a user has to figure out how to:
a) obtain, install, and configure a third-party email client that supports PGP, instead of the web client that most people think of as the default UI
b) create, and securely store and backup a set of PGP keys
c) import PGP keys into the email client
d) convince all their correspondents to do the same.

As indicated in the link, I figured out a) through c), but gave up on d), which made the the whole exercise pointless.

@stevenroose email is a not a secure federated comms network, any more than the web is. Yes, you can build a layer of security on top of email with PGP, but in my experience that takes a great deal of mucking around, and severely degrades the #UX.
https://www.coactivate.org/projects/disintermedia/usingpgp

@stevenroose just #FreedomBone is similar to #YUNOHost, it's a GNU/Linux distro that people can install on a device at home (or on a #VPS I guess?), and use to self-host their own services. I just wanted to clarify that in case you were thinking it was a hosting service like #Framasoft, #RiseUp, or #Disroot.
@bob

@adfeno what was the name of that new #GPL #GNU code forge again? Starting with K? Would that fit @deutrino 's needs?

It just occurred to me that it might be useful to run #Testathon events, where groups of geeks *and* average users gather for 24-48 hours to test as many of the available #FreeCode apps in a certain category as possible, (eg decision-making, or voice/video chat), and put together a report on their conclusions. Is this a thing?

@bob maybe it would help if I chose one XMPP account and used it consistently ;-) But it comes back to what I said in the post you're replying to. If it was easy *in practice* to do both email and XMPP chat using the same address, and the same client app, I would use it much more. I know there are a number of ways to do it (eg self-hosting), but it's not *easy*.
@charlag @stevenroose @lightone @z428

@stevenroose Matrix started off trying to do just that. They explain in their FAQ why they moved on. As for Signal and Telegram, they don't believe you can do secure comms on a federated network. So, although I'm extremely sceptical of their own security claims, I'm sadly not aware of any federated comms network in existence that proves them wrong. Are you?

@z428 I'm really hoping that #ForgeFed works out, and that all the groups self-hosting instances of GitLab etc can starting working as a federated GH. Then Microsoft will be left funding a platform for all the people doing portfolio code, learning projects, and other foam to muck about on ;-)
@jcbrand

@z428 @jcbrand that's a fascinating theory. It might explain the mass of projects on GH foaming in and out of existence, often with no license. Another theory might be people starting a learning project, planning to teach themselves the Git CLI or something. All the more reason for serious #FreeCode projects to develop somewhere other than GH, even if they start there while scratching an itch or working on an MVP.

@z428 surely you could create a less bloated replacement for Electron or Ionic that takes the chassis from one cross-platform app - the bit that talks to the various OS in their language - then puts in a tiny webserver and displays HTML/CSS/JS in the default browser, like Mailpile does? I'm probably radically over-simplifying, as I'm guessing I'm not the first person to think of this. But if it wouldn't work, I just want to understand *why*.
@jcbrand

@tleydxdy If you don't know how to install a new OS (like I currently don't with my #Android), you either have to pay someone else to do it, or put in the hours of research and tinkering to learn how to #DIY. Just like swapping out a car engine. You're talking about making customizations to code, which is a different situation. You're probably right that there's nothing in the car and engine analogy that matches, unless you're driving a #WikiSpeed car?
@Purism @scolobb @aral @clacke @enkiv2

@Wolf480pl ok then, let me see if I can synthesize your statement with the quote I took from the #AgilePrinciples and find a consensus?

>The purpose of an open-source project is making source code that produces working software.

@kaniini intriguing. Do you know anything about the people running the new #Live365 site? The original founders trying to relaunch? A new startup? Something else?
@funbreaker

@Wolf480pl #ChrisAnderson of #Wired wrote a whole book about this challenge, called 'Free: The Future of a Radical Price'. I don't agree with all his assumptions and conclusions, but it's a worthy exploration of the issues involved, and why some of the proposed ways of competing with gratis "services" (#datafarms) haven't worked.
@z428 @ente @aral @clacke @enkiv2 @scolobb @Purism