Mastodawn

Your Future Ex Aug 6, 2023

@devlogic How can they use streams to train AI if it is supposedly E2EE?

@yourfutureex @devlogic if a company controls the client app at the end points, they have access to it all, even if it is E2EE. Similarly WhatsApp.

@yourfutureex @devlogic people using Zoom could always *stop* using it. After all, outstanding #LibreSoftware options exist, and can be self-hosted or by trusted 3rd party suppliers. Have a look at #BigBlueButton https://bigbluebutton.org & #JitsiMeet https://meet.jit.si

If you host your own (or pay someone you trust to do so), no arbitrary cut-off times. There're no per-person costs, no institutional licenses, & *no software install required*. They work with any modern browser.

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@lightweight
Can I use this to talk to my family and my professors, i.e. is there a website I can just login and it’s all ready to use already, or do I need to have a lot of technical knowledge to make it happen?

@moonspider you can go to meet.jit.si and start a room (and just convey the room address to whoever you want to meet with). With BigBlueButton, you can use the demo, but last time I looked they'd started limiting meetings to 40 min or something like that (to manage resource requirements). Running your own isn't hard if you're relatively familiar with running a Linux server - and there're quite a few hosting companies that will spin up an instance for you for a small fee.

@lightweight
Yeah, my question was “I want to just be able to talk to my 60 year old archaeology professors without having to convince them to learn how to do things like run a Linux server which I guarantee they do not know how to do, and also I have never done before. Is that possible?” I want to not use Zoom, but whatever it replaces with has to be as convenient as zoom or else there’s no chance.

@moonspider I'd say that the fact neither Jitsi Meet nor BBB requires installation or use of a software application makes it vastly less complicated than Zoom. My 89 yo father uses BBB without issue.

@lightweight wait, I thought BBB required setup + installation on a clean Linux instance?

@moonspider only if you're hosting your own, as I do. If you're using someone else's or buying a hosted service (there are many options for doing that) then it's as easy as logging into a site and starting a conversation, sending the link for the room to those with whom you want to meet. That room address is stable over time (and you can have many rooms for different contexts).

@moonspider if you're hosting your own, you're effectively acting as your own Zoom corporation, but completely self-reliant, and without all the enshittification. Note that all the other profit-motivated corporate-run video conferencing systems are either as bad as Zoom or they will be.

@lightweight I don't doubt it, it's just that so often the open source versions of anything are like "It's so easy to use! All you need is a full working knowledge of Linux command line, your own VPN, and a Linux machine you built yourself. Anyone can do it! Why are people using the corporate products?"

@moonspider yes - but just be *very* mindful of the fact that proprietary software generally has 10-1000 times the investment/resource over the #LibreSoftware options... & their 'ease-o-use' isn't for your benefit, it's for *their shareholders' benefit* & your expense! "Ease of use" is only important if everyone is trained to be clueless & even self-righteously so. I see that behaviour everyday - it's the result of *loss of agency* most feel with digital technology.

@lightweight Again: I don't doubt it. However, I think a lot of Libre and open source advocates really look down their noses at people who aren't coders or who don't enjoy the computer hobbyist side of things, and just want to use the Thing That Works. The idea that if you don't spend your time developing these specialized skills, it's your fault for letting your privacy get violated and your data harvested.