if I had a lot more time I think I might write a book on my ideas about "adversarial automation".

The idea that the point of computers is to help the humans do their job faster and easier, and sometimes the computer or the software on it is the enemy in that battle.

because I see a lot of people approaching automation from this attitude of "software/sites should have APIs so that users can write software to automate it!"
and while that's not wrong, exactly, it's also not the attitude I think makes the most sense, you know?

We do not ask for access. We don't need to get permission to be able to automate our tasks.

There is always API 0: acting like a human/browser/user.

The first API is "fuck you I'm doing it anyway". Any additional API the program provides is merely a helpful shortcut

You see the point of this a lot in API design, where a company is like "okay we made an API but we limited it a bunch because we are scared about cheaters/bots/scrapers/whatever", while the things they limit are things a user clicking links can do in 2 seconds.

like, if your API doesn't provide me a follow_user() call, but the user can follow anyone by clicking one link?

Your lack of a follow_user() call is not going to stop me. I'm just going to click the link, automatically.
Having an API 1.0 doesn't mean API 0 goes away.

And I think this is an under-discussed part of automation because it's associated with spammers and such, but they're only one possible user of this. By making it better known it can get used for more legitimate uses
The basic philosophy of adversarial automation is that the software/website is the enemy.
You don't control it, so it can't be consider an ally in this automation.
I'm talking less like "you're in a constant arms race with the people maintaining the official API as they try to stop your spamming" and more like "Your lab depends on this program from 1996 and there's no updates and no way to automate it"
and the answer is really that of course you can automate it. Stick it in a VM, OCR the screens, inject your own DLLs, puppet the keyboard and mouse!

my point is that every program, every website, DOES expose an API, you just need to know how to best use that API.

That API being "the access they provide for humans"

For websites this is forms and links. For desktop applications this is buttons and windows and keyboards.
And I think (in part because it's affiliated with Bad Actors like spammers), a lot of programmers don't consider all their options in these areas.
And that's really a shame. Computers should be used to automate things. We spend way too much time dealing with shitty sites and shitty programs because we have no choice and think we can't automate them away.
well, that's wrong. We can absolutely automate them, it just takes a little more work and some different strategies

I think of this as a short term vs long term thinking sort of problem. Like, a lot of programmers are stuck in the "should" part of thinking about programs and sites.

Yes, the program SHOULD be open source, so you can just fix the UI. Yes, the website SHOULD have an extensive API so you can easily automate it.

I agree with all that!

but... it doesn't.

and if you want to automate it today, your only options are to be adversarial about it. It's the enemy, you pretend to be a human user and automate the interactions with the app/site. It's the only way.

by all means, try to switch to open source alternatives or get them to fix it or add an API.

But at the end of the day that's asking "the enemy" to do something for you, and they are under no obligation to listen to you.

(They may not even exist anymore, given that a lot of the times when I've used this sort of Adversarial Automation it's been focused on software from decades ago)

It's also a thing that intersects with the way a lot of people online are thinking about computer-use as something they do as a personal hobby, you know? They can run any OS, any software they can legally (or even illegally) install, they can use any options they want

But the fact is, often times people have jobs where they aren't self-employed and have to work for other people, and those other people can be like "you need to use FooBaz 2007 for this job".

Would it be easier to automate if you were using OpenBaz? Certainly! But your boss can still tell you "no, we're not switching to OpenBaz, we need to use FooBaz 2007"

And now your options are basically just:
1. Get a different job
2. Use FooBaz 2007 manually
3. Adversarially automate FooBaz 2007
One example where this came up in my career was when I was working for an educational book creator/publisher. Apple had just added a bookreader tool for iphones/ipads/etc, and we had a lot of colleges asking if we could provide our textbooks in that format.

well, at the time the only way you could make books for apple devices was to use the book creation program, which was basically a word processor. It was focused around the idea that you would create your books inside it.

Well, we already had our books created.

@foone it’s baffling to me how many people have the preconception of “this shouldn’t be done” just because “it’s not supported”, or because “it may change at any time!”

getting rid of that opens a huge world of possibilities. Stuff will break, but so do “real” APIs from time to time. computers are shit, is there a difference here?

i feel that learning basic reverse engineering skills is something that more power users should do

@domi @foone Part of this is down to the annoyance that is the creation and reliance upon platforms/services instead of protocols.

Most stable protocols don't break. They still work just as well 3 or 4 decades down the line as they did when they were first created.

Platforms don't do that. Platforms usually die out way before that.

Platforms tend to do their utmost to make mirroring and safeguarding a hassle. It's annoying.
Kevin Karhan :verified: (@[email protected])

One thing that really pisses me off personally is the #regression in terms of #Messenger #Apps. My personal distaste and dislike for #proprietary, #SingleVendor & #SingleProvider #services like #Signal [¹](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114234551915193036) [²](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114935952643402592), #Telegram, #Discord [³](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114865723904157014) [⁴](https://social.treehouse.systems/@krutonium/115157611977216372), #WhatsApp [⁵](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114873895410403238), #Slack, #MicrosoftTeams, #discord [⁶](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/116063760849048926)[⁷](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/115736223551632209) etc. aside: - *WHY* is there no #CrossProvider #Messenger to handle that shite? - *WHY* does everyone of these shitty providers think people want to download their #bloated #WebApp that takes up triple digit Megabytes if not entire Gigabytes and will gobble up all the #RAM and #CPU each of them can?? This problem ain't new and *already got [solved for corporate social media](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114862619013462466) ages ago!* (Not to mention actually good messengers!) - And no, [bridges](https://toots.ch/@dalai/114862754556459439) *[don't](https://swecyb.com/@troed/114862774972645542) count*! - I mean `API 0` - [style](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685423773959519) access because obviously [none of the platforms](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685414638522984) will *allow, endorse or support such an endeavour* and [*actively fight the developers and users*](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685441496803574) ! So yeah, consider this a call for a @[email protected] / #Gajim or @[email protected] / #Pidgin *for garbage platforms!* - Cuz back in the day we had *way worse messengers* yet people actually made #AIM, #ICQ, #MSN, #QQ, #IRC & #XMPP work just fine from one single *"phat" client*! - Can we please get that back? Cuz #WastefulComputing pisses me off! #api0 #Enshittification

Infosec.Space
@foone I do 1. out of principle but recommend people to do 3. if they can't do 1.

@foone I'd choose 1, hands down and would rather choose homelessness over 2 so worst-case 3.

#sarcasm

@foone there is a reason i like "automate the boring things" book and recommend it widely

And why AHK is such a massively installed piece of software

@Di4na @foone I wrote some AHK to start an application, click a few buttons to get to an "open file" dialog, tab over to the correct field, type in the file name, click the "Load" button, click a few more times to get back to the main screen, and click "Run", then gracefully closing the application.

Someone wrapped completely usable Fortran code with a VB6 UI and didn't provide a way of running the original code or running cases in bulk. (They cant rebuild their GUI now so I'm not sure what that means for NQA-1 compliance - this is sold as qualified safety-related code...) Uncertainty quantification takes at least 93 runs to get the statistics we need. There are around 20-30 sample problems used as installation/acceptance tests so have fun testing that the code still works after major OS patches or installing it on new hardware.

Nuclear-grade jank, but AHK solves a very important problem.

@arclight @Di4na @foone this is so cursed that it's genius again!

Kevin Karhan :verified: (@[email protected])

Content warning: cartoon violence against software

Infosec.Space
@foone I'd rather not work for such a boss as a matter of principle...
@foone I.wish @EUCommission would actually enforce #Interoperability & #Accessibility standards and not be spineless cowards and bootlickers towards the #Trump-Regime cuz then we'd have good Multiprotocol IMs for all the hot platforms today.
Kevin Karhan :verified: (@[email protected])

One thing that really pisses me off personally is the #regression in terms of #Messenger #Apps. My personal distaste and dislike for #proprietary, #SingleVendor & #SingleProvider #services like #Signal [¹](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114234551915193036) [²](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114935952643402592), #Telegram, #Discord [³](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114865723904157014) [⁴](https://social.treehouse.systems/@krutonium/115157611977216372), #WhatsApp [⁵](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114873895410403238), #Slack, #MicrosoftTeams, #discord [⁶](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/116063760849048926)[⁷](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/115736223551632209) etc. aside: - *WHY* is there no #CrossProvider #Messenger to handle that shite? - *WHY* does everyone of these shitty providers think people want to download their #bloated #WebApp that takes up triple digit Megabytes if not entire Gigabytes and will gobble up all the #RAM and #CPU each of them can?? This problem ain't new and *already got [solved for corporate social media](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114862619013462466) ages ago!* (Not to mention actually good messengers!) - And no, [bridges](https://toots.ch/@dalai/114862754556459439) *[don't](https://swecyb.com/@troed/114862774972645542) count*! - I mean `API 0` - [style](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685423773959519) access because obviously [none of the platforms](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685414638522984) will *allow, endorse or support such an endeavour* and [*actively fight the developers and users*](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685441496803574) ! So yeah, consider this a call for a @[email protected] / #Gajim or @[email protected] / #Pidgin *for garbage platforms!* - Cuz back in the day we had *way worse messengers* yet people actually made #AIM, #ICQ, #MSN, #QQ, #IRC & #XMPP work just fine from one single *"phat" client*! - Can we please get that back? Cuz #WastefulComputing pisses me off! #api0 #Enshittification

Infosec.Space
@foone and that stuff really pisses me off
Kevin Karhan :verified: (@[email protected])

One thing that really pisses me off personally is the #regression in terms of #Messenger #Apps. My personal distaste and dislike for #proprietary, #SingleVendor & #SingleProvider #services like #Signal [¹](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114234551915193036) [²](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114935952643402592), #Telegram, #Discord [³](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114865723904157014) [⁴](https://social.treehouse.systems/@krutonium/115157611977216372), #WhatsApp [⁵](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114873895410403238), #Slack, #MicrosoftTeams, #discord [⁶](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/116063760849048926)[⁷](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/115736223551632209) etc. aside: - *WHY* is there no #CrossProvider #Messenger to handle that shite? - *WHY* does everyone of these shitty providers think people want to download their #bloated #WebApp that takes up triple digit Megabytes if not entire Gigabytes and will gobble up all the #RAM and #CPU each of them can?? This problem ain't new and *already got [solved for corporate social media](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114862619013462466) ages ago!* (Not to mention actually good messengers!) - And no, [bridges](https://toots.ch/@dalai/114862754556459439) *[don't](https://swecyb.com/@troed/114862774972645542) count*! - I mean `API 0` - [style](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685423773959519) access because obviously [none of the platforms](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685414638522984) will *allow, endorse or support such an endeavour* and [*actively fight the developers and users*](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685441496803574) ! So yeah, consider this a call for a @[email protected] / #Gajim or @[email protected] / #Pidgin *for garbage platforms!* - Cuz back in the day we had *way worse messengers* yet people actually made #AIM, #ICQ, #MSN, #QQ, #IRC & #XMPP work just fine from one single *"phat" client*! - Can we please get that back? Cuz #WastefulComputing pisses me off! #api0 #Enshittification

Infosec.Space

@foone as a matter if fact, I do know people who worked on such tasks where things get any application automated by virtue if a fancy screenrecorder / replayer: Basically AutoHotKey & CamtasiaStudio on Steroids...

  • Basically if said Application can, be run by a user, said actions can be recorded and thus replayed.
@foone Unfortunately they like to constantly make breaking changes to the interfaces for humans too... 🤬

@dalias @foone and that's why I stopped being nice to #SaaS garbage and the corporations that push it!

https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114862595629371002

Kevin Karhan :verified: (@[email protected])

One thing that really pisses me off personally is the #regression in terms of #Messenger #Apps. My personal distaste and dislike for #proprietary, #SingleVendor & #SingleProvider #services like #Signal [¹](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114234551915193036) [²](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114935952643402592), #Telegram, #Discord [³](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114865723904157014) [⁴](https://social.treehouse.systems/@krutonium/115157611977216372), #WhatsApp [⁵](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114873895410403238), #Slack, #MicrosoftTeams, #discord [⁶](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/116063760849048926)[⁷](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/115736223551632209) etc. aside: - *WHY* is there no #CrossProvider #Messenger to handle that shite? - *WHY* does everyone of these shitty providers think people want to download their #bloated #WebApp that takes up triple digit Megabytes if not entire Gigabytes and will gobble up all the #RAM and #CPU each of them can?? This problem ain't new and *already got [solved for corporate social media](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114862619013462466) ages ago!* (Not to mention actually good messengers!) - And no, [bridges](https://toots.ch/@dalai/114862754556459439) *[don't](https://swecyb.com/@troed/114862774972645542) count*! - I mean `API 0` - [style](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685423773959519) access because obviously [none of the platforms](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685414638522984) will *allow, endorse or support such an endeavour* and [*actively fight the developers and users*](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685441496803574) ! So yeah, consider this a call for a @[email protected] / #Gajim or @[email protected] / #Pidgin *for garbage platforms!* - Cuz back in the day we had *way worse messengers* yet people actually made #AIM, #ICQ, #MSN, #QQ, #IRC & #XMPP work just fine from one single *"phat" client*! - Can we please get that back? Cuz #WastefulComputing pisses me off! #api0 #Enshittification

Infosec.Space

@foone yes and in the quest for #Enshittification more and more sites mandate #JavaScrip-based #malware for no valid reason whatsoever!

  • Because noone would voluntarily install their garbage client which is just a worse version of their #WebApp!
Kevin Karhan :verified: (@[email protected])

One thing that really pisses me off personally is the #regression in terms of #Messenger #Apps. My personal distaste and dislike for #proprietary, #SingleVendor & #SingleProvider #services like #Signal [¹](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114234551915193036) [²](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114935952643402592), #Telegram, #Discord [³](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114865723904157014) [⁴](https://social.treehouse.systems/@krutonium/115157611977216372), #WhatsApp [⁵](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114873895410403238), #Slack, #MicrosoftTeams, #discord [⁶](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/116063760849048926)[⁷](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/115736223551632209) etc. aside: - *WHY* is there no #CrossProvider #Messenger to handle that shite? - *WHY* does everyone of these shitty providers think people want to download their #bloated #WebApp that takes up triple digit Megabytes if not entire Gigabytes and will gobble up all the #RAM and #CPU each of them can?? This problem ain't new and *already got [solved for corporate social media](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114862619013462466) ages ago!* (Not to mention actually good messengers!) - And no, [bridges](https://toots.ch/@dalai/114862754556459439) *[don't](https://swecyb.com/@troed/114862774972645542) count*! - I mean `API 0` - [style](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685423773959519) access because obviously [none of the platforms](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685414638522984) will *allow, endorse or support such an endeavour* and [*actively fight the developers and users*](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685441496803574) ! So yeah, consider this a call for a @[email protected] / #Gajim or @[email protected] / #Pidgin *for garbage platforms!* - Cuz back in the day we had *way worse messengers* yet people actually made #AIM, #ICQ, #MSN, #QQ, #IRC & #XMPP work just fine from one single *"phat" client*! - Can we please get that back? Cuz #WastefulComputing pisses me off! #api0 #Enshittification

Infosec.Space
@foone I’ve been told that things which used to be done on terminals attached to a mainframe (banks and airline bookings) still are… it’s just some other software typing into a virtual keyboard and screen-scraping off the virtual screen.
@foone
I would genuinely enjoy a tutorial (written, video or anyhing really) about seting up an environnement with injected DLL and OCR. This would be incredibly useful
@foone Have you tried openQA? It has very similar ideas about software testing.

@foone

di– did you just pre-invent RPA…? 🤔

@foone sadly the former nowadays seems more common...
Kevin Karhan :verified: (@[email protected])

One thing that really pisses me off personally is the #regression in terms of #Messenger #Apps. My personal distaste and dislike for #proprietary, #SingleVendor & #SingleProvider #services like #Signal [¹](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114234551915193036) [²](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114935952643402592), #Telegram, #Discord [³](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114865723904157014) [⁴](https://social.treehouse.systems/@krutonium/115157611977216372), #WhatsApp [⁵](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114873895410403238), #Slack, #MicrosoftTeams, #discord [⁶](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/116063760849048926)[⁷](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/115736223551632209) etc. aside: - *WHY* is there no #CrossProvider #Messenger to handle that shite? - *WHY* does everyone of these shitty providers think people want to download their #bloated #WebApp that takes up triple digit Megabytes if not entire Gigabytes and will gobble up all the #RAM and #CPU each of them can?? This problem ain't new and *already got [solved for corporate social media](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114862619013462466) ages ago!* (Not to mention actually good messengers!) - And no, [bridges](https://toots.ch/@dalai/114862754556459439) *[don't](https://swecyb.com/@troed/114862774972645542) count*! - I mean `API 0` - [style](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685423773959519) access because obviously [none of the platforms](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685414638522984) will *allow, endorse or support such an endeavour* and [*actively fight the developers and users*](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685441496803574) ! So yeah, consider this a call for a @[email protected] / #Gajim or @[email protected] / #Pidgin *for garbage platforms!* - Cuz back in the day we had *way worse messengers* yet people actually made #AIM, #ICQ, #MSN, #QQ, #IRC & #XMPP work just fine from one single *"phat" client*! - Can we please get that back? Cuz #WastefulComputing pisses me off! #api0 #Enshittification

Infosec.Space
@foone You are basically describing my full time job. Just the automation is for internal systems, that are ancient and horrible. They do often complain that I’m sending them too much traffic, but that is because nearly all of the usage of their system is via my automation and the simple user interfaces I created for it.
@foone I've also seen it called "adversarial interoperability".
Kevin Karhan :verified: (@[email protected])

One thing that really pisses me off personally is the #regression in terms of #Messenger #Apps. My personal distaste and dislike for #proprietary, #SingleVendor & #SingleProvider #services like #Signal [¹](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114234551915193036) [²](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114935952643402592), #Telegram, #Discord [³](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114865723904157014) [⁴](https://social.treehouse.systems/@krutonium/115157611977216372), #WhatsApp [⁵](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114873895410403238), #Slack, #MicrosoftTeams, #discord [⁶](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/116063760849048926)[⁷](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/115736223551632209) etc. aside: - *WHY* is there no #CrossProvider #Messenger to handle that shite? - *WHY* does everyone of these shitty providers think people want to download their #bloated #WebApp that takes up triple digit Megabytes if not entire Gigabytes and will gobble up all the #RAM and #CPU each of them can?? This problem ain't new and *already got [solved for corporate social media](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114862619013462466) ages ago!* (Not to mention actually good messengers!) - And no, [bridges](https://toots.ch/@dalai/114862754556459439) *[don't](https://swecyb.com/@troed/114862774972645542) count*! - I mean `API 0` - [style](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685423773959519) access because obviously [none of the platforms](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685414638522984) will *allow, endorse or support such an endeavour* and [*actively fight the developers and users*](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685441496803574) ! So yeah, consider this a call for a @[email protected] / #Gajim or @[email protected] / #Pidgin *for garbage platforms!* - Cuz back in the day we had *way worse messengers* yet people actually made #AIM, #ICQ, #MSN, #QQ, #IRC & #XMPP work just fine from one single *"phat" client*! - Can we please get that back? Cuz #WastefulComputing pisses me off! #api0 #Enshittification

Infosec.Space
@foone one of the eye opening things for me pver the past few years was digging into the scraper community. My use case is a little different (deep web inventorying/analysis for clients) but yeah — scraper chad don’t give a damn about api limitations
@foone the wild exception has been twitter, which doubled and tripled and quintupled down on making their human interface shittier and shittier to spite automators

@eaton @foone Yeah, #Shitter has been on a constant decline since they acquired #TweetDeck solely to cancel their superior #App on #Mobile...

  • And if I had to write a #client for it I'd flatout refuse!

https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114862595629371002

Kevin Karhan :verified: (@[email protected])

One thing that really pisses me off personally is the #regression in terms of #Messenger #Apps. My personal distaste and dislike for #proprietary, #SingleVendor & #SingleProvider #services like #Signal [¹](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114234551915193036) [²](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114935952643402592), #Telegram, #Discord [³](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114865723904157014) [⁴](https://social.treehouse.systems/@krutonium/115157611977216372), #WhatsApp [⁵](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114873895410403238), #Slack, #MicrosoftTeams, #discord [⁶](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/116063760849048926)[⁷](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/115736223551632209) etc. aside: - *WHY* is there no #CrossProvider #Messenger to handle that shite? - *WHY* does everyone of these shitty providers think people want to download their #bloated #WebApp that takes up triple digit Megabytes if not entire Gigabytes and will gobble up all the #RAM and #CPU each of them can?? This problem ain't new and *already got [solved for corporate social media](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114862619013462466) ages ago!* (Not to mention actually good messengers!) - And no, [bridges](https://toots.ch/@dalai/114862754556459439) *[don't](https://swecyb.com/@troed/114862774972645542) count*! - I mean `API 0` - [style](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685423773959519) access because obviously [none of the platforms](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685414638522984) will *allow, endorse or support such an endeavour* and [*actively fight the developers and users*](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685441496803574) ! So yeah, consider this a call for a @[email protected] / #Gajim or @[email protected] / #Pidgin *for garbage platforms!* - Cuz back in the day we had *way worse messengers* yet people actually made #AIM, #ICQ, #MSN, #QQ, #IRC & #XMPP work just fine from one single *"phat" client*! - Can we please get that back? Cuz #WastefulComputing pisses me off! #api0 #Enshittification

Infosec.Space

@eaton @foone yes and the sad fact is that #Shitter normalized this.

Kevin Karhan :verified: (@[email protected])

One thing that really pisses me off personally is the #regression in terms of #Messenger #Apps. My personal distaste and dislike for #proprietary, #SingleVendor & #SingleProvider #services like #Signal [¹](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114234551915193036) [²](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114935952643402592), #Telegram, #Discord [³](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114865723904157014) [⁴](https://social.treehouse.systems/@krutonium/115157611977216372), #WhatsApp [⁵](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114873895410403238), #Slack, #MicrosoftTeams, #discord [⁶](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/116063760849048926)[⁷](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/115736223551632209) etc. aside: - *WHY* is there no #CrossProvider #Messenger to handle that shite? - *WHY* does everyone of these shitty providers think people want to download their #bloated #WebApp that takes up triple digit Megabytes if not entire Gigabytes and will gobble up all the #RAM and #CPU each of them can?? This problem ain't new and *already got [solved for corporate social media](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114862619013462466) ages ago!* (Not to mention actually good messengers!) - And no, [bridges](https://toots.ch/@dalai/114862754556459439) *[don't](https://swecyb.com/@troed/114862774972645542) count*! - I mean `API 0` - [style](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685423773959519) access because obviously [none of the platforms](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685414638522984) will *allow, endorse or support such an endeavour* and [*actively fight the developers and users*](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685441496803574) ! So yeah, consider this a call for a @[email protected] / #Gajim or @[email protected] / #Pidgin *for garbage platforms!* - Cuz back in the day we had *way worse messengers* yet people actually made #AIM, #ICQ, #MSN, #QQ, #IRC & #XMPP work just fine from one single *"phat" client*! - Can we please get that back? Cuz #WastefulComputing pisses me off! #api0 #Enshittification

Infosec.Space
@foone The downside with going with full browser automation is that it has a ridiculous memory overhead.

@lispi314 @foone Yes, but unlike #Slack it won't make your Laptop sound like you're mining half a dozen #Shitcoins on it and completely saturate the #RAM even on a 14" MBP that has been maxed out in terms of RAM from the factory...

https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114862595629371002

Kevin Karhan :verified: (@[email protected])

One thing that really pisses me off personally is the #regression in terms of #Messenger #Apps. My personal distaste and dislike for #proprietary, #SingleVendor & #SingleProvider #services like #Signal [¹](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114234551915193036) [²](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114935952643402592), #Telegram, #Discord [³](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114865723904157014) [⁴](https://social.treehouse.systems/@krutonium/115157611977216372), #WhatsApp [⁵](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114873895410403238), #Slack, #MicrosoftTeams, #discord [⁶](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/116063760849048926)[⁷](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/115736223551632209) etc. aside: - *WHY* is there no #CrossProvider #Messenger to handle that shite? - *WHY* does everyone of these shitty providers think people want to download their #bloated #WebApp that takes up triple digit Megabytes if not entire Gigabytes and will gobble up all the #RAM and #CPU each of them can?? This problem ain't new and *already got [solved for corporate social media](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114862619013462466) ages ago!* (Not to mention actually good messengers!) - And no, [bridges](https://toots.ch/@dalai/114862754556459439) *[don't](https://swecyb.com/@troed/114862774972645542) count*! - I mean `API 0` - [style](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685423773959519) access because obviously [none of the platforms](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685414638522984) will *allow, endorse or support such an endeavour* and [*actively fight the developers and users*](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685441496803574) ! So yeah, consider this a call for a @[email protected] / #Gajim or @[email protected] / #Pidgin *for garbage platforms!* - Cuz back in the day we had *way worse messengers* yet people actually made #AIM, #ICQ, #MSN, #QQ, #IRC & #XMPP work just fine from one single *"phat" client*! - Can we please get that back? Cuz #WastefulComputing pisses me off! #api0 #Enshittification

Infosec.Space
@kkarhan @foone Indeed. My post was more of an argument for a useful API, rather than a broken one that one has to bypass for most uses.

A useful API is less wasteful on server resources than the interactive-user usage mode in most cases too, so it's completely incoherent for a service to provide a purposely broken or useless API.
@lispi314 @foone @kkarhan if the purpose of the app is to show you ads, ads are the numerator in any efficiency calculation. If the API doesn't show you ads then its efficiency is zero. The more you get frustrated and use the web app and see its ads, the more efficient the API is.

@dragonfrog @lispi314 @foone also said platform owners have an interest to #Enshittify their offering ti maximize inconvenience and cost just below the threshhold where migrating away is deemed less painful.

https://social.linux.pizza/@FandaSin/114862671649325932

FandaSin (@[email protected])

@[email protected] Thanks for the links. I haven't expected there would be ANY multi protocol tool, you proved me wrong.👍 * I think #toxic #LockIn is the main reason corporations design their shite to be #closed, #SingleVendor & #SingleProvider! Yes, I would say so too.🤬

Linux.Pizza

@dragonfrog @lispi314 @foone granted I remember the days when people worked around forced #ads in Online-RTS Browser games like #OGame by literally loading, but not displaying the ads so that is a possibility per very nature of the web.

  • Even #AdblockerBlockers can't actually see what's displayed, and Servers can only check what files they served.

https://mastodon.sdf.org/@dragonfrog/114865969169343231

dragonfrog (@[email protected])

@[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] if the purpose of the app is to show you ads, ads are the numerator in any efficiency calculation. If the API doesn't show you ads then its efficiency is zero. The more you get frustrated and use the web app and see its ads, the more efficient the API is.

Mastodon @ SDF
Kevin Karhan :verified: (@[email protected])

One thing that really pisses me off personally is the #regression in terms of #Messenger #Apps. My personal distaste and dislike for #proprietary, #SingleVendor & #SingleProvider #services like #Signal [¹](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114234551915193036) [²](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114935952643402592), #Telegram, #Discord [³](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114865723904157014) [⁴](https://social.treehouse.systems/@krutonium/115157611977216372), #WhatsApp [⁵](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114873895410403238), #Slack, #MicrosoftTeams, #discord [⁶](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/116063760849048926)[⁷](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/115736223551632209) etc. aside: - *WHY* is there no #CrossProvider #Messenger to handle that shite? - *WHY* does everyone of these shitty providers think people want to download their #bloated #WebApp that takes up triple digit Megabytes if not entire Gigabytes and will gobble up all the #RAM and #CPU each of them can?? This problem ain't new and *already got [solved for corporate social media](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114862619013462466) ages ago!* (Not to mention actually good messengers!) - And no, [bridges](https://toots.ch/@dalai/114862754556459439) *[don't](https://swecyb.com/@troed/114862774972645542) count*! - I mean `API 0` - [style](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685423773959519) access because obviously [none of the platforms](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685414638522984) will *allow, endorse or support such an endeavour* and [*actively fight the developers and users*](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685441496803574) ! So yeah, consider this a call for a @[email protected] / #Gajim or @[email protected] / #Pidgin *for garbage platforms!* - Cuz back in the day we had *way worse messengers* yet people actually made #AIM, #ICQ, #MSN, #QQ, #IRC & #XMPP work just fine from one single *"phat" client*! - Can we please get that back? Cuz #WastefulComputing pisses me off! #api0 #Enshittification

Infosec.Space
@foone The Warriors On General-Purpose Computation will be working hard to pass weird and tyrannical laws against this sort of thing.

@riley @foone they already do with unacceptable "#ToS" and laws that criminalize said #API0...

Kevin Karhan :verified: (@[email protected])

One thing that really pisses me off personally is the #regression in terms of #Messenger #Apps. My personal distaste and dislike for #proprietary, #SingleVendor & #SingleProvider #services like #Signal [¹](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114234551915193036) [²](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114935952643402592), #Telegram, #Discord [³](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114865723904157014) [⁴](https://social.treehouse.systems/@krutonium/115157611977216372), #WhatsApp [⁵](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114873895410403238), #Slack, #MicrosoftTeams, #discord [⁶](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/116063760849048926)[⁷](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/115736223551632209) etc. aside: - *WHY* is there no #CrossProvider #Messenger to handle that shite? - *WHY* does everyone of these shitty providers think people want to download their #bloated #WebApp that takes up triple digit Megabytes if not entire Gigabytes and will gobble up all the #RAM and #CPU each of them can?? This problem ain't new and *already got [solved for corporate social media](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114862619013462466) ages ago!* (Not to mention actually good messengers!) - And no, [bridges](https://toots.ch/@dalai/114862754556459439) *[don't](https://swecyb.com/@troed/114862774972645542) count*! - I mean `API 0` - [style](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685423773959519) access because obviously [none of the platforms](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685414638522984) will *allow, endorse or support such an endeavour* and [*actively fight the developers and users*](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685441496803574) ! So yeah, consider this a call for a @[email protected] / #Gajim or @[email protected] / #Pidgin *for garbage platforms!* - Cuz back in the day we had *way worse messengers* yet people actually made #AIM, #ICQ, #MSN, #QQ, #IRC & #XMPP work just fine from one single *"phat" client*! - Can we please get that back? Cuz #WastefulComputing pisses me off! #api0 #Enshittification

Infosec.Space

@riley @foone they already do.

See the #Enshittification of #Shitter and #discord as well as others banning 3rd party clients...

https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114862595629371002

Kevin Karhan :verified: (@[email protected])

One thing that really pisses me off personally is the #regression in terms of #Messenger #Apps. My personal distaste and dislike for #proprietary, #SingleVendor & #SingleProvider #services like #Signal [¹](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114234551915193036) [²](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114935952643402592), #Telegram, #Discord [³](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114865723904157014) [⁴](https://social.treehouse.systems/@krutonium/115157611977216372), #WhatsApp [⁵](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114873895410403238), #Slack, #MicrosoftTeams, #discord [⁶](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/116063760849048926)[⁷](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/115736223551632209) etc. aside: - *WHY* is there no #CrossProvider #Messenger to handle that shite? - *WHY* does everyone of these shitty providers think people want to download their #bloated #WebApp that takes up triple digit Megabytes if not entire Gigabytes and will gobble up all the #RAM and #CPU each of them can?? This problem ain't new and *already got [solved for corporate social media](https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/114862619013462466) ages ago!* (Not to mention actually good messengers!) - And no, [bridges](https://toots.ch/@dalai/114862754556459439) *[don't](https://swecyb.com/@troed/114862774972645542) count*! - I mean `API 0` - [style](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685423773959519) access because obviously [none of the platforms](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685414638522984) will *allow, endorse or support such an endeavour* and [*actively fight the developers and users*](https://digipres.club/@foone/112685441496803574) ! So yeah, consider this a call for a @[email protected] / #Gajim or @[email protected] / #Pidgin *for garbage platforms!* - Cuz back in the day we had *way worse messengers* yet people actually made #AIM, #ICQ, #MSN, #QQ, #IRC & #XMPP work just fine from one single *"phat" client*! - Can we please get that back? Cuz #WastefulComputing pisses me off! #api0 #Enshittification

Infosec.Space