lizzy مثلية الله ☭  Oct 16
i think at some point we need to recognize that the deliberate oversimplification of technology and our understanding of and interaction with it is an integral part of what keeps people dependent on tech corporations; that real software freedom is impossible without education and media literacy; and that labeling people who promote ways of using technology that enable & encourage actual comprehension and choice as "elitist" is an active attempt at keeping the general public in their dangerously uneducated state.

the easiest way to keep people subservient is to keep them dumb. knowledge is power; and we should have power over the tools that we spend the majority of our waking hours with instead of them having power over us.

RE: https://circumstances.run/users/davidgerard/statuses/115383414643559768
Show threadlizzy مثلية الله ☭  Oct 16
i think one of the most harmful stereotypes here is "linux elitist who looks down at you for using proprietary software but doesn't offer help". if you ask them to, literally 99% of free software enthusiasts will gladly support you in your attempts at using more free software on your computer, and explain things, in detail, patiently. you can ask in one of the many online communities, ask a friend you know, or go to a local hackspace for help. nerds aren't scary, they love talking about their thing, stop listening to the corpo propaganda that tells you they are.
Show threadWolf480plOct 18
@lizzy what about "linux elitist who refuses to use Discord to voicechat with the rest of us, and the game we wanna play together never works on his computer" ? :P
Show threadlizzy مثلية الله ☭  Oct 18
@wolf480pl except that those games are supported by linux (wine has all the things necessary to run them), they just have code in them that actively stops them from running on linux, and it's illegal (while technically possible) to remove this code. how exactly is that the fault of linux?
Show threadWolf480pl
@lizzy no, it's just that my Arch installation is slightly messed up and also I ran out of disk space again, and I didn't try installing the game ahead of time so if any issues come up, even if those are easily solved, I'll be late and everyone will be waiting for me.
Oct 18 at 3:25pmWeb
Show threadWolf480plOct 18

@lizzy so I'm not saying it's linux's fault.

I'm saying it's the fault of the kind of person who tinkers with linux, and I am that kinda person.

Show threadWolf480plOct 18

@lizzy
I guess tying back to your original post:

With freedom comes responsibility.

What we're proposing is:

"When you learn how computers work, you will know that things can be done differently, and you'll be able and also tempted to customize them. And the more you customize, the more it's your responsibility to keep these things working, and some things might not work out of the box."

Show threadWolf480plOct 18

@lizzy

"You can always go back, but you can never unsee that things could be better. Do you take the red pill?"

Show threadlizzy مثلية الله ☭  Oct 18
@wolf480pl or just get a smart girlfriend to solve the computer problems for you, that's what i did