Mastodawn

Tellio Jun 12, 2017

#anarchismmonday 2/2 Do these proprietary tools at their foundational power level work against any of this anarchism? I ask because I am thinking about asking folks to use open software and systems like Mastodon and Minds.com and etherpad to do so. At first blush it seems 2 me 2 make no difference, but wouldn't users have profound blindspots about their own tool use and its negative affordances? Feels very Marxist in the idea of substructure/superstructure (or at least to my lay understanding).

Show thread

Algot (Still)Jun 12, 2017

@tellio

As my avatar suggests, I support the idea of using Free Software, online and off.

Comfort with the tools matters, too. If a person sees the transition from, say, Twitter or FB to Mastodon as a relatively painless one, great.

If they resist the change becuuse it is too "different", then you'll only attract the flexible ones. (Anarchists?)

Show thread

Tellio Jun 12, 2017

@Algot Part of me thinks the solution is a Biblical one: rendering unto Caesar what is Caesar's etc. For me that means maintaining both open and proprietary tools. But that makes me feel pretty driven and angry. It is the same kind of anger that I feel when software systems drive hardware ones. (Apple's OS11 for one, M$ at any point in their history). I wonder that I am flexible enough for this, but I also wonder abt the power relationship that allows others to push me abt.

Show thread

Algot (Still)Jun 12, 2017

@tellio

I guess, then, that you have to decide if a shift to Freedom forces you to leave the comfort of lock in.

Do you feel you must stay engaged on FB to be effective, for example?

Will the group "stuck" there miss you badly? Will you miss them?

If you cannot draw the ones who are important to you, then you must make a decision. Not easy.

Show thread

Tellio

@Algot Good observations, but I am STILL left with the worry (and this is not illegitimate given FB's penchant for fascist behavior) that the tool controls the thought and thus the action. If this is true, then there are a host of non-trivial, not-easy decisions that must be made.