Looking it up online, the subject of Opera being chinese spyware seems to be debated pretty thoroughly, but with no definitive consensus (that I could find at least). Any articles on the subject I could read up on?
I use Firefox myself, so it wouldn’t really impact my internet usage, but I’m just curious about what’s going on with Opera.
Funnily enough, I think the last time I used Opera was the Internet Channel on the Wii way back when, which was powered by Opera lmao
For me, I mostly rationalize my piracy as something generally unethical that I choose to partake in anyways. People often cite piracy as an issue with the service being provided, but there’s just a lot of instances where I’d rather pirate something than pay for it, not because the service is bad, but because “Why pay for something when I can just get it free, eh?”
Though I think there is one specific case where I’d undoubtedly consider piracy ethical, which is for products that are not being sold on the market currently. Take a retro video game for instance. If it isn’t being sold by any company, then there is no way to legally play the game apart from getting a secondhand copy. Either way, the company that owns the rights to it won’t derive profit, and they aren’t involved in secondhand markets whatsoever, so pirating the game effectively results in 0 negative consequences for any party, compared to legally acquiring it.
I wouldn’t call it a matter of need. While I want to see Lemmy grow, I don’t think that we should rely on outrage on another platform to drive our own activity in the long term. While the number of users joining has slowed down, it certainly hasn’t halted.
All we can do is make Lemmy as solid and enticing of a platform as possible, and leave those on Reddit to choose between supporting a platform they don’t like and leaving. We shouldn’t be responsible for forcing their hand, but we should be responsible for maintaining a healthy community here.
I think even something like a indie video game developer hosting a forum on Lemmy instead of Reddit would do wonders for making Lemmy “mainstream”. Or even a youtuber, streamer, or some other content creator at that. But of course, it’s not something I’d go out of my way to do; just something that I think will happen in due time.
Honestly, a pretty valid take, all things considered. I can see why many people would find the headline outrageous, but reading through the article, I think it’s a message that a lot of people do need to hear. And I think everyone should read what OP is conveying before jumping to conclusions.
I’ve seen people on Lemmy with mixed opinions on how Lemmy and the Fediverse should be treated. Some want to expand Lemmy and siphon off as many users from Reddit, while others want to keep the gates tight. Some want Lemmy to remain a small, niche community for enthusiasts, while others want the Fediverse to be a new paradigm for the maintstream internet.
I agree, that Fediverse platforms built up with donations and little to no profit incentive will likely remain dwarfed compared to the tech giants that can afford to give the public the high-end, high-production social media they ultimately prefer. As OP said, that’s okay. The fediverse can remain a viable alternative, even if it doesn’t become the new #1.
I think this is a message people should hear if they think Lemmy has the potential to outright eclipse Reddit at the moment, or think the Fediverse will take over the entirety of the internet and give the top tech companies a run for their money in doing so.
Multiple distros and instances are a double edged sword. It isn’t as basic as having one site like Reddit or one OS like Windows, but has the advantage of not being at the mercy of one company like Reddit Inc or Microsoft, should they push some change people don’t like. These distros/instances allow for individuals to tailor their experience however they want without having to beg the developers or admins to listen to them.
You can’t have your cake and eat it too. If you want to avoid the shitshow happening on Reddit now, you may have to make things too complicated for the “average grandma” to understand. That’s just how shit works.
Who the fuck cares about instances and whatnot when an average grandma just wants to make a post on knitting in a supportive community?
To put it simply, who the fuck cares about the average grandma when we want a forum that won’t turn into Reddit in the next decade?
At some point, I’m sick and tired of this notion that everything on the internet has to be simplified for the lowest common denominator. Lemmy isn’t hard to get a handle on. Either people learn how to use it, or they miss out. We can streamline the process as much as possible, but not to the extent of compromising on what makes federation valuable.
21 yo software dev here, so not quite older, but I’d say I fit the tech nerd bill lmao
While a lot of people are conscious about the software they use, I think being involved in tech, either as a hobby or career, ups the chance that a person will care about things like user privacy, how an app is run, algorithms that might manipulate the user, or even how technologically literate the rest of the community is
And that isn’t to be condescending towards people who are more apathetic about it. It’s like how a doctor might be more behooved to eat healthy; when you’ve seen and studied what can go wrong, you’re more compelled to avoid it
after making open projects struggle to keep up, they’ll drop it and kill the rest of the network in the process.
But are we trying to keep up? Lemmy as we know it is composed of instances run by small groups, with nowhere near the same backing that the biggest tech companies have. Meta, Reddit, whoever the company is- they can advertise, promote, bribe, and do whatever they want to boost their numbers.
I don’t think it would kill the network. As long as instances like these remain honest and working, with a dedicated following, people who want to escape Meta will have somewhere to go.
And as @Ignacio said in this thread, it’s the users fault if they decide to move to and depend on a platform that’s bad for them.
free-mp3 is the one I use myself
The link may sound shady af, but it hasn’t given me any problems
Snappy interface, quick downloads, definitely gets a recommendation from me
I mostly navigate it from my laptop, but in the cases where I use my phone, Jerboa is still my go-to
Buggy at times, but I like the UI. Definitely open to new apps though. Connect didn’t feel like my type, but I might try out
Boost once it’s done, since a friend of mine recommended it for Reddit.
Interesting take on the matter. Right now, I’m not sure which way I sway, since there’s valid points on both sides. On one hand, I’d hate to tolerate Meta, and I don’t doubt they have some plan for trying to bend and twist the Fediverse to suit their own interests. But on the other hand, as of right now, forcing them to play by the rules of the open source software we collectively use is leverage against Meta, and allows us to safely access their content without having to download their apps.
Definitely going to have to think on this a bit more, myself.
Keep in mind too that the expiration date for many of the mainstream third party Reddit apps is June 30
Just think of the spike in users when that rolls around in 10 days
I wish people would be more mature about their reaction to this, as well as other people’s reactions, regardless of whether they agree or disagree with the choice.
I’m not opposed to piracy, though I understand the risks that come with a platform allowing potentially pirated content. While I respect the decision and see the reasoning behind it, I don’t agree with it, and will likely change my home instance to one that allows me to continue communicating with those communities, as I was subscribed to one of them.
I’ll still be participating in communities hosted here, and I hope that with this decision, the admins’ concern about being potentially sued is substantially alleviated.