It's because they'd have to install it to use it. I put my boomers on Fedora with GNOME over a year ago and there hasn't been a single Linux-related issue since. Most people use their computers as Facebook and YouTube machines and Linux doesn't make that any harder than Windows/MacOS. It's not like it's 2010 where you'd need to install some desktop app that doesn't have a Linux version and you'd have to fuck around with WINE, which was a massive pain in the ass and often buggy even if it did work. Now in 2024, those apps are in the browser (barring more niche use-cases) and we have access to Firefox and Chrome like everyone else. If Linux shipped on most pre-builts, then I think the average person would be fine.

Finally, pokemon taken to its logical conclusion.

I agree with the author for the most part, but I don't think it's just "us." I would say that discoverability in general is just a lot worse now due to SEO gentrification and search engines facing enshittification. There's still cool projects like Neocities around, but if it weren't for networking I'd have no idea they exist. When I type "build a website" into DuckDuckGo and StartPage, I just get links to squarespace, wix, godaddy, and a few listicles. In order to curate cool stuff, you have to be able to find it first; have new tools popped up that facilitate this? What are the new heuristics for discovery?

Firefox gang rise up!

I'm getting the feeling that within the next five years I'm going to be abandoning YouTube and just living without video content going forward.

Hot damn! Thank you, EU. Maybe we'll finally be able to climb out of connector hell.

In the context of the article, it refers to American centrists; they're notorious for lackluster, means-tested policy that is woefully inadequate for addressing society's problems when they're not actively making things worse.

Chromebooks expire? What the fuck? Are there logistical problems with installing Linux on these devices?

Yeah I recall that the Japanese instances have a big problem with that shit. As for the rest of us, Facebook actually open sourced some efficient hashing algorithms for use for dealing with CSAM; Fediverse platforms could implement these, which would just leave the issue of getting an image hash database to check against. All the big platforms could probably chip in to get access to one of those private databases and then release a public service for use with the ecosystem.

Firefish sounds like what someone would call malware targeting Firefox users. I was hoping the name would be better.

I’ve been seeing a lot of posts about Threads privacy policy lately, where people seem genuinely shocked about it.

I know I shouldn't still be jarred by stuff like this, but I am. It's like when I encounter people who don't use adblockers and they just sit in their chair and watch that shit. I really wish normal people gave more of a shit about this stuff.

If Reddit just charged the AI people for API access and left 3rd party apps alone I doubt anyone would have given a shit, but they had to go and two-birds-with-one-stone it. Then they insisted on digging their hole deeper by running their mouths and making the situation worse.