it's nice to have all the @joepie91 quality (software) takes on mastodon now :p
How UX apathy leads to corporate capture
"No, $software is fine, users just need to learn how to use it"
"That's a stupid feature, nobody should ever need that"
If you've spent any amount of time in FOSS circles, you've probably seen sentiments like that all over the place. Unfortunately, they're a big part of why dubious corporations (eg. Microsoft, Google, etc.) have been able to co-opt the FOSS community.
Why? Because regardless of what you, as a technical FOSS person, believe is "necessary"... users are not going to care about that. They have certain expectations from their software in terms of feature set and ease-of-use.
Either you meet those expectations, or users go elsewhere.
Now, "it's FOSS, it gives you freedom" can sway that decision *somewhat*, but it only gets you so far. Most people care more about getting their stuff done, than they care about (to them) abstract ideals of "freedom".
And because of that, you're setting yourself up to be vulnerable to corporate capture - because corporations can superficially *claim* to do FOSS, but provide an actually accessible user experience, and suddenly everybody flocks to the corporate thing.
And sure, corporate FOSS has real problems compared to community-run FOSS. But understanding that requires a degree of nuance that most people won't see, and that you frankly cannot expect from people for whom FOSS isn't their whole existence. It's specialized knowledge.
Which boils down to a very simple reality: either *you* provide the UX that users want, or a corporation will do it for you, and with none of the community governance and long-term sustainability. Those are the options.
A great example of this is systemd; yes, it has plenty of problems. But because of the widespread insistence in FOSS circles that "nobody needs more than SysVinit", everybody flocked to an actually usable alternative the moment it appeared, monolithic design and corporate governance be damned.
Don't be that person. Listen to users about their needs. Take complaints about UX and accessibility seriously. If you don't, then you're not helping FOSS; you're harming it.
my Tropos is still fine-ish but some of the interior stuff is tearing more, and not really fixable
Bad people on Fedi
I've had a bunch of scoffing "User safety? What could you possibly mean? It's a website, nobody can actually hurt you"-type comments flung at the admin account when explaining that some servers are suspended or limited from Scholar for user safety (among other reasons)
So here's a fairly decent place to start on learning just how absolutely shit people can be to each other on the internet
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/day6/kiwi-farms-online-forum-1.6565229
And yes, the Kiwifarms people were (probably still are) on Fedi
god damn this bass sound, absolutely fucked up https://youtube.com/watch?v=53law3fQsdw
tell me, #WhatsMyThemeSong
wonder what comes to mind :)
so far 'did i take my meds' on f-droid works best, except tapping their widget doesn't work and there's no reminders (widget does show the time)
I'd make it myself (woo another project) but I'd really like a widget and there's no way to do that as a PWA web-app..
there's multiple apps that do have an intend setting, but you still have to schedule the first intake... which completely defeats the point
⚠️ READ BEFORE FOLLOWING ⚠️
if i don't know you from elsewhere (under same nick), shoot me an introductory DM first (following back is fine)
I do anarchist tech stuff and run free services at https://pixie.town
I program, solder rgb led thingies, and fly fpv quadcopters
en: they/them
nl: die/dies (langzaldieleven.nl)
“i don't trust like that”
not a furry, actually
Extreme coffee-out-of-a-wineglass Energy
something something trans list stop scraping bios
and now a word from our sponsors (screenreader warning it's zalgo)
T̀ͧ̓̑͐̓̍̂̏҉̴̷͚̦̤͙̜̖͙̝͟ợ̵͈̗̮̲̥͕̼̩̭̞̙͉̆ͮͧ̉̒́̑̍̋ͭ̌ͭ̒̉́̕͟ ̐̅̈́ͯ҉̸̴҉̹̟͕̖̠̟̤͕į̸̙̮͓̤̠̘̫̦̥̣̻͚̣̎ͭͯ̋̉͝n̔̄̏̈́̃̇͛̂̋̇̐́͘͝҉͙͔̠͇̖̤̹̭̱̪v̴̴̛̘̠̰̹͚̱͉̳̘̥̞̳̪͈ͥͭ̅ͥͦ̀͛̔̃̃̎͋̋̎͐͌ͪ̚͟͢ͅö́́̎ͬ̔͑̆̃̅̒̿ͪͯ̓͏̞̱̜͍̬̗̹̫̝̪͓͕̳̬̰͘͝kͥ̒ͣͦ̌͛̃͒̀̿ͣͪͤͬ̍ͮ̚̚̕͝҉̹̰̟̰̻̻͍̠̗̳̬̬̬̞̟̹̩͇́͜ẹ̴̡̨̱̹͍̯̱̗̗͍̬̐ͣ̑͑̐̓̈̑ͥ̅́̇̃͒̀̃̂́ ̨̛͖̬͇̣͔̼̥̬̝̥̣̭̝̪͎͈̌̅͆̉̀͘͜ͅẗ́̄͊̌̍̆́̿́̊ͣͮ̅ͥͩ̔̏͏̧̳͎̥͈ͅh̴̴͇̻ͧ̍̐̈͐̎͛́̀̽̃̒̔͢͢ȩ̸̶̶̟̗̮̺̭̥͕̭͎̺̙͎̖͔ͪ̑͛̓̅ͪ̄́ͧ͡ͅ ̡̧͇̤͚̻̬͉͔̥̫̟̙ͮͩ͌̿́̆͋͜h̵̨̭̰͎̭̱͊͒́͒͆̎ͮ̈́̆ͪͧ̚͞î̛̦̞͓͖̭͈̮͔̩͙̱̖̞̳̥̦̩ͭ̂̏͒ͨ̃̿̽̓͑ͫ̕͝͡vͧ͋ͪ̌̂̑́͌̂̒͑ͮ̋̂ͫ̈́҉̹͜͢ȩ̡̖̯̞̺̭̗͔͇̻̤̼͈̙̞͉͙̈ͤ͊ͨ̀̆͆͒̓̄̿ͭ̃̚͜͝͡-̶̪̪̠̝̜̯̜̹̭̯͎͍̲̱͉ͪ̏͒̊ͫ̀̈͘͡m̸̪̘͙̰͚̗̳͕̟̖̿̌͐̔̐̈̽̃ͯ̅͢ͅͅi̸̷̧̛͍̝̦̫̮̤̐͑͗̏ͬn̡̨͆ͩͤͫ̔̈́̈́͊͐̂͛̀̚͞҉̜͍̝̰̱͚̜̹̞̝̞͈d̢̫͕͚͕̥̰̝͆͗́ͨ͑̈́̓͜ ̡̩̜͎̳͎͂̓ͫͭ͐̀͡ȑ̷ͭ̑ͪͭ͋͢͏͕̳̟͜ͅͅe̴͌̅ͣ̾͒̔́̊̔ͭ̅̄̇͏͎͉͈̤̙p̀ͥ̈ͨͩ͛ͥͣ͗̄̈́̚҉̢͔͉͍̹̮͉̺r̵̸̡̩͎̱̟̺̟̞͈̯̯̪̹͂́ͣ̐͑̒̒̀ͧͩ̿ͮ̕͞ě̵̡̱͈̜̯̳͍̝̦̜̫͈̜̗̘̪̪̓͆͑͋ͮͯͪ̅̂͐̔̆̃ͫ͑̾͒͢ͅş̶͓͉͚̜̪̜͓̘̻̃̔ͨ́̀ͅẻ̵͇͈̮̝̠͖͍̫͉͓̪̠͔̬͕͛̊͐̎̓̽ͫ̌ͧ̅̿́͘n̛͚̺͈͍̰͉͙̤̘̺͖͉̤͖̈͑͑̍̅ͪ̎͂́ͦ̒ͣ̋̆̄̄̍̃̊͟t̵̛͙͚̥͇̫̻̞͖͕̰͈̩̰̱͉ͣ̃ͫ̋̍̈ͥ͗̎ͭ͋͜i̵̡̤͇̣̰̦̟̭̮̩̲͔̭̟̖̹̙ͥ̆̋ͫ̓͌̒̾̍̄̾̎̂͂̏̇ͩ̚͢n̶̮̹̤̻͈̙͔͎̦̟ͫ̀͌͛̋̌̽̀̓̂̕g̷̣͖̠̩͈̲̥͍̦̘̺̏̍͛͋̎͛͒ͪ̇ͮ͠͝ ͦ͂́̿͐̅̌̊̌̉̍̀҉҉͈͖̮̩͎̮̬͖c͖̬̠̫̠̫̗̉̾͋͒̏̄̈́ͬ̊̓͘͝h̴̷̨͉͖̱̗̪̣͕̮͓͕̺͖͈͙̥̬͓̟ͣ̏̀͐̀́̍ͪ̋͒͐ͪ͐́̕a͍͈͉͎̥̠͍͛ͭ͛̃ͫ͒͋́͟ö͙̻͔̙͖̰́̋̑́͜s̶̸̫̖̫͇̣̻̺̹͔ͧ͐̂̈́ͮ͋̌͠.̰̯̞͎̗̺̠͔̫͍̖ͮͦ̒̏̈̾ͭͧ̉͘͢͠