‍fuchsiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa @f0x@pixie.town

Lost the post - but the new folks who are making a list of academics by discipline and making it public

Y'all are getting peoples consent before doing so, no?
Asking cause I don't want to be on there, and I want to make sure that doesn't happen.

the issue with writing software is that people will then use that software

I also help moderate the matrix server at cyberia.club, as well as help out with Layer Zero, a physical hackerspace in Minneapolis.

If you'd like to be involved with either of these spaces, please reach out! We're not elite-- it's just more fun to do this stuff together and you're welcome to join us. :)

#Minneapoils #HackerSpace #cyberia #LayerZero

finally, a therapist i can trust

Hey! I'm looking for design feedback on current fediverse clients, both web, mobile and desktop.

What decisions do you like? What do you dislike? What new features would you like to see?

And for Mastodon Web specifically: do you prefer the single-column or multi-column (advanced mode) layout? Why?

social.076.ne.jp - got some “notice me, senpai” spam from them with the usual channer nazi/transphobia/libertarian mix. They seem to be friends with poa.st too, if you need another reason to suspend them

#FediBlock

I realize I don't think I introduced myself.

Hi, I'm Starless. I am usually a soft human who likes building things, spaces, and worlds. Sometimes I paint, sometimes I program, and sometimes I do leatherwork. When my hearing is behaving, I'll sometimes make music, too.

I've built a few technical projects. Lately, I've been working on getting portable receipt printers to make cool stuff (like fortunes and quests). I have some background in manufacturing and medical devices.

#introduction

"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.