5 private links
This article is unfortunately published on a cringe-worthy website that's otherwise full of blockchain bullshit, but it is worth reading by every software engineer who isn't working for Big Tech.
Jean Yang articulates well what the rest of us have been trying to say without much success. The context in which a problem is situated is an important factor to be considered while coming up with a suitable solution for it.
Evgeny Morozov's project to curate knowledge around the topic of big-tech and surveillance capitalism.
The guides are quite good.
Every hyperlink in each guide is also worth reading.
Probably the first blog post about systemd
. Contains a good overview of the features.
"When you are meeting expectations for your One Job — and you don’t necessarily have to be dazzling, just competent and predictable — then picking up other work is a sign of initiative and investment. But when you aren’t, you get no credit."
Share this widely with all of your colleagues!
Don't repeat the mistake of Linux and BitKeeper. GitHub is the new BitKeeper.
See https://njoseph.me/mediawiki/Free_Software/Hosting
"the software we produce is only as free as the software it depends on for its continued use, distribution, and evolution"
"While proprietary development tools may help free software developers create more free software in the short term, it is at an unacceptable cost. In the controversial area of private software and network services, free software developers should err on the side of “too much” freedom. To compromise our principles in attempts to achieve more freedom is self-defeating, unstable, and ultimately unfair, to our users and to the larger free software development community."
Google Chrome is a browser made by an advertising company. People tried writing ad-blocking extensions for it. Google is fighting tooth and nail against such attempts.
The worst part is, Google is trying to make standards for the web, which other browsers like Mozilla Firefox are also now forced to comply with. It's like Netscape Navigator and Microsoft all over again, but nobody seems to be interested in enforcing anti-monopoly against Big Tech now. This is a dark time for innovation in computing.
This essay is a nostalgic trip back to the 90s when the web was still free and for the people. It wasn't taken over by the marketing departments of corporations yet. There were no gatekeepers like Google back then. The web was a bit weird but it was diverse and thriving. It was like a solarpunk version of the current corporate web. I didn't really use the WWW till about 2005, but I wish I had seen the times when the web was completely indie.
Local-first software doesn't rely on being connected to a server to be able to do its basic functions. All data is stored locally first and then synchronized. The authors say that collaborative writes in local-first software can be achieved through the use of CRDTs.
My notes: https://njoseph.me/mediawiki/LocalFirst
The GTD system needs a revisit from time to time. The book "Getting Things Done" by David Allen is full of details that one might forget within a few months of reading the book. It is nice to have a refresher to go through every once in a while.
The Zettelkasten (paper + box) note-taking method uses a system of linking together ideas. Each idea is written on one note. Notes are tagged and there's a way to list all notes of a tag. The notes also form a web. They are linked to each other. Most of the popular note-taking apps do most of these, except the linking.
Applying the principles of PermaCulture to computing. How to give computers a meaningful and sustainable place in a human civilization that has a meaningful and sustainable place in the planetary biosphere.