[GTALUG] Surveillance Capitalism [was another thread]

[Russell Reiter]

On Sat, Apr 3, 2021 at 10:44 PM Alvin Starr <alvin at netvel.net> wrote:

> On 4/2/21 10:45 PM, Russell Reiter wrote:
>
> On Fri, Apr 2, 2021, 10:13 PM Alvin Starr via talk, <talk at gtalug.org>
> wrote:
>
>> On 4/2/21 2:29 PM, Russell Reiter via talk wrote:
>>
>> Red Hat has just dropped its Free Software Foundation funding and
>> support.
>>
>> Now that Red Hat is pretty well owned by IBM, wouldn't you like to ask
>> all those people, how far back in IBM's own history of misdeeds;
>> notwithstanding rumors, innuendo and just plain gossip; the rest of us
>> should look when judging the actions of  others.
>>
>> I sure would.
>>
>> https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_and_the_Holocaust
>>
>> Stallman was outspoken about surveillance capitalisim and WSL. Those are
>> big cages to rattle with one tiny tin cup.
>>
>> Just in case you don't think an NGO is capable of such insider
>> machinations. I highly recommend the following book which has a pretty good
>> evaluation of how the powers that be; leveraged trends, NGO (charity)
>> connections and industry (read IBM) influences which gave Bill Gates his
>> silver spoon running head start with MS DOS.
>>
>> https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2760759-the-making-of-microsoft
>>
>> Don't even get me started on WSL as an organized plan to disrupt linux
>> freedom.
>>
>> Engage Encompass and Eradicate are proven techniques of imperialism and
>> capitalisim.
>>
>> I think Red Hats "Woke Spoke" is Broke on this one, but with all that IBM
>> money behind them, they will break this one guy out of the big picture,
>> just because they can.
>>
>>
>> Russell
>>
>>
>> I may just be thick but I don't see what any of the above has to do with
>> Surveillance Capitalism.
>>
>> Or at least my understanding of Surveillance Capitalism that can be
>> described by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surveillance_capitalism
>>
> Heres Richard Stallman on open source surveillance capitalisim eight years
> ago.
>
> https://youtu.be/CP8CNp-vksc
>
> OK.  But you did not reference anything like this in your original posting.
>
> You kind of came out of nowhere making statements that seemed to have no
> relationship to your subject.
>
> And for the life of me I can't see what any of this has to do with
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Surf_League.
>>
> Heres an article on WSL - Windows Subsystem for Linux but I understand
> your confusion.
>
>
> https://fossbytes.com/richard-stallman-microsoft-linux-love-will-hurt-free-open-source-software/amp/
>
> This is not an amazingly new idea.
>
> Something like 25 years ago a group of us developed a way to run Unix
> binaries on top of DOS.
>
It was not the end of Opensource software which was GCC and EMACS at the
> time.
>
> A chunk of the work we did ended up in the IBCS2 binary emulation in Linux.
>
> WSL is just a optimized VM engine.
>
> Think of it as an integrated VirtualBox or VMWare.
>
> I am really not a fan of Microsoft as just about anybody who knows me will
> attest to but I also don't see them as being run by a Mike Myers Dr. Evil
> kind of character.
>
Well that's not necessarily how they see you. I forked this threadfrom one
which I perceived was a sort of side channel attack on Richard Stallman.

https://www.idginsiderpro.com/article/3584911/how-microsoft-went-from-linux-is-a-cancer-to-microsoft-loves-linux.html

I changed the original subject because I was just trying to limit the list
liabilities, in case of a libel suit. Not that Stallman would ever read
Evans' post labeling him incel. But this was my reason for changing the
subject after someone else simply dropped the libelous wording from the
subject line.

Rational debate is one thing, ad hominem personal attacks are another. I
thought I'd try to let Stallman speak for himself through the FUD,

Most of the "Windows weenies" I know will run screaming from WSL and I
> expect that the primary uptake will be by Linux users who are forced by
> corporate doctrine to use Windows as a platform.
>
> It may be that in the long run WSL will actually erode the dominance of
> Windows and MS.
>
> That of course is my particular take and you are free to disagree.
>
The entire world is going "fee for service" so maybe cloud SaaS is the
place for a convergence of this sort.

However I am mindful of the fact that in the highly competitive world we
live in there is an attitude of "it's not just that I must succeed, my
enemies must fail."  That is the core of anti competitive practices and the
tools are trial by media and not trial in the courts of competent
jurisdiction.

I'd like to believe that I am a person who, if someone was drowning, even
if it was in a state of social misfortune of their own causation; I would
be one of the people reaching out from the lifeboat to help them aboard,
instead of one pushing their head underneath the waves to drown in that sea
of troubles.

In essence I was just trying to wash the soap someone else left on the box
of FUD that Evan was standing on at the time he pushed Stallman's head
under the waves.

>
> I guess the entire thread is about protecting the right to engage free
> speach and the cost to individuals who go against the populist notions
> which are propigated by powerful organizations and their associate
> influencers.
>
> At least thats my take on these current events as they relate to linux
> topicality.
>
>
> --
> Alvin Starr                   ||   land:  (647)478-6285
> Netvel Inc.                   ||   Cell:  (416)806-0133alvin at netvel.net              ||
>
>
>

-- 
Russell
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