I’ve seen many threads suggesting products but they often don’t mention FOSS projects, which should always be preferred to corporate software. With FOSS you are already boycotting capitalism, on either side. Free and Open Source ignores borders and shouldn’t be categorized in nationalist terms, no matter where some of the maintainers happen to live.

  • St0ner@lemmy.wtfEnglish
    11·
    11 hours ago

    I’ve tried to extol the virtues of FOSS for a long time. Not many people even care about it or their privacy, always parroting the adage “If i do nothing wrong what do I need to worry about” without a further thought.

  • Galolinn@lemmy.world
    1·
    11 hours ago

    I have been following some of these movements in the last few weeks and, at least the ones I know of, include FOSS in the alternatives to American products and services. So while I support what you say 100%, in my experience so far, it looks like most people are aware of this.

    • Ilgaz@lemm.ee
      81·
      10 hours ago

      I kept saying it all over the place regarding the fascistic rejection of Russian (as in race) code and got flamed as result. These people use FOSS, especially GNU/GPL software and yet they have no clue about the license themselves.

  • jrozycki@lemm.ee
    4·
    18 hours ago

    I think there is a different problem. Many of the best FOSS products are unknown to the general public ;/

  • Petter1@lemm.ee
    82·
    20 hours ago

    Lol, first time I hear that, as European😆 what a stupid movement…

  • Riley@lemmy.mlEnglish
    28·
    1 day ago

    I always like to say the fruits of FOSS labour are the common heritage of mankind. It belongs to all of us as a public good, created and maintained by selfless workers. (Nevermind the fact that most FOSS projects are based out of Europe anyways).

  • 小莱卡@lemmygrad.mlEnglish
    9·
    1 day ago

    FOSS is definitely not boycotting capitalism, but its still an objectively good thing. I see FOSS work as a way for relatively rich imperial core citizens to give back to the world.

    Definitely do not boycott FOSS projects.

    • rmrf@lemmy.mlEnglish
      2·
      20 hours ago

      I don’t understand why you say FOSS isn’t boycotting capitalism. I don’t disagree, but I also don’t know enough to agree yet.

      • doubtingtammy@lemmy.ml
        2·
        18 hours ago

        Look at the success of Linux. It’s not in opposition to capitalism, it’s ba kernel widely used by capitalists. If Linux was truly a threat to capitalism, google wouldn’t use it in their phones.

        I still think that Linux and open source are great. They’re just not neccesarily anticapitalist. They definitely can be in certain circumstances, and definitely make some rent seeking impossible

        • AbsoluteChicagoDog@lemm.ee
          1·
          13 hours ago

          To be fair, what Google is doing is a perversion of the original intent of Linux. It used to be a direct competitor to commercial OSs. Google turned it into one.

  • AdrianTheFrog@lemmy.worldEnglish
    112·
    1 day ago

    There are some pretty corporate “open core” software companies tho, that’s a more grey area

      • AdrianTheFrog@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        20 hours ago

        It’s hard to say. “Open core” means that most of the software is open source (licenses vary) but some features are locked behind a paywall. Gitlab takes this approach for example, also maybe onlyoffice.

      • PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world
        2·
        20 hours ago

        I mean, open source projects can be started or based in the US. But that doesn’t mean it’s an American project; it’s just that the people who started it happened to be American.

        I guess if we had to point to a specific American OSS, maybe Tor would qualify? It was initially developed by the CIA, so that may qualify it as US OSS. But it has since taken on a life of its own and the CIA doesn’t have any hand in active development anymore… So it’s still hard to say that even “being made by the literal US government” qualifies an OSS project as “American”.

        It’s sort of a Ship of Theseus situation. At what point in the development process do we consider it a non-American project?

        • Hemingways_Shotgun@lemmy.caEnglish
          8·
          1 day ago

          I don’t know about that, to be honest.

          I don’t have any hard data to back me up, but anecdotally I find that most FOSS software I use is headquartered in Europe. Quite often Germany. There are many maintainers from all over the world, but I feel like (again…in my experience) Europe has always been bigger into starting such projects.

    • chebra@mstdn.io
      461·
      1 day ago

      @Irelephant

      > “Hey guys, I want to leave X, should I go to Bluesky or Threads? What? Mastodon? Never heard of that. Looks very complicated, I’ll pass”
      > – CEO, founder, IT wizz on LinkedIn

      Every time!

      • adbenitez@lemmy.ml
        1711·
        1 day ago

        Or the classic “guys I am leaving WhatsApp, moved my whole family to Signal, another centralized US-based silo that requires phone numbers and runs on AWS, CloudFlare, etc.”

        • a Kendrick fan@lemmy.ml
          2·
          21 hours ago

          Thanks for sticking it to the Signal shills, I use Telegram and I understand how bad it is but I’d never use signal in a million years

        • tkr@jlai.lu
          4·
          1 day ago

          we’re not classic, we’re advanced nerds engineers : signal is one church without any interoperability, so we’ve moved to both SIP and XMPP variants using differents provider in the family : everything is decentralized, exactly like email (we dont use gafam ones). It’s not that hard to enjoy xmpp, and really decentralized tools, a bit like for SIP (we have several Voip providers here).

          • adbenitez@lemmy.ml
            1·
            22 hours ago

            I like SIP and XMPP, but in practice I don’t have any contacts to use it and the apps are lacking a bit compared to ArcaneChat/DeltaChat, besides the problem of losing groups because the XMPP server went down etc. there are some downsides but yes, if I was not satisfied with ArcaneChat I would use XMPP and SIP, or anything that is open source, decentralized and doesn’t require a phone number

        • easily3667@lemmus.orgEnglish
          235·
          1 day ago

          Signal: over a decade of leaking nothing and providing a great service for free, with some weird hiccups along the way like cryptocurrency.

          Privacy “advocates”: fuck signal

          • adbenitez@lemmy.mlEnglish
            112·
            1 day ago
            1. if they leaked something you wouldn’t know because US government law doesn’t allow them to disclose if they requested data.
            2. uses AWS servers that also the gov could ask for access to Amazon directly without even talking to Signal, being centralized and depending on AWS infra is also a weakness.
            3. needing phone numbers to register, often tied to passport and it is super easy to get your whole network when compromising 1 device
            4. all centralized services start nice, attracting users, once they have you, and money starts being a problem… meet: enshitification
            • FauxLiving@lemmy.world
              9·
              18 hours ago

              1. If they were leaking there would be prosecutors using the evidence in court, on the public record.

              2. It doesn’t matter what infrastructure that they use because the service provides end to end encryption. This remains secure even if a third party is able to record all of the traffic between the two devices.

              3. Has there ever been a single instance where a Signal client had a RCE exploit? Of all of the software on your phone likely to be exploited, signal is low on the list (your browser is where they get you).

              4. Enshittification is a reason to leave, speculation about maybe possible enshittification in the future is not.

        • qpsLCV5@lemmy.ml
          9·
          1 day ago

          i mean… it is massively better, but yes it still sucks. but what do you move friends and family to? last i looked into element it was not an option for several reasons, and i don’t think anyone would switch to basically noname apps like simplex or similar, even if they might be decent solutions. i really want the last few contacts i have on whatsapp to move, but i’m not gonna push hard to get them to use signal just to get it enshittified in the near future. also a few switched to telegram, which while not facebook, is not really better mainly because it doesn’t even e2ee by default.

            • jevans ⁂@lemmy.mlEnglish
              3·
              1 day ago

              ArcaneChat is dope. I’m testing it out with my partner right now. The built-in Jitsi button is super helpful. My extended family (about 30 people) switched over to signal a few years ago, so there is some inertia there, but for any new chats, DeltaChat (and ArcaneChat for Android users) is what I’m going to push for.

          • EySkibidiBabBab@feddit.dk
            2·
            1 day ago

            What’s the reasons against Element :)? Currently testing it with some friends of mine, before trying to lure my family on it instead of iMessage. So would be interested in why you don’t think it’s feasible.

            • chebra@mstdn.io
              2·
              1 day ago

              @EySkibidiBabBab Element? That’s just one of the apps, and frankly, not the best one. You are looking for Matrix. For android I’d recommend FluffyChat, for desktop/web Cinny. For iOS I’d recommend throwing it to a lake.

              • EySkibidiBabBab@feddit.dk
                7·
                1 day ago

                Element?

                Element! :D

                I’m fully aware of the relationship between Matrix and Element as well as alternative clients existing. I actually find it kinda hard to communicate about. Whenever i say something like “i sent you a link on Matrix” the few people i use Matrix with get confused. People are used to referring to app/client-names: fb messenger, outlook, iMessage (even if i’m sending an sms) and not the underlying technology.

                I’ve tried explaining it like email - you can register an email somewhere and access it through several email clients. But i mean, people who’s not as much into software as i (and i suspect you as well due to your fine recommendations) – and still refers to their email as “outlook” – they can have a hard time wrapping their head around that relationship. An app is just an app… Right?

                The reason i referred to it as “element” in my comment, was because the comment i replied to referred to it as Element tho.

    • MoonlightFox@lemmy.world
      2·
      1 day ago

      I agree, but am happy that X is losing users to Bluesky, so I don’t try to convert friends and family from Bluesky to Masrodon. I’d rather they start changing other stuff instead that is easier.

      • irelephant [he/him]🍭@lemm.eeEnglish
        11·
        1 day ago

        Oh definitely, Bluesky is far better than twitter. Honestly, seeing the fediverse piss itself over bluesky is annoying, because the alternative is people still on twitter.

  • ksp [il/lui]@jlai.lu
    232·
    1 day ago

    I get it as an European that it means more to me to consume “locally” and to prioritize services that are European-based. But due to the nature of computers and FOSS, borders are redefined and it is more about ideas and politics rather than physical location. However, computers and servers are also physical and submitted to legislations of countries, we cannot ignore laws such as the Patriot act and the power that the American state can have even on FOSS projects.

    For me the priority is to use software that match my needs; if I have the choice between an American and an European solution, I’ll tend to choose the latter one.

    • DishonestBirb@lemmy.world
      93·
      1 day ago

      I canceled ongoing donations to several projects based in the US and stated that my reasons for doing so was US policy against my country. It doesn’t matter if the dev or project lead supports those policies or not, I refuse to contribute to the US economy if I can at all help it.

      • not_IO@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOPEnglish
        11·
        12 hours ago

        By donating to contributors to free and open information and software you support the movement against tyranny inside the us and also everywhere.

        compared to that foss devs buying groceries is negligible to the us economy.

      • ksp [il/lui]@jlai.lu
        7·
        1 day ago

        I understand, but I am also thinking about the dev of those projects, as an individual who (probably) really despises the current US Gov, and even though they have to engage in the US economy, as they need to eat, pay bills, etc. It is a very tricky problem for those individuals and how to emancipate from. It is like with Russia where such individuals do not endorse at all the ongoing war but still live in that system 🤔

    • fckreddit@lemmy.ml
      2·
      1 day ago

      If you are worried about US laws affecting FOSS projects, it can always be forked, perhaps even be rewritten.

      • ksp [il/lui]@jlai.lu
        4·
        1 day ago

        Of course, but what about the individual behind it, if it is someone who is also against their current government, while having to live in that country? It is tricky to ask how to reconcile the need for EU solutions while encouraging American citizens to fight against their system!

        • 小莱卡@lemmygrad.mlEnglish
          2·
          1 day ago

          FOSS devs can do FOSS work only because of the relative luxury conditions of their imperial core countries, which comes at the expense of global south countries.

          In other words, they can do that because their countries imperialist relations with the global south, this is the reason that most FOSS projects come from the US and Europe.

          In some way FOSS work is a way for these people to give back to the world, i think its fine to donate to these projects regardless of their location.

  • schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de
    241·
    1 day ago

    Agree with the main point, though disagree that FOSS is “boycotting capitalism”, many for-profit companies contribute to FOSS and FOSS can be used by for-profit companies too, much of today’s capitalism runs on FOSS.

    The point of free software is that it does not have owners, so what exactly are you “boycotting”?

    • endofline@lemmy.caEnglish
      135·
      1 day ago

      Tell it to the Russian Linux devs that foss has no owners :-) Theory and practice are 2 different things

      • e8d79@discuss.tchncs.de
        114·
        1 day ago

        FOSS doesn’t mean that you are entitled to a place at the table or that your contributions have to be accepted. Nothing prevents these Russian devs from continuing to to work on the kernel.

        • anar@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          1·
          18 hours ago

          Pretty sure American laws explicitly prevent them from working on the Kernel. It’s stupid but that’s what happened iirc

      • 0ops@lemm.ee
        42·
        1 day ago

        They can fork it, if nobody wants to work with them anymore that’s their problem