Google has a huge opportunity to push forward free and open source gaming with their larger long term strategy as they are abandoning #Stadia (blog.google/products/stadia/me…). Instead of giving people back their money and throw the whole platform tech away, they could turn over source code and copyright.
People and ccompanies that invested in this would not be let down and it would make for a wonderful contribution to counter market dominance - and would #empower users. Go Google, do the right thing!
A message about Stadia and our long term streaming strategy
We’ve made the difficult decision to begin winding down our Stadia streaming service.Phil Harrison (Google)
Aral Balkan
in reply to NGI Zero open source funding • • •Are you serious right now? You do know what Google is, right? You do understand what their business model is? I thought NGI/NLnet was purportedly about finding and supporting *alternatives* to surveillance capitalists like Google, Meta, etc., not trying to improve their PR by perpetuating the myth that they’re generally a force for good who sometimes (often) make silly mistakes.
Do better.
#ngi #nextGenerationInternet #bigTech #google #surveillanceCapitalism #pr #NLnet
NGI Zero open source funding
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •@aral Would it or would it not be good to open source a complete platform, and allow its users to determine its course by giving them copyright? Would that not offer people an alternative to Sony and Microsofts dominant gaming platforms?
I think you must have used Etherpad at some point? What is different here? Do you still see that as a Google product? Of course, #Cryptpad is warmly recommended.
Aral Balkan
in reply to NGI Zero open source funding • • •“Open Source” for a surveillance capitalist like Google is one or several of four main things:
- The potential to use free labour
- The potential for positive public relations (which, when amplified, will hopefully get people thinking about them as a benevolent philosopher kings instead of the robber barons and people farmers that they are)
- The potential to influence the stack (with tools that function in line with their success criteria)
- The potential to find new talent
…
Aral Balkan
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •… nowhere in the purview of a trillion-dollar multinational corporation, much less a surveillance capitalist, is there the goal of furthering the commons and contributing to the public good.
The sooner we stop pretending they ever had this goal and the sooner institutions that have some level of legitimacy (or at least a claim) in representing “the alternative” stop laundering their legitimacy by perpetuating these myths, the better.
…
Aral Balkan
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •… Just as with Big Tobacco, we will start turning the tide against Big Tech when we manage to make them socially unacceptable.
With Big Tobacco this came with the Surgeon General’s report unequivocally stating that smoking harms your health.
We need the equivalent in tech.
Institutions like yours shouldn’t be pleading with Google to “do the right thing” any more than an animal rights group would plead with factory farms to “please, be kind.”
The goal is to not have factory farms.
Brian
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •Nemo_bis 🌈
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •NGI Zero open source funding
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •@aral It appears we don't share the same strategic insights. Thank you for your advice though, I know it comes from a good heart - but don't let your judgement be clouded by anger and assumption. Big Tobacco is not the right metaphore here, really.
Look at the matter at hand, and focus on what you want to achieve - and what could be helpful. Google is about to kill a service that failed to successfully compete with two dominant big tech players. Ignoring this opportunity exists makes no sense.
Aral Balkan
in reply to NGI Zero open source funding • • •Aral Balkan
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •Given that we’ve applied for funding with you and in light of this current conversation, I have one very important question for you:
Do you (NLnet/ngi) see anything fundamentally wrong with Google and it’s business model or do you think they are generally a force for good in the world (but they sometimes make mistakes and could improve how they do certain things).
I’d like to know this as we are very careful about who we associate with and, especially, who we accept money from.
NGI Zero open source funding
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •Aral Balkan
in reply to NGI Zero open source funding • • •Aral Balkan reshared this.
hamish campbell
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •@aral
#EU are kinda blinded like all people hamishcampbell.com/?s=Nlnet the funding is poured down the drain.
#nlnet guys at least fund "better" unless tech projects ;)
I have tried talking to um about this, my thought is the people picking the projects are a self reflecting #geekproblem so they are unlikely to fund let alone see value outside this narrowness.
It's the mess we look at from outside, likely nice bunch of people as individuals though
Arne Babenhauserheide
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •Aral Balkan
in reply to Arne Babenhauserheide • • •@ArneBab Bless them, they’re such an excellent company. Such a role model. Let’s make sure we encourage all new computer science graduates to apply for jobs there. Not only is the pay great but they just do so much for the world with their open source work.
Also, have you heard, some clueless folks seem to have a vendetta against them and are trying to regulate (basically restrict) them? How horrible. Why would anyone want to harm a company that gifted humanity the likes of etherpad?
Arne Babenhauserheide
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •