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Tech people talk about tech too much.

I really really REALLY want to use all the awesome privacy friendly FOSS (and similar) stuff, but I am not a techie person! I don't know how to program, nor do I want to.

And every SINGLE time I try to find out even what thing (OS, program, app, service, etc) to use, let alone how, and I search for it... I get techie-focused answers.

It's complete gibberish to me! Absolutely useless. It makes me feel actively unwelcome even though I really care about using alternatives to Windows, Meta, X and other dystopic nonsense.

For example: I'm like "How do I start a non-enshittified group chat to talk about a thing?" and all the results are technobabble to me. I don't even know if the words they use are supposed to be normal english words or if they refer to orgs or groups or apps or some weird coding wizardry.

I am so lost, every single time.

I stick with it though. But like. I wonder if the tech people realise that this is happening???? Because they probably understand what they're talking about. And they seem to not realise that not everyone does.

I'm not trying to blame or shame anyone or even complaining as such (a little bit complaining, ngl), mostly just giving feedback. This is not an issue with a singe thing but with ALL of it as a whole! Including #GNU #Linux the #Fediverse #Matrix and most #FOSS apps.

My sincere wish: Give non-techie people an EASY TO FIND and easy to read and easy to understand and easy to implement guide about how to use the things as an alternative to using big corporation services, ie, "I just want it to work" and not have to worry about the technical side of things. (examples in thread)

#linux #foss #matrix #fediverse #gnu
This entry was edited (1 day ago)
in reply to Aurin (ki, ki, kis)

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André Polykanine

Unfortunately, you don't get one thing: "avoiding so-called big corps" and "just works" don't go together. they just don't go. Because if you want "purchased, turned on, works" — you need lots of people having invested lots of hours and money in that. I'm having the same problems with FOSS: I'm totally blind, and I need my PC and my phone to work and to be accessible to me. But when I go to an open-source product and say "Look, it's inaccessible for blind people/people with dyslexia/reduced mobility etc.", do you know what they say? "You need accessibility, make our product accessible". That's how most of open-source works.
Your problem is the same: you need good documentation, write it yourself, that's what they will tell you.
One great podcaster and (yes) techie once said: "Splendors and miseries of open-source", and that's my go-to phrase now.
in reply to André Polykanine

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Aurin (ki, ki, kis)

@menelion
Oof that sucks so hard.

I do hope (and trust, to some extent) that the tech geek culture is growing to embrace striving for friendly relations with non-tech-savvy people. And there are definitely things out there that are widely accessible and easy to use, like Wikipedia. Or for example, I can find a lot of apps on FDroid that work for me, like music players and camera and this and that. Though being sighted definitely widens my options.

@André Polykanine
in reply to Aurin (ki, ki, kis)

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André Polykanine

Anyway, please don't hesitate to ask me tech questions, I'll do my best and explain. People say I'm good at it, so maybe I'll help you. I saw you have autism emoji, and unfortunately I'm probably bad at communicating with people with autism due to lack of experience, but please please, don't hesitate and don't be shy. There is no stupid question, and if I'm busy or away from keyboard, I'll answer anyway when I'm back.
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