First point of attention: politics and economics of software are (inherently? intimately?) linked #fosdem #fosdem2023

Nolan sketches the period 1970s-2000s as one in which free software advocacy gets cast as communism or anarchism. Labels that one should resist? :think_mind_blown:​ #Fosdem2023 #fosdem

The period 2000-present characterised as "open source is everywhere". FOSS used in 92% of all apps. People from Microsoft are among the largest contributor group to open source #fosdem

But hey ... does that mean that open source has 'won'? No, says Nolan. We still have largely no control over the majority of services + platforms that facilitate much of people's daily lives #fosdem

Before we get to the (possible) remedy, some taking stock:

* FOSS today doesn't compete with proprietary, it facilitates it
* Labour of FOSS developers is "increasingly dictated by firms"
* FOSS contributors often have precarious employment, are among the first to be cut (apparently?)

#fosdem

Here's a new FOSS politics, as sketched by Nolan -- a.k.a. What You Can Do:

* Focus on building alternatives to the platforms that so much control people's lives
* Organise in the workplace! FOSS devs shouldn't get exploited or burnt out
* Organise politically! Collaborate
* Find or develop new workplaces that pull power away from firms
#fosdem #fosdem2023