Stepping down as Framework Linux Community Ambassadors

We are Tommi and Fraxinas, Framework Linux Community Ambassadors since September 2024.

We apprehensively followed the developments and the debate concerning Framework’s endorsement and support of Omarchy. We have no direct experience with this Linux distribution, its community, nor with the political environment around it. We did not speak up before now because learning about all of it and keeping up with all the commentary would have been a full-time job. Unfortunately we do not have the time to read every single comment on the dedicated forum thread.

Despite our admittedly limited and superficial understanding of this matter, we believe we have witnessed and read enough to make an informed decision and take a clear position.

The statements from Framework and from Nirav Patel (its CEO) made it very clear for us that Framework is not a company we feel represented by any more, and surely not a company that we want to represent as Ambassadors.

To be frank, it is not even necessary to dive into the petty drama about the recent events in order to provide an explanation of our decision. We are deeply disappointed by a company that is self-proclaimed as the resistance of the tech industry, the good David that intends to stand against the big tech Goliaths that are devouring it. Framework’s behaviour brought to surface an embarrassing and absurd inability to take an explicitly political position, blinded by the Western patriarchal narrative that technology in itself is not political. By trying to keep everyone happy (or at least not to make anyone mad) inside a fictitious “big tent”, the company proved to be no better than any of its Silicon Valley peers, dismissing comments about DHH, and comments about fascism and racism as not strictly related to the main mission.

We were proud to be ambassadors because we believed that Framework not only made products that empowered those who purchase them to fully own and repair their devices, but most importantly because we wrongly expected that this would imply changing the paradigm and the narrative about tech companies altogether.

We were offered the possibility of having a 1:1 conversation with Nirav Patel. We did not take it, because it is self-evident that our opinions are in contrast with the statements that he already made. Too bad, Framework is going to lose much more business than it would have if it simply acknowledged a mistake, took a deep inward look, and questioned its own values and stance.

In a world that is burning, thorn by conflict and greed, it is not enough to be “less evil”, to be radical only in some cases, and be moderate in others. We wanted to be ambassadors of a company that does not see fascism and proprietary software as two distant topics, but that recognised the entanglement of politics and technology, of capitalism and authoritarianism. It seems that this is not the case.

Farewell, Framework. We will miss the shining brave idea we had of you.

— @tommi and @fraxinas

The following statement was cross-posted on Framework’s Community Forum.

#Framework #politicalTechnology #SiliconValley #CalifornianIdeology

Framework Linux Community Ambassador Program Launch

Hello everyone, We are delighted to officially launch our Linux Community Ambassador Program and introduce you to our five ambassadors.

^{Framework Community}

Google, a brief history

2004: Don’t be evil
2018: OK, be evil but at least don’t kill people
2025: Fuck it, kill people

independent.co.uk/business/goo…

#Google #BigTech #AI #SiliconValley #USA #capitalism #fascism

Google drops pledge not to use AI for weapons

The tech giant has unveiled an update to its AI principles, which removes references to not pursuing work on weapons and surveillance.

^{Martyn Landi (The Independent)}

This fucking Free Our Feeds bullshit is basically trying to do for Bluesky what Mozilla does for Google.

And guess what, there’s Mozilla’s executive director and president on as custodians alongside two guys from AI companies and the executive director of Meta partner Social Web Foundation.

I’m so bloody sick and tired of bloody Silicon Valley asshats sucking all the oxygen out of the room with their bullshit and I truly hope the folks roped into legitimising it realise this and distance themselves as quickly as possible (you know who you are).

freeourfeeds.com

#FreeOurFeeds #SiliconValley #SanFrancisco #BlueSky #SocialWebFoundation #bullshit

Free Our Feeds

Let's take social media away from billionaire capture.

^{Free Our Feeds}

Shot, chaser.

#FreeOurFeeds #SocialWebFoundation #SanFrancisco #whyDoYouNeedAllThoseMillions #whyBluesky #Meta #SiliconValley #BigTech #bullshit

Hey guys, here’s a message from Mastodon gGmbH partner Meta from the Social Web Foundation.

Enjoy!

threads.net/@tomwarrenuk/post/…

#meta #mastodon #socialWebFoundation #BigTech #SiliconValley #moderation #freezePeach

Tom Warren (@tomwarrenuk) on Threads

Meta unveiling big changes to Threads, Instagram, and Facebook today. Zuckerberg is abandoning fact checkers in favor of an X inspired Community Notes system in a move to restore “free expression” and reduce moderation mistakes

^Threads

💥 THE BATTLE BEGINS 💥

The tech industry has had quite a year with its billionaires revealing who they really are for all to see. Who will be the WORST PERSON IN TECH?

🗳️ Voting is now open: forms.gle/XYERvxNFTBV1XV6A8

#tech #techwontsaveus #siliconvalley

Did you know IBM helped Hitler carry out the Holocaust? Is it in any way surprising that we can’t do anything about Big Tech and toxic oligarchs like Elon Musk when even those who helped carry out one of the worst tragedies in human history remain unpunished? Should it come as a shock that the very same bastards are funding and pining for fascism today?

m.youtube.com/watch?v=1rhzge9r…

#BigTech #fascism #SiliconValley #ventureCapital #surveillance #capitalism #peopleFarming #BigData #AI

NextM Warsaw - Aral Balkan "Small Technology: the antidote to Big Tech"

^YouTube

Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of decentralized blockchain Ethereum, has issued a warning to his fellow tech leaders against choosing a candidate purely based on whether they claim to be “pro-crypto.”

While he didn’t name any candidate specifically, his warning comes just one day after prominent venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz announced their support for Trump in the 2024 presidential election.

“In a blog post, Buterin said it’s more important to scrutinize a candidate’s broader policies to ensure they support cryptocurrency’s underlying goals, including internationalism and protection for private communications,” reports @Techcrunch. Here’s more.

flip.it/u1UPFX

#Crypto #SiliconValley #Ethereum #Trump #2024Election

Need a brief and accessible explainer about the actual harms of AI?

Show folks this:

m.youtube.com/watch?v=TtVJ4JDM…

@thejuicemedia hitting it out of the park, yet again.

#ai #corporations #corporatocracy #billionaires #climateCrisis #BigTech #SiliconValley

Honest Government Ad | AI

The Government™ has made an ad about the existential threat that AI poses to humanity, and it’s surprisingly honest and informative👉 Help us keep Government...

^YouTube

“The fact that large platforms are adopting ActivityPub is not only validation of the movement towards decentralized social media, but a path forward for people locked into these platforms to switch to better providers. Which in turn, puts pressure on such platforms to provide better, less exploitative services. This is a clear victory for our cause, hopefully one of many to come.”

Famous last words.

blog.joinmastodon.org/2023/07/…

#mastodon #fediverse #threads #BigTech #SiliconValley #zeroSumGame

Silicon Valley Bank collapse sends tech startups scrambling
edition.cnn.com/2023/03/10/tec…

That story again:

#SiliconValley tech startups learn first hand about the dangers of centralization. 👀

#SVB

🧵

“Many browsers and anti-spyware applications are designed to reject and delete third-party cookies. Adobe ensures that cookies can always we [sic] set even if third-party cookies are blocked.”

That feeling when you admit you’re spyware.

#Adobe #surveillanceCapitalism #peopleFarming #adtech #spyware #SiliconValley #BigTech via @GossiTheDog

… Or, in what a previous head of public policy at Mozilla told me while we were chatting before our talks at a data protection conference:

“Aral, we’re just another Silicon Valley tech company, I don’t understand why you’re holding us to a such a higher standard.”

When I finally managed to pick my jaw off the floor the only retort I could manage was: “But that’s not what you tell people.”

3/3

#Mozilla #fediverse #SiliconValley #ventureCapital #BigTech

If you use the Firefox browser – or a privacy-respecting Firefox fork, like LibreWolf (librewolf.net/) – take a look at the LibRedirect extension (libredirect.github.io/). It automatically redirects links/embeds of surveillance capitalists like Google (YouTube, etc.), Instragram, Twitter, Reddit, etc. to community-run instances that remove tracking, etc.

#selfDefense #surveillanceCapitalism #peopleFarming #SiliconValley #libRedirect

LibreWolf Browser

A custom version of Firefox, focused on privacy, security and freedom.

^{librewolf.net}

“In principle, I don’t believe anyone should own or run Twitter. It wants to be a public good at a protocol level, not a company.”

– Jack Dorsey, the cunt who made his billions by making Twitter a company and not a public good.

siliconrepublic.com/business/e…

#SiliconValley #hypocritical #billionaire #cunts

Elon Musk has subpoenaed former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey

The subpoena calls for Dorsey to reveal documents relating to the merger deal as Musk sharpens his knives ahead of a legal battle in October.

^{Vish Gain (Silicon Republic)}

“‘I’m very proud’ – French president Emmanuel Macron bites back at criticism after ‘Uber files’ revelations”

That’s because you’re a neoliberal cunt of the first degree, Monsieur le Président.

inkl.com/a/QMlPkqhLqXL

#macron #uber #neoliberalism #institutionalCorruption #france #siliconValley

‘I’m very proud’ – French president Emmanuel Macron bites back at criticism after ‘Uber files’ revelations

French president Emmanuel Macron has said he would not change a thing in the approach he took to US ride-hailing…

^inkl

Hey, Aral, what’s this “institutional corruption” bullshit you keep harping on about? (Part 2 of 2)

Oh, I don’t know…

“When the company needed data to influence policymakers, according to The Guardian’s report, it also paid academics to publish research that would bolster its misleading economic claims about the company’s business model”

inkl.com/a/dYkgqXCwYjw

#SiliconValley #lobbying #revolvingDoors #institutionalCorruption #uber #uberFiles

Hey, Aral, what’s this “institutional corruption” bullshit you keep harping on about? (Part 1 of 2)

Oh, I don’t know…

“Uber tried to recover its image by courting politicians, including President Emmanuel Macron of France. Texts show how Macron went out of his way to bolster Uber’s growth in France and allowed the company to maintain regular communication with his immediate staff.”

inkl.com/a/dYkgqXCwYjw

#SiliconValley #lobbying #revolvingDoors #institutionalCorruption #uber #uberFiles

‘We’re just f---ing illegal’: Leaked documents show Uber thwarted police and secretly courted politicians

The ride-share service is under investigation after texts, emails, memos and other documents reveal how executives engaged in questionable practices…

^inkl

Your daily reminder that the W3C is the standards body of people farming.

#peopleFarming #surveillanceCapitalism #BigTech #SiliconValley #w3c

IAB Europe’s consent popups are unlawful

“IAB Europe ‘was aware of risks linked to non-compliance’ and ‘was negligent.’”

IAB Europe is the online advertising industry’s (aka adtech aka the folks I call “people farmers” trade body)

iccl.ie/news/gdpr-enforcer-rul…

Via @jayrope

#GDPR #consent #privacy #IAB #adtech #peopleFarming #surveillanceCapitalism #SiliconValley

GDPR enforcer rules that IAB Europe’s consent popups are unlawful

EU data protection authorities find that the consent popups that plagued Europeans for years are illegal. All data collected through them must be deleted. This decision impacts Google’s, Amazon’s and Microsoft’s online advertising businesses.

^{Johnny Ryan (Irish Council for Civil Liberties)}