so I just started listening to A People's History of Computing, which I'm sure will be a good book, but which opens with some very irritating paragraphs
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tranny demon hackerreplied to tranny demon hacker last edited by
they never went away in the last 20 years, they've only gotten more powerful, and the cyberlibertarian concerns are only more relevant
but there's another reason why the technical distinction between timesharing and actually networked computers matters
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tranny demon hackerreplied to tranny demon hacker last edited by
and thats because the world we live in is one in which the problem of centralization of software into corporate "platforms" precisely mirrors the risks of of timeshared systems
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tranny demon hackerreplied to tranny demon hacker last edited by
when you use a tool that is on your personal computer and doesn't have to connect to the internet to use, or doesn't have to connect to some central server to use, it is MUCH harder for corporations to abuse you
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tranny demon hackerreplied to tranny demon hacker last edited by
when you use some corporation's web app, instead of an app on your personal computer that you control, you are, practically speaking, signing away all your rights to what you're doing, allowing them to control and censor you and possibly even report you to the cops
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tranny demon hackerreplied to tranny demon hacker last edited by
and it is BECAUSE we've abandoned, or been forced to abandon, the PERSONAL computers, and the NETWORKED computers, substituting instead the modern equivalent of a time-shared centralized system, that this kind of abuse can happen
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tranny demon hackerreplied to tranny demon hacker last edited by
and we might want to respond to this by saying yes well that's why we need stronger regulations and ok that's fair
but i want leftists who hate on cyberlibertarianism to remember that just four years ago we were saying we dont trust the cops and we routinely call Trump a fascist
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tranny demon hackerreplied to tranny demon hacker last edited by
and so do you REALLY want to have those cops, or a fascist Trump government, to have those powers?
I'm not saying we should hand the world to corporations, but I think we REALLY should not be handing fascists the computer reigns on a silver platter b/c we fear corporations too
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tranny demon hackerreplied to tranny demon hacker last edited by
now, networked personal computers won't solve these problems, I'm not saying they will, i'm merely saying that the RISKS that exist from centralized systems, which the time-shared systems were, are different and more obvious than the ones from actually networked systems
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tranny demon hackerreplied to tranny demon hacker last edited by
and if we want to think clearly about the political implications of our computer systems, we need to have an actually correct understanding of those systems so we can explore the real causal dimensions of actual political and corporate malice
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tranny demon hackerreplied to tranny demon hacker last edited by
a purely fantasy version of the past that falsely analyzes computers and then also simultaneously falsely imagines a socialist utopia, can only lead us into a dangerous situation where governments AND corporations are given terrifying powers they should never have
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tranny demon hackerreplied to tranny demon hacker last edited by
at this very moment state governments are collecting real data from real companies about people seeking abortions, and using it to imprison people
at this very moment laws are moving through congress that the far right ADMITS are intended to be used to censor queers online