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college_physics commented on Docker is deleting Open Source organisations - what you need to know   blog.alexellis.io/docker-... · Posted by u/alexellisuk
jon-wood · 3 years ago
Docker the tool has been a massive benefit to software development, every now and then I have a moan about the hassle of getting something bootstrapped to run on Docker, but it's still worlds better than the old ways of managing dependencies and making sure everyone on a project is aligned on what versions of things are installed.

Unfortunately Docker the company appears to be dying, this is the latest in a long line of decisions that are clearly being made because they can't work out how to build a business around what is at it's core a nice UI for Linux containers. My hope is that before the inevitable shuttering of Docker Inc another organisations (ideally a coop of some variety, but that's probably wishful thinking) pops up to take over the bits that matter, and then hopefully we can all stop trying to keep up with the latest way in which our workflows have been broken to try and make a few dollars.

college_physics · 3 years ago
Can't comment specifically on this or that "dying company", but it is a bit disappointing that after, how many, four decades of open source? and the obvious utility of that paradigm, it still seems a major challenge to build sustainable open source ecosystems. This means we can't really move on and imagine grander things that might build on top of each other.

Its not clear if that is due to:

i) competition from proprietary business models

ii) more specifically the excessive concentration of said proprietary business models ("big tech")

iii) confusion from conflicting objectives and monetisation incentives (the various types of licenses etc)

iv) ill-adapted funding models (venture capital)

v) intrinsic to the concept and there is no solution

vi) just not having matured yet enough

What I am driving at is that building more complex structures requires some solid foundations and those typically require building blocks following some proven blueprint. Somehow much around open source is still precarious and made up. Ideally you'd want to walk into the chamber of commerce (or maybe the chamber of open source entities), pick a name, a legal entity type, a sector and get going. You focus on your solutions, not on how to survive in a world that doesn't quite know what to make of you.

Now, corporate structures and capital markets etc took hundreds of years to settle (and are still flawed in many ways) but we do live in accelerated times so maybe its just a matter of getting our act together?

college_physics commented on Microsoft lays off one of its responsible AI teams   platformer.news/p/microso... · Posted by u/Amorymeltzer
Nasrudith · 3 years ago
Wait? you think you know better than thousands of other people who dedicate their lives to the topic, assume ideology and attack them with slurs and you think /they/ are the ones with too much ego and hubris? Dunning-Kruger effect much?
college_physics · 3 years ago
> thousands of other people who dedicate their lives to the topic

to make it plain to you, there were thousands of slave traders who dedicated their lives to the topic, including e.g. how to optimally fill-up the ship with bodies. what does this prove?

the idea that meticulous pursuit of a domain somehow gives it its experts the moral high ground or ensures that they will keep it safe for society is so bizarre and alarming it only reinforces the notion that a bunch of people have become completely unhinged

AI practitioners have already proved themselves untrustworthy by putting themselves in the service of entities that invaded privacy and engaged in large scale algorithmic manipulation of e.g. voting. This is not an assumption. Its a dire fact.

More broadly, corporate structures have repeatedly proved themselves untrustworthy, both in the small, with scandals and fraud and at-large, with regulatory capture that ensured their negative impacts on society could go unhindered for decades

college_physics commented on Lemmy   lemmy.ml/#... · Posted by u/acqbu
college_physics · 3 years ago
Honestly the current content is not doing the platform any favors. Who wants another social media option that ranges from the inane to the toxic?

Reddit like forums, open source self-hosting, federation, these are all good points but people need to see how they make a difference in practice.

Mastodon somehow managed to be seen as a less toxic version of twitter, though it might be mostly peoples wish than anything intrinsic to the platform.

But all new entrants in the fediverse party will have to think how to convince people that social media are actually worth the hassle

college_physics commented on Meta plans to lay off 10k employees   about.fb.com/news/2023/03... · Posted by u/darnfish
ar9av · 3 years ago
Zuckerberg is obsessed with cornering the market for the Next Big Thing. First it was radio, then TV, computers, cellphones, what could the next big thing be? It's got to be VR... because Mark can't think of anything else it could be.

So even though people aren't willing to strap bricks to their faces now, once they understand there's no other Next Big Thing coming, they'll shrug and pick up a VR headset.

Then after a month of ChatGPT hype he wakes up and fires everybody. What a clown.

college_physics · 3 years ago
I don't think Zuck particularly cares about the next big thing. As the debacle with Apple shows, there are existential risks here and now, not in some sort of FOMO

Despite appearances, if the metaverse gambit in the current episode made any sense it was mostly as a defensive move: To obtain control over a device so that you can datamine at will and perpetuate your business model irrespective of what other major actors might come up with.

Think about it. If stars (you have little control over) align, device owners can flip a privacy switch here, introduce a policy there and annihilate your business.

To paraphrase Ballmer: Devices, devices, devices

college_physics commented on Meta plans to lay off 10k employees   about.fb.com/news/2023/03... · Posted by u/darnfish
qbasic_forever · 3 years ago
It's to put pressure on people to perform and sacrifice themselves, their personal lives, their family etc. It's the same reason so many tech companies start to do quarterly reviews, so every 3 months your manager will hold over your head the threat of 'not meeting expectations' and putting you on a performance improvement plan.
college_physics · 3 years ago
its quite depressing but it applies to much of corporate structure and incentives.

how much more performance can you squeeze from an individual that:

i) is not intrinsic to who they are (hence visible when you hire them - if its not the right profile just don't hire them)

ii) is not tied to your own bloated structure, toxic culture and messed up processes and hence none of their fault

is that 10%, 20% extra performance? is that sufficient to satisfy the "markets"? when its your vision and business model is what is really the problem.

college_physics commented on Augmenting Human Intellect: A Conceptual Framework (1962) [pdf]   dougengelbart.org/pubs/pa... · Posted by u/todsacerdoti
college_physics · 3 years ago
He more than did his job. But who is the Doug Engelbart of today?

Where are the people that can articulate an actually desirable digital future and rally everybody (including those exclusively focused on pecuniary matters) around a human-centric vision?

college_physics commented on Microsoft lays off one of its responsible AI teams   platformer.news/p/microso... · Posted by u/Amorymeltzer
college_physics · 3 years ago
SVB didn't have a chief risk officer. Why have somebody bang theoretically about risks when the business is best placed to assess the real risk /sarcasm
college_physics · 3 years ago
I had not doubt it will be downvoted. Techbros out in force. If its good for my pocket, suck it up, its good for you. But we are having enough of it.
college_physics commented on Microsoft lays off one of its responsible AI teams   platformer.news/p/microso... · Posted by u/Amorymeltzer
college_physics · 3 years ago
SVB didn't have a chief risk officer. Why have somebody bang theoretically about risks when the business is best placed to assess the real risk /sarcasm
college_physics commented on Microsoft lays off one of its responsible AI teams   platformer.news/p/microso... · Posted by u/Amorymeltzer
monero-xmr · 3 years ago
If Microsoft and Google don’t release, some startup will beat them to it. Open source means raw AI will become widespread. It’s just math anyway, and you can’t stop progress.
college_physics · 3 years ago
> you can’t stop progress

what is your definition of "progress"

college_physics commented on Microsoft lays off one of its responsible AI teams   platformer.news/p/microso... · Posted by u/Amorymeltzer
dmix · 3 years ago
Anyone paying close attention to the output of generic "AI ethics" people (especially on Twitter) should not be surprised that companies that when push comes to shove the businesses getting actually useful AI tools that are being tested by real people for real things generating real data, are starting to question the utility of the bulk of the crowd who skirted off hypotheticals for years to build their reputations as "experts". Once the hypotehtical meets the meat of the problems you usually can quickly root out the people not providing any value and merely pushing trendy FUDy positions.

The key here is that the costs are still as high a ever, Microsoft is very aware of the consequences of ignoring the legitimate AI ethics issues. So it's not likely it's merely ignoring risk.

The real useful AI ethics people will be born out of real world applications. Not pearl clutching by people making grand projections, often with a limited grasp of what the technology actually means in practice, in a competitve open market where you the cat is out of the bag even if you don't like it.

The legitimately talented AI thinkers will still be highly employable at the end of the day. Even if a small subset of talent got burned by the output/management of their previous team they'll be okay long term. Hell, even the non-talented ones will still be in demand considering the demand in the media for stories/politically convient takes, and the general tolerance for mediocrity in mega-tech-firms.

college_physics · 3 years ago
> Microsoft is very aware

thanks, that is comforting

> the cat is out of the bag even if you don't like it

thanks for bullying us around

> the legitimately talented AI thinkers

who exactly authorised you to project legitimacy in a space that has not seen any regulation?

u/college_physics

KarmaCake day1629November 23, 2022View Original