scheeseman486 (u/scheeseman486)

scheeseman486 commented on The Return of the OG: Chinese Firm Wants to Androidify the BlackBerry Classic techradar.com/pro/the-ret... · Posted by u/bishopsmother

scheeseman486 · 13 hours ago

Just another gimmick phone that sacrifices longevity, reliability and compatibility for the sake of a physical keyboard for an OS that isn't designed for it.

The 2010s era of wacky smartphones was in part enabled by the fact that everything was iterating so rapidly that it didn't matter as much that the OS stopped being supported in a couple years. I don't see the point of products like this, it's just ewaste.

scheeseman486 commented on No, Mastodon is not decentralized victorwynne.com/mastodon/... · Posted by u/dkgearhart

scheeseman486 · 3 days ago

When saying things like "Unlike truly decentralized systems where users can participate equally regardless of their entry point" it helps to give examples of what those are, because thinking of my own, like E-Mail, confronts me with the fact that most of the issues raised also apply to it.

Server administrators also wield enormous power over their users. They can unilaterally decide to "defederate from other instances" in a sense (there's shared DNS blocklists that servers can and often adopt). Servers have content policies, they filter mail. Running your own server requires technical knowledge. Migration is a hassle.

There are differences, there aren't as many competing microblogging implementations of ActivityPub, but given ~92% of E-Mail servers are either Postfix or Exim that's basically a duopoly. I guess that's better? In any case, Mastodon is FOSS and anyone who wants to take it in their own direction can fork it.

In terms of comparing Bluesky and Mastodon's decentralized-ness, Mastodon is clearly more so. That doesn't necessarily make it the best microblogging platform, though.

scheeseman486 commented on Petition to stop Google from restricting sideloading and FOSS apps · Posted by u/nativeforks

loandbehold · 4 days ago

How does it kill open source products? The only thing required is for open source contributor who is responsible for publishing .apk to present their ID.

scheeseman486 · 3 days ago

This gives Google (and inherently, the US government) the power to unilaterally remove any application from every Android phone on the planet. I don't trust them with that capability and neither should anyone else with an ounce of sense.

scheeseman486 commented on Petition to stop Google from restricting sideloading and FOSS apps · Posted by u/nativeforks

loandbehold · 4 days ago

I agree, people here have no empathy to less technical users. Peoples' lives being ruined is not a hyperbole. You have people losing their life savings due to pig-butchering scams and such. And people here think their convenience and desire to publish apps anonymously outweighs this?

scheeseman486 · 4 days ago

It's less about saving the concept of anonymous development, more about the tightening grip that the big three companies, Apple, Google and Microsoft (they're making their own moves in the same direction) have on home and personal computing. We would be giving up a lot; this would effectively kill any open source computing products from ever becoming viable. Platforms become fiefdoms, they become shit to use because there's no other choice and can never be. Any app that runs counter to the desires of the parent of the platform can be killed and it becomes impossible to build a competitive ecosystem because the chicken & egg software problem, something which open ecosystems can solve through compatibility laters, but that becomes unviable thanks to DRM and hardware integrity lockouts.

It's a nightmare scenario, our lives locked in to total corporate control. What do we get in return for that? Scammers won't be stopped by this, the key to grifting isn't technology but people. What you're suggesting is trading open platforms and open source and fortifying current marketplace monopolies for a marginal decrease in scams. For a while. Maybe. I suggest that is unbelievably stupid.

scheeseman486 commented on Uncomfortable Questions About Android Developer Verification commonsware.com/blog/2025... · Posted by u/ingve

preisschild · 6 days ago

I have been running AOSP-based LineageOS and now GrapheneOS for more than a decade now. While some apps are restricted to Google-certified operating systems, most are definitely not. I can use my countries eID apps and my banking app without issue. The only thing not working is nfc payments (since they are limited to Google Wallet)

scheeseman486 · 5 days ago

It doesn't matter if it's only some apps if those apps are critical. MyGov in Australia for example requires Play Integrity or it crashes. Your government's app does not... for now.

The grip of Google, Microsoft and Apple are tightening. Microsoft's TPM requirements for Windows 11 are ostensibly for security, but they're also a mechanism to enforce hardware/software integrity and authentication. Google wants to extend their integrity APIs to Chrome and I doubt Microsoft would object to implementing something similar.

Soon enough computing and the web may end up segregated, with there being devices authenticated and controlled by a central authority and those that are not. In a lot of ways this is already the case, I can't access the 4K Netflix streams I'm paying for on Linux because of DRM and using anything other than stock Chrome can often get you flagged for annoying captchas. But it can get so much worse than that.

scheeseman486 commented on Valve Software handbook for new employees [pdf] (2012) cdn.akamai.steamstatic.co... · Posted by u/Michelangelo11

account42 · 7 days ago

Wine existed before Valve even if you weren't paying attention.

scheeseman486 · 6 days ago

I've been messing around with Linux for games for over a decade. Proton was a revelation, but in addition to that the Linux desktop system stack has had Valve money pumped into it, seeing a huge amount of improvement. Video drivers, KDE, SDL2 additions to the kernel and much more.

Even Proton is technically managed by Codeweavers under contract by Valve, who are the primary contributors to Wine.

scheeseman486 commented on Valve Software handbook for new employees [pdf] (2012) cdn.akamai.steamstatic.co... · Posted by u/Michelangelo11

pjmlp · 8 days ago

Assuming everyone at current Valve's management stays there forever, as immortals.

People keep forgetting our time is limited and nothing lasts forever.

scheeseman486 · 6 days ago

I thought I made it clear with the rhetorical question, but there is no management at Valve due to it's flat structure. At least not in the traditional sense; it's staff are self organizing.

It's true that entropy will be the end of us all but while there are definitely things that may end Valve, "management" leaving isn't going to the thing that does it. It might be wise to learn about the company you speak so definitively about, I suggest reading the pamplet.

scheeseman486 commented on Valve Software handbook for new employees [pdf] (2012) cdn.akamai.steamstatic.co... · Posted by u/Michelangelo11

pjmlp · 8 days ago

I bet when current management leaves, as usual happens in these cases, those that worship Valve and Steam will see yet another big corporation, this if it doesn't eventually get acquired.

scheeseman486 · 8 days ago

What management? Gabe doesn't have any direct involvement in the running of the company at this point, in spite of being the majority owner. It's an open question what happens if he leaves or dies but it doesn't seem likely that he'd do anything to intentionally sabotage the company, like sell it off. It's more likely that ownership will transfer to a trusted party or to the employees.

scheeseman486 commented on Meta Hypernova: The first real contender for the post-Smartphone era uk.pcmag.com/vr-1/159621/... · Posted by u/rickdeckard

scheeseman486 · 14 days ago

Static HUDs are annoying and inflexible, either completely in your way or at the corner of your eyeline. ~100 degree FOV, 6DOF, eye and finger tracking or bust.

scheeseman486 commented on Has dystopian sci-fi been wrong all along? · Posted by u/mobileturdfctry

scheeseman486 · 15 days ago

The president of the united states appointed a christofascist as the figurehead for the US military. The rich are lining up to kiss his ring, groveling so as to protect their income streams as much as possible from the chaos being created by the governments unhinged fiscal policies. Elon Musk reglularly argues with his chat bot in public as if it was a person.

Elites are stupid as fuck, but it makes sense why they end up that way. Money and power allow for immunity from consquence and the creation of a bubble of delusion which fosters a friends circle of yes men that prevents any opportunities for self reflection or criticism.