I miss the days of VHS and DVD shelfs in homes, for example. If you bought the tapes and had them in your home, no corporate entity could alter those tapes without your consent, monitor how many times you watch them, sell your data to whomever they please without your knowledge, roll out new mandatory conditions to a ‘user agreement,’ or remove them from your library if/when they like.
I noticed some dumb change in how Dictionary definitions are shown in the Spotlight (ie, overall search my computer function) in MacOS this week. I’ve turned off all auto-updates, and I didn’t make that change or consent to it. But despite paying the full price all by myself for this machine, I clearly don’t have 100% control over it. It seems very clearly to me that consumers having control and privacy over their Internet-connected devices is a bygone era.
After Blizzard, the video game company, replaced copies of Warcraft 3 that I and others had paid for in full and installed on our computers that we could play without connecting to the Internet with a lower-quality copy that prohibited offline play - I swore I’d never pay for a video game again*, and 3 years later I haven’t backslid on that. I felt so angry, cheated, and robbed by that. (*Edit: my criticism and frustration is really more with larger developers/companies/creators - I appreciate and am happy to support smaller, more independent and libre ones.)
Many people probably won’t be bothered by these things, but I am. I don’t want to pay full price for something that I don’t truly own. I miss the familiarity. I miss the reliability. I miss feeling like it’s mine. Dependable. Trustworthy.
Picking my old guitar up again has never looked so appealing. I think I want to go back to investing more time, money, and energy into things that aren’t connected to the internet
A new linux user will be born soon
Jesus, you people are everywhere
(and I love it, lol)
This is the way
Pirated content is yours forever
So true. As others have remarked on here, entshittification really changes the calculus of “is piracy worth it?”
Reject the temptations of short term convenience and adopt sustainable consumption.
Demand ownership of goods. Demand offline-first.
IMO the “ownership” thing is a red herring. It has its roots in a specifically American obsession with private property.
If everybody “demands ownership of goods”, that means we share nothing. Hardly a model of “sustainable consumption”. There are loads of examples of redundant private ownership of goods. My favorite stat: the average electric drill is used for 7 minutes in its entire life. All because every household in every building on every street must have its own one, instead of us finding a way to share them.
In the context of digital “goods”, “ownership” really just means control. I wish we would use that word instead.
deleted by creator
“How many of you own a power drill?” Rachel Botsman, the author of the book The Rise Of Collaborative Consumption, asked the audience at TedxSydney in 2010. Predictably, nearly everyone raised his or her hand. “That power drill will be used around 12 to 15 minutes in its entire lifetime,” Botsman continued with mock exasperation. “It’s kind of ridiculous, isn’t it? Because what you need is the hole, not the drill.”
Great points! Ownership, control, access, possession - these might apply differently to different things. I could see ownership being more relevant than other concepts in digital documentation of one’s genetic information, for example. I think a public library model (ie, access) would work pretty satisfactorily for entertainment media. Our language might have lagged behind the privacy, consumer, and legal concerns of today. My knowledge certainly has, but that can be changed ;)
Ownership is control at the end of the day. If you can’t control something you generally can’t own something.
I want to own something and control it fully. I don’t want backdoors.
You are so right
You can get games on gog, it let’s you download the game files and play it with no DRM and no launcher.
And for the os part it sounds like you want Linux.
I appreciate the rec’s! I did check out gog a bit a month or so ago and thought it did look refreshingly different
yeah gog is cool, also, if you do want to have your OS do the things you want it to do, you should use linux, i could help you switch if you do decide to
Thank you very much, kind Lemmy! I think it makes sense for me to postpone that a bit due to other things going on at the moment. But it was really helpful to vent and to hear words of empathy and support from people like you :)
sounds good, hope you have a good day!
Thanks, Blisterexe - you too :)
Offline anti-libre software still bans us from removing malicious source code.
Buy CD’s and DvDs. Check if a game has DRM before buying it (or just buy from GoG where DRM is banned). Run some flavor of Linux.
But if you buy from GOG, make sure it doesn’t have DRM, because GOG has been selling a few games that have DRM for a few years now
Oof I haven’t heard of this. That’s like the whole selling point of GoG. What games have DRM?
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/drm_on_gog_list_of_singleplayer_games_with_drm/page1
This is a pretty maintained list, and even if I disagree with the inclusion of some things because all you’re missing is cosmetics, it is pretty easy to argue that “complete game offline” should include all content of that game, so I’m not gonna start a fight about it
Yeah I see the argument that any content behind an internet connection is DRM, but I think that stance is a bit extreme.
There are a handful of real problems on that list, but it’s like 3/20.
It’s important to maintain this list and call them out though. If I can’t expect GoG games to be DRM free I might as well just use Steam where plenty of games are still DRM free but other features of the platform are a bit better.
DEFCON - Linux: Game contacts a key verification server as described here. Win and Mac have offline executables that skip the verification. But under Linux there is no DRM-free offline executable.
I find this sort of funny.
Especially because you can just throw it in Proton
Thanks for sharing. I (wrongly) assumed all games were entirely 100% DRM free.
Yes it’s a pain … but it’s because your are considering a state compared to an ideal state, e.g feeling trapped with devices you don’t trust versus running in an empty field. It’s simplistic and it’s not now versus then. Instead consider where you were, where you are now, and how it is a succession of decisions. Nobody forced you to buy a smartphone. Nobody forced you to install a chat app made by an ad company. Nobody forced you to have a free email.
Instead, for years, you made terrible decisions and now you are “waking up” to it and it sucks.
How do I know? Well, I did the same.
I even felt terrible about it and it felt impossible to change. I also discovered the concept of learned helplessness. How I was convinced that not only it was bad but I could do nothing about it.
Then I changed. I made a ProtonMail account (which I paid for, still am), moved my data from GMail. In fact I downloaded ALL my data from Google, and moved away from it, e.g from YouTube I installed on my own server PeerTube. I warned family, friends and colleagues I wasn’t using WhatsApp anymore but they could reach me with email, SMS, phone, Signal, Telegram, Matrix, etc. I then deleted Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, etc.
I could go on but hopefully you get the idea : it sucked, I realized it sucks, I tried to change, it was hard requiring a lot of effort but, step by step, I removed a lot (not all!) of those terrible behaviors from my life.
TL;DR move away from learned helplessness by DOING things, taking a single step in the right direction makes a world of difference.
Like your points and generally agree, but companies deranging their products and adding post-hoc internet reliant licensing is one core message of OP. This has been forced on people on many platforms. Blizzard and WC3 was given as an example by OP. Microsoft is probably the most flagrant example as many people need to use windows for various software, and you need to rip the system apart to kill forced updates or shutdown invasive services.
Yes, which is why I bought Baldur’s Gate 3 and not other games. It’s not “just” because it’s an amazing game, it’s also because IMHO the way it has been produced respect its content creator but also the way it’s been delivered, respect players.
So when I say be pragmatic I also don’t mean to imply to accept any kind of behaviors from software publishers and rather when you can, do pick the good ones, obviously.
PS: I’m also morally perfectly fine with cracking and pirating software trying limit your freedoms assuming you did properly pay for it once, even if it’s illegal. I’m wary of enshitification overall.
Yes, 100%. If company is awful enough to the creator then I’d even be ethically in agreement without purchase but just donate direct to creator or whatever. Though risk varies more with legality in the latter case.
Ofc. Always good to choose the source that treats the consumer well. FOSS alternatives are also becoming competitive for lots of things which is great to see.
But where you used to be able to purchase physical media it’s practically impossible now. Even physical cases of games or audio-visual are usually just packaging for an access key to stream it. It sucks that we have to rely on market force through user-based action (e.g. Helldivers vs sony). These forces simply don’t work against market caps like Microsoft or practically any commercial software (cad, sim, business management) or media service (streaming, music, etc…) where companies can leverage nigh infinite debt to overcome the user base action in favor of market growth.
My university forced me to have a free email through microsoft. They also forced me to other privacy-invasive services and store my coursework on insecure servers. Sure, I could refuse to go to college and get a degree, but the reality is that if someone doesn’t participate in higher education, or own a smartphone, or avoids any newer car that spies on you (at least in most of the US), being part of society and life in general is more difficult.
Indeed which is why I was honest saying “it was hard requiring a lot of effort but, step by step, I removed a lot (not all!) of those terrible behaviors from my life.” (bold added)
Namely I don’t even aim for perfection, just pragmatism. I have to use Windows at work (sometimes) and I hate it. Still, I do my very best to compartmentalize, namely I do not install such work related tools on my personal or even professional computers or phones.
In your specific case I would argue that have the free email from Microsoft but not using it for anything else and deleting it as soon as it’s not absolutely needed is an acceptable compromise. I would also do my best to understand what “leaks” via this email or how you use it. Anyway my overall point being to be pragmatic because perfection leads to inaction.
PS: something fun I did a while ago, and still repeat whenever I can, is offline holiday. I still take a bunch of devices, e.g phone, RPi, SteamDeck, etc but I do NOT go online. Instead the RPi becomes a hotspot and I can code or enjoy content on any of my devices, but still within the privacy of my own network, without any notification. It’s a very fun and empowering experience
PS2: I also notice you start with content. Well for that at home I have a RPi with minidlna, serving videos to any device on my network.
Hey Choom, privacy, security and the ability to be in control is worth fighting for.
I hate how short term profits ruin good things for everyone but stakeholders. But there are independent developers, musicians, creator in generel or those who sell their stuff DRM free. Those actual humans are worth supporting and following.
Also having a hobby, like learning and or playing guitar, besides computing seems like a really good ide.
Many people probably won’t be bothered by these things, but I am. I don’t want to pay full price for something that I don’t truly own. I miss the familiarity. I miss the reliability. I miss feeling like it’s mine. Dependable. Trustworthy.
Picking my old guitar up again has never looked so appealing. I think I want to go back to investing more time, money, and energy into things that aren’t connected to the internet
Upvoted.
Feelling the same nere. I’m investing only in indie games nowadays (Indika and The Invincible lately on gog), but I ask to the pirate ship for AAA. Switching to Linux then provided a reliable, immutable environment. I work in the VFX industry and every software I use support Linux and runs incredibly smoothy.
I appreciate you sharing that! Sounds like you got a good thing going
Well said!
“Many people probably won’t be bothered by these things, but I am.”
You are not alone! There are still many knowledgeable people who understand what you mentioned.
Thank you for bringing up this topic!
Enjoy playing the guitar! 🙂
I know how you feel, OP. Regarding data collection; right before I was about to buy a, “Robot Vacuum”, I decided to check the security side of things. I learned that some of these vacuums have a camera, for navigation purposes supposedly, and that camera can save everything it captures and send it up to a server. So I’ve put that purchase on pause for now… I need to further investigate what product I can purchase that does not have a built in camera. I can manage the connections it makes to the internet if it needs to of course through something like pi-hole.
I understand your pause on purchasing the robot vacuum. So many of these devices seem designed to collect every bit of your data that they can get their hands on, ostensibly justified by some veneer of convenience to the customer (ie, data livestock) or their ‘safety’ or ‘privacy’ (lol). As someone with lesser tech knowledge than you do to manage such data siphoning, I think it’s safe to say I’ll never be interested in owning a robot vacuum
Check out Valetudo. It turns supported robo vacuums into local only devices. Works amazingly well and integrates with Home Assistant for the whole tech nerd cloudless smart home experience.
I’ve a Dreame L10s Ultra flashed with it, very happy with my purchase. A bit scary to install everything but if you read the instructions before doing it you should be fine :)
Speaking as someone who has gone through several of them from several brands… All the robot vacuums are scams anyway.
The batteries wear out quickly. They are consumable parts not covered by warranty.
The brushes wear out quickly. Also consumable parts not covered by warranty.
The filters eventually become clogged and render the device unusable without replacement. Also consumable and not covered by warranty.
And honestly I would be willing to put up with all of the above if they did a good job vacuuming, but they don’t and won’t.
Wow… thanks for your input! I appreciate it.
I understand and relate to how you feel and I hope these changes feel positive to you and not forced. Please remember that these values do not have to be absolutist in their implementation and that there is a place for “hypocrisy”. No human is perfect and it’s okay to make concessions if you are struggling with a complete lifestyle transformation. Too often I see people start down this path of full on zealotry only to rubber-band weeks or months later because it was just too difficult for them to maintain that level of commitment to whatever their cause was. Instead of readjusting to find a better balance, they give up entirely and then feel really miserable about the experience because it seems like the things they valued in life were completely unattainable. This is all just a long way of saying take care of yourself on the journey.
Great advice, thank you!! What you said applies to me quite a bit
This probably factors into the resurgence of vinyl.
Everyone basically rents all their stuff until they die anyway.
Another problem caused by greedflation: companies want to collect both money and data for every usage (edit: I forgot to include “push ads in your face” as well)
Sometimes new underlings spawn but good point
For the Spotlight issue, was this certainly a local change without consent, or was it a change in the way the query is processed on Apple’s servers?
There is functionally no difference but it’s a big philosphical difference.
It’s a little beyond me, but I was under the impression that the dictionary lookup feature is purely local. Saying that out loud I’m now not so sure lol
I swore I’d never pay for a video game again
The libre software too?
go back to investing more time, money, and energy into things that aren’t connected to the internet
They’ll obviously win when we run away. We should take the fight to them.
I might’ve misspoke about never paying for a video game again. I do like the look of gog. I’m really out of the loop when it comes to gaming. I like more privacy- and ownership-respecting platforms, and I would (do) pay for those. What I meant was I’d caught a glimpse of the direction of the mainstream gaming industry with WC3, and I realized it wouldn’t work for me and had to get off it. I use LibreOffice. I’ll check out the libre gaming software, thanks!
They’ll obviously win when we run away. We should take the fight to them.
I appreciate your point of view. The way I see it, I think maybe 95/100 people blindly trust big tech companies and 5 of us don’t (to the willing we’ll avoid mainstream social media, for example); the proportion is debatable, but I think it’s a very uneven divide. I don’t think we have enough power to “stick it” to big tech. I also don’t think we need to. I participated in the reddit blackout last summer and then I left it altogether for here (Lemmy), which I enjoy more and want to help grow more than I did the last place. I guess I do want some people to keep big tech in check and whistle-blow, at least to help spread awareness. I guess I’m just not the person for the job, and I think that’s okay. More tech savvy people would do well in those roles :)
Target Discord first. Games are non-essentials. Discord is a tool, beyond any one game, used beyond gaming. Don’t destroy your influence, don’t leave the conversation, don’t leave Steam just yet but use it strategically (and GOG Galaxy isn’t even for Linux).
Tech savvy people aren’t going to come and join our friends and join our family. For libre software by default, we must act.
You don’t need to use GOG Galaxy since you can download the offline installers for any game (including, for some, the Linux version).
Been buying from GOG for years now and never used GOG Galaxy.
It exposes their priorities.
If their priorities were to track customers, incentivise game integration with their store (i.e. gamemaker lock-in) and the possibility of taking games away from customers, all like Steam does, they would not maintain that glaring backdoor for all those priorities that is letting customers download full installers that they can keep and which do not check back with the store on install.
I’m sure that they would like the advantage of tying people (both gamers and gamemakers) to their store, yet clearly they’re not forcing that as Steam does, so what they’re prioritizing (in other words, their priority) is clearly not that.
Given that their unique selling proposition is “no DRM” or more broadly “customer freedom to use the games they bought”, it makes sense that that is GOG’s overriding priority, even if they would also like all the (for a store) nice side-effects of built-in DRM and phone-home installers like Steam’s.
GOG spreads anti-libre software, like Steam, but do they contribute to libre operating system software?
