
Tech Veganism - dredmorbius
https://nolanlawson.com/2019/05/31/tech-veganism/
======
hashkb
> DuckDuckGo provides better search results than Google.

DDG is getting better at about the same rate that Google is stuffing new ads
and sponsored content into results. It's not a stretch to say that I'm more
productive with DDG as my default.

Google is no longer as focused on delivering what I ask for as they were when
they weren't a monopoly. Maybe they're still the best, but there have been
tons of HN articles recently about biases in Google results.

------
type0
> where the executive director of the Software Freedom Conservancy admits to
> having proprietary software embedded inside her body, because that was the
> only option for a defibrillator. She advocates open-source software, and yet
> despite her best efforts, she’s a closed-source cyborg!

Ignorance is a bliss, so I'm sure she would have felt better not being aware
of the issues.

~~~
deogeo
> She advocates open-source software, and yet despite her best efforts, she’s
> a closed-source cyborg!

What a hypocrite. If she truly believed in free software, she would tear out
her defibrillator and _die_. /s

------
silversconfused
Man that nicely spoke to a lot of my own struggles with ethical software... My
wife gets it and appreciates the control we have over our tech lives, my son
doesn't mind (yet, though he has been whining that he wants "a google wifi"),
and my parents are proud that I've resisted a lot of the negative tech trends
I grew up in.

But oh boy, explaining to anyone else that I refuse to own a system I cannot
change is like telling them I worship a space donkey and only eat tunafish
every odd numbered saturday. They just do not get it, and I'm in too deep to
be able explain it kindly and plainly. :/

~~~
computmaxer
I'm a software engineer who does not practice "tech veganism." I use an
iPhone, iMessage, Gmail, Google, Google Docs, etc. I'm interested in
understanding why people who do practice this feel so strongly that using
these products and services is bad. So what if Google reads your emails? Why
is it bad if they correlate those and your search results to offer a more
personalized service -- even more personalized advertisements -- for things
you might actually be interested in buying some day? Is it fear of public
embarrassment? Of being blackmailed? Of being discovered doing less than legal
things? Have you been slighted by the company before so it's a matter of never
doing business with them again out of principle?

No need to worry about explaining it kindly and plainly to me :)

~~~
type0
> I use an iPhone, iMessage, Gmail, Google, Google Docs, etc. I'm interested
> in understanding why people who do practice this feel so strongly that using
> these products and services is bad.

You mean services from American conglomerates, why don't you use Huawei,
Yandex, WeChat, etc?

~~~
skinnymuch
Probably because they are in America. What you’re trying to insinuate is not
correct.

