Discussion
"The general-purposeness of computers – the fact that they are all Turing-complete, universal von Neumann machines – has created tech bosses' fortunes, but now that these fortunes have been attained, the tech sector would like to abolish that general-purposeness; specifically, they would like to make it impossible to run programs that erode their profits or frustrate their attempts at rent-seeking."
#CoryDoctorow, 2025
https://pluralistic.net/2025/09/01/fulu/#i-am-altering-the-deal
grApple and Goggle vetting developers for the privilege of having their apps available on the iThing and Android OS they control is a protection racket. It's not a legitimate business practice, it's a shakedown. This is not business, it's organised crime, and these tech mafia need to be prosecuted out of existence if they don't stop doing it.
https://www.eff.org/document/letter-bruce-schneier-senate-judiciary-regarding-app-store-security
#HatTip to @pluralistic for the link.
#TIL about the #FULU Foundation;
"... born out of the Right to Repair movement and the assertion that if you can't fix something, you don't own it. But it doesn't stop there. If manufacturers get to dictate how long you get to use your device or what software you run on it, you don't own it. If companies can start charging subscriptions to use the features that you bought your gadget for, you don't own that gadget. Enough is enough."
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