#4opens
@bob that’s #cavetechnology. Our society is far too complex for that - you’d have to kill billions to make it a path.
#4opens is the opposite: data commons. Light as a tool to fight with, not darkness to hide in.
@bob that’s #cavetechnology. Our society is far too complex for that - you’d have to kill billions to make it a path.
#4opens is the opposite: data commons. Light as a tool to fight with, not darkness to hide in.
⁂ Article
Pick up the shovel, build the commons
Right now, our digital lives are stuck between two bad choices: Stranded silos, your notes, photos, chats locked into one device. #dotcons capture, hand it all to Google, Apple, Meta, and rent your own history back from them.
We deserve better. What we actually need is simple: Blobs of data that syncs across devices and servers. A conflict resolution flow. Sync is hard, but not impossible, better to resolve a clash than lose flow. A protocol path that isn’t “just another cloud,” but […]
⁂ Article
A small view of a step we need
I normally talk and work on big issues, let's look for a moment at smaller steps. To make a big change, we need to start with practical paths (everyday grassroots & do-able). A personal short step is to detox one feed, not your life. Pick one algorithmic platform and shrink usage: unfollow, mute, or temporarily uninstall the app. Replace 15–30 minutes of scrolling with one intentional action by using replacement tools (not perfect, but better).
Try ActivityPub/Fediverse clients (Mastodon, […]
⁂ Article
A small view of a step we need
I normally talk and work on big issues, let's look for a moment at smaller steps. To make a big change, we need to start with practical paths (everyday grassroots & do-able). A personal short step is to detox one feed, not your life. Pick one algorithmic platform and shrink usage: unfollow, mute, or temporarily uninstall the app. Replace 15–30 minutes of scrolling with one intentional action by using replacement tools (not perfect, but better).
Try ActivityPub/Fediverse clients (Mastodon, […]
Should we apply again?
Yes, not because they’ll suddenly “get it,” but because persistence itself is part of the composting, a record, a point of pressure.
Apply and simultaneously build a parallel path of community support, donations, partnerships, volunteer time. That way, the inevitable #NLnet rejection doesn’t kill all the momentum.
Shifting the blocking? Maybe translate native ideas into their language. Bureaucracies like “deliverables,” “impact metrics,” “alignment with EU digital policy.” Wrap your radical #4opens core in a frame they can recognise: resilience, digital sovereignty, anti-disinformation, democratic participation. That’s harder for them to ignore and strengthens the “native” path.
Expose the bias. Not in a bitter way, but in a constructive one: point out the repeated rejection of grassroots-native projects while funding flows to #geekproblem/NGOs. This pressure helps them re-balance (and others will maybe notice).
If you want to help, share the 3 projects ( #MakingHistory, #IndymediaBack, #OGB) in #Fediverse channels. Frame this positively: “If we want a living #openweb, we need to fund and support native projects, not just corporate/NGO clones.” make it harder for them to keep sidelining.
Should we apply again?
Yes, not because they’ll suddenly “get it,” but because persistence itself is part of the composting, a record, a point of pressure.
Apply and simultaneously build a parallel path of community support, donations, partnerships, volunteer time. That way, the inevitable #NLnet rejection doesn’t kill all the momentum.
Shifting the blocking? Maybe translate native ideas into their language. Bureaucracies like “deliverables,” “impact metrics,” “alignment with EU digital policy.” Wrap your radical #4opens core in a frame they can recognise: resilience, digital sovereignty, anti-disinformation, democratic participation. That’s harder for them to ignore and strengthens the “native” path.
Expose the bias. Not in a bitter way, but in a constructive one: point out the repeated rejection of grassroots-native projects while funding flows to #geekproblem/NGOs. This pressure helps them re-balance (and others will maybe notice).
If you want to help, share the 3 projects ( #MakingHistory, #IndymediaBack, #OGB) in #Fediverse channels. Frame this positively: “If we want a living #openweb, we need to fund and support native projects, not just corporate/NGO clones.” make it harder for them to keep sidelining.
⁂ Article
Pick up the shovel, build the commons
Right now, our digital lives are stuck between two bad choices: Stranded silos, your notes, photos, chats locked into one device. #dotcons capture, hand it all to Google, Apple, Meta, and rent your own history back from them.
We deserve better. What we actually need is simple: Blobs of data that syncs across devices and servers. A conflict resolution flow. Sync is hard, but not impossible, better to resolve a clash than lose flow. A protocol path that isn’t “just another cloud,” but […]
What do we really need:
A user-controlled blob of data that syncs across devices.
A conflict resolution flow (because yes, sync is hard, but solvable if you design for it).
A protocol path that is not “just another cloud,” but part of a commons.
This is what the #OMN path is sketching out:
Bridging client/server with #p2p flows.
Giving people the power to hold their own history (rather than leasing it back from Google/Meta).
Doing this inside a trust-based #4opens framework (#OpenData, #OpenSource, #OpenStandards, #OpenProcess).
Keeping it #KISS so a normal-ish human can understand what’s happening.
It’s not “a new app.” It’s plumbing — the pipes and tanks that allow history, content, and flows to move while staying in your hands.
Not the same as a sync library, but the same path: moving from stranded silos → cloud capture → trust-based decentralisation.
What do we really need:
A user-controlled blob of data that syncs across devices.
A conflict resolution flow (because yes, sync is hard, but solvable if you design for it).
A protocol path that is not “just another cloud,” but part of a commons.
This is what the #OMN path is sketching out:
Bridging client/server with #p2p flows.
Giving people the power to hold their own history (rather than leasing it back from Google/Meta).
Doing this inside a trust-based #4opens framework (#OpenData, #OpenSource, #OpenStandards, #OpenProcess).
Keeping it #KISS so a normal-ish human can understand what’s happening.
It’s not “a new app.” It’s plumbing — the pipes and tanks that allow history, content, and flows to move while staying in your hands.
Not the same as a sync library, but the same path: moving from stranded silos → cloud capture → trust-based decentralisation.
@tommorris this is what the #OMN path is about. Bridging client server to p2p and giving people the power to hold history at best, and radically decentralising this power at worst.
And doing this in a TRUST based #4opens flow #KISS
Not the same project, but the same path
The #Mainstreaming communication is Hallucinating
They call it communication, but it’s not dialogue, not listening, not truth.
It’s hallucination: Smiling faces repeating empty words. Buzzwords covering the rot.
Smoke and mirrors to hide power.
While they hallucinate, the #deathcult stays at the centre.
Our path is not their delusion. Our task is composting — shovel in hand — to grow something real.
The #Mainstreaming communication is Hallucinating
They call it communication, but it’s not dialogue, not listening, not truth.
It’s hallucination: Smiling faces repeating empty words. Buzzwords covering the rot.
Smoke and mirrors to hide power.
While they hallucinate, the #deathcult stays at the centre.
Our path is not their delusion. Our task is composting — shovel in hand — to grow something real.
AI slop, to #enshittification, the #FT writing on the internet is adding to the mess https://hamishcampbell.com/from-unstoppable-slop-to-enshittification-the-ft-on-the-internet-mess/ We need to remember the old one. Compost the current slop. Rebuild from the roots. Base it on native #4opens, community, and the culture that carried us before this #dotcons mess took over.
The #KISS#OMN path is about building practical, commons-based media tools now, not later. Most of the mess - and the endless #blocking - comes from ownership and control. We sidestep that by placing a whole class of media firmly in the commons under the #4opens. This doesn’t “fix” the #mainstreaming mess overnight, but it gives us space to work before it catches up. By then, if we’ve done it right, society will have shifted toward a more open path.
This isn’t theory. If you’ve got resources, fund development. If you’re technical, code the apps and servers. If you understand UX, design for accessibility. If you do media, tell the story. The projects in the stories - from Oxford: Going with the Flow to Stalls and Code - are grounded in practical use and designed to mediate social breakdown for better outcomes. But they only work if we build them and use them in time. So let’s keep it positive, simple, and moving forward.
The #KISS#OMN path is about building practical, commons-based media tools now, not later. Most of the mess - and the endless #blocking - comes from ownership and control. We sidestep that by placing a whole class of media firmly in the commons under the #4opens. This doesn’t “fix” the #mainstreaming mess overnight, but it gives us space to work before it catches up. By then, if we’ve done it right, society will have shifted toward a more open path.
This isn’t theory. If you’ve got resources, fund development. If you’re technical, code the apps and servers. If you understand UX, design for accessibility. If you do media, tell the story. The projects in the stories - from Oxford: Going with the Flow to Stalls and Code - are grounded in practical use and designed to mediate social breakdown for better outcomes. But they only work if we build them and use them in time. So let’s keep it positive, simple, and moving forward.
...but then again, thats something that is unlilely to happen, because fediverse ppl follow their own ideas. ...but we'll definitly get there.
First it woupd be cool to have a fully functional p2p-news-app with proper UI/UX ...and then maybe a bit of testing and then maybe integration with fediverse and if anyone likes the p2p experience, maybe they can even help lobby for funding, because it is tpugh to endlessly push this forward without any support
And yes you would be right this #mainstreamin mess will fallow us eventually but by the time it catches up we might have changed society a bit to have a different path as outcome #KISS
https://hamishcampbell.com/the-omn-with-indymediaback-and-makeinghistory-are-paths/
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