I agree with opposing #BigTech capture. But from an #EU perspective, rejecting any #EUTech effort often just hands all power to the #US and a few other countries.
How do you rationalize that tradeoff?
Is there a point where some sacrifice is needed so Europe can regain agency, while better #SmallTech / #PublicInterestTech solutions are still being built?
@warmsignull @aral @hamishcampbell @wavesculptor I think that we need a paradigm shift. Eu solutions simply look at recreating the system that exists in order to exert control.
It's enormous and overwhelming with all it's centralized systems. Data centers etc.
Changing to decentralized system which gives the people the capacity and control over themselves would be a much more attainable goal. But that requires a different pov.
I can't justify using US tech at all. I'm down to having a Google account for play service verification. I think the longer we use it the more risk there is.
If there is war, the smartest thing would be to block their use.
@Zenie @aral @hamishcampbell @wavesculptor I agree with the rest of what you’re saying, especially that recreating centralized systems under a different flag isn’t a real solution.
But you can’t remove centralized systems without alternatives, and building those requires coordination, funding, and time.
Cutting off US tech today wouldn’t create resilience, it would cause collapse. Resilience needs parallel build-out first.
@warmsignull @hamishcampbell @wavesculptor @Zenie If only we had a federated platform on which to have such discussions.
@aral @warmsignull @wavesculptor @Zenie
Yep, a bunch of native #openweb crew spent our time getting the #EU on the #Fediverse path.
https://socialhub.activitypub.rocks/t/webinar-with-the-european-commission-and-ap-community/1507
What we need is more of this work, not the #dotcons mess, which in the end is more #techshit to compost.
@hamishcampbell @aral @warmsignull @Zenie some interesting looking feeds back to here on the https://socialhub.activitypub.rocks/ap/about page to check out
later ... having checked some out ... not a lot happening since late 2025, or much earlier; better for remote types like me to follow someone who aggregates and summarizes anything important happening there. Is that you - Hamish?
@wavesculptor @aral @warmsignull @Zenie
This story still needs to be told https://socialhub.activitypub.rocks/t/eu-outreach-if-we-dont-tell-our-story-am-not-sure-who-will/2950 we are VERY bad at telling our own history. It's partly why people keep falling for the #dotcons mess.
@hamishcampbell @wavesculptor @aral @Zenie
When reading through all those pages I have seen somewhere a mention that the systems required for EU to not depend on USA already exist. (I might be paraphrasing)
Is there are list of those systems anywhere?
In general I seem to notice a repeated pattern: information is scattered all around the web, with little effort being put into organizing it in order to be consumable by newcomers.
@aral @hamishcampbell @wavesculptor @Zenie
Refusal to act is itself an action.
Power vacuums are always filled, usually by the strongest existing actors.
And in practice, absolute purity can sometimes lead to worse outcomes than constrained, temporary agency.
@warmsignull @hamishcampbell @wavesculptor @Zenie Maybe a place where we could reply to each other even though we were on different servers? Neither of which was owned by a corporate entity?
