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[-] KoboldCoterie@pawb.social 15 points 1 day ago

Hi - I'm a Linux newbie.

I don't tell other Linux users that I use linux because it almost always leads to a bunch of questions that I don't know the answer to. So let me assure you, that awkwardness is on both sides of that conversation you're describing.

[-] KoboldCoterie@pawb.social 2 points 1 day ago

It's not like I'm sitting here actively supporting the genocide. I've been speaking out against Israel since this conflict started. Look, here I am being critical of Israel 10 months ago.

But I'm going to level with you - if I was going to choose a single issue to base my vote on, it wouldn't be this. It would be climate change. I'd throw in my cap with whomever had the most decisive, immediate plan to cut fossil fuels and major pollutants, enact climate-friendly policies, and put 100% of our budget and focus into reversing as much of the damage we've caused as possible, because I think that's a much bigger issue than Gaza, or Ukraine, or anything else.

Compared to that, which is a global problem, I think any individual nation's conflicts are pretty trivial. It trumps genocide, it trumps fascism, it trumps everything.

[-] KoboldCoterie@pawb.social 1 points 1 day ago

If Trump and the GOP have their way, there won't be another election cycle. Maybe you need to think beyond this one, too.

[-] KoboldCoterie@pawb.social 1 points 1 day ago

Where along the DNC’s journey to the right do you hop off? Is it never?

When we have a viable progressive candidate. Until then, I'm going to continue being a pragmatist and vote for the candidate that I think is better among those who have a chance to win, rather than waste my vote trying to make an idealistic point.

[-] KoboldCoterie@pawb.social 1 points 1 day ago

Even if it were the case that both were exactly identical, then you'd have to admit that your vote won't matter for Palestine, and you should base it on other factors, so why don't you tell me which of Trump's policies you're okay with having in exchange for the opportunity to take the idealistic stance in this election?

We can sit here and quote conflicting sources at each other all night, and it's clear that neither of us is going to sway the other, so we probably should just shake hands and agree to disagree, but fuck it, I'm not doing anything else, so I'll start. Here's one. Okay, your turn.

[-] KoboldCoterie@pawb.social 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I'm so sick of this horrible take. You do realize that, of the two candidates who have a chance to win this election, neither are good for Palestine, but one is worse, right? It's not like Donald Fucking Trump is out there campaigning on cutting off arms to Israel and supporting Palestine.

You give me an actual viable candidate who has a chance of actually winning an election in the US and I'll give them my vote, but right now, what're you proposing? Voting third party? Why, exactly? Do you only value "taking a stand", or are you actually trying to do what's in everyone's best interest?

[-] KoboldCoterie@pawb.social 6 points 1 day ago

The problem is really that republicans keep putting up the worst possible candidates and policies. If the choice was "A sort of bad candidate or another sort of bad candidate", we'd all happily vote third party and if the slightly-worse-but-not-appreciably-so candidate won as a result, it wouldn't be a huge hurdle and over a few election cycles we could maybe effect change.

Instead, in that scenario, it leads to Trump and Project 2025 and I'd love to hear your explanation of how that helps us get progressive candidates into office, because I just don't see it.

I'm a "single issue voter" and that "single issue" is that I don't want another Trump presidency, so I'll vote strategically to prevent that from happening, even if I'd much rather have someone else.

[-] KoboldCoterie@pawb.social 7 points 4 days ago

It'll certainly expand their reputation, but not in a good way.

[-] KoboldCoterie@pawb.social 9 points 4 days ago

The answer can be found by looking at how most of the commercial open source products are monetized. Software hosting and technical support are quite lucrative if the software is valuable.

This only applies to some software, though, no? Like, let's say a group of folks make a game or something, and release it as FOSS. Assuming they're not hobbyists, and this is their career, how are they covering costs and making a living on that?

How do content creators get paid?

Largely through sponsorships, I think, right? Sponsorships and crowdfunding, but both of those require some measure of notoriety. It's an unfortunate case where you have to spend a lot of effort doing it effectively unpaid until you get a following large enough to bring in sponsorship money or ad revenue or donations. Or you need to be a pretty woman who's willing to monetize that, that seems to have a much lower barrier to entry.

[-] KoboldCoterie@pawb.social 4 points 5 days ago

Out of curiosity, under this system, how do the people writing the software get paid? Are they all dependent on donations?

[-] KoboldCoterie@pawb.social 15 points 5 days ago

I don’t think there was much that will hurt Harris from it. She performed very well.

She was articulate, well-spoken, performed well unscripted, and next to Trump she looked like she had her shit very together.

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I made this. (pawb.social)
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I really don't have a lot of background on cluster munitions; it only really came into my perception in response to the controversy over the US providing them to Ukraine. As I understand it, the controversy is because they often don't all explode reliably, and unexploded munitions can then explode months or years later when civilians are occupying the territory, making it similar to the problems caused by landmines.

In an age where things like location trackers, radio transmitters, and other such local and long-range technology to locate objects are common place, what's stopping the manufacturers of these munitions from simply putting some kind of device to facilitate tracking inside each individual explosive, to assist with detection and safe retrieval after a conflict? I get that nothing is a 100% effective solution, but it seems like it'd solve most of it.

Can someone with actual knowledge explain why this is still a problem we're having?

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KoboldCoterie

joined 1 year ago