The problem with institutions funding the social side of #openweb tech

Almost all our #geekproblem software fails because they are building “control”, where all good societies are built on “trust”. We keep making piles of #techshit because we can’t communicate about this simple understanding #techchurn one way to address this is to fund the social side of tech.

The problem which we need to solve is the institutions funding of the social side of #openweb tech, if we do this now most of this funding will feed parasite #NGO’s rather than anything useful. This is also a problem of the existing funding for coding, it pushes the #geekproblem when it funds anything outside the basics.

We have a mess because our world is messy, current funding plays little role in composting this mess.

That’s the job of people with shovels – who funds them.

Most of our software fails because it is built with a focus on “control”, rather than “trust”, which is the foundation of a good society. This leads to an endless cycle of creating useless technology that we can’t communicate about. To address this problem, we need to invest in the social side of technology.

The challenge lies in funding the social aspect of #openweb technology. Currently, most funding goes to non-governmental organizations (#NGOs) that are not always effective. Additionally, the existing funding for coding primarily focuses on the basics, which perpetuates the problem of the #geekproblem.

Our world is messy, and the current funding plays little role in cleaning up this mess. People with shovels – those who do the work – need funding to make a difference.

A large-scale protest against the construction of an open-cast coal mine in Fos-y-fran, South Wales

A large-scale protest against the construction of an open-cast coal mine in Fos-y-fran, South Wales. Climate activists from across Wales and local residents, took direct action by occupying the construction site and chaining themselves to the excavation machinery. The protest is a symbol of the battle against climate change and a challenge to the government’s stance on the issue, with the protesters accusing the government of hypocrisy for participating in international talks on reducing carbon emissions while supporting the development of new coal mines at home. The protesters believe that the use of coal, the dirtiest fuel, will have a devastating impact on the global climate and will undermine efforts to address the issue.

Thnking about “communerty”

Reflecting on the history of community spaces and how they have evolved over time. In the 19th and 20th centuries, two main types of community spaces existed: village halls and church halls. Village halls were neutral spaces for community events run by a local group, while church halls had a moralistic and ideological focus and were more restricted by the attitudes of the church.

The rise of community centres, in the mid-20th century, were driven by ideas of social justice and community empowerment. However, these centres later became commercialized and bureaucratized, losing their focus on community empowerment. In the 21st century, we need to “reboot” the older ideas of community spaces, such as the village hall, to better reflect the different needs and values of contemporary society.

If people care, if people do not care.

The Hive Dalston was a grassroots community centre that was started as a collaboration between radical squatters and more mainstream arts groups. The aim was to take advantage of the Tory “big society” legislation, which offered incentives for the social use of empty properties. However, the project soon failed to maintain its radicalism and became more like a conventional community centre, with a focus on the arts and NGOs.

This highlights the challenges of balancing the need to stay sustainable while remaining relevant and true to the original goals and ideals of the project. The failure of The Hive Dalston raises questions about the viability of similar projects and whether they can walk the tightrope of sustainability and relevance. The success of such projects depends on the level of community support and interest. If people do not care enough about the issues and goals, then they are unlikely to succeed.

Thinking about why #openweb projects fail.

Many #openweb projects have failed over the years, and there are reasons, first is the challenge of sustaining a project that is built on open-source principles and relies on community involvement and collaboration. In capitalism, without a clear and consistent funding model, it can be difficult to keep projects going over the long term.

Another factor is the competition from proprietary technology that is always better funded and more easily accessible to the public. This can create a challenging environment for open-source projects that struggle to keep up with the pushing of “innovation” in the tech industry.

There are also ideological differences between different groups within the open-source community that leads to conflicts and disagreements over the direction of projects. This can result in splintering and fragmentation of the community, making it difficult to achieve a shared goal.

Non “standard” #UX is a big issue as well, nice to make something you like, but better to do something the user community likes.

From @bob@epicyon.libreserver.org Irreconcilable musical differences, someone in charge of donations taking it to Vegas, becoming a parent or getting a new job, burnout, unrealistic expectations based on hegemonic BigTech systems, illness, an excess of technical debt and trolling can all result in failures of open source projects.

Most projects are one or two people with occasional driveby patches. Projects with more volunteers than that are rare exceptions. Most maintainers are not people on six-figure salaries going on slides at Google. Usually they are barely making rent.

Another factor is that often accessibility is not as good as it could be. The big companies can dedicate a department to just ensuring accessibility meets a minimum standard, but open source projects often don’t have the knowledge and are regularly criticized for accessibility problems.

From the #openweb

(https://elplatt.com/) happy to remove this link if asked

The main challenges I’ve experienced in projects I’ve been a part of:
* Tendency for potential contributors to start new projects from scratch
* Lack of communication within the user community and between users and maintainers
* Contributions driven by prestige or excitement, prioritizing new features over maintenance
* Lack of funding

It’s a good list, maybe we need a post writing up covering them all.

(This is why I work #KISS whaw that is bad behaver, lie about someone then blocked their instance. #GreatjusticeNet has blocked campaign.openworlds.info for plagiarizing fediverse content. In this post, it says “From the #openweb” in BOLD, so clearly it’s not plagiarism. But happy to remove stuff if people don’t won’t it archived)

 

Over the years, many #openweb projects have failed due to various reasons. The first challenge is to sustain a project that is built on open-source principles and relies on community involvement and collaboration. In a capitalist society, without a clear and consistent funding model, it becomes difficult to keep the project going over the long term.

Another factor is the competition from proprietary technology that is better funded and more easily accessible to the public. This creates a challenging environment for open-source projects that struggle to keep up with the “innovation” pushed by the tech industry.

Ideological differences within the open-source community leads to conflicts and disagreements over project direction, resulting in splintering and fragmentation of the community, making it challenging to achieve shared goals.

Non-standard #UX is also a significant issue, as it’s better to create something the user community likes than something just the developer likes.

Some ideas on this from the #openweb, irreconcilable musical differences, individuals in charge of donations taking it to Vegas, becoming a parent, getting a new job, burnout, unrealistic expectations based on hegemonic BigTech systems, illness, an excess of technical debt, and trolling can all result in open-source project failures.

Most projects have only one or two people, with occasional drive-by patches. Projects with more volunteers are rare exceptions, and maintainers are typically not people on six-figure salaries going on slides at Google. Usually, they barely make rent.

To sum up, the main challenges experienced in the projects that the author has been a part of include the tendency for potential contributors to start new projects from scratch, lack of communication within the user community and between users and maintainers, contributions driven by prestige or excitement, prioritizing new features over maintenance, and lack of funding.

Additionally, accessibility is often not as good as it could be, as big companies can dedicate a department to ensure accessibility meets a minimum standard, but open-source projects often lack the knowledge and are regularly criticized for accessibility problems.

In conclusion, a post covering all these challenges would be useful.

Looking at #DIY projects

* The Village Butty project was a crucial part of the boater community in London, and its success was dependent on a balance between community value and money-making outreach. To keep the success of the #VillageButty project and the preservation of the boater culture in London, it was important to find a way to strike a balance between these two aspects. We failed.

* The London Hackspace was a valuable and important part of the alternative DIY organizing scene in the city. Originally set up and run by a competent invisible affinity group, the success of the space led to an increase in membership, which ultimately caused dysfunction within the group due to dilution and burnout of the original core crew. The affinity organizing became submerged into bureaucracy, which resulted in hard rules and conflicts between members in online spaces. This was reflected in the real world space to become dull and filled with low-level issues. It failed.

* The Hive Dalston started with good intentions, but ultimately fell into an ideological clash that became shrouded in personal politics. Without a clear vision, tensions between members were not addressed and eventually one side took over the running of the project, leading it to become a one-sided, ideologically driven entity that became part of the problem rather than part of the solution. We failed.

This is basic to thinking – ideolagy

Different economic systems are based on different ideas of what it means to be human and what motivates us. The Old Testament in Christianity reflects a negative view of humanity, while the New Testament focuses on love and the idea of a common humanity. Capitalism,  is based on the idea that greed and self-interest drive individuals and the market, while socialism is based on the idea that solidarity and cooperation are what motivate people.

This division between different ideologies and worldviews is a long-standing one. Understanding the underlying assumptions about human nature can provide a useful framework for examining and critiquing different economic systems and ideologies, and help us make informed decisions about the kind of society we want to build.

“the currency of the 21st century is information”

“the currency of the 21st century is information” highlights the growing importance of data and knowledge in our rapidly-evolving digital world. For the last 5 years, the rise of encryption and cryptocurrencies is on aspect of this trend, reflecting a growing concern for privacy and the secure exchange of information.

The unspoken liberal individualism and private property ideas that comes with encryption and cryptocurrencies is a market-based approach that prioritizes exploitation, greed, and selfishness. In contrast, can be seen as promoting connection, cooperation, and altruism.

The concept of a approach, which prioritizes connection, cooperation, and trust, represents an alternative to the market-based approach and highlights the importance of social norms and values in shaping the technology we use.

There is a divide between the “soft power” of social norms and the “hard power” of code in the #geekproblem, and the challenge is to find ways to talk about these issues and bring them into the #mainstreaming discourse.

A simple view of the #OMN project

The Open Media Network (#OMN) is a simple project that focuses on building trust-based human networks using technology. The network allows users to publish, subscribe, moderate, rollback, and edit content on various sites they have a login on.

For a single user, the process begins with publishing content and adding metadata such as tags. If someone subscribes to the user, they receive the published content and can even add new tags to it.

If the user comes across interesting content, they can choose to subscribe to that person, organization, tag, or site. If they’re not sure about the content or its source, they can put it on moderation, which means it will only appear on their private news feed. If they trust the content and its source, they can let it through, and it will appear on their public news feed.

However, if the source breaks their trust, the user can rollback their content to a time before they started spamming. The new content will only appear on their private news feed, but they can still choose to let individual pieces through if they wish.

In summary, the #OMN allows users to control and manage the content they receive and ensures that it comes from trusted sources

DRAFT film script for #boatingeurope

INT. ACTIVIST WORKSHOP, LONDON – DAY

Hamish is leading a group of activists in a video production workshop. He is enthusiastic and passionate, demonstrating how to use a camera and editing software.

HAMISH (V.O.)
“My name is Hamish, and I’ve been a media activist for 20 years. I recently received a windfall from an Italian feature film. I had been in London for 5 years, running media workshops, and I decided it was time to sail away.”

Cut to Hamish on a coffee break. He stumbles upon a large, orange lifeboat covered in concrete blocks.

HAMISH (V.O.)
“While out for coffee, I discovered a big orange lifeboat covered in concrete blocks. I found the source of the lifeboat and gave the supplier a call. It turned out to be a wee man in Aberdeen.”

Cut to Hamish at the Rainbow Gathering near the Greek-Albanian border, waiting for his boat.

HAMISH (V.O.)
“At the end of the gathering, I received an email that my boat would be arriving in a few days.”

Cut to Hamish’s trip to Scotland to pick up his boat. He is taking the train and camping on an island.

HAMISH (V.O.)
“I took a trip to Scotland to pick up my boat. It was the best railway line in the world, and I camped on an island. I was interviewed about why I wanted the boat.”

Cut to Hamish’s second trip to Scotland to work on his boat. The truck delivering the boat was delayed, so Hamish went to Balcombe to do some media training.

HAMISH (V.O.)
“The truck was delayed, so instead of waiting around, I decided to go to Balcombe to do some media training.”

Cut to Hamish in Balcombe, fixing the tech side of the camp and not being able to do any media training.

HAMISH (V.O.)
“Everything was broken, so I had to fix the tech side of the camp. No media training was done.”

Cut to the boat finally arriving, being craned into the water. Hamish is driving it to London.

HAMISH (V.O.)
“The boat finally arrived, and I drove it to London. I encountered some low bridges and used cyclists as ballast along the way.”

Cut to Hamish arriving in London.

HAMISH (V.O.)
“I finally arrived in London, after a journey filled with challenges and obstacles. But I made it, and I’m ready to continue my activism with a new perspective and a new tool.”

FADE TO BLACK.

How do you understand a conservative worldview?

The culture of hopelessness is a deeply conservative reaction to social change and challenges. This culture is often characterized by a focus on reaction and inward-looking tribalism, rather than hope and progress. An example would be meme culture and sarcasm, that often conforms to a narrow consumerist view that lacks power to address wider social issues. This is an example of “invisible” movements contributing to the problem we face rather than being part of the solution. Simply #deathcult mentality and the #mainstreaming #stupidindividualism are not leading to human flourishing.

We used to have heathy alt culture

#Indymedia was a global network of independently-operated media outlets that provide an alternative to #mainstreaming media and promote participatory and decentralized journalism. The network was founded in 1999 to cover events and provide a platform for activists, community groups and journalists to share their perspectives and experiences.

#Indymedia consisted of hundreds of websites and local collectives, each with their own focus and editorial policies, but all sharing radical and PGA hall marks working.

Over the years, the Indymedia network faced challenges, including censorship, legal pressure, and technical issues, but it remained an important and influential platform for independent media until its decline in the late 2000s and early 2010s.