It’s vendor lockin. Office file formats are not properly open. There is a “temporary” closed bit that they promised to open to get through ISO, but then never did. The whole ISO thing was a massive exercise in corruption. Let alone the fact the reference implementation is closed. Shame Groklaw isn’t as easy to search and link now.
The problem is that level of wealth should not be in anyone’s hand. Elon is demonstrating why, but Elon shouldn’t have been allowed to get into this position.
The problem is near trillionaire shouldn’t exist. This one being bat shit and being a destabilizing world influence is just highlighting it. He’s got more money than many countries.
Pure is a nonsense absolutely.
I’d remove the monarchy, but right now it isn’t doing any harm. When it does, it will be removed from the system. That tension, that “sword of damocles”, the monarchy is very aware of and it keeps them in check. No one should be born into positions and I have no time for royals complaining of their gilded cage. At some point the UK will restructure I"m sure (federate and decentralise) and each time wil reduce the monarchy position.
I said “arguably the press was a bit too free”. That is not saying I think it is. Only that I see a case for the argument it is. Out of that and a totally state controlled press, free is better. Things fester in darkness. Unaccountable power corrupts. Fact free needs more consequences, but that isn’t the same as choking freedom.
Money drives China just as much. That’s OK. Money is just an expression of value we are prepared to exchange. It’s an intermediate used between goods. An abstraction. Even if we ever get to post scarcity, it will be with us.
Taiwan does want China. It can see what happened to Hong Kong. We all can. If China wants it, it will have to take it by force. Just like Russia is trying to with Ukraine.
Their wealth is going to end up with a lot of “stranded assets”.
So we agree countries are really a shades of grey. Personally, I would move more infrastructure to state ownership in the UK. Other countries it is up to them, though the US private health is clearly an epic murderous fail. As long as the setup doesn’t make trade unfair and start tariff problems.
In the UK monarchy is symbolic. They can’t take sides on anything officially. If they did, it would be a scandal. Most democracies with a monarchy are similar or have them not even symbolically part of the system. Their power is purely adversely and in networking.
Based on rumour and the queens dresses at the time, and family history, it is widely thought the queen did not want Brexit. But it happened anyway. It brought down the PM of the time as well. In fact it was the start of a series of short lived PMs. Mainly because Brexit is a batshit idea and the promises made are incompatible with each other and reality! Arguably the press was a bit too free. Free from fact. All suboptimal, but doesn’t back you ruling Bourgeoisie angle. I’m pretty sure we be back in the EU one day anyway due to demographics and economic realities.
I say again, it can only up to the people of Taiwan if they are assimilated into China. If they vote for it, (I recommended a 66+% super majority to avoid Brexit 52% nonsense) I’d have no issue. If they don’t and are just invaded, I have a big issue with it. Like I do with Russia invading Ukraine and Israel’s genocide.
The trueth is all the countries you are calling capitalist because are probably all mixed economies. With a lot owned by the state. Here in the UK that includes our health service, education system, roads, the electricity grid, and more. Rail is being renationalised and water probably will have to be too as its privatisation (by the Conservatives in the 80s) has been an epic fail. The key difference is these countries can peacefully kick out the government and the government is answerable to laws. Laws it sets. We recently had a PM brought down for breaking his own Covid laws. We have free press holding governments to account. All kind of freedom of information and transparency.
China started out more communist than if is now. More like the USSR.
Taiwan is mixed economy like western democracies, and doesn’t want to be like China. Which is why China is having to talk about inflicting it by force.
BSD and other permissively licenced code is used a load in games. PS4-PS5 are FreeBSD based I think. GCC is often the compiler used for these platforms. Though maybe Clang + LVM now. So loads of FOSS is used, but these is little community participation. That what non-copyleft allows. Maybe it’s better now. I left games over 12 years ago now and not really following.
So we agree modern China is not communist. From what I skim (not really read to be honest) capitalism came to China via Deng Xiaoping. Its not been becoming less capitalism since. Now it’s not different than other capitalist countries, only the state at the centre isn’t democratic and not accountable to its people or laws.
“Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit.”
This applies to modern China.
Communism’s brief doesn’t fit modern China “a socioeconomic order centered around common ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange that allocates products to everyone in society based on need.”
I think they are both best just signing mutual recognition and moving on. Neither is the same as they where when they seperated.
Your saying it’s not capitalist and it clearly is now.
For the US example, it’s not comparable if you go back to Indigenous Peoples. That’s a whole other thing.
Capitalist lost? You seen modern day China? Hardly anti-capitalist. Taiwan should get to decide if it’s part of China or not. Doesn’t seam they want undemocratic dystopia.
Going to your America example, the Brits withdrew to Canada. You with Trump with invading Canada then? A 1812 rematch?
I think we are in the cyberpunk dystopia today. I hope we are heading for a solarpunk future. Green tech is now cheap effective tech. Open technology is taking over more and more. Most people just don’t see that because the bit they interact with is wrapped with closed.
The problems of massive international monopolies is also economic one of lack of innovation and price competition. The problem of inequality so bad the rich can basically buy countries elections, is also economic one. At the other end of it, people can’t buy well, and are stuck in the “Sam Vimes’s boots problem”, which is bad economics. It’s “lost opportunity cost” to have to waste money like that. Same with “right to repair”, it’s rubbish for citizen and society to have to not be able to repair. Etc etc
Where the economics leads is more solarpunk than today. 😃
Things, economics now is favour of green. Not just to avoid a future no one wants, but because to be green is cheaper and better, today.
Mine was like 2005 for home and 2012 for work. Windows and Mac are a distant memory. Thankfully.
Linux owns more than server/web space. It’s everywhere. A lot of IoT is Linux too. Also drones, router, switches, NASs, smart white goods, cars, etc, often have Linux in somewhere too. TVs were Linux, but are now Android, which is Linux but not GNU/Linux. Basically user facing Linux is often Android, though not the Steam Deck.
I think WSL1 was derived from the POSIX NT personality layer.
I’ve not seen Strongdor in a long time…