All billionaires should be required to prove they’re not made of cake.
Instead of spending 200$ a month on subscriptions, spend 300$ on a used PC, take a weekend to learn how to selfhost/pirate and then pay 5$ for a trustworthy vpn like mullvad. If you’re in the EU, send data deletion requests to every big company you’ve had an account with. Start buying things off local retailers, not Amazon. Buy computers/phones either second hand or from smaller/more trustworthy manufacturers…
And most importantly. NEVER. STOP. COMPLAINING. ABOUT. IT. The moment the complaints stop is the moment that bullshit is accepted…
Not sure if this is really accessible for everyone.
It’s probably easy to underestimate how difficult setting up and managing services can be.
You don’t need to do everything I mentioned, doing one of those things is more than enough… You don’t need to self host, I know it’s hard, I’m just putting it out there as an option :>
There are IPTV options out there too. Their apps usually work with whatever device you have. Just sign up and get the app.
YunoHost is what I use and its mainly been smooth.
It’s not hard and there’s plenty of people, like myself, that are willing to help you. Let’s work together.
It may not be “hard”, yet it’s just not practically possible for most people.
It is practically possible. You just have to put in a small amount of effort. Anyone saying it’s too hard has given up without trying.
I work in IT. Trust me, it’s well beyond a lot of people.
I’m a software engineer and I had to quit self-hosting due to simply not having the time nor the ability to research and keep up with security, products that were going away, new ones, etc. I have a job, run a farm, and do housework and other work. It’s just not in the cards for me.
I work in tech and I promise it’s not. I worked my way through support and engineering and then did development. I promise people aren’t as bad at tech as they appear to you. The only thing stopping people is laziness.
It’s not “too hard”, it just completely unreasonable to expect people in general to self host as a way to “fight against tech billionaires”.
I can assure you that most people would find the amount of effort required to learn, implement, and maintain self hosted services to be unpractical.
It’s not impractical. It requires effort and Americans are too busy watching Netflix and spanking the monkey to do much of anything.
I’m interested in this a bit. I worry about setting up some sort of server that is going to be facing the Internet though. Is there a good guide or starting place for something like this? If I just want an easy or approachable solution with some limitations as a trade off for easy and safe setup? I feel like I’ve heard of Plex servers before, but no clue if that’s the best way to go or not. Where would one start to learn more?
Are you just looking to share files or swap to Linux? If it’s just Linux you can dip your toes in the water first: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install
That method does not get you a GUI though. You will be using the terminal. I recommend pairing it with MobaXTerm, an enhanced terminal, as Moba presents the file system in a windows like way. It’s great for learning and you don’t have to have the paid version, though it is a perpetual license.
I’d always recommend Ubuntu for beginners. It’s not necessary the easiest, but it’s pretty simple and where you’d struggle prepares you well for other Linux Distributions, or distros. It often comes with a windows like GUI.
There’s also an option to “Try Ubuntu” by running it off a USB. It won’t persist, or remember anything, between reboots, but that can be an advantage. I personally carry a drive with my own Live USB on my keychain.
When you’re ready you can try setting up Dual Boot, where you choose to enter Windows or Linux on startup or jump in all the way.
You can run Linux off an old laptop, a raspberry/orange/banana pi or build something dedicated. I’m happy to help with any of them.
Oh no need to sell me on Linux, I’m a fan of Linux Mint and Ubuntu, but my current laptop is an Apple M2 Pro, so if I can keep using that as my daily driver, I think I will. I’m most interested in more of a file sharing server type of service perhaps. Some way I could decouple from Google Drive for file storage is probably a good entry spot I’d think. I have an Ubuntu laptop with a dead battery I’ve not turned on in years I could repurpose as a server I’d think. It started it’s life as an MSI “gaming” Windows laptop, so it should have enough horsepower to be a file server if I knew what software to use and how to safely configure it and what software to use on my other devices to safely access it.
Have you tried just using a fileshare if it’s just your other devices? You can VPN into a cheap Edge Router Lite and be able to access it remotely. I think you’ll need a Dynamic DNS subscription for most residential locations. Your ISP may let you set a static one. May.
You’d need to secure the VPN, but it is a pretty solid setup. You can even get the Edge Router to act as a firewall or split up the network so you can only VPN into a specific segment of your network. It sounds complicated, but it’s not too bad. A whole lot of I can guide you through it if that’s what you want.
Tailscale may be easier from a setup perspective. I’ve never done a deep dive into the company and I’m more of a “do it myself” kinda guy, but I did like it when I tried it out for a while. It was definitely easy and effective. There’s also HeadScale and NetMaker, but I don’t have personal experience I can speak from on either. I wouldn’t mind learning if you want to try it.
Tailscale does sound pretty cool, and could be an option. It sounds super easy to setup which I like. I have Comcast as my service provider, so I’d have to see what they offer DNS and Static IP addresses.
I have not looked at what all my fileshare options are but doing a bit of digging it sounds like maybe I should look at Samba and see if that would work. They don’t mention mobile device support, but it is free open source software, which I love. I wonder if having a Samba service just for local network file sharing is a security issue. I would assume it is not, but I could be wrong. I’m willing to bet I’d need to be cautious with the configuration of Samba.
I set up a Jellyfin server on a 10 year old laptop that sits closed in the corner and I have access to play the content from my TV in the living room and bedroom, and any other device that I connect to my network and it was fairly simple. Finding content is likely the hinge that holds more people back. My lazy ass didn’t want to have to go to the corner to acquire content so I set up rustdesk on my phone so I can remote to the laptop from my phone, turn the VPN on to hop to Madrid or so, and acquire what is wanted then remote to it later on to take it back off the VPN. (Allows me to do such when out and about, say someone mentions a movie or show when at work)
Was going to see if I could punch a hole with tailscale so I could leave the Jellyfin server local and just share the drive so I could write to it from “Spain” while read from it on the TV without having to switch the VPN on and off but haven’t had a a few hours to spend on that yet. The shared drive is an old 5400rpm drive and it’ll play movies at 1080p in 2 rooms without issue. (I don’t bother with 4k, my eyes really aren’t good enough to find the storage space use worth it)
I’m not really sure what you’re getting at?
I’ve been self hosting for many years. Including mission critical data for my consultancy.
It’s a great hobby and I’d encourage anyone who’s interested to get involved.
That said, for people looking for a way to “fight against tech billionaires”, migrating their google drive to a self hosted nextcloud instance from a cold start with no experience in self hosting is inadvisable.
They were talking about cutting down on $200 worth of subscriptions every month. I figured they were referring to Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Amazon Prime, Spotify, Paramount or whatever other steaming services charge monthly.
I was getting at it isn’t that hard to do. Could knock it down to ~20 a month pretty manageably.
Stop using and/or buying their products comes to mind.
Adblock, Firefox, don’t buy new phones, etc etc etc
People keep answering by trying to tell you to consume your way out of this.
There is only one way, organize, unionize and vote!
Voting? Really? You still think the corrupt system can be fixed using the corrupt system?
Many will believe that forever
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0gmsfr3
3 minute scene from planet earth series with seals chasing a great white shark away
Individually? Nothing. Therefore: Organise, organise, organise
Computer, who is Luigi Mangione?
The solution is simple, but not easy: Stop using their products. A mass exodus of their users will quickly take away their power.
Stop using all Alphabet/Google products. Other search engines, email providers, streaming video, and even cell phone operating systems exist. Switch to them.
Stop using all Meta products. Other social networks and messaging applications exist. Switch to them.
Stop buying from Amazon and watching their streams. Other online stores and streaming media exists. Switch to them.
Keep going for every company who has a billionaire CEO, owner, or shareholder. Their fortunes will evaporate quickly.
Who are those two in the picture? Are we supposed to know them?
that’s edited photo, original is just as derpy. it’s altman and nadella
btw this is very much a “heartwarming - the worst people you know are fighting” sitution
Call Luigi?
Luigi did his part. One luigi per ceo not one luigi for all the ceos
While I don’t expect more of this person, going the Batman/Jesus route would be helpful.
Edit: Although, I prefer the V for Vendetta method where we all anonymously fight back and take back over.
Batman is a rich man.
Yes, but the people didn’t know that. They blamed him for things he didn’t do. He allowed that for the greater good.
Assuming Luigi Mangione is responsible for the murder of that CEO strips him of his presumption of innocence. Maybe refer to the gunman from the video as “The Adjuster” like people did before Mangione was accused until the trial is complete.
But if he’s not the shooter, what if the real Adjuster isn’t as hot as Luigi?
(I’m just kidding though, I totally agree with you)
That’s a great insight! However, there’s only one true Luigi…
An individual can do very little.
Which is why we organize, strike, and practice solidarity, together.
If you want to help, look for left movements in your area. Food Not Bombs for example.
Find out what National union would support your profession and go help them out.
On your own? Not much. You can stop using certain products, save money, and so on. But that’s mostly going to help make your individual existence a bit better/less bad. The CEO’s aren’t gonna give a flying fuck.
But our strength is in our numbers. Get organized. Maybe in a political party, maybe “just” in some sort of collective that helps in an area you care about. Help others in whatever capacity fits your abilities and your situation. And don’t expect it to be a quick victory. That will only result in disappointment. As a wise man (?) once so succinctly put it: “Apes together strong.”
Fight for regulation
The only thing that can stop them from their established position of power and influence is regulation that limits those, with effective checks and prosecution.
Split up their platforms and companies, require transparency and provable decency, require structural or behavioral changes
They have so much money, fines won’t do a thing [unless they’re excessively high and against their companies]. They have such established prevalence with their platforms, activism of and with evasion won’t have much of an impact at scale.
Demonstrating public aversion towards advertisers is also a workable approach that could have an impact [long term].
I’m all for that, BUT
Tech companies tend to push for policies that seem to regulate their strategies, but are really designed to not let anyone else use the loopholes they used for themselves. In that they are trying to weed out competition and become a monopoly. So if there are regulations, they need to be thought through. And definitely not be Big Tech backed.
EU has recent regulations that only apply to the big platforms. That’s one way to implement that.
You start by 3D printing a gun.
artillery
antiaircraft gun antitank weapon Big Bertha cannon French 75 Vulcan automatic cannon coastal artillery German 88 Maxim machine gun mortar Panzerfaust Panzerschreck Paris Gun Schwarzlose machine gun
biological weaponry
anthrax plague Q fever ricin smallpox yellow rain
chemical weaponry
adamsite diphosgene hydrogen cyanide lewisite nerve gas phosgene tear gas chloropicrin
combat weapons ranged weapons
bola boomerang bow and arrow crossbow longbow grapeshot flamethrower Greek fire sling spear spear-thrower
hand-to-hand combat weapons
bayonet club dagger halberd lance pike quarterstaff sabre sword tomahawk
explosives bombs
depth charge dirty bomb grenade improvised explosive device mine shrapnel
explosive substances
PETN RDX trinitrotoluene (TNT)
missiles ballistic missiles
antiballistic missile ICBM Lance missile Peacekeeper missile Minuteman missile Nike missile Polaris missile Poseidon missile torpedo Trident missile V-2 missile
cruise missiles
Tomahawk V-1 missile
rockets
bazooka Congreve rocket
firearms manual
air gun blowgun blunderbuss carbine Spencer carbine Gatling gun handgun pistol revolver derringer harquebus musket rifle Dreyse rifle Lee-Enfield rifle Mauser rifle Springfield rifle shotgun
semiautomatic
handgun pistol semiautomatic pistol Luger pistol revolver rifle assault rifle AK-47 ArmaLite rifle M16 rifle Garand rifle repeating rifle Springfield rifle
automatic
handgun machine gun Bren machine gun Browning automatic rifle Hotchkiss machine gun MG42 MAG machine gun Maxim machine gun Schwarzlose machine gun rifle assault rifle AK-47 M16 rifle Browning automatic rifle submachine gun Sten gun Thompson submachine gun Uzi submachine gun
nuclear weapons
intermediate-range nuclear weapons tactical nuclear weapon thermonuclear bomb atomic bomb neutron bomb weapon of mass destruction
siege weapons
battering ram Big Bertha cannon French 75 catapult onager culverin German 88 ram Vulcan automatic cannon
I refuse to recognize a trebuchet as a form of catapult. Just as you have had to separate handguns and rifles, one should also recognize a trebuchet’s superior siege ability at range
I will send a strongly worded letter to the random website from which I copied and pasted this.
Thank you kind person. May every road rise up to meet you, and every building you siege fall hastily
Tie your letter to a rock and trebuchet it at them, or whichever cloud they live in.
Send it with a trebuchet.
Shit. You said my trigger word.