sajran

Software development and computer stuff in general is my passion. I enjoy doing it as a hobby even after doing it at work. If I didn't have to work for money, I would probably work on some open source software. In fact that's kinda my dream / goal - achieve financial independence and work on open source as I please.

I don't see how this supports your point then. If "setting up proxy" means "packaging it to run on thousands user machines" then isn't there obvious and huge potential for a disastrous fuckup?

Setting up proxy is not engineering.

Ente is as close as you can get to Google Photos with E2EE right now. I recently migrated there. The migration wasn't painless and involved some scripting to handle albums and duplicates but the service itself is really good. Can recommend!

I really hope this happens. NFC payments are the only thing that keeps me from switching to GrapheneOS. Seeing how the situation with big tech unfolds, it's not impossible that I will decide to give up this convenience though.

I'm so excited for Cosmic!

I just don't think the majority of people are motivated enough. I have met many people who have no hobbies and no ambitions and just don't want to do anything productive. They would like to spend their entire lives playing video games or partying or something similar.

And this is just about the lack of motivation, but what about malicious actors? People who would sabotage other's efforts or try to profit in an unfair way? How would you ensure this won't happen?

What about shitty and unpleasant but necessary jobs no one wants to do?

The idea that once you remove the money everyone will suddenly feel the desire to serve the society is bonkers. Don't get me wrong, I don't love capitalism. I want to believe the world like that is possible, I really do, but I just can't see it working. I live in a society where I have to use a 3 kg bike lock in order not to lose my bike and even then I have to detach the $10 light and take it with me because otherwise it won't be there when I come back. I have zero trust and belief that such society can magically self organize and work together towards a common happiness.

In such a system, people work on what they want, when they want, and provide for society because it's their true desire.

I find it kinda hard to believe that people would be able to achieve the level of organization and would be willing to put in the effort required just by doing what they want when they want, without any outside incentive. I'm not talking about a painting or a book, that's why I specifically mentioned things requiring large investments. And by investment I didn't mean just money but time and effort in general.

That might be true in many cases but do you actually believe that things requiring immense investments and years of work like AAA games and high budget blockbuster movies would be created in any system?

Yeah, I didn't mention this but if it's just impossible to buy something then I don't see anything wrong about piracy. No one looses anything.

I definitely mean "stealing" as "depriving the publisher of the cost". Limiting the term "stealing" just to moving physical objects really makes no sense in the current world.

it only holds if you'd actually have ponied up were the content not available for free

That's an interesting case I never really considered. If you only genuinely pirate stuff you would never buy otherwise then... I guess it's fine? But this alone doesn't put the end to the discussion because I find it really hard to believe that people would just give up all of the stuff they pirate if they had to pay for it. But in some cases, sure, sounds reasonable.

Artistic content is, believe it or not, produced outside of capitalism as well.

That's true of course but I don't think just pretending we don't live in a capitalist world and taking stuff for free is making this world better in any way.

Let's say something costs $20, from which 75% goes to make some rich guy even richer and only 25% goes to the actual author who put in the work. It's more important to me to give that $5 to the author than NOT to give the $15 to the rich guy. Would I prefer there wasn't a rich guy in the equation? Yes, of course, but that's often just not possible.

In the end, I genuinely want the world to be a better place but I don't really believe in extreme solutions. I appreciate your civilized answer despite different opinions. Peace!

No, I don't, because I can afford stuff and pirating in this situation would be just pure stealing which I believe is morally wrong. Yes, being a billionaire is usually morally wrong too but I don't think it just cancels out.

Justifying piracy by saying capitalism is bad sounds like a hypocrisy to me. You want to use something that exists thanks to capitalism without participating in it. You want to eat your cake and have it too.

Now, the case is different for people that can't afford stuff, especially when they genuinely need it (but I don't draw the line at entertainment, after all people NEED entertainment too). In that case, please pirate away. Everyone deserves a decent life. In general, I largely agree with OP's friend.