4 ms·

Is it just me or does this feel to be written in a FUD marketing style? Very strong focus on fear in the writing and what seems like cherry picked examples. Th

Is it just me or does this feel to be written in a FUD marketing style? Very strong focus on fear in the writing and what seems like cherry picked examples. Then again I have learned to have a defensive and negative reaction to anything that even smells like marketing so it's hard for me to tell anymore.

dmurray 6y ago
The target market for a Librem phone is people who are hardcore about privacy and/or computing freedoms, who are probably motivated at least partially by fear.
- fragsworth 6y ago
  It's a marketing piece, but I don't see anything terribly wrong with what they wrote. I also don't think you have to be that hardcore about it to want your phone to work like this.
- dbcurtis 6y ago
  Congratulations! Your post made me do something that almost never happens -- I went and read an article that I otherwise had no intention of reading :) So here is a data point, it is only one, but it is mine: I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my pre-ordered Librem 5. My motivation is almost entirely computing freedom, and a desire to support that concept in phones. I don't expect this phone to be polished enough to become my daily-driver. I don't expect that the cost/performance is going to look attractive. But I strongly believe in computing freedom, and I am willing to buy an overpriced phone in order to support and encourage the concept. Putting up money in a way that matters, and helping to demonstrate that a market exists, instead of merely talking about it. Fear is not a motivator for me. A desire for privacy is somewhat. I would estimate my freedom/privacy/fear breakdown as 85/15/0%. So to GP's post, is the article fear-mongering/FUD? IMHO, nah, just marketing blather designed to resonate with the kind of person that will give them money. Is whole-house alarm system marketing material fear-mongering? Also a matter of opinion and circumstance. As I said, for me it is about computing freedom. I don't think I am a hard-core Stallmanite. But I have been around long enough that I did CS homeworks on punch cards, and my friends and I all had to solder together our first personal computers because everything available came in kit form back then. I used to think RMS was pretty far out there. But from my perspective looking back over the years, I have to admit "RMS was right" more often than I like too.
alfiedotwtf 6y ago
Instead of attacking the writing style, how about you attack the questions raised. It’s bang on. You don’t own your iOS or Android phone, you’re renting a platform, which you be deplatformed without recourse.
- opportune 6y ago
  The incentives between me (a regular user) and my smartphone OS are (mostly) aligned. Yes, Apple has anti competitive practices which they shouldn't be allowed to partake in. I also don't like how all iOS web browsers are forced to use Safari under the hood. But as a user, that doesn't affect me much - I am happy with most of Apple's default apps and I prefer using mobile web clients (even if they are using Safari) to apps usually. I don't think I am at any risk whatsoever of being deplatformed as a user. Maybe as a developer, but I'm not a mobile developer for the most part. I understand the benefits of Libre software. But taking the principled stance in favor of Libre software will create a lot more work for me in areas I don't normally think about much - security, the internals of my mobile OS, having to find app workarounds an replacements, etc. The reason I use iOS to begin with is that I like that Apple takes care of the basic decisions for me. I don't want to fiddle with things.
- rimliu 6y ago
  So I do own the phone, I am renting a platform. Or do you claim, that I do not own the TV set, because, TV broadcasters could stop at any time?
fragsworth 6y ago
Yes this is marketing, but that doesn't mean it's inherently bad. We should support competition in this industry, and any kind of attempts they put forth to market themselves. Especially for things that "hackers" care about. There isn't enough competition. Don't try to ruin it for the little guys.

dmurray 6y ago

The target market for a Librem phone is people who are hardcore about privacy and/or computing freedoms, who are probably motivated at least partially by fear.

fragsworth 6y ago
It's a marketing piece, but I don't see anything terribly wrong with what they wrote. I also don't think you have to be that hardcore about it to want your phone to work like this.
dbcurtis 6y ago
Congratulations! Your post made me do something that almost never happens -- I went and read an article that I otherwise had no intention of reading :) So here is a data point, it is only one, but it is mine: I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of my pre-ordered Librem 5. My motivation is almost entirely computing freedom, and a desire to support that concept in phones. I don't expect this phone to be polished enough to become my daily-driver. I don't expect that the cost/performance is going to look attractive. But I strongly believe in computing freedom, and I am willing to buy an overpriced phone in order to support and encourage the concept. Putting up money in a way that matters, and helping to demonstrate that a market exists, instead of merely talking about it. Fear is not a motivator for me. A desire for privacy is somewhat. I would estimate my freedom/privacy/fear breakdown as 85/15/0%. So to GP's post, is the article fear-mongering/FUD? IMHO, nah, just marketing blather designed to resonate with the kind of person that will give them money. Is whole-house alarm system marketing material fear-mongering? Also a matter of opinion and circumstance. As I said, for me it is about computing freedom. I don't think I am a hard-core Stallmanite. But I have been around long enough that I did CS homeworks on punch cards, and my friends and I all had to solder together our first personal computers because everything available came in kit form back then. I used to think RMS was pretty far out there. But from my perspective looking back over the years, I have to admit "RMS was right" more often than I like too.

alfiedotwtf 6y ago

Instead of attacking the writing style, how about you attack the questions raised. It’s bang on. You don’t own your iOS or Android phone, you’re renting a platform, which you be deplatformed without recourse.

opportune 6y ago
The incentives between me (a regular user) and my smartphone OS are (mostly) aligned. Yes, Apple has anti competitive practices which they shouldn't be allowed to partake in. I also don't like how all iOS web browsers are forced to use Safari under the hood. But as a user, that doesn't affect me much - I am happy with most of Apple's default apps and I prefer using mobile web clients (even if they are using Safari) to apps usually. I don't think I am at any risk whatsoever of being deplatformed as a user. Maybe as a developer, but I'm not a mobile developer for the most part. I understand the benefits of Libre software. But taking the principled stance in favor of Libre software will create a lot more work for me in areas I don't normally think about much - security, the internals of my mobile OS, having to find app workarounds an replacements, etc. The reason I use iOS to begin with is that I like that Apple takes care of the basic decisions for me. I don't want to fiddle with things.
rimliu 6y ago
So I do own the phone, I am renting a platform. Or do you claim, that I do not own the TV set, because, TV broadcasters could stop at any time?

fragsworth 6y ago

Yes this is marketing, but that doesn't mean it's inherently bad. We should support competition in this industry, and any kind of attempts they put forth to market themselves. Especially for things that "hackers" care about. There isn't enough competition. Don't try to ruin it for the little guys.