4 ms·

We can't trust MS with anything, and the same can be said about every tech giant. Therefore it really is a problem that MS has managed to get hold of github an

We can't trust MS with anything, and the same can be said about every tech giant. Therefore it really is a problem that MS has managed to get hold of github and npm. In my opinion it would be beneficial if this kind of "important infrastructure" belonged to a non-profit organization.

TheRealDunkirk 5y ago
It is the runaway nature of our late-stage capitalistic "utopia" that large companies just absorb anything that touches their edges, continually growing larger, and absorbing ever more. Skype, LinkedIn, GitHub, StackOverflow, and Slack were all nicely-running, profitable businesses, with agendas that made them attractive to end users. But their owners all had a price, and now they're all part of monstrous companies with agendas that do not necessarily line up with mine. On the one hand, this is perfectly understandable. On the other, I think the government needs to stop these sorts of mergers and acquisitions to create vertical (as well as horizontal) monopolies. We're living in an age of modern-day "robber barons," and we need the government to return to policies from those days, including STEEPLY progressive taxes, and vigilant anti-trust action. Unfortunately, the Citizens United ruling will make this an impossibility until it is "repealed" with new law.
- amelius 5y ago
  But what if China allows these mergers for their own companies, while the US doesn't allow them for SV companies?
  - asddubs 5y ago
    I don't see how that would lead to anything bad happening
  - gopiandcode 5y ago
    There are a lot of things that China does that other countries don't do, some of these things are bad, and personally I wouldn't want them to be implemented where I live (social credit score, censorship etc.). I don't see how engaging in a race to the bottom with China here is a particularly useful line of thought.
  - kinjba11 5y ago
    The CCP has recently been favoring anti-trust policy. Having enormous all-encompassing companies that absorb everything is not necessarily a great economic strategy. https://www.ft.com/content/01b7c7ca-71ad-4baa-bddf-a4d5e65c5d79 https://www.ft.com/content/01b7c7ca-71ad-4baa-bddf-a4d5e65c5... https://www.reuters.com/world/china/exclusive-china-readies-tencent-penalty-antitrust-crackdown-sources-2021-04-29/ https://www.reuters.com/world/china/exclusive-china-readies-...
  - TheRealDunkirk 5y ago
    "I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." - Charles Babbage The only people benefitting from these mega-mergers are the handful of VC's and the C-levels involved. Everyone else suffers harm, including the government, which has reduced influence on actual governance. Money talks, even in Communism, and huge mega-corporations also impact China's government's ability to govern. I expect them to limit these sorts of arrangements more strictly than the US.
toastal 5y ago
This is why people need to be more vocal about wishing maintainers migrated away from these products

TheRealDunkirk 5y ago

It is the runaway nature of our late-stage capitalistic "utopia" that large companies just absorb anything that touches their edges, continually growing larger, and absorbing ever more. Skype, LinkedIn, GitHub, StackOverflow, and Slack were all nicely-running, profitable businesses, with agendas that made them attractive to end users. But their owners all had a price, and now they're all part of monstrous companies with agendas that do not necessarily line up with mine. On the one hand, this is perfectly understandable. On the other, I think the government needs to stop these sorts of mergers and acquisitions to create vertical (as well as horizontal) monopolies. We're living in an age of modern-day "robber barons," and we need the government to return to policies from those days, including STEEPLY progressive taxes, and vigilant anti-trust action. Unfortunately, the Citizens United ruling will make this an impossibility until it is "repealed" with new law.

amelius 5y ago
But what if China allows these mergers for their own companies, while the US doesn't allow them for SV companies?
- asddubs 5y ago
  I don't see how that would lead to anything bad happening
- gopiandcode 5y ago
  There are a lot of things that China does that other countries don't do, some of these things are bad, and personally I wouldn't want them to be implemented where I live (social credit score, censorship etc.). I don't see how engaging in a race to the bottom with China here is a particularly useful line of thought.
- kinjba11 5y ago
  The CCP has recently been favoring anti-trust policy. Having enormous all-encompassing companies that absorb everything is not necessarily a great economic strategy. https://www.ft.com/content/01b7c7ca-71ad-4baa-bddf-a4d5e65c5d79 https://www.ft.com/content/01b7c7ca-71ad-4baa-bddf-a4d5e65c5... https://www.reuters.com/world/china/exclusive-china-readies-tencent-penalty-antitrust-crackdown-sources-2021-04-29/ https://www.reuters.com/world/china/exclusive-china-readies-...
- TheRealDunkirk 5y ago
  "I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." - Charles Babbage The only people benefitting from these mega-mergers are the handful of VC's and the C-levels involved. Everyone else suffers harm, including the government, which has reduced influence on actual governance. Money talks, even in Communism, and huge mega-corporations also impact China's government's ability to govern. I expect them to limit these sorts of arrangements more strictly than the US.

toastal 5y ago

This is why people need to be more vocal about wishing maintainers migrated away from these products