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This "you can't have free stuff" argument I've seen way too many times now is based on a false premise. You _absolutely_ can have free stuff. I remember the we

by ghusto 5y ago

This "you can't have free stuff" argument I've seen way too many times now is based on a false premise. You _absolutely_ can have free stuff. I remember the web when it was run by hobbyists, and that's exactly how it worked. What people who use the "no free stuff" argument really mean is that there are those who are on the web to make money, and you can't have their stuff for free. To that I'd say; take your stuff and go home. Your stuff is exactly what ruined the web in the first place.

5560675260 5y ago
That stuff that you've consumed wasn't free, those hobbyists paid for it out of the pocket. Sure, some can afford to do this to this day, but this doesn't scale. Nowadays internet is too populous and expectations are set too high for this to keep working.
- lobocinza 5y ago
  I think expectations are set too low nowadays.
- ghusto 5y ago
  Sure, I was one of the ones that paid for it out of my own pocket. > Nowadays internet is too populous and expectations are set too high for this to keep working. I agree with you on both counts, and would like to see a return to a niche web that doesn't work for most people. EDIT: P.S. I realise how unlikely that is, so it's not something I'd waste energy on. What I do think is worth thinking about though, is how impossible certain companies are making it for the niche web of the early days to even exist in its own little corner.
  - candiodari 5y ago
    > I agree with you on both counts, and would like to see a return to a niche web that doesn't work for most people. That would be a web without Google, and in fact any search engine at all. Do you really want to go back to 1990 level of functionality?
    - ghusto 5y ago
      A thousand times yes, but again, I know that's not something that's possible. What I'm objecting to is it not being possible for even the old farts like me who want it. Google and co.'s contributions to things like e-mail and websites have made it more and more unfeasible to self-host and manage these services. It's a bit like how you're _technically_ free to farm your own food, only not really because you can't comply with the regulations surrounding growing crops (no I'm not kidding, Google and gasp).

by ghusto 5y ago

5560675260 5y ago

That stuff that you've consumed wasn't free, those hobbyists paid for it out of the pocket. Sure, some can afford to do this to this day, but this doesn't scale. Nowadays internet is too populous and expectations are set too high for this to keep working.

lobocinza 5y ago
I think expectations are set too low nowadays.
ghusto 5y ago
Sure, I was one of the ones that paid for it out of my own pocket. > Nowadays internet is too populous and expectations are set too high for this to keep working. I agree with you on both counts, and would like to see a return to a niche web that doesn't work for most people. EDIT: P.S. I realise how unlikely that is, so it's not something I'd waste energy on. What I do think is worth thinking about though, is how impossible certain companies are making it for the niche web of the early days to even exist in its own little corner.
- candiodari 5y ago
  > I agree with you on both counts, and would like to see a return to a niche web that doesn't work for most people. That would be a web without Google, and in fact any search engine at all. Do you really want to go back to 1990 level of functionality?
  - ghusto 5y ago
    A thousand times yes, but again, I know that's not something that's possible. What I'm objecting to is it not being possible for even the old farts like me who want it. Google and co.'s contributions to things like e-mail and websites have made it more and more unfeasible to self-host and manage these services. It's a bit like how you're _technically_ free to farm your own food, only not really because you can't comply with the regulations surrounding growing crops (no I'm not kidding, Google and gasp).