After massive pushback. Their original plan was basically full control. It still is, but they’ll allow you to install something if you ask nicely first.

The other issue is the timing. They can claim this is for security all they want, but it was announced suspiciously close to the courts ruling that Google needed to open up their ecosystem to other app stores. This is a blatant attempt to keep control of the app ecosystem by forcing devs to go through Google regardless of where they intend to release.

We’re already at the point where Windows programs sometimes run better on Linux with a compatibility layer (WINE/Proton) than they do natively. The stuff that doesn’t run is mostly games ladened with kernel-level DRM that Linux (rightfully) can’t emulate.

Linux even runs old Windows programs better than Windows itself, and long-term compatibility is supposed to be one of Windows’ biggest selling points.

Didn’t the PS5 boot signing keys leak recently? The word when that happened was that it blew PS5 modding wide open in a way that couldn’t be closed without new hardware, though I guess publishing anything that used Sony’s key would have their lawyers after you real quick.

Same here (Voyager), but the direct link to the video worked.

It’s a good time to recommend the Discworld book Jingo, which remains just as relevant as when it was written.

It was so much easier to blame it on Them. It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us. If it was Them, then nothing was anyone’s fault. If it was us, what did that make Me? After all, I’m one of Us. I must be. I’ve certainly never thought of myself as one of Them. *No one* ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We’re always one of Us. It’s Them that do the bad things.

And another quote from Feet of Clay:

Just because someone’s a member of an ethnic minority doesn’t mean they’re not a nasty small-minded little jerk

(And then there’s The Fifth Elephant that’s so painfully spot-on that I’d rather not spoil a single moment of it. Terry Pratchett was amazing and I wish he was still around to share his humor and wisdom. We could use a few laughs right now.)

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