I think you’re underestimating how much of a problem liberal states are in their use of soft power. I don’t doubt that most Linux users and devs would resist, I’m saying that it would definitely be a threat for liberal states to dedicate resources to influencing norms and access. They don’t need to “win” as in complete and utter domination of every aspect of development for Linux to have a massive and negative effect. Think about how much more labour the US state has at is disposal than the entirety of the Linux community; how much more resources it has that could be dedicated to the privileging of projects that do comply.

Yes, how to resist is certainly important to consider, but there’s no way to design that resistance if you ignore the tools at their disposal. Look at how big Zorin got from just a timely marketing campaign or the fact that corporate- and enterprise-oriented revenue models are already deeply influential on the landscape even without state promotion.

Finally.

Oh, no it wouldnt be like “we’re mandating this through legislation,” because that is typically really hard to defend. They’re more likely to simply provide subsidies or some sort of financial benefit to larger, more compliant entities.

This is a very importrant thing to keep in mind. Liberalism is exceptional at appropriation and assimilation, and there is already a tremendous amount of corporate influence on the trajectory of Linux development. Since the open source nature of Linux is fairly robust, this would mean that control would look a lot like accessibility and feature competition (think how Android has effectively muscled out alternative ‘open source’ mobile OS’s and functions as one of the most expansive data collection systems in the world). It likely would not be as immediate as this suggests, for exactly the same reason Linux is so preferable to proprietary operating systems, but examples like Zorin’s successful marketing campaign and paid services do point to a trajectory of corporatization separate from what exists in Redhat and Ubuntu.

As liberal states seek more power over information and computing, they will direct regulations into favourable conditions for capitalization, as they always do, and will reward corporations that comply. The big threat is the amount of resources that private capital wields with state support and how this may pressure independent developers to comply as well.

I’ve gone zero days since the 2024 election without seeing a liberal target fascists with insults that are oriented toward vulnerable groups. Jokes about old people being valueless, queer people being weak and deceptive, fatness as a sign of poor moral character. People who make these jokes also incomprehensibly claim that they challenge fascism fundamentally and not only when it comes for them.

This man is going to be singlehandedly responsible for an incalculable number of deaths (many of which will be addicts who are disproportionately excluded from access to medical treatmen) and he is in the position to do so by capitulating to an infamous pedophile, rapist, and failed business man. What kind of person would take the opportunity to assert that addicts aren’t to be trusted when talking about a man who is already RFK Jr.?

Oh my, how surprising, a Nazi who fetishized an Asian woman. I wonder if this is a common thing, perhaps even predictable.

Jesus, I see that word so misused on here but someone using it when I ask where I said something two comments above is pretty hilarious.

Where do I say that? I understand American liberalism intimately, btw. People can actually know things and also think you’re wrong.

Jesus how dramatic. Please explain liberalism for me so that I know what I’ve gotten wrong here.

edit: checked their profile, they think liberalism is “leftist.” Politically illiterate liberal gets mad at the read. Blocked.

What’s “righteous” about this?

American liberals would sooner say that the nation is impure than that nationalism is pathological. Many of them literally identify with the state as part of or representative of themselves. Guilt and shame are American rationalisation staples, “I feel bad, but I’m not going to stop.”

Yeah, turns out people don’t like surveillance against their will…