Techrights
The True Importance of Diversification
Posted by Roy Schestowitz on Dec 30, 2024,
updated Dec 30, 2024
Using many Social Control Networks (in parallel or simultaneously) isn't safety. It's stupidity. That just means outsourcing to more and more untrusted third parties. Contrariwise, using many distros of GNU/Linux (or *BSD) makes sense. Using Geminispace as an alternative to the Web makes sense. Having multiple hosting providers in multiple countries also makes sense when cables can get cut without prior notice. What were the lessons of Freenode dominance in IRC? That it was "safe"? No.
This site started in 2006. We're quite certain that in terms of uptime 2024 was our best ever, not just our most productive ever. Unlike before, we kept a number of failsafe mechanisms. Those are technical means. Moreover, we believe every single downtime could be attributed to network-related work (scheduled and announced days in advance) at the datacentre. Things like router updates.
Diversification in the natural world typically refers to flora and fauna. Various scientific terms were popularised to explain how species adapt to varying conditions and ensure their survival through adaptation. Plants with unsavoury roots (like onions) are more likely to deter animals such as moles. Animals with sharper spikes (e.g. porcupines) are less likely to get eaten by predators.
In software - and likewise on the Net - we must demand greater diversity. The Web isn't enough. The Web has become a GAFAM-controlled laughing stock - a carrier of ads, spyware, and DRM. There's even worse stuff on the way. The Web is becoming just a transport layer for Chrome, which is proprietary.
Ubuntu isn't enough as a distro. It's a 'freeware' version for Ubuntu "Pro", a pusher of Snaps (proprietary blobs), and its steward is a Microsoft reseller that refuses to advertise GNU/Linux, even if the main competition (Windows) leaves over a billion users orphaned (no more essential patches).
Another example of dangerous uniformity is systemd-based distros (Microsoft controls it at numerous levels). There's an effective response to it*, but that only works as long as enough people keep using - and developing/maintaining - alternatives.
Reject the notion of "all Web" or "unified/universal Linux". Monopoly or monoculture breed fragility. That begets famine, or the software equivalent of it (watch what happened to GitHub). █
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- The systemd-free linux community has just published "2025 hardcore list of 17 linux distributions without elogind and other systemd parts".