this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2023
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Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. A showerthought should offer a unique perspective on an ordinary part of life.

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If everyone moved to open source non-profit solutions, the tech industry would lose billions (programming.dev)
submitted 2 years ago by [email protected] to c/showerthoughts
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I'm a FOSS (free and open source software) contributor and enthusiast. So I prefer to use such products (Lemmy instead of Reddit, Linux instead of Windows, Firefox instead of Chrome, Signal instead of WhatsApp, you get the idea). Was just thinking that if everyone moved to such solutions, the tech and ad industry would lose billions of dollars. That would translate to governments losing billions of dollars in tax revenue. Would such a move ever be encouraged then by the governments?

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[โ€“] OrangeCorvus 17 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Donations, people always give Wikipedia as an example. You need to chip in every now and then. Wouldn't that be better than "free" but your every click, scroll and interaction being tracked and you having an advertising profile being built in the background?

[โ€“] sh1ggy 10 points 2 years ago

That makes sense, but Wikipedia is one "instance" instead of hundreds. If many instances start depending on donations and you are subscribed to even just a couple of them, donating to every single one could seem a little much, right? Not trying to be negative, just starting to wrap my head around this.