I am extremely concerned about the new laws that are going to require ID to use any operating system. I know there is an exception for FOSS at the moment, but the phase 2 plans to deny access to web services for unverified devices would essentially make that exception useless.
I’ve been thinking hard about everything my home server connects to, and it isn’t looking good. How will I pull containers from GitHub or DockerHub when those sites will undoubtedly be subject to the same verification rules? How is SearXNG going to work when my users searches are tied to my identity? Put simply, how are we going to get around this as a community?
Ideas I’ve had:
- Hire an anonymous person and use their identity. Problem: if they commit a crime, the authorities could think it was me, and if I’m suspected of a crime, they could be in trouble.
- Figure out a way to route services through a virtual Windows 95 machine since many ATM’s run on that and maybe there would be an exception for them. Problem: my gut tells me that they would also be blocked and that ATM’s make direct connections separate from traditional web services.
- VPN to the safest country possible during setup and pretend to be in a region that doesn’t require identification. Problem: even if the country doesn’t require it, it doesn’t mean that the OS company won’t require it.
- Move to a more reasonable country and go full FOSS for the rest of my life. Problem: leaving everything I know behind and still potentially have blocked access to some sites that deliver FOSS software.
That’s pretty much it. Moving seems like the option with the greatest possibility of success, but it comes at a huge cost. I’d need to change jobs and start my life all over, but on the other hand, my home server is the only thing that makes my poverty tolerable here. If I lose that, then I have literally nothing to do but read books and wait to die.
So, with humility and anxiety, I come to you, my friends with bigger brains than me. What are we going to do? How are we going to remain private and free? What is your personal plan because I’m drawing blanks and starting to feel like everything I’ve ever believed in is crumbling around me.
Thank you for any advice or theories on how to navigate this paradigm shift. I never would have thought, when I first fired up Netscape and got connected to the whole world, that it would come to this before the end of my lifetime.
I was thinking about using Tor to tunnel things through, but at a certain point in the relay it will require somebody to put a server with an authorized, identifiable system as an exit point, and the legal implications of this would make the relay owner criminally liable. The option B is to use Tor, I2P, et cetera as hidden networks, and mirror packages manually between authorized and unauthorized devices (for as long as mandatory DRM for external storage devices doesn't kick in).
Yeah, I had the same realization about Tor: the exit node is the weakness. Also, as we all know, that is sending us back to the Stone Age with the speed which means that accessing content becomes really difficult.
Mirroring packages is a clever idea, but boy howdy that’s a lot of work to manage updates. I’m not totally against doing it, I just feel that pit in my stomach at the understanding that it would mean a huge amount of work to continue operating as I have been, and I have to juggle a job and a semblance of a social life at the same time.
I wish there were two of me—one guy to run the network and another guy to keep us alive and housed.
Ah, the good old days when a couple bonded for the division of labor, among other perks. Fuckin' doom & gloom "religion" infested that too, and with extreme prejudice. 🤮🤬
I know! Women’s rights are great, but the conclusion shouldn’t have been “ok, now you BOTH have to work for the man to support a home, or else you’re screwed.”
One person works for the company, one person works for the family, and it shouldn’t matter which gender does which. Of course, both can work for the company if they want, but making it mandatory is a misery machine.
FWIW, most religious systems are focused on population control, and that includes birth rate. Females of child-bearing age (some far younger 🤢🤬) being relegated to almost entirely that and defining their existence by that alone.
All gods must die, and their fanatics rehabbed or excised.