this post was submitted on 09 Aug 2024
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[–] vzq@lemmy.blahaj.zone 38 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Politics is just another name for the way we decide how to run things. Everything that is not absolutely trivial is political to some degree.

“Apolitical” is just a dog whistle for establishment politics.

[–] MagicShel@programming.dev 7 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

It feels awfully political when I know my job is supporting a company that donates heavily to causes and people I despise. Fortunately, I'm not in that position currently (but I have been), but I'm looking hard for jobs and one of the companies I applied at asked if I've ever previously been employed by Koch or its affiliates and I have to say it's a hard fucking choice between putting food on my family's table vs. supporting fucking Koch. Not that most of them don't donate to bad people but those fucking guys?

[–] Ziggurat@sh.itjust.works 15 points 3 months ago

Everything is political. Bill gate's letter to the hobbyist in the 70's is a political pamphlet

[–] demesisx@infosec.pub 10 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Software meant to enrich its creator often isn't because of the pervasive captialist fear of alienating someone by expressing an opinion on one side of an issue (edit: actually, against the mainstream narrative). However, formally verified, thoroughly-vetted, open source software (most of which doesn't exist because of pushback from corrupt governments and their corporate overlords) tasked with upholding the anonymity and objectivity of democracy would be undeniably political.

[–] vzq@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Software meant to enrich its creator often isn't

This is a prime example of what I alluded to in my comment. For-profit capitalism is the establishment politics, so it’s portraid as apolitical.

Also, the establishment politics of the public that must not be challenged in order to make money? Apolitical.

[–] demesisx@infosec.pub 12 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I’d agree there for sure.

For example, they might call it apolitical to say “Israel has a right to defend itself” in the US right now. But that is the SUPER political, absolutely disgusting, reprehensible statement that finally made me lose all respect for Bernie Sanders once and for all. It’s just that this statement lies on the other side of the AIPAC’s widespread propaganda campaign to make their genocide legal.

[–] sylver_dragon@lemmy.world 8 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Software is not political, it's just code executing on a machine and doesn't care what you believe.
There is a lot of politics surrounding software.

Politics is the tool we use, as a society, to decide how we're going to run said society. There will be areas of politics where different factions will adopt different attitudes about different bits of software. So, some software will be politicized. But, the software itself is only political in so far as we are having political discussions around it, the software itself doesn't care.

[–] Catsrules@lemmy.ml 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Software is not political, it’s just code executing on a machine and doesn’t care what you believe.

You can't convince me printer software/drivers/firmware doesn't have an agenda. They work for every single test page any time or any where but you need to print something important they will riot.

[–] sylver_dragon@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

You can’t convince me printer software/drivers/firmware doesn’t have an agenda.

Yes well, but they are coded by pure evil incarnate. Otherwise known as HP.

[–] charonn0@startrek.website 6 points 3 months ago

Windows 95 had to change the time zone selection map because of disputed borders.

https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20030822-00/?p=42823

[–] 737@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 3 months ago

free software is a political movement

[–] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 5 points 3 months ago

Software inherently establishes an assumed level of control between the user and other entities. That baked in relationship can be influenced by politics.

[–] Skullgrid@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago

Are tools political?

[–] breadsmasher@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

In what way? Software isn’t inherently political. The usage of software can be for political means

[–] The_Che_Banana@beehaw.org 3 points 3 months ago

open software that is equally distributed?

totally communist...