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Open source alternatives to Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp raise funds on Kickstarter | TechCrunch (techcrunch.com)

submitted 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) by breakfastmtn@lemmy.ca to c/fediverse@lemmy.world

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The developer behind Pixelfed, Loops, and Sup, open source alternatives to Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp, respectively, is now raising funds on Kickstarter to fuel the apps’ further development.

The trio is part of the growing open social web, also known as the fediverse, powered by the same ActivityPub protocol used by X alternative Mastodon. The latter saw increased signups and use after the company formerly known as Twitter sold to Elon Musk in October 2022 and during the X exodus that followed the U.S. presidential election.

In the months and years following that sale, open source and decentralized apps like Mastodon and Bluesky (which uses the newer AT Protocol), have continued to grow their user bases, as people sought alternatives to centralized social media apps controlled by billionaires like Musk and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg.

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Edit: Link to the kickstarter

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[-] jagged_circle@feddit.nl 3 points 5 days ago

If your releases include closed source blobs, then your software is closed source.

[-] ExFed@lemm.ee 2 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Following that logic:

Many popular Linux distros contain closed source blobs. Ergo Linux is closed source.

[-] astro_ray@piefed.social 5 points 5 days ago

Then that particular build of the distro is closed source. The linux kernel is still open source.

[-] ExFed@lemm.ee 1 points 5 days ago

Okay, so the Apache license is a "closed source" license?

[-] astro_ray@piefed.social 2 points 5 days ago

Yes

[-] ExFed@lemm.ee 2 points 5 days ago

Then nuance is dead and nothing is good enough.

[-] jagged_circle@feddit.nl 3 points 5 days ago

AGPL is good enough.

[-] ExFed@lemm.ee 1 points 5 days ago

Signal is licensed under AGPL.

[-] jagged_circle@feddit.nl 2 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

No. Some of the Signal code literally isn't even released. See above.

[-] jagged_circle@feddit.nl 3 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Linux is an open source kernel. Many operating systems that use linux ars closed source, yes. This is the position of the FSF.

And its why most Linux distros have an option to include closed source or not.

Signal, however, has no option. Its just closed source software.

[-] DBosiers@social.vivaldi.net 0 points 5 days ago

@ExFed @jagged_circle you mean drivers for external devices ?

[-] ExFed@lemm.ee 1 points 5 days ago

Sure. That's one possible vector. Is it "Open Source" software? Yes, they accept contributions for the community. It's is "Libre" software? No, they depend on closed source software.

I'm trying to illustrate that the definition of "open source" can be weaponized for no good reason. Dismissing Signal because it doesn't fit a narrow definition of "open source" makes everybody less secure. I have a hard enough time convincing my non-tech-savvy friends to switch to Signal. There's a snowball's chance in Hell I'll convince them to use something even more obscure.

[-] DBosiers@social.vivaldi.net 1 points 5 days ago

@ExFed Lol, I messaged 20+ connections to step over...nobody. We have a saying "what the farmer doesn't know, the farmer doesn't like" I fear signal has to be mentioned a thousand times from all directions before they "trust" it. The publics trust is based on repetition and the concept that a big firm has more to lose than an non profit.

[-] ExFed@lemm.ee 1 points 5 days ago

I fear signal has to be mentioned a thousand times from all directions before they "trust" it.

Yes. A thousand times yes. The risk profiles humans naturally adapted to are not well aligned with the artificial risk profiles we see today. I can't fault someone for not transcending their own natural instincts, because heaven knows I can't.