#WSocial will open up their beta program today… and I have a SCOOP for you: it appears that they have quietly gone closed-source!
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I am not a programmer, at all, zero knowledge, but for 20 years, I've been listening to OS evangelicals tell me how important OS is
and you know what ?
I don't care
I really don'tand I am, among my entire circle of friends/family/coworkers, the "odd guy" who cares about stuff like this
so if I don't care, I would guess that 98% of the population doesn't care
so maybe OS evangelicals need a better message ?
Closed source (black box software) is mainly a tool to the large corpos for wealth extraction.
Open sourcing is a way of community resistance against abuse.
If Mastodon somehow went closed source you could fork, since the protocol was built in the open you have all the tools needed to keep your own server running even if Mastodon were to dissapear.
If they started closed source none of this talk would be applicable, server shuts down & the service just goes bye-bye.
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Closed source (black box software) is mainly a tool to the large corpos for wealth extraction.
Open sourcing is a way of community resistance against abuse.
If Mastodon somehow went closed source you could fork, since the protocol was built in the open you have all the tools needed to keep your own server running even if Mastodon were to dissapear.
If they started closed source none of this talk would be applicable, server shuts down & the service just goes bye-bye.
@milagemayvary
I repeat
it is 2026
is there any evidence that anyone actually cares ? -
#WSocial will open up their beta program today… and I have a SCOOP for you: it appears that they have quietly gone closed-source!
This is ironic, considering that the @EUCommission just unveiled their Tech Sovereignty Package, emphasizing the importance of #OpenSource. And yet they have migrated their main ATproto accounts to W Social - whose code can no longer be inspected!
My full article - with a great analysis by @aral:
@_elena @EUCommission @aral europeen instutution being hypocritical like usual
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@Mabande I think it's more just being clueless and wsocial being very well politically connected so they are able to convince these politicians to do this. It was evident this was their stategy from day one with the announcement at Davos etc. but I wouldn't necessarily have bet on them being this successful with it.
Ultimately this might still not mean that much though.
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@milagemayvary
I repeat
it is 2026
is there any evidence that anyone actually cares ? -
#WSocial will open up their beta program today… and I have a SCOOP for you: it appears that they have quietly gone closed-source!
This is ironic, considering that the @EUCommission just unveiled their Tech Sovereignty Package, emphasizing the importance of #OpenSource. And yet they have migrated their main ATproto accounts to W Social - whose code can no longer be inspected!
My full article - with a great analysis by @aral:
EU Commission, what a massive fail,
who was paid for the move to a closed source network??? with very dubious background and board. -
@_elena @EUCommission @aral W Social has all the checkmarks for a scam to collect public funding...
Please use the money to found open source project that actually do work for all europeans (and humanity in general).
@feyter
> Please use the money to found open source project that actually do workThis is not possible. An open-source project doesn't have the technical capability to pay a 50 percent commission.
Simple as that.
There are billions of reasons why OLAF (the EU’s anti-corruption agency) has been effectively defunded.
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#WSocial will open up their beta program today… and I have a SCOOP for you: it appears that they have quietly gone closed-source!
This is ironic, considering that the @EUCommission just unveiled their Tech Sovereignty Package, emphasizing the importance of #OpenSource. And yet they have migrated their main ATproto accounts to W Social - whose code can no longer be inspected!
My full article - with a great analysis by @aral:
@_elena @EUCommission @aral This is a tactic that is getting more and more common. It's especially so in the VC funded, quick growth bullshit going on.
Crypto is a big one When I was researching blockchain a bit I bought a couple sets of Tensor cards. This was Open Source when I got it and they were still peddling themselves as Open Source last I saw after they'd quietly changed all their licenses in all their repositories.
Happens in the services too though. Hashicorp. Bait and switch.
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This was definitely NOT on my bingo card for this year:
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen taking a moment between G7 meetings to promote the launch of the closed-source, for-profit network #WSocial.
I fear this may be a harbinger of things to come: MANDATORY AGE VERIFICATION for social media across Europe. I hope I'm wrong on this.
@_elena this is just wild!
There have to be kickbacks or I can't explain it... what a saga
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This was definitely NOT on my bingo card for this year:
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen taking a moment between G7 meetings to promote the launch of the closed-source, for-profit network #WSocial.
I fear this may be a harbinger of things to come: MANDATORY AGE VERIFICATION for social media across Europe. I hope I'm wrong on this.
@_elena “for profit” is not the same as “evil.” If we want an open-source future, it has to be economically sustainable. Big Tech gets paid with our personal data; if you want the same level of service without handing over data, someone still has to pay for it. There’s no such thing as a free lunch.
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This was definitely NOT on my bingo card for this year:
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen taking a moment between G7 meetings to promote the launch of the closed-source, for-profit network #WSocial.
I fear this may be a harbinger of things to come: MANDATORY AGE VERIFICATION for social media across Europe. I hope I'm wrong on this.
They are completely owned by the tech bros.
Kaja Kallas is hanging out with Peter Thiel at his Nazi Dialog camp, of course they want to surveill us.
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@Mabande I think it's more just being clueless and wsocial being very well politically connected so they are able to convince these politicians to do this. It was evident this was their stategy from day one with the announcement at Davos etc. but I wouldn't necessarily have bet on them being this successful with it.
Ultimately this might still not mean that much though.
-
This was definitely NOT on my bingo card for this year:
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen taking a moment between G7 meetings to promote the launch of the closed-source, for-profit network #WSocial.
I fear this may be a harbinger of things to come: MANDATORY AGE VERIFICATION for social media across Europe. I hope I'm wrong on this.
@_elena @EUCommission it's such a betrayal.
🥺
They can't be bothered to #plusOne the open free democratic social web. But they can cuddle up with weird business people in Davos? What's the point in believing in our representatives like von der Leyen anymore? Who advices them?
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This was definitely NOT on my bingo card for this year:
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen taking a moment between G7 meetings to promote the launch of the closed-source, for-profit network #WSocial.
I fear this may be a harbinger of things to come: MANDATORY AGE VERIFICATION for social media across Europe. I hope I'm wrong on this.
welcome to the left.
in the US, we have the Democrats who pretend to want all the good things and have great PR but somehow never seem to fight hard enough when it matters or provide what the people really need and want. they are bought off. I'm sure this exists in other countries too but at least you guys have universal health care
anyway I think that game is getting played in the tech world too. bluesky etc. the same excuses get made, while they retain power and profit.
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@sanzky @_elena It's Ursula von der Leyen. Here in Germany, she epitomizes - perhaps more than anyone else - a combination of corruption and utter incompetence.
She has never won a single popular vote anywhere - quite the opposite: she lost constituencies that had previously been considered safe seats for her party - and has built her entire career exclusively on her corrupt networks, while scandals would always catch up with her just in the nick of time, before she was promoted to the next post@derZeitreiser @sanzky @_elena Is she the same
politician that had some 'tiff' with #rammstein
??! or was it somebody with a similar surname ??!
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@derZeitreiser @sanzky @_elena Is she the same
politician that had some 'tiff' with #rammstein
??! or was it somebody with a similar surname ??!@harib_murshidi @sanzky @_elena Yep. Same politican who censor as Federal Minister for Family Affairs th Rammstein Album „Liebe ist für alle da“.
Censoring something is her main solution to ... literally everything.
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#WSocial will open up their beta program today… and I have a SCOOP for you: it appears that they have quietly gone closed-source!
This is ironic, considering that the @EUCommission just unveiled their Tech Sovereignty Package, emphasizing the importance of #OpenSource. And yet they have migrated their main ATproto accounts to W Social - whose code can no longer be inspected!
My full article - with a great analysis by @aral:
@_elena @EUCommission @aral We are starving
No f00d n0 support and d0nations have st0pped
My children are hungry and we have n0thing to feed them
Any help can save live us
https://chuffed.org/project/178829
#WorldCup #WorldCup2026 #Ireland #Belfast #España #CaboVerde #Cucurella #France #Arcom #Gavi #Donate # -
#WSocial will open up their beta program today… and I have a SCOOP for you: it appears that they have quietly gone closed-source!
This is ironic, considering that the @EUCommission just unveiled their Tech Sovereignty Package, emphasizing the importance of #OpenSource. And yet they have migrated their main ATproto accounts to W Social - whose code can no longer be inspected!
My full article - with a great analysis by @aral:
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@_elena @themipper When I first heard about #wsocial, I had high hopes of a genuine European, privacy-preserving, open source solution.
Fool me.
Definitely won’t be joining.
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@_elena share what though?
@lefteristrip23 @_elena Share this link to the post on reddit: https://mastodon.social/@_elena/116764267869694589, or the link to the blogpost.
: 
