Can linux replace facebook?

[jacobnavia]

Why you need facebook?

To share photos, messages, whatever with your friends.

A machine that is accessible using TCP/IP can do all that without any
social network. You give your friends your address (or tcpip ID) and you
can share anything in digital form with them. You can visit discussion
forums held in your machine or in some friend's machine.

Linux can do all that. It is able to store images, and display them to
any browser that happens to request it.

Instead of giving your data to an organization that will sell it to
advertisers, you can build your own site and share ideas or whatever
with your friends. Directly, without any one else intervening.

What about a "node" machine, the size of a credit card?

I am running linux in an ARM64, the size of a credit card. Using a cheap
1TB SSD, the thing runs incredibly well. And could be a good FB replacement!

Social networks are an industry that is inherently dangerous if centralized.

TCP/IP is decentralized, and can handle the construction of networks of
friends, or people interested in sharing data/stories, whatever.

Networks that do not lead into a centralized nightmare where the guys
behind the scenes sell the data to advertisers.

Just networks of people, without any central store.

This kind of networks would be straight networking: nothing more. All
the data is decentralized in each machine, and it is your property, not
somebody else's that has become one of the richest people in the world
by selling the data people give him!

What software would be needed?

An easy to use, do it yourself public page editor, where you publish
text, photos, videos, whatever you feel like sharing with the others.
And instead of typing "facebook" you type the id of the person you want
to visit.

Yes, the machine should be running 24H a day so anyone that wants to
visit you can do it without your intervention. Or you could be near the
machine and start speaking with the personn that is visiting you (a
microphone is quite cheap) and even you can have a video phone call with
your friends.

Deevelopping such an app would be fun... and it could have incredibly
good consequences: a social network machine where YOU are again at the
helm of the machine and not the other way around.

And I still do not understand why we do not have a linux phone.

[Mustafa Cihan]

Dear Jacob,

Interesting idea to build a social network with credit card sized machines. Would be really nice and people will have really better privacy for sure.
Since you asked why we don't have it I will give you some problem points that this idea should solve.

First, free lures. Even if we all know nothing is free in this life. If you do not pay with money then you pay with something else (in Facebook case with your private information.) People will choose the free option.
The cost can be solved with integrated servers to the routers that are free (this time because you subscribed to the internet service provider).
We can have this piece of server integrated on routers that are anyways 24/7 on and connected.

Second, any good social network server we will have in our house is good for today and not for tomorrow so it needs to be updated. Who will update it and how to deploy it. We need central management of all apps (ios, android) and websites (desktop, tablet, etc.) synchronized and updated regularly.
No free solution can win the battle to facebook. (If you are not planning to ban it)

What is more, people are lazy. Probably even you and me just emailed the document (meaning giving a copy to google) to next room instead of sending the file by usb (more secure). So the solution should be even easier than facebook to share or no sharing will happen at all.

Finding friends will get harder. You need a centralized database (or kind of a blockchain) to search for friends. Don't forget how facebook sent you thousands of email to take you from emails to facebook. In time you forget your inbox and start your day with facebook. (you means not you especially)

[Charlie Gibbs]

Post by Mustafa Cihan
Dear Jacob,
Interesting idea to build a social network with credit card sized machines.
Would be really nice and people will have really better privacy for sure.
Since you asked why we don't have it I will give you some problem points
that this idea should solve.
First, free lures. Even if we all know nothing is free in this life. If you
do not pay with money then you pay with something else (in Facebook case with
your private information.) People will choose the free option. The cost can
be solved with integrated servers to the routers that are free (this time
because you subscribed to the internet service provider). We can have this
piece of server integrated on routers that are anyways 24/7 on and connected.
Second, any good social network server we will have in our house is good for
today and not for tomorrow so it needs to be updated. Who will update it and
how to deploy it. We need central management of all apps (ios, android) and
websites (desktop, tablet, etc.) synchronized and updated regularly.

Since this takes us back to a monopoly, just like Facebook, it isn't really
a solution. The original intent of the Internet - peers passing data to
each other without a centralized point of control - should be revived.
Groups like this one (i.e. Usenet) keep the dream alive. In theory, so
does e-mail - although consolidation into a few huge providers (e.g. gmail,
Yahoo, etc.) again shows a disturbing trend toward monopolization.

Post by Mustafa Cihan
No free solution can win the battle to facebook. (If you are not planning to ban it)
What is more, people are lazy. Probably even you and me just emailed the
document (meaning giving a copy to google) to next room instead of sending
the file by usb (more secure). So the solution should be even easier than
facebook to share or no sharing will happen at all.

Convenience (or, more accurately, the perception of convenience) is one of
the most powerful tools for manipulating people. As long as users are willing
to drink the Kool-Aid, there isn't a lot we can do. Those of us who care must
be willing to make the slight effort required to maintain independence. (And
no, I don't have a Facebook account, and I wouldn't even know how to tweet.
I find enough social interactions elsewhere.)

Post by Mustafa Cihan
Finding friends will get harder. You need a centralized database (or kind
of a blockchain) to search for friends. Don't forget how facebook sent you
thousands of email to take you from emails to facebook. In time you forget
your inbox and start your day with facebook. (you means not you especially)

Again, it's seen as an excuse for the rise of monopolies. Finding friends in
the real world has never been easy either. And in both places, if you depend
on being handed a prepackaged group of "friends", you're going to get burned.

Much of the malaise of the 21st century is due to the fact that people are
unwilling to do anything for themselves. This has been true through history,
but modern technology has eliminated the reality checks that usually kept it
from becoming a problem. On the other hand, history tells us many stories
where denial of reality has spread throughout a society. This is usually
quickly followed by the collapse of that society.

[jacobnavia]

Post by Mustafa Cihan
Dear Jacob,
Interesting idea to build a social network with credit card sized machines. Would be really nice and people will have really better privacy for sure.
Since you asked why we don't have it I will give you some problem points that this idea should solve.
First, free lures. Even if we all know nothing is free in this life. If you do not pay with money then you pay with something else (in Facebook case with your private information.) People will choose the free option.

Look, people weren't AWARE that facebook was stealing their data. Now
they are, and many people are signing off facebook. The linux system
would be for THOSE people at first (geeks, like we are).

THEN, when the machine has spread and has some momentum, other less
"geeky" people would start using it since it is very cheap. People do
buy portable phones, computers, etc.

Post by Mustafa Cihan
The cost can be solved with integrated servers to the routers that are free (this time because you subscribed to the internet service provider).
We can have this piece of server integrated on routers that are anyways 24/7 on and connected.
Second, any good social network server we will have in our house is good for today and not for tomorrow so it needs to be updated. Who will update it and how to deploy it. We need central management of all apps (ios, android) and websites (desktop, tablet, etc.) synchronized and updated regularly.

This is already done by

apt-get upgrade

isn't it???

No AUTOMATIC upgrades but maybe a cron job that would put a reminder
each week?

Doesn't look like rocket science to me...

Post by Mustafa Cihan
No free solution can win the battle to facebook. (If you are not planning to ban it)

Linux has thrived since more than 20 years in a world of commercial
OSes. A linux solution could be done without a lot of problems.

Post by Mustafa Cihan
What is more, people are lazy. Probably even you and me just emailed the document (meaning giving a copy to google) to next room instead of sending the file by usb (more secure). So the solution should be even easier than facebook to share or no sharing will happen at all.

Since people are "lazy", if linux offers a simple solution (you can
email easily from your linux PC to anyone without anyone receiving a
copy besides the person you want) people will use it!

Post by Mustafa Cihan
Finding friends will get harder. You need a centralized database (or kind of a blockchain) to search for friends. Don't forget how facebook sent you thousands of email to take you from emails to facebook. In time you forget your inbox and start your day with facebook. (you means not you especially)

The same thing will happen when you have your linux computer. You
forget about facebook and start your day with your inbox.

How did facebook start?

Because geek people adopted it. If the geek start really pushing a Linux
solution it will work.

How do you search for friends?

You search an open database where you put

Name
Email
Interests

Since that database is public, it is also accessible to spammers and
commercial interests, but that is KNOWN and you put into THAT database
only data you know is harmless and you want to make public!

[Jasen Betts]

Post by jacobnavia
Why you need facebook?
To share photos, messages, whatever with your friends.
A machine that is accessible using TCP/IP can do all that without any
social network. You give your friends your address (or tcpip ID) and you
can share anything in digital form with them. You can visit discussion
forums held in your machine or in some friend's machine.

This is not new.

https://friendi.ca/

[Spiros Bousbouras]

On Tue, 10 Apr 2018 23:37:34 +0200

Post by jacobnavia
Why you need facebook?
To share photos, messages, whatever with your friends.
A machine that is accessible using TCP/IP can do all that without any
social network. You give your friends your address (or tcpip ID) and you
can share anything in digital form with them. You can visit discussion
forums held in your machine or in some friend's machine.

Don't you need a stead IP address for this ? I don't know how ISPs assign
IP addresses but mine has changed a few times over the years.

[...]

Post by jacobnavia
TCP/IP is decentralized, and can handle the construction of networks of
friends, or people interested in sharing data/stories, whatever.

Is it decentralized ? Don't most people need an ISP ? How many ISPs are
in a country ? I would imagine in most countries there are few enough to
get in cahoots about whatever suits them but not necessarily their users.

[...]

Post by jacobnavia
And I still do not understand why we do not have a linux phone.

Did you try googling for "linux phones" ?

[Kyonshi]

On Tue, 10 Apr 2018 23:37:34 +0200

Post by jacobnavia
Why you need facebook?
To share photos, messages, whatever with your friends.
A machine that is accessible using TCP/IP can do all that without any
social network. You give your friends your address (or tcpip ID) and
you can share anything in digital form with them. You can visit
discussion forums held in your machine or in some friend's machine.
Linux can do all that. It is able to store images, and display them
to any browser that happens to request it.
Instead of giving your data to an organization that will sell it to
advertisers, you can build your own site and share ideas or whatever
with your friends. Directly, without any one else intervening.
What about a "node" machine, the size of a credit card?
I am running linux in an ARM64, the size of a credit card. Using a
cheap 1TB SSD, the thing runs incredibly well. And could be a good FB
replacement!
Social networks are an industry that is inherently dangerous if centralized.
TCP/IP is decentralized, and can handle the construction of networks
of friends, or people interested in sharing data/stories, whatever.
Networks that do not lead into a centralized nightmare where the guys
behind the scenes sell the data to advertisers.
Just networks of people, without any central store.
This kind of networks would be straight networking: nothing more. All
the data is decentralized in each machine, and it is your property,
not somebody else's that has become one of the richest people in the
world by selling the data people give him!
What software would be needed?
An easy to use, do it yourself public page editor, where you publish
text, photos, videos, whatever you feel like sharing with the others.
And instead of typing "facebook" you type the id of the person you
want to visit.
Yes, the machine should be running 24H a day so anyone that wants to
visit you can do it without your intervention. Or you could be near
the machine and start speaking with the personn that is visiting you
(a microphone is quite cheap) and even you can have a video phone
call with your friends.
Deevelopping such an app would be fun... and it could have incredibly
good consequences: a social network machine where YOU are again at
the helm of the machine and not the other way around.
And I still do not understand why we do not have a linux phone.

ah... that was in fact from the tenth of April 2018 instead of 2024. My
bad for the thread necromancy.

[Kyonshi]

On Tue, 10 Apr 2018 23:37:34 +0200

Post by jacobnavia
Why you need facebook?
To share photos, messages, whatever with your friends.
A machine that is accessible using TCP/IP can do all that without any
social network. You give your friends your address (or tcpip ID) and
you can share anything in digital form with them. You can visit
discussion forums held in your machine or in some friend's machine.
Linux can do all that. It is able to store images, and display them
to any browser that happens to request it.
Instead of giving your data to an organization that will sell it to
advertisers, you can build your own site and share ideas or whatever
with your friends. Directly, without any one else intervening.
What about a "node" machine, the size of a credit card?
I am running linux in an ARM64, the size of a credit card. Using a
cheap 1TB SSD, the thing runs incredibly well. And could be a good FB
replacement!
Social networks are an industry that is inherently dangerous if centralized.
TCP/IP is decentralized, and can handle the construction of networks
of friends, or people interested in sharing data/stories, whatever.
Networks that do not lead into a centralized nightmare where the guys
behind the scenes sell the data to advertisers.
Just networks of people, without any central store.
This kind of networks would be straight networking: nothing more. All
the data is decentralized in each machine, and it is your property,
not somebody else's that has become one of the richest people in the
world by selling the data people give him!
What software would be needed?
An easy to use, do it yourself public page editor, where you publish
text, photos, videos, whatever you feel like sharing with the others.
And instead of typing "facebook" you type the id of the person you
want to visit.
Yes, the machine should be running 24H a day so anyone that wants to
visit you can do it without your intervention. Or you could be near
the machine and start speaking with the personn that is visiting you
(a microphone is quite cheap) and even you can have a video phone
call with your friends.
Deevelopping such an app would be fun... and it could have incredibly
good consequences: a social network machine where YOU are again at
the helm of the machine and not the other way around.
And I still do not understand why we do not have a linux phone.

You might be interested to have a look at the tilde scene, which tries
to bring back the times when people had access to shared computers.

Or you can look at nextcloud, which has filesharing, chat, video
conferencing, webmail, and a few other things inbuilt (I ran it from my
rp3b+ and it was sluggish bur principally worked). That could work as a
small social site for friends and family.