Notices by Bradley M. Kuhn (bkuhn@fedi.copyleft.org), page 3

(2/2)
… which proves my point he's *not* a journalist; he's an entertainer (akin to Tucker Carlson) who uses trappings of “news” & “journalism” to spread offensive views.

He has a right to Free Speech to, not to Free Promotion (which is why I don't say his name).

I'm not afraid to talk to him, or debate him (even on this meta point), but I never have & never will promote him.

But, the matter is now closed since he's said I'm only welcome on the show if I can convince him it'll get views.

(1/2) The host of show in question (a) knew my mobile number & I'd already told him clearly that call/text is best way to reach me &(b) when I reminded him of that after he misrepresented my position on his show w/out getting my comment, said my past interview got poor ratings & he only wanted guests who would likely get good view-count.
It's his prerogative who he has on his show. I'm not offended about that¹ part…

¹ He's said many other offensive & false things that need not be relisted here

I think this gets down to the main place where we disagree on this, @alatiera. I'm confident that my agreement to the interview did *not* increase promotion, credibility, or revenue for that show (at least any more than same content would have with just using quotes from my public statements). *In fact*, this fellow himself answered my text messages to say that he just quoted this thread on the show rather than ask me on b/c as a live guest, I didn't bring good enough ratings in for him!

#ApplePropoganda

Does #Safari's marketing people really have what's best for developers in their minds when they take informal polls? 🤔

“Hey, I'm just asking questions!” can justify a lot of propaganda disguised as inquiry. IMO, that's happening here.

#Apple is well known for pushing forward — via carefully concerted public messaging — that they champion the privacy rights of their users.

A 100% #FOSS system, with fully @reproducible_builds & device-owner control of crypto-key-lock of the bootchain is the real path to privacy, *not* Tim Cook's proxies using ActivityPub polls to vague-post at standards bodies & competitors.

I wish FoxNewsOfFOSS was the 3AM Newsmax, @alatiera but sadly, he really *is* the Tucker Carlson of FOSS.
I & my colleagues meet ppl often who learn about FOSS *from* his show. He has a *lot* of viewers & (ala Fox) get FOSS news nowhere else.
If I got just 10 of his viewers to stop treating him as their primary FOSS news source, my interview was worth it.
It does alarm me how quickly folks are blocking me entirely b/c I once employed a strategy that we anti-fascist can reasonably disagree about.

I suggest being careful with rhetoric, @alatiera. I believe there are elements of fascist policies in the current USA regime. I don't think I live in a fascist country (yet), & I don't think someone who repeats the views is necessarily a fascist (&/or can grok that they are). Again, I point to my dad, who is misguided, & I'm 💔 that my dad's “get the libs” now includes true Schadenfreude that programs at my & my spouse's work evaporate due to policies my dad loves.
But my dad's not a Nazi…(1/2)

… my dad is a misguided man hoodwinked by a leader with fascist leanings. PersonInQuestion maybe is too; I dunno.

But is the answer *really* to never talk to them, & literally block anyone who ever talked to them ever? That can't be right either.

My perspective is weird b/c I grew up in a racist community where racial slurs were the norm. My mom told me when I was young it was ok to call a particular candy N****-toes b/c (in her words) “that's what they were called when she was a kid”…(2/3)

…∴ I've spent my life as an anti-fascist, anti-capitalist, radical democratic socialist who must talk every day to racist, fascist-curious, proprietary-software-loving people who surely wish I'd die in a fire.

But, if they'll talk to me, I'll talk to them — just for hope of changing their minds (if nothing else).

If folks call me an “associate of fascists” for that, I support their Free Speech rights. But. I'll keep seeking restorative justice — in my own (maybe admittedly clumsy) way.

(3/3)

An oft-ignored issue with #LLM-backed generative #AI ballyhoo is purposeful anthropomorphization that manufactures consent for Big Tech.

The anthropomorphic terms that criticize are *more* insidious than the positive ones. “Hallucinate”, in particular, is downright offensive.

Programmers aren't “doctors” who “heal” sick software for the betterment of society.

…& AI enthusiasts: at *least* read the 🤬 DSM-5 to learn the difference between “hallucination” & “delusion”! 🤦

https://www.ebb.org/bkuhn/blog/2025/09/02/ai-llm-hallucination-ballyhoo.html

Yeah, what @philip said!

A small instance is the way to go.

I really do encourage those who can afford $6/month just sign up for @mastohost with their own domain & have an instance for a small group.

These massive instances can't possible keep up with the complaints (& verify their server rules are followed) & ultimately lots of small instances is what federation is about!

@evan

@alatiera Yes, it'd be be a dream if FOSS were important enough to be platformed by Fox News. But we aren't. 🫤

I'm barely famous enough to be invited on FOSS' “local” Fox News, but I seriously doubt it got new viewers due to my interview& the viewers got to hear the platform itself criticized for once.

I wish I were famous enough that my doing an interview was some sort of “get”. But I'm just not.

I'm still being careful to not say the actual name so as not to promote it.
@danirabbit @purple

(1/2) Note,@alatiera, my interview isn't recent. Like most ppl¹ going down the rabbit hole, Mr.FoxNewsOfFOSS gets a bit worse every month. I've known him for 20 years & like my dad¹, his toxicity is a slowly worsening target. I do think ignoring them is a mistake,tho.

¹My own dad is an e.g.: my dad donated to SFC's Outreachy program as recently as late 2024, & now he thinks it'll be good if I & my colleagues are “getting what we deserve“ from Trump's anti-LGBTQIA EOs.

Cc: @danirabbit @purple

(2/2)… I certainly talk to my dad & everyone else in my life who supports Trump's Project 2025 & many of their policies *are* fascist.

But pretending FoxNewsOfFOSS or my dad don't exist, and going even further to refusing to talk to anyone who is even willing to talk to them, seems a mistake to me. I don't blame anyone who can't stand talking to those flirting with fascism, but I do think it's constructive to confront them with dialogue & rhetoric occasionally.

@alatiera @danirabbit @purple

I hope folks don't judge my 30 years of activism based on agreeing to one interview one time that I never promoted.

FWIW, I took (& continue to take) substantial personal, professional, & political risk to expose & oppose toxic behavior by key #FOSS leaders:
https://ebb.org/bkuhn/blog/2023/10/11/moglen-sflc.html
https://ebb.org/bkuhn/blog/2019/10/15/fsf-rms.html

I'm doing best I can as a (lesser-known) #FOSS activist to DTRT.🤷

Thx again to @danirabbit & @federicomena for promoting the Anti-Trans USA Legal Risk Assessment map!

Cc: @purple @alatiera

@evan The weird thing I remember from the episode I was on is you stopped the whole thing to say what the name and number of the podcast was. I never forgot that as a podcast rule after that.

Say the name and episode date or number to start.

Anyway, I appreciate your work so much and remember all the work you did and appreciate it.

@nivex While I understand your concern,I must ask … is getting full IPv6 infrastructure set up w/ our hosters top priority for #SFC? Should we set aside other urgent work,such as #Vizio case,to do it?

I'll add it low priority on our agenda, but we've a single sysadmin , @paulv, covering all of SFC needs—internal & external.

My job in part is to prioritize limited resources right,so the salient question is: ∃ ppl who'd never see https://giveupgithub.org b/c it has no AAAA record?

#GiveUpGitHub

This reminds me of years ago, @evan posted to status.net (paraphrased): “Hey, everybody, you do realize that our plan to fund each other on a crowd-funding sites for all our work is actually *not* going to work, right?”.

In seriousness, It's fascinating that the key code that $DJT/TMTG added to Mastodon was a standard ad platform.

But I really don't think we need more “Influencers” though, do you?

The fediverse *does not* need a GRWM video of me shaving my head — sponsored by $RAZOR_BRAND!

@cwebber

We all know Al Gore took the initiative to invent the Internet.

But it was Bill Clinton in his weekly radio address on 1999-11-27 that I could trust any website as long as you saw the 🔒and/or 🔑 symbol.

https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/the-presidents-radio-address-89

So, you posted the 🔒 symbol so I know I can type my credit card number here.

@winterschon please keep in mind that @Codeberg is trying to do good in the world with limited resources. I'd bet my life savings that #Codeberg's entire budget is a rounding error for #Microsoft's.

We have got to understand and empathize with people trying to do good work with such limited resources and they have such limited resources because bad actors take advantage of them.