Once upon a time, open-source software was passed around on floppy drives and copied to user systems. In the later years, you could order a CD for programs like the Linux operating system, before web servers made these files easier to download.
I imagine the early years of open-source were quite exciting. You put in the time and effort to write a program, and it became useful for anybody who could obtain a copy. You could, in effect, make the world a better place, simply by knowing how to program.
In the always-online world, though, things have changed dramatically. Although there are plenty of system utilities that haven’t been modified in ages, most of the software we use on a daily basis exists to ferry messages across a broad, unprotected network of routers and servers. We expect email on our phones, but it has to traverse the internet first. We watch YouTube and Netflix, which require video data sent over the internet. We use browsers and social media, all accessed through the internet.
The great danger of the internet, of course, is that nefarious actors know they can often use it to their advantage. If they can get you to click a link, they will. If they can pass data to a part of the accessing program to exploit a memory or logic flaw, they will. If they can gain access to your computer and find one of these memory or logic flaws in a privileged process on your computer, they will.
And thus, programs became services: monitored, fixed, and updated. And this requires people, time, effort, and money. Lots of money.
See, free programs we have. What we really don’t have are free services. Well, not free in the traditional sense, that is. These companies have to turn a profit in order to host infrastructure, hire developers and administrators, and keep the lights on. If they don’t and one of those nefarious actors finds a way to abuse the program…everybody with that program becomes vulnerable. And if you want to store something online, who pays for the server? The internet connection to the server? The maintenance of the building that houses the server?
See, it’s all well and good that people want to share their programs with the world. But this is only one small piece of what people actually want and need. And thus far, there is no good way to make services free. By and large, these services earn their revenue from the auctioning of ad space to advertisers, or otherwise collecting and selling information from the behavior and dealings of users. Some companies manage to turn a profit by charging money, but consumers generally hate paying these charges.
Even the Linux operating system, though it can easily be installed on ancient hardware and make old computers immediately useful, requires a large team of developers to keep pace with new hardware standards, driver technologies, wifi standards, and network standards, simply to meet the basic expectations of the average computer user. Fortunately, they have a well-funded foundation that hires developers, thus putting the foundation on firm ground for future existence, but they also accept contributions from outside, those brave souls who contribute for the cause, despite not benefiting financially from their efforts.
Funnily enough, technology does not magically work out-of-the-box. It is a massive collaborative effort, and is constantly changing.
Because of this, we need to be cautious what exactly we expect from technology: by and large, the only companies who can operate these services are large, well-funded corporations who offer their services for “free”, in exchange for the data that has created whole clandestine markets for profiling. They have the money for large security teams, psychological manipulation teams, statistics and AI data-harvesting teams, and even user experience teams. Services offered by non-giant corporations tend to be lacking in basic UX, which can present a serious barrier for non-tech savvy users.
Some major concerns about small companies trying to offer privacy-focused services are 1) whether they can be successfully profitable in order to continue offering the service, 2) whether they have adequate security standards, and 3) whether they are usable. Because of the nature of technology, we can also include 4) whether they are actually as privacy-respecting as they say they are. Sometimes, there’s no easy way to verify this.
I am very slowly starting to move my allegiance away from Big Tech, but my resolve keeps growing, as their abuses continue to mount.
At the end of the day, it’s wise to consider what you are expecting from technology, and you must ask yourself how providers of services stay in business. Find services that you get real value from and actually support them. I use the professional edition of a popular web pentesting tool, and although paying $400 each year stings, it supports a company that has cast aside any allegiance to Big Tech, and produces a product that’s beloved by many, for very clear reasons. I have also found that the vast majority of apps have nothing to offer me in my daily life, so I avoid downloading anything onto my phone without serious consideration. I have not yet switched to GrapheneOS as my dominant smart phone operating system, but I’m definitely considering it more and more, and am considering supporting its developers, too.
Do your expectations of technology match reality? Or are you immersed in technologies offering deals that are too good to be true? Everybody pays a price at the end of the day, so choose wisely who you pay.