Open all the Things

Published: 2024-02-24T20:02:14+01:00

My beliefs in open source extend further than just software. I believe the principles behind the free software movement can be applied to most industries, in and out of the hardware space. Two things I have strong opinions on, that I've noticed myself repeating over the past few years:

• 90% of what Apple does should be illegal.
• Anything that can be connected to or interacted with in some way should be required to have a public API or standard.

These would be fundamental regulatory changes that would drastically alter society in ways both big and small.

90% of What Apple Does Should be Illegal

Something of a ridiculous clickbait way of putting this idea. In reality, it is more about a consumer-first focus and protecting the rights of the users of devices and software. The Digital Markets Act of the EU, as well as the EU forcing USB-C and replaceable batteries in mobile phones are perfect examples of this idea in action. Especially the Digital Markets Act.

Apple markets themselves as a company that produces user-friendly and privacy-respecting products. I argue that this is not true. Apple produces products that are EASY TO USE, which is different than user-friendly. Apple's products are actually user-hostile, locking you in to a specific way of doing things, and not playing well with any kind of interoperability. Almost everything they do is profit-driven, not user driven. This is noticeably true in their hardware. Dongles, removal of the headphone jack, strange proprietary cables.

Regulation fixed this.

More regulation is needed. Right to repair, for example, should not be done by companies out of the goodness of their hearts. It should be a legally required mandate.

Everything Should Have an Open Standard

Or, the Death of Reverse Engineering

I came up with this thought after dealing with many devices that can only be fully configured or used by making use of some official app (which almost always is hoovering up data). It is absolutely ridiculous that things you own cannot be used the way you want without submitting to onerous and possibly illegal terms of service. Everything has an app now. Almost everything doesn't need an app. Most internet-of-things (IoT) devices don't need to be connected to a cloud.

Local-first, open standards first. If it can be connected to, the manufacturer should be required to publish (or adhere to) some standard API/specification and make it possible to connect to and manipulate the device using that API or specification. A simple example is an electric scooter. Many of them have official apps that allow changing of acceleration sensitivity, max speed, etc over Bluetooth. There is zero reason for this to require a specific app. This could be both a standard protocol AND standard API.

Why should something like this be required?

• Product longevity. Less e-waste.
• Increased competition. Businesses can build on top of one another with new features.
• Real ownership. No more buying a thing to own but not REALLY owning it.

License: CC-BY-SA-4.0.

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