Signal has done nothing but good for its users and its own reputation, but the feeling of inevitability, that it’s impossible for them to avoid enshitification, that mostly people just assume it’s a foregone conclusion that signal is now or soon will be, shit.
I like signal, and I still feel the above about it.
I mean, I have similar feelings about Valve, but I continue using the product because I know the most crucial and important contributions to the software space (Proton and OpenXR for Valve, Signal’s Client and non-spam-removal server code) has already had source provided to the public, meaning anyone could hard fork and pick up the torch if the current champion falters.
If a company is publicly traded on the stock market, hasn’t provided source to safeguard against uncertain leadership, and is integral to your software setup, your dependence on them needs to be scrutinized.
On the other end of the spectrum, if transparency is maintained, even with the inevitable entropy leading to enshittification, their contributions will be preserved and reused. That is the brilliance of providing source of your software.
Signal has done nothing but good for its users and its own reputation, but the feeling of inevitability, that it’s impossible for them to avoid enshitification, that mostly people just assume it’s a foregone conclusion that signal is now or soon will be, shit.
I like signal, and I still feel the above about it.
It helps that it’s run by a nonprofit. No investors, no shareholders, no inevitable IPO.
It definitely jelps but then we also have Mozilla and other nonprofits not reaching the community’s expectations.
I mean, I have similar feelings about Valve, but I continue using the product because I know the most crucial and important contributions to the software space (Proton and OpenXR for Valve, Signal’s Client and non-spam-removal server code) has already had source provided to the public, meaning anyone could hard fork and pick up the torch if the current champion falters.
If a company is publicly traded on the stock market, hasn’t provided source to safeguard against uncertain leadership, and is integral to your software setup, your dependence on them needs to be scrutinized.
On the other end of the spectrum, if transparency is maintained, even with the inevitable entropy leading to enshittification, their contributions will be preserved and reused. That is the brilliance of providing source of your software.
I hope someone writes the video game equivalent of American Pie when Valve eventually dies.