Post by @samir@mastodon.functional.computer

@samir@mastodon.functional.computer

2024-06-21 14:24 UTC

People wrote to me, telling me that all software is harmful. This might be true, but it's reductive. It's the same as saying that humans are all harmful. Depends on your point of view, surely? People told me that any non-free software is harmful. They told me that anything fueling capitalism is bad. I disagree. I choose to believe that tax software is productive because it helps people with their lives.

Replies (2)

@samir@mastodon.functional.computer 2024-06-21 14:26

The point of this poll was to capture an emotion, not a truth. Programmers and nerds are disenfranchised. The majority of 6000 people believe that we are doing bad things with software. It's true. I believe that the percentage has gone up over time. This feels like late-stage capitalism: more money in fewer hands results in more pointless vanity projects, and more rich-get-richer efforts. It also feels like we're on the cusp of breaking away. I, for one, am looking forward to that process.

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@swiftcoder@mastodon.social 2024-06-22 17:14

@samir@mastodon.functional.computer This feels like a particularly unfortunate example, given that the tax software industry in the US is notorious for spending millions on lobbying to make the taxes *more* complicated (thus cementing the need for their software) 😅

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