It’s vendor lockin. Office file formats are not properly open. There is a “temporary” closed bit that they promised to open to get through ISO, but then never did. The whole ISO thing was a massive exercise in corruption. Let alone the fact the reference implementation is closed. Shame Groklaw isn’t as easy to search and link now.

The problem is that level of wealth should not be in anyone’s hand. Elon is demonstrating why, but Elon shouldn’t have been allowed to get into this position.

Pure is a nonsense absolutely.

I’d remove the monarchy, but right now it isn’t doing any harm. When it does, it will be removed from the system. That tension, that “sword of damocles”, the monarchy is very aware of and it keeps them in check. No one should be born into positions and I have no time for royals complaining of their gilded cage. At some point the UK will restructure I"m sure (federate and decentralise) and each time wil reduce the monarchy position.

I said “arguably the press was a bit too free”. That is not saying I think it is. Only that I see a case for the argument it is. Out of that and a totally state controlled press, free is better. Things fester in darkness. Unaccountable power corrupts. Fact free needs more consequences, but that isn’t the same as choking freedom.

Money drives China just as much. That’s OK. Money is just an expression of value we are prepared to exchange. It’s an intermediate used between goods. An abstraction. Even if we ever get to post scarcity, it will be with us.

Taiwan does want China. It can see what happened to Hong Kong. We all can. If China wants it, it will have to take it by force. Just like Russia is trying to with Ukraine.

Their wealth is going to end up with a lot of “stranded assets”.

So we agree countries are really a shades of grey. Personally, I would move more infrastructure to state ownership in the UK. Other countries it is up to them, though the US private health is clearly an epic murderous fail. As long as the setup doesn’t make trade unfair and start tariff problems.

In the UK monarchy is symbolic. They can’t take sides on anything officially. If they did, it would be a scandal. Most democracies with a monarchy are similar or have them not even symbolically part of the system. Their power is purely adversely and in networking.

Based on rumour and the queens dresses at the time, and family history, it is widely thought the queen did not want Brexit. But it happened anyway. It brought down the PM of the time as well. In fact it was the start of a series of short lived PMs. Mainly because Brexit is a batshit idea and the promises made are incompatible with each other and reality! Arguably the press was a bit too free. Free from fact. All suboptimal, but doesn’t back you ruling Bourgeoisie angle. I’m pretty sure we be back in the EU one day anyway due to demographics and economic realities.

I say again, it can only up to the people of Taiwan if they are assimilated into China. If they vote for it, (I recommended a 66+% super majority to avoid Brexit 52% nonsense) I’d have no issue. If they don’t and are just invaded, I have a big issue with it. Like I do with Russia invading Ukraine and Israel’s genocide.

The trueth is all the countries you are calling capitalist because are probably all mixed economies. With a lot owned by the state. Here in the UK that includes our health service, education system, roads, the electricity grid, and more. Rail is being renationalised and water probably will have to be too as its privatisation (by the Conservatives in the 80s) has been an epic fail. The key difference is these countries can peacefully kick out the government and the government is answerable to laws. Laws it sets. We recently had a PM brought down for breaking his own Covid laws. We have free press holding governments to account. All kind of freedom of information and transparency.

China started out more communist than if is now. More like the USSR.

Taiwan is mixed economy like western democracies, and doesn’t want to be like China. Which is why China is having to talk about inflicting it by force.

So we agree modern China is not communist. From what I skim (not really read to be honest) capitalism came to China via Deng Xiaoping. Its not been becoming less capitalism since. Now it’s not different than other capitalist countries, only the state at the centre isn’t democratic and not accountable to its people or laws.

“Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit.”

This applies to modern China.

Communism’s brief doesn’t fit modern China “a socioeconomic order centered around common ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange that allocates products to everyone in society based on need.”

I think they are both best just signing mutual recognition and moving on. Neither is the same as they where when they seperated.

Your saying it’s not capitalist and it clearly is now.

For the US example, it’s not comparable if you go back to Indigenous Peoples. That’s a whole other thing.

Capitalist lost? You seen modern day China? Hardly anti-capitalist. Taiwan should get to decide if it’s part of China or not. Doesn’t seam they want undemocratic dystopia.

Going to your America example, the Brits withdrew to Canada. You with Trump with invading Canada then? A 1812 rematch?

I don’t need it and neither do the other EV owners I know. But we can all charge at home.

Exactly. I want things, especially expensive things, built to be repaired and upgraded. Not vendor locked and with built in obsolescence.

See, for me, I rapid charge like once a month. All the rest of the time I use my home charger or even a granny lead. 10A granny charging is absolutely fine overnight. But for the size of the E-Berlingo, the battery is a bit small and I know all kind of new batteries are coming. More kWh for the same weight/size, less degradation, safer, etc etc. If I knew the car was designed with battery replacement in mind, I’d worry a lot less about it being obsoleted prematurely. These cars are all black boxed stuck together. It’s not built with repairing and upgrading in mind.

Oh totally, I have a E-Berlingo which basically an ICE converted to an EV, so there is all kind of compromises.

But batteries do improve and an old existing EV can be improved battery. Example: https://evsenhanced.com/aftermarket-battery/

But the economics is much harder if batteties aren’t unique to each EV. (They aren’t completely of course, the guts of my E-Berlingo are shared across a number of others.) EVs, like a lot else, should be designed with maintaining and upgrading in mind. Especially with parts like batteries which are in such evolutionary flux.

Yes and no. No need to hot swap massive EV batteries. Rapid is fast enough. But yes so the EV can be upgraded. The batteries go obsolete quicker than they degrade. So make it so we can swap the batteries and keep the rest running. In fact, just right-to-repair the whole car. In fact, the whole everything!

The problem is when Docker is used to gift wrap a mess. Then there are rotting dependencies in the containers. The nice thing about Debian packaged things is the maintainer is forced to do things properly. Even more so if they get it into the repos.

My preference is Debian Stable in LXC or even KVM for services. I only go for Docker if that is the recommended option. There is stuff out there where the recommend way is their VM image which is full of their soup of Dockers.

Docker is in my pile of technologies I don’t really like or approve of, but don’t have the energy to really fight.

That makes me feel better. Thanks. I worry about the UK and our FPTP and Reform. They could gain power with it.

Germany electorate, please pleasantly surprise us. It’s been as dark year. Don’t vote in Nazis as well.

Yer, it’s all tankie/troll stuff. Blocked!