Post Alvs7XK81SQjSraIS0 by jon@gruene.social
(DIR) More posts by jon@gruene.social
(DIR) Post #AlvritnjJaCJwBgMS0 by aral@mastodon.ar.al
2024-09-12T16:11:33Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
“30% of EU startup businesses that had grown to be valued at more than €1bn—known as unicorns—had moved abroad, and mostly to list on stock markets in the US.”– “hard-hitting report by the former Italian prime minister Mario Draghi”, 2024https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/09/eu-mario-draghi-report-spending-boost“Have you heard about Silicon Valley’s unpaid research and development department? It’s called the EU.”– Me, 2019https://ar.al/2019/06/22/have-you-heard-about-silicon-valleys-unpaid-research-and-development-department-its-called-the-eu/And what I told them at the #EU parliament, also in 2019: https://ar.al/2019/11/29/the-future-of-internet-regulation-at-the-european-parliament/#funding
(DIR) Post #Alvs7XK81SQjSraIS0 by jon@gruene.social
2024-09-12T16:15:59Z
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@aral Aral, look, you're not wrong. But who can *act*? Who *wants to act*? Draghi can come up with a solid point in a report, but he cannot act. And the incentive for anyone else to act - those with the legislative power to do so in the EU - is too low.You being right is all very well, but what's your lever to change this?
(DIR) Post #AlvtXCLoimA9tzAt9M by aral@mastodon.ar.al
2024-09-12T16:31:50Z
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@jon Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’ve given up thinking anything I’ll say or do will change anything at the EU level. I can’t compete with their lobbyist neighbours next door. I’m building the tech I want to see—Small Tech and, specifically, the Small Web. And we haven’t gotten a single euro cent of EU funding (not for lack of trying). But hey, we’re still able to build it (not fun, but possible with sacrifices) so I guess you could say the EU’s cluelessness is sad but irrelevant.
(DIR) Post #Alxa3zZHetoN2ukliC by lewiscowles1986@phpc.social
2024-09-13T12:03:04Z
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@aral if the EU systems, fund creating these people, I don't see an issue with them moving to the USA, because the starter pipeline is healthy.Let the USA drown itself in VC backed debt.There are of course lots of EU companies who don't care about VC nightmares, and are quite happy.
(DIR) Post #AlzJz0QloWS7K6I8aO by onepict@chaos.social
2024-09-13T12:54:12Z
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@lewiscowles1986 @aral Which would be fine except the things that the EU invests in like AI and Blockchain means there's less space in the budget for grassroots FOSS investment.https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/17/foss_funding_vanishes_from_eus/
(DIR) Post #AlzJz1BuzEANgKLn4i by onepict@chaos.social
2024-09-13T12:58:00Z
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@lewiscowles1986 @aral Aral has not had success from EU funding, other projects have. Much like Aral other Human Rights focused projects haven't achieved funding.But there's a European FOSS ecosystem and we need help. We all need support.I've written here about the NGI ecosystem https://onepict.com/20240813-ecosystem.htmlHere are some general thoughts about FOSS sustainability. It's more than the code, it's the support systems, the people and community.https://onepict.com/20240409-sustain.html
(DIR) Post #AlzJz1wMCZJU0M4sSW by lewiscowles1986@phpc.social
2024-09-14T04:00:27Z
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@onepict @aral To be clear, I was not suggesting Aral personally takes money from EU funding projects.I think (and I re-read my post) I suggested folks moving to USA that start successful ventures are only adding to their nation increasing debt burden. Even when "successful", they collectively couldn't wipe out that debt burden.I went on to suggest VC money isn't the only model.I Agree the EU should fund Libre software (as an ideal) and Open software where there are no Libre alternatives.
(DIR) Post #AlzJz2cXfj3c7BoZDE by aral@mastodon.ar.al
2024-09-14T08:12:22Z
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@lewiscowles1986 @onepict Oh, as someone who was earning a six-figure income in mainstream tech in his early twenties but was only just able to go on a holiday for the first time in three years and is now spending the rest of the month looking at a three figure bank account because of it, trust me, I’d very much welcome EU funding. My problem is I’d rather endure this (at least until my health declines, I guess) than to fuck you and others over by working at Google, etc.
(DIR) Post #AlzJz42oNXfGWx73nU by lewiscowles1986@phpc.social
2024-09-14T04:01:47Z
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@onepict @aral Whats more, I pay for (I wouldn't be so bold as to call it funding) Libre software and promote it, and have contributed to more than one Libre and Open Source project.
(DIR) Post #AlzJz5hGEdc9eh2sU4 by onepict@chaos.social
2024-09-13T13:00:07Z
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@lewiscowles1986 One way you can let the EU know that you'd like more funding into the FOSS Grassroots which includes several Fediverse Projects, is to fill in the consultation that @fsfe has written about and has a guide on how to fill it in.This is the political action folks can take right now. The deadline is September 20th.https://mastodon.social/@fsfe/113118370768288326#FossSustainability #FediverseFunding
(DIR) Post #AlzKYt06uqBQhjvlRI by aral@mastodon.ar.al
2024-09-14T08:18:50Z
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@lewiscowles1986 @onepict (And the only reason we exist at all is because I sold family homes and Laura works with a mainstream company—albeit one that’s about as ethical as you can get. We can’t even afford to have both of us work full time on the Small Web while the fucking EU fucking funds fucking startups with our fucking taxes. So, yeah, excuse me if I’m not their biggest cheerleader or see any actual change of policy here. They were never funding us to begin with.)