Re: gmail+imap+smtp (oauth2)

[<tomas@tuxteam.de>]

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On Sat, May 14, 2022 at 05:43:33PM -0400, chad wrote:
> There is a small additional wrinkle to Tim Cross' excellent summary:
> [about uncertainty] I'm
> a firm proponent of Hanlon's Razor, but it's hard to believe that this
> outcome isn't at least tacitly accepted.

I've vented my opinion several times here, so I fear I'm repeating
myself.

I think bigcorps have, to some extent, given up on controlling [0]
users via proprietary software. Free software has won, in some
strange way (a bit like the Monkey's Paw [1], returning as Open
Source).

To protect their business model, they have to devise other ways.
One of them is to interpose themselves as monopolistic "services"
between people and their everyday tasks: information retrieval
(Google), communications (Facebook, Twitter et al), business
contact (Google, Microsoft, etc.), mobile connectivity (Google,
Apple), marketplace (Amazon)... I could go on.

What we are seeing here is the "service" of identity management,
something up to now reserved to nation states (they used to
issue passports, remember?)

Now I'm coming back to you, Chad: as long as they are trying
to conquer market share, this kind of uncertainty is useful:
they get the "cheaters", i.e. those who are disgusted by the
very concept. Currently those Firefox users. They formally
break the T&C, but we don't go after them... yet.

To offer a historical parallel: I remember a time (must have
been around Windows 3.x) where everyone knew that using a
number divisible by seven [2] gave you a valid Windows license
key, so you could install an illegal copy. I'm convinced that
back then, Microsoft /wanted/ to see its user base extended
by this huge population. They weren't going to pay anyway,
they were those trained in Windows advocating for it at
work, they could be cracked on at will, and oh, the complaining
about those "criminals" "stealing" billions and billions
"worth" of software. What's not to like?

I don't believe Hanlon applied then. I don't believe Hanlon
applies here (that's why I came up with this mix of Hanlon's
razor and Clarke's Third).

Cheers

[0] Control sounds sooo... evil. It's just about business,
   crisp and cold.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monkey%27s_Paw
[2] the concrete details may be wrong: it's a while
   ago

-- 
t

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