Like data breaches, this will be big news that some devices were compromised at some time. Then followed by a slow dribble here and there, that, oh yeah, well more than we initially thought. Then a few months later it will be, "Yeah, it's really a lot more than we thought." Maybe a year from now it will basically turn out to be everything. But numbers get so big so fast people don't really know how to effectively parse the difference between 20 million devices and 20 billion devices. So it won't matter to most people.
And really, it shouldn't matter to most people. There's nothing the vast majority of people can do about this. It's not like we can just go buy stuff made in the U.S.
I wish there were a sort of gentlemen’s agreement that cool projects like this that don’t make it as businesses would be open sourced.
Almost every project is based on open source stuff somewhere in the stack, whether it’s the OS, the main programming languages, frameworks, or whatever. And most people don’t have the time to contribute a ton to the tools we all use.
It would be really neat if companies that don’t make it could give a bequest to the various communities and help build a massive library of stuff that, at least at one point in time, ran successfully in production, delivered a certain level of scale, and was able to make some money. If for anthropological or historical or research purposes if nothing else.
You have thoughts and good wishes coming from NYC and from Texas. I'm in New York; my dad is in Texas.
My dad is a WW2 veteran. He fought on the front lines of Normandy Beach, The Battle of France, and Liege, among other places like the Battle of the Bulge.
He was housed in France by people there who welcomed and supported him. He was assisted by the underground resistance. He has an enormous amount of love for the French people that he helped liberate and who helped liberate themselves.
There was a family that took him in somewhere in the French countryside and fed him the first meal he'd had in weeks that wasn't out of a can. They cooked food, washed his clothes, and gave him some wine and a decent bed to sleep on.
My dad is 96 now, and about 10 years ago the granddaughter of that family tracked him down and sent him a letter telling him how she had always heard about this man who came there to help them. He has treasured this person ever since and stayed in touch with her.
When I talked to him on the phone tonight, he was in tears about what has happened in that country he fought so hard to protect so many years ago and the people who are experiencing what you are going through.
Best wishes to you and yours. From Texas and New York, Vive la France.
And really, it shouldn't matter to most people. There's nothing the vast majority of people can do about this. It's not like we can just go buy stuff made in the U.S.