So in other words it would have been good but execs gotta come in and make it shit.

It’s been like 20 years since I saw salad fingers and I will still sit down and think about it randomly from time to time.

Sometimes I scroll through, see an obvious shit post in what should not be a shit post sub. I go into the comments and they are all “yeah, it’s true (personal example)” and I feel convinced a group of shit posters are just brigading the sub for the luls.

This is one of those moments.

It’s got what horses crave!

Your ideas are intriguing to me, and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

Generally speaking, I will recommend software based on the audience’s core competency.

As of FreeCAD 1.0 I can’t in good conscience recommend against trying it, especially anyone that is new and just learning the principles of parametric CAD.

I get that it is still not as easy, and it’s especially hard for old dogs to learn new tricks, but I feel anyone that is willing to learn how to use CAD in the first place can now learn how to use FreeCAD.

I have personally found it very fulfilling to learn FreeCAD in the last year and know I’m no longer tied to any source of enshittification in my 3D printing pipeline. (Shoutouts to MangoJelly and Deltahedran on YouTube btw.)

I also feel that as that audience grows for FreeCAD and its popularity rises, that in turn helps the users of the proprietary software. Healthy competition is important after all!

I mean, for most of the post they tried not to and a single “her” fell out. Something to consider.

I feel it is an interesting question though. I too assigned genders while reading this the first time so is it naturally ingrained in me? Or is it because of the first person POV of text message exchanges like this?

Are women reading this and assuming the other way around? Would a different format (eg changing the bubbles to other side, or paragraph format like in a novel) change who we think is which gender?

Go back to the way things were. Static ads that aren’t obnoxious and topical to the article or audience of the site might keep the few that haven’t turned on adblockers from doing so. Engage users, don’t insult them and get your demographics by opt-in surveys. Offer subscriptions that give benefits. Ask for donations. These things are all possible. Maybe get rid of some C suite types and keep your organization small and lean and just pay the journalists and editors (and support staff that actually create the content/keep the blinky lights on).

To hell with the megacorps and ad execs that have ruined the internet.

Not everyone is an activist though. And even those that are, they need down time sometimes. I get it’s tough for those on the spectrum to understand, but in this context, let people at the table just play the fucking game.