You used to have XYZ program/feature/functionality. You used it, it helped you, all was well.
...Then, one day, you didn't change anything, you didn't do anything differently, but...
 |
| POOF. |
...That helpful thing you had, is gone.
An update changed it, or removed it, or merged it with something else that makes it useless now. Or, maybe that thing you used to have for free or for a reasonable price is now locked away behind a paid tier or a premium account.
The digital ground has been kicked out from below you. Someone (probably a very rich someone running a very large corporation) STOLE from you. It's just part of life now. Everything gets worse over time, by design. (If you've not encountered the term "enshittification" before, take the detour.)
I've had the ground kicked out from below, many many times. It has turned me into a term my friend coined: a "software survivalist". I've gone to some ridiculous lengths to keep good programs and tools alive long past their extinction. Every computer I own is a developer's workstation. My phone has a C compiler on it. The way I operate is to be wary of any machine that's not directly under my control, because at any moment such a system could remove functionality, or go away altogether. I'm a digital doomsday prepper. I've got physical, paper books about kernels and protocols and toolchains.
Were you ever forced by your operating system to buy new hardware?
Have you ever lost access to your own stuff?
Have your subscriptions become more expensive, and also worse?
Does your computer "just do things", making changes you never asked for or approved?
Give me a call. Let this software survivalist kick-proof your ground.
