One of my frustrations is, if I want to try some dozen games on Itch.io, they all come down as EXEs and it’s not clear how I could quickly set them up for Proton. I understand the 20-clicks method of setting up one game off of Steam, and Lutris helps with well-known launchers like Ubi Connect. But for independent authors, needing to do setup for every EXE is a heavy dealbreaker.

It’s distressing how often the track of inventors has been overtaken by the plans of hyper-capitalists.

• Tesla cars were invented by Elon Musk Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, who were then cut out by their investor to enshittify the interface.
• Keurig coffee pods were invented by a pair of roommates that wanted them to become recyclable so they wouldn’t cause so much waste.
• Blizzard used to make fun games, and is now bought out by people that don’t.

I still need to put out my big, long-form video promoting the Accountable Capitalism Act - something that could lead a large body of software devs at a big company to be present for the big-shift plans to, say, “Remove error messages from Windows!” and tell their bosses: Hell no. The same style of issue exists in many industries.

I’ll have to be honest and admit back when I was in high school or so, I was enthusiastic about electric cars and his seemed like some of the best. He was also opening up the charging standards so that there could be a mixed playing field. Back then, I was likely ready to dismiss small critiques as the retaliation of the fossil fuel industry.

God I hate old me.

Much like certain other trends like 3D TVs, this helps us see how often “visionaries” at the top of a company are charmed by ideas that no one on the ground is interested in. Same with blockchain, cryptocurrency, and so many other buzzwords.

So maybe I’ll mention it again: The Accountable Capitalism Act would require 40% of a company’s board be made up of democratically voted employees, who can provide more practical input about how top-level decisions would affect the people working there.