[bruce511]

To be honest, I'm not sure I even understand what the term "Open web" is supposed to mean?

Does it mean that each individual and company is hosting their stuff on their own physical hardware? Is it OK to use say AWS?

Does it mean that Facebook is the Open Web as long as you work at Facebook? But it's not if you don't?

Is any site with a login "not the open web"? So if I'm hosting on my own metal, paid for by paying subscribers, then I'm not Open Web?

To your point, I think no one cares because the term is so meaningless that it's irrelevant. Actual real people aren't interested in some technical distinction which is completely unrelated to their goals for being on the web in the first place.

It seems to me that the whole concept of "Open web" is so poorly defined, and the reasons for caring so obscure, that it pretty much never comes up anyway. Joe Public doesn't care because there's no reason to care, and he doesn't even know it's "a thing".

[cosmicgadget]

> Is any site with a login "not the open web"?

This one. The open web is freely accessible to anyone on the internet.

> So if I'm hosting on my own metal, paid for by paying subscribers, then I'm not Open Web?

Yes. It's not necessarily bad, it's just not open.

[bruce511]

Thanks for the feedback. So hosting on say Wix is still Open Web?

I suppose, is the converse free? Is a site that allows access without a login Open Web? Like say YouTube?

[cosmicgadget]

I know indie web camp has a thing against hosting services and probably the small web people would also say blogspot and wordpress and wix are too corpo.

So imho drawing the distinction at not requiring payment/login works as an open web definition. And if self-hosting is a requirement for some people, there are other terms to use.

Youtube, Substack, Medium and the like are open-ish. They're far more of a heavyweight platform than a web host or publishing tool. They could become walled with the flip of a switch. And they can be ad-walled which is testing the limits of openness.

[JKCalhoun]

If I go to Wix, Substack, Medium and I'm tracked with cookies, sent analytics to Google, a popup begging to allow notifications, a subscription—not "open".

[echelon]

A world where hyperscalers don't dictate the technology choices of 99.99% of people and totally control distribution.

A world where platform taxes and gatekeeping don't stifle innovation or put a ceiling on startups.

A world where the balance of power is more evenly distributed.

A world where single giant point of failures can't dictate the security posture and privacy of the entire civilization.

The brief period of time between 1993 and 2008.

[bruce511]

I feel like you're describing pretty much every industry ever.

You could be talking about food, or insurance or cars or planes or health or (dare I say it?) politics.

Of course there are well understood commercial reasons for industries consolidating. Primarily because consumers prefer it.

But while your post is good on rhetoric, it still lacks the concrete definition I seek. Specifically what hardware, OS, VM software, site-creation tools, subscription options, advertising networks, payment processors, and so on must I use to reach "Open web" status?

You're describing a world, which is a fair desire. But when I go to the local bakery to pitch an online presence, what exactly am I pitching, and how does this pitch serve the goals of that bakery?

[jacquesm]

The no monoculture one is the big one for me. And I think 2008 is very generous.

[bruce511]

I get the concept of this at a principle level. But how does it play out for you? I mean, to what extent do you succumb to the monoculture because while principles are good, you live in the real world?

So, like, what phone OS do you use? There's not much choice but did you choose Android over iOS because it's more open? Or did you go the whole way and use PalmOS or Symbian? Do you pick airlines based on what planes they fly? Do you choose Bing over Google?

I say this not to judge but rather to highlight the wide gap between principle and reality. We live in a real world, and the world consolidates behind a small number of providers because that has proven to be a beneficial strategy. (And yes, those providers can then abuse us.)

But I don't want to choose between 20 political parties, or 10 credit card processors or have to build apps for 15 phone OS's.

The sadness of losing the early days of choice and wildness are not limited to the web. Before that we lost the 20 brands of PC (all with custom OS) that we had in the 80s. Every new industry goes through this process, and every generation misses the wild heady days of its youth.

[defrost]

As a legit answer,

I don't have a smart phone or a mobile phone .. and yes, I do stay in touch with a good many people via land lines, email, some encrypted apps, radio and IRL face to face conversation.

I pick aircraft for their stability at near ground level flight, Cresco STOL's for example, and or ability to land on water, have high wings, mostly twin props, etc. Quite fond of Robinson R22 and Cabri G2 helicopters.

Typically elections here have 10 or so parties, three or four major parties, several minor single issue parties, and 10 or so independants in many districts. It's a preferential ranked voting system that allows you to 1, 2, 3 your main interests and tail off there if that's all you care to do.

I still largely use paper maps (despite having processed a great deal of digital GIS data into digital mapping pipelines).

So, yeah - we're happy being off to the side and not part of the great urban monoculture.

[jacquesm]

Props to you, you're further along that track than I am. Running a business has been one of main obstacles to cutting more of these ties. But it's getting there.

[defrost]

Props to my father, really - he's still kicking along, born in 1935, and fairly adept at living in places that lack any modern urban infrastructure.

Although, TBH, he's fallen prey to the clutches of the iPhone (sans any account stuff and pretty much limited to phone calls, text messages, and logging his daily walks).

I am working with smart phones for other people, they're more and more integrated with tractors, drones, boom sprays, ag equipment .. but many people are mindful of routing data and control through { cloud } which often means the US and are still attached to ways of working that can still work when { stuff breaks }, like internet connections, US clouds.

Fuel and fertilizer is a big issue ATM .. there are a lot of people all wanting to seed seperate 4,000 Ha farm blocks ATM - and that ability to do or not do so will have a rolling impact about the world in a few months.

[jacquesm]

> So, like, what phone OS do you use?

Nokia N800.

> Do you pick airlines based on what planes they fly?

I stopped flying entirely.

> Do you choose Bing over Google?

Still using Google but working very hard on moving away from it.

Yes, I too live in the real world and I'm a really annoying customer for banks, insurance companies and my government by insisting they serve me without bending over and adopting some eco-system that I do not subscribe to. I have a need to interact with my bank, my government, my insurance company and my kids schools and I point blank refuse to be sucked into any of their app driven eco systems.

I'll take it to court if that's what it takes.

[bruce511]

I applaud your dedication to not succumbing to the appification of everything.

Unfortunately you are an outlier and society is not built for outliers.

Equally, unfortunately, the opinion of outliers does not really help the argument for a more open web. Yes there's some small number of people on mastodon but telling my hairdresser to not use Facebook is not terribly useful to her.