Back in the day, pkgsrc was a thing (cross-platform; originally from NetBSD). Source based package distribution, it explicitly allowed for unprivileged installation to a prefix of your choice. I became very familiar with it as an ordinary Solaris user 20 years ago.
By any definition of good usability, Gmail is not good and Google Docs are not far behind. It’s not that they are functionally bad, just really poor UX.
That's hyperbole. They have flaws, but at the very least, when they were launched, they were arguably best in class. I'm not sure how much me sticking with them is due to familiarity and muscle memory but I know they won we over purely on merit in the beginning.
As someone who was an original invitee to Gmail it was the clarity of function that was the differentiator. They were “grown up” and acknowledged user agency vs their competitors.
But as others have mentioned, they operating model of Google as a company incentivises creating products but does not incentivise refining it. Gmail has gotten far richer in functionality but at the same time the interface has gotten far less consistent. Their competitors (mainly Microsoft but not only them) also got richer functionality, but they also paid attention to UX. While none are perfect, there are definitely some better than others. Familiarity definitely breeds inertia though, I’ll grant that.
“Probably”. Wow. Talk about self delusion and historical revisionism. You can’t bring yourself to admit the obvious reality that the Brexiteers were - to a man - self-serving, mendacious, con artists.
Ok. A permanent settlement on Mars. Given the personal control structure at play in his companies giving him autocratic control there, why would anyone believe he wouldn’t be anything but a Martian autocrat, and who in their right mind would willingly submit their own sovereignty to Emperor Musk the First of Mars? It’s not exactly like you could change your mind and walk away. You’d be literally putting your life in the hands of this wildly erratic person.
While my own views are likely closer to Musk's than I suspect yours are, I share those concerns. I don't think I'd be interested in moving there, at least not in the initial waves.
My optimistic view of the future looks more like "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" than "Total Recall".
Truly, in the face of this, caveat emptor has never been truer.
If/when Musk’s misadventures turn his companies to shit, I may spare a thought for the collaterally damaged, but not a single tear will I shed for the shareholders.
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