Migration away from US tech platforms

Jules

Sorry if I have posted this in the wrong place but I couldn't see where else to place this so...

I am just wondering whether anyone at Ubports has thought about the current mass movement away from US based computer platforms? We've just seen France undertake to adopt Linux and the European Parliament announced today a move to Qwant instead of Google as its default search engine..amongst many other national and pan -European actions.

The almost complete dominance of Apple and Google in mobile OSs is a major cause for concern. Ubports could well be placed to serve as a viable alternative for some. There's a long road ahead obviously but has anyone at Ubports made that first step to find out?

Moem

@Jules said:

There's a long road ahead obviously but has anyone at Ubports made that first step to find out?

To find out what?

Sure, there is lots of talk of getting away from 'big Tech' and many of us are here precisely because we want that. UT already is a viable alternative to many. We're not just thinking or talking about it, we're doing it.

Can you help me understand what you're asking?

Jules

@Moem I was contemplating making an approach to the EU to see if there was any possibility of obtaining seed funding for this project. Having been a user since 2015 (I think), it is great to see the effort and journey that this OS has been on.
It is obvious that the project needs far more funding if significant progress towards being a serious competitor to the big two is to be made. Unless some very rich philanthropist arrives the only two alternatives are to seek private investment or public investment. I suspect that the latter would be more desirable given some of the ethos behind the project. Private investment is unlikely as, for example, Canonical semi-jettisoned this project due to the difficulty of persuading enough hardware suppliers to offer UT as an viable alternative. That environment has changed significantly especially due to the recent misgivings over US tech domination in Europe as a whole.

If I do make an approach to the EU I wanted to be sure that UBports wasn't already doing so.

Does this explanation answer your question?

ChromiumOS-Guy

@Jules I think you should use the Q&A news for this when another arrvies Q&A session, depending on the anwser you can try sending an email to the EU goverments and see where it goes. remember that public facing channels of any goverment body is there for people to nag to, altough it works best if you're actively living in the country and can write a letter in the native langauge.

Moem

@Jules said:

Does this explanation answer your question?

Yes, that helps a lot!

Since this is not really a support type of question, mind if I move this topic to the General category?

Jules

@Moem No, please do.

gpatel-fr

@Jules

if this covers a hope to get European dough to fund further development, it's a non starter for the following reasons:

UT dev relies on Telegram a platform controlled by a non European state that has not good relations to the EU
the 'open store' is subject to US law

any EU burocrat reviewing an application will dismiss it immediately.

see https://open-store.io/submit

libremax

@gpatel-fr said:

if this covers a hope to get European dough to fund further development, it's a non starter for the following reasons:

UT dev relies on Telegram a platform controlled by a non European state that has not good relations to the EU

The claim that Telegram is controlled by any particular country is completely unsubstantiated.

This rumor is widely used to push users toward platforms that are definitely controlled by the U.S.:
Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Signal, and products from Apple, Google, Microsoft, etc.

With the EU’s full complicity for decades.

the 'open store' is subject to US law

any EU burocrat reviewing an application will dismiss it immediately.

This is indeed a problem for several reasons:

U.S. extraterritorial laws apply,
there could be infiltration or interference by various intelligence agencies,
several countries around the world have difficulty accessing the OpenStore due to U.S. sanctions

However, it is unlikely that this would be a problem for the EU, given its complacency toward U.S. hegemonic policy

gpatel-fr

@libremax

I don't want to discuss your political arguments as it would be somewhat off-topic for a technical forum.

However read again what you posted and ponder if the EU can be both independant enough of the USA to not care about their definitely hostile stance to Telegram, and too dependent to care about the subjection of the 'open store' to the US law.