this post was submitted on 07 May 2025
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/29244629

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 day ago (3 children)

If you're not paying, you're the product.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 hour ago

if you are paying, you are still the product

[–] [email protected] 14 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

That's only when doing business with corporations, but there's also the option of open source (e.g. SearxNG).

Or do you consider yourself the product when using Lemmy?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 hours ago (2 children)

Do you think Lemmy is free? Your admin is paying, and trusting you to donate to help out.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Uh, what a weird message. It's not only unrelated to what I said but it reads like an attempt to twist my words. On top of it, it's totally wrong: Lemmy is free. I can self host Lemmy on a raspberry pi for exactly 0€.

The instance I use... Is also free. I donate because I choose to, but if my friend can't afford to donate they can still use the instance. Nobody is profiting from it.

What I did talk about is products and doing business with corporations. With Lemmy there's no product, whether you pay or not. With SearxNG (which many people self host, and again, is free) you're not the product, regardless of how much you pay.

That's what I was replying to - your comment is way off the mark and very condescending: I don't need to be mansplained that I should donate to the software I already donate to. Note donate rather than pay for.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 hours ago

Lemmy is free. I can self host Lemmy on a raspberry pi for exactly 0€.

Dang, where can I get a free Raspberry Pi and internet connection? That sounds awesome!

The instance I use... Is also free. I donate because I choose to, but if my friend can't afford to donate they can still use the instance. Nobody is profiting from it.

This is exactly my point. It's like when people call it "free healthcare".

[–] [email protected] -1 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago) (1 children)

Ironic considering the pinned post on .world is the admins asking for donations and pretty much everyone is saying "no"

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

You misunderstood the pinned post; it’s soliciting donations for core Lemmy development, not for the .world instance.

The core devs use donations to the project to fund their tankie .ml instance, which is why they’re getting pushback. There is zero comparable pushback among the community towards funding .world or other instances.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Functionally there's no difference.

The person I replied argued that you are obligated to donate if you want to keep Lemmy free. Right now the Lemmy developers are asking for donations, and people are saying no.

The developers are openly communist, and if you want to use Lemmy you'll have to learn to live .ml, it's not going to change.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 45 minutes ago

There is a massive functional difference to anyone with two braincells to rub together.

The core devs can (and should) step in front of a bus (or tank) tomorrow; the core project will just fork, and LW and the other non-triad instances will do fine without them. I’ve had no issue on Lemmy blocking .ml client-side.

The only reminder of the triad’s existence is infiltrator trolls who make alts on other instances to post bad-faith arguments glazing the core devs.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

I'm not paying for my self hosted searxng and I have more control over my search than any kagi user.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Well you are paying for the hosting you're just not paying for the service

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

It's very lightweight, any toaster could run a single user searxng instance.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

If you’d like to give away any free toasters with hackable embedded microcontrollers to prove your point here, I’m a willing recipient and will attempt setup of a searx instance.