Oct 8, 2026, 7:00 AM"The people holding up the internet"
A good-looking but somewhat depressing exposé about the people holding up current digital infrastructure as a hobby.
- Oct 8, 2026, 7:00 AM
Replies
Oct 8, 2026, 7:16 AM
Oct 8, 2026, 7:23 AM@bagder so cool
and also depressing to see the big players not supporting you more
Oct 8, 2026, 7:26 AM@bagder I think dnsmasq is missing, it's used every where and isn't a big team if I recall the interview with its creator and maintainer.
- Oct 8, 2026, 7:27 AM
@drajt I'm sure there are several more projects that could be added to that collection
- Oct 8, 2026, 7:36 AM
@bagder SAP are issuing critical notes almost every day, and they have an army of developers to fix things. It must be a nightmare for all the small teams and "one man bands" to keep up.
I've used Debian for decades, and contributed a little now and then, but it's painfully clear that I owe more to a lot of people, and there needs to be a low cost and fair way of supporting everyone...
Olivia VesperaOliviaVespera@spacey.spaceOct 8, 2026, 8:08 AM@bagder the phrases "red on the wall" and "hidden way" as opposed to blood on the wall and backdoor makes me think this was translated and potentially built by AI. Something doesn't sound right about this site.
EI9FEBEI9FEB@mastodon.radioOct 8, 2026, 8:56 AM@bagder
A depressingly badly designed site. Too pretty. Too little text on each screen.
yugaego 🌍yugaego@fosstodon.orgOct 8, 2026, 9:02 AM@bagder I wish I had come accross such article on bbc.
Dandeliondashlion@mastodon.auOct 8, 2026, 10:19 AM@bagder I think the most depressing thing is how little money is at stake. This doesn't even rise to the level of 'rounding error' for companies using these resources.
peachfrontpeachfront@mas.toOct 8, 2026, 12:09 PMsigh, "peasants" do all the work, useless billionaires take all the credit & money...
really upsetting the story of the Russian prison guy, i hope he is better supported these days
Martin Schröder 🇺🇳oneiros@ruhr.socialOct 8, 2026, 2:30 PM
keithbytebro@mendeddrum.orgOct 8, 2026, 3:10 PMThis is a deeply important article, IMHO.
👽🐦🦇🐉💻 Θὡθloganer@mastodon.socialOct 8, 2026, 3:40 PM@bagder hmm... cool but small correction.
Todd Knarrtknarr@mstdn.socialOct 8, 2026, 3:53 PM@bagder Sometimes I want to organize a Monday where all the volunteers leftpad the world: pull packages down from repositories, shut down servers, just _stop_ being that one guy in Nebraska for 24 hours.
BasiePBasieP@fosstodon.orgOct 8, 2026, 3:55 PM@bagder what a fantastic site, and what a great insight in the few heroes
Intaglio WhitegravenIntaglio_Dragon@furry.engineerOct 8, 2026, 4:11 PM@bagder And the famous related xkcd:
https://xkcd.com/2347/EDIT - After opening the link, I see that this very xkcd is referenced on the page.
panushadowdancer@mstdn.socialOct 8, 2026, 4:43 PM@bagder
Oh, I remember the XZ ordeal and I still feel sorry for the guy. This is an important topic you have brought up.
Outfrostoutfrost@mastodon.socialOct 8, 2026, 5:41 PM@bagder damn, didn't know the Democratic Republic of the Congo maintains libjpeg
jokes aside, it is pretty dire
Oct 8, 2026, 7:29 PMHow many bytes is a perpetuity in Forth?
Daniel Schildtautiomaa@mementomori.socialOct 9, 2026, 5:16 AM@bagder Thank you for the decades of work you have done to keep the world running. Your efforts are greatly effecting the life of many around the world, very much positively.
Oct 9, 2026, 5:21 AM@bagder true heroes. I think it shows the value of giving things for free. The world needs more of it
Oct 9, 2026, 5:40 AM@bagder ...
the headlines "wordle" game is nice at least? 🥲
Lime Barlimebar@mastodon.socialOct 9, 2026, 1:32 PM
merikssonmeriksson@swecyb.comOct 9, 2026, 2:25 PM@bagder What time it is?
It’s credits ’o clock.
chicochicob@mstdn.socialOct 10, 2026, 7:07 AM@bagder
I don't find it completely depressing. It's also a monument of selflessness. Even kind of inspiring.
![[small text] Text inside libjpeg.so, read off an Android 16 phone
[large text] Copyright (C) 1991-2022 The libjpeg-turbo Project and many others
[large text below on the right] DRC
[medium text below on the right] Runs libjpeg-turbo, which opens every JPEG on Android phones and in Chrome and Edge, and signs his emails with his initials.](https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/117/406/514/844/113/656/original/ef43b793e429eb1f.png)