The irony is part of it, from what I can tell.

That Clippy, the universally hated useless feature, is still less shitty than what these companies are doing today.

You could actually turn Clippy off as well. Copilot doesn’t really go away, and you can’t trust Microshaft to re-enable via updates. Out of the two I’d much prefer the maligned Clippy.

That is not true. The cycle is that someone with passion for the business creates the business and they are a good business. Than they grow and the creator can't handle it anymore, because they are craftsmen, not business men. Than some business men step in and eshittify everything for profit.

There's a second, very important part to it. Sure, you can just change your profile picture to a Clippy in solidarity with the movement, but it's supposed to mean that you WILL fight back against anti-consumer business practices in your life, especially if you work for a company that uses such practices.

If your boss wants you to implement something that benefits the company over the consumer (or the employees), you stall. You find problems. You work as slow as humanly possible. You work on other things first. etc. You'll be as annoying as Clippy, perhaps.

As a consumer, you won't buy that device that requires Internet for no other reason than the manufacturer reserves the right to brick it at their pleasure. You won't sign up for subscription services that should be one-and-done purchases, etc.

As I understood it, the message was more about that if you want to start a grassroot movement, people need to see they're not alone, that there are others out there who feel the same. Make clippy your profile Pic and see it pop up everywhere. Power through mass. Treating the status quo then comes naturally ;)

Can't it!?*gestures wildy at humanity*

shorthand for people. im lazy

So, you typed it into your browser, or codeberg, or obtainium, or whatever, and nothing came out?

https://codeberg.org/shouko/NewPipe

https://codeberg.org/Sergey_Paradox/FreeTube