this post was submitted on 18 Oct 2023
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Piracy: ꜱᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱ

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Watched Louis Rossman today, and he's part of the team behind a new app for watching online video content - not just youtube, but nebula, peertube, twitch and more.

adblock already integrated, works amazingly with a quick test on my end - it's an app in the Lemmy spirit

(it's got a paid model similar to winrar, you don't have to pay - but they do want you to - opensource and all)

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[–] [email protected] 150 points 1 year ago (10 children)

basically Newpipe but only source available, not really free software or open source, so they are restricting your freedoms.

Just keep using Newpipe instead.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 year ago (8 children)

It is open source but you can't publish modified code (this is to ensure there will be no malicious forks like there was with newpipe)

plus you missed the entire point:

... app for watching online video content - not just youtube, but nebula, peertube, twitch and more.

It's an app that allows you to watch the same creators across many platforms

[–] [email protected] 99 points 1 year ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (4 children)

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago (5 children)

That’s not the problem. The question is, stopping actors that put ads and paywalls behind modified source, which technically isn’t malicious, it’s just being a jerk and this licensing makes it much easier to take down. Ofc, if he actually wanted it to be open source, he’d just force all derivatives to be non commercial.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

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[–] [email protected] 82 points 1 year ago (3 children)

FUTO Temporary License (FTL) violates the following open-source principles:

  • Open source licenses must allow free redistribution. FTL allows license suspension and termination at any time, without notice, for any or no reason.
  • Open source licenses must allow source code distribution. FTL allows restrictions to access the code at any time, without notice, for any or no reason.
  • Open source licenses must allow modifications. FTL allows modifications only for non-commercial use, or maybe not even that. FTL dodges the word modifications here, no clue.
  • Open source licenses must explicitly allow distribution of software built from modified source code. FTL forbids distribution of software built from modified source code for commercial use.
  • Open source licenses must not discriminate against persons/groups and fields of endeavor. FTL allows license suspension and termination at any time, without notice, for any or no reason.

The FTL enables the following practices:

  • Copyright holders can change the license terms.
  • Copyright holders can re-license everything.
  • Copyright holders can target specific groups and individuals with discriminatory license terms.
  • Copyright holders can close source everything.
  • Copyright holders can forbid specific groups and individuals from using their work.
[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago

Wow, this is a high quality comment.

I guess it's understandable to be concerned about licensing when putting money and work into a project like this, but I still hope they change their mind.

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 year ago (1 children)

newpipe does YouTube, SoundCloud, Peertube, and Bandcamp. NewPipe isn't YouTube-Only.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago

The term "open source" generally refers to the definition by the Open Source Initiative.

https://opensource.org/osd/

Not allowing publishing of modified source code is in violation with the criteria of open source.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

It is open source but you can’t publish modified code (this is to ensure there will be no malicious forks like there was with newpipe)

  1. that is not open source. That is source available.

  2. because we all know that license agreements are a line that trojan distributors will not cross. Not malware distribution, not hacking laws, but copyright infringement. They'd never do that at all.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I could not find a link to the source on the website 🤔 do you know where the source is?

Edit: https://gitlab.futo.org/videostreaming/grayjay

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[–] [email protected] 111 points 1 year ago (18 children)

It's not open source. It's source available.

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[–] [email protected] 71 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It is an interesting project, not sure where it goes. The title is deeply misleading though. The features of ReVanced make YouTube so much better, whereas this project doesn't seem to be about making YouTube better so much as circumnavigating YouTube for the comment boxes and as your hub to creators. They seem to be doing different things.

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[–] [email protected] 65 points 1 year ago (4 children)

So, I really want to be optimistic about this project. I love that it integrates multiple sources, that it lets you use different identities that are not attached to any of these services. I installed it and already paid for it even, because I love initiatives like this.

I think it's unsustainable. In 5 years, everyone who'd use the app's already paid for it, which means the devs have no incentive to continue to work, and funding dries up. When that happens, they'll of course just let the app run until the plugins stop working. Nobody will be able to pick it up and continue development in an open forum because it's not FLOSS.

My hope is they re-license it under a copyleft license later, but I'm not optimistic about that happening. With how things are now, it does appear to be doomed to enshittification.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago

Yeah FOSS or FLOSS (your teeth ^^) is the only viable solution we have found that really works. It's like Democracy IMO, criticize them all you want but that's the only ones that works over time.

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[–] [email protected] 50 points 1 year ago (10 children)

ReVanced taps into my history with microg. When I watch stuff on desktop with Firefox and uBlock Origin, I want those videos to show as watched on my phone when I open ReVanced so I don't get recommended the same stuff. That works.

GrayJay can't do this. It's not better. It's a good idea, but it's a side grade.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Grayjay can do this - there is a toggle in the settings for the YouTube addin to sync watch data with your Google account.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I just want Smarttube Next for mobile.

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[–] [email protected] 38 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Tried it out a bit. I Ike the idea of the app being basically an rss read for video platforms. This is great for not having a bunch of apps (twitch app/Xtra for twitch and YT app/Newpipe/skytube/etc. for YT.) A user profile and allowing app comments are nice to have on the app.

However, I'm worried about what Rossmann says in regards to profit and maintenance. The app is moderated/worked-on by (I think paid) professionals and we should pay a license of $9.99 yet the app is also unprofitable and may never turn a profit. So, what's the point in paying for the app?

Rossmann has a millionaire backing up his repair business among other things. So, is some of this being funded by that person and other investors of FUTO or is our money the only thing keeping this afloat? How are these workers getting paid if it's a one time payment and the money is uncertain? How is the platform going to stay up and pay fair wages? The app is niche and I can't see too many people paying for a license. I also can't see too many workers staying unless they are passionate. Something isn't adding up unless I'm wrong.

[–] [email protected] 32 points 1 year ago (5 children)

However, I'm worried about what Rossmann says in regards to profit and maintenance. The app is moderated/worked-on by (I think paid) professionals and we should pay a license of $9.99 yet the app is also unprofitable and may never turn a profit. So, what's the point in paying for the app?

By paying for the app, you're merely donating to FUTO. As Rossmann mentioned in his video, it is completely optional to pay.

There's nothing wrong with any app being unprofitable IMO. Public transport and car infrastructure is unprofitable and we don't have a problem with those... heck even my personal website is unprofitable, that's about $200-300 a year being funnelled into something nobody uses or visits.

Rossmann has a millionaire backing up his repair business

This is incorrect

Rossmann's personal repair business is financially independent from his employer, FUTO, who only partially sponsors Rossmann's R2R advocacy with the assistance of community donations. Rossmann frequently publishes hour long videos on his main channel crawling through the finances, and has spreadsheets online for public viewing where viewers can do an audit themselves

So, is some of this being funded by that person and other investors of FUTO or is our money the only thing keeping this afloat

AFAICT, FUTO is comparable to organisations like NLNET - the same people at sponsor the Lemmy devs. The aim is generally not to fund projects forever, but to eventually open source them after they've been developed to the agreed level of functionality. Seeing as this app is mainly a Rossmann initiative there could be an exception here though - such as Rossmann donating his own money towards development.

The app is niche and I can't see too many people paying for a license

I'm probably an exception then lol

Spoiler

I also can't see too many workers staying unless they are passionate. Something isn't adding up unless I'm wrong.

A lot of people who follow Rossmann are passionate about R2R, actually owning what you pay for, and not giving excessive control to monopolies like Google.

Grayjay is more along the lines of this spirit, and as soon as they have their DHT video hosting thing ready I'll gladly donate some of my storage space towards it 👌

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There are plenty of projects that take donations/payments that don't make profit but stay afloat, normally through the team behind it paying the bills. I guess it depends what the running costs actually are, and if it's for people or e.g. servers.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago

Rossmann has a millionaire backing up his repair business

Billionaire, actually.

So, is some of this being funded by that person and other investors of FUTO or is our money the only thing keeping this afloat?

The billionaire (Eron Wulf) is also the founder of FUTO. They don't have investors.

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[–] [email protected] 35 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I just bought the FUTO voice input app as well from them and it's genuinely amazing. It has punctuation where it needs to. It cuts out all the UM's. And the best part is, I don't have to pretend that I'm talking to a robot. I can just speak as if I'm talking to a normal person and it gets it right nearly every single time. It is so worth the $5.

This entire comment was typed with it, and I did not edit a single thing.

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[–] [email protected] 32 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I wouldn't classify it as a better revanced, but that doesn't matter, thanks for sharing this awesome tool I really liked it, I first started incorporating Matrix in my life, then a couple days ago Lemmy, and now this, it's great

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[–] [email protected] 31 points 1 year ago (9 children)

It sounds interesting, but... Android only? I don't actually watch much video on my phone. It's mostly on my desktop browser.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Not optimal, but using Waydroid on Linux, Android apps feel almost like they run natively (no need to start a emulator manually).

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 year ago (9 children)

It's not enough to make work around for YouTube. We need a new YouTube.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

True, but with the ability to combine all competitors in a single feed a significant hurdle has been removed

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (8 children)

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Is there SponserBlock support?

If it supported both SponserBlock and DeArrow I'd switch in a heartbeat. Until then I'll stick to ReVanced.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I really hope they add sponsorblock and dearrow support in the future because this is a truly awesome app.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I was excited about this but it's mobile only?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)

With how locked down mobile is compared to desktop I think it's a good thing to start with mobile

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

I like libretube pretty interface and you can login to piped instance to sync your subs and playlists all without Google account.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Sadly it's for the large part the recommendation algorithm that I'm on YouTube for. Most of the videos I watch are from people I'm not subscribed to.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (6 children)

I've always wondered if people like you existed! Fascinating.

Not criticizing you, just personally I don't want any recommendation algos in any of my media.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Yeah people have mixed opinions about that, but atleast in my case YouTube's recommendations does a really good job at finding content I'm interested in. It just needs some training for it to do a good job. When there's something I'm not interested in, I just flag it as "not interested" and then that stuff dissapears and is replaced with something else.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't agree, you need a way to discover new stuff (akin to going to /all). What I do hate is how they don't give you the option to do anything but that. Or they give the option but it's incredibly annoying so you don't use it. Like you can't trust YouTube to show you the content from the people you're subscribed to. You can't trust them to even show their content on the homepage of the channel if you want to be sure you didn't miss anything interesting you have to go channel by channel clicking in the videos and live tabs for anything the algorithm might deem not worthy

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

It also has that. You can login with google

You don't even need to subscribe and get recommendations

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