Who developed it: no, probably not that much. Who is selling it/pushing it, absolutely. And users also inherently interact with those social and political structures, e.g. through working within a capitalist organisation (as most of us do), and influencing it’s evolution (as most of us do, though often unintentionally)

Possibly. It would be sad and maybe a little surprising (but not that much). I’ve certainly never seen anything that contradicts that…

Obviously there is a spectrum between sewing needles and nuclear weapons… But I think it’s clear that even e.g. stone axes have had meaningful impacts on the structure of society and also on politics as a subset of that (e.g. their use had implications for power relationships, perhaps as a weapon, perhaps as a way to increase socioeconomic status, etc.)

Technology use does though, and technology without use is… Nothing?

A tool cannot in and of itself be political.

I disagree, and I’m not alone: https://gomakethings.com/articles/all-tech-is-political/

You should read up on thr Luddites, because you’re mischaracterising them. They weren’t anti technology, they were anti capitalist.

IMO, this is the think Linus is missing - the shit has massive political implications in multiple dimensions (it’s being built by fascists and capitalists bent on control of broader business, government, and social systems) and he’s just treating it as if it’s as politically agnostic as a screwdriver.

… Compared to what?

ed is the standard editor

Use the magic keys instead

Corporations and governments are doing it anyway because MS is entrenched

Software supply is inelastic though?