Facebook, broken trust.. Open Source still the standard

Linux Discussion
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Open Source is still open after two decades.

Linux has set the bar so high that no commercial company can expect to claim that their platform is truely open and get away with it.

So in contrast to Linux I give you Meta…

After the broken trust that came back to haunt Facebook after it changed its stance on Oculus accounts, Facebook / Meta is advertising itself as the new standard in open platforms.

“We want to foster choice and competition in the VR ecosystem,” Meta said. “And it’s working—our efforts have produced a material financial return for developers: as we announced earlier this year, over $1 billion has been spent on games and apps in the Meta Quest Store.”

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When my kids were looking at used VR headsets, thankfully @mattdln reminded us the Oculus line was owned by Facebook and you needed a Facebook account to log in. That narrowed down our search a lot. There is no way we will own one.

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No longer need a Facebook account, and I think Facebook are trying to clean up their image, but too little too late. I think they have blown it.

Looking forward to seeing what Valve comes up with for their next VR headset. No fixed wires I think.

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We have really liked the HTC Vive (first model). I would love to play with (I say I but they make me sick, so to be fair the kids would play with it) the one Valve and HTC did together. The success of the SteamDeck may help to create something new and awesome from Valve in the VR realm.

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Still not my idea of an open platform…

“I think it’s pretty clear that Apple is going to be a competitor for us, not just as a product but philosophically,” Zuckerberg said. “We’re approaching this in an open way and trying to build a more open ecosystem.” He noted that Meta co-founded the Metaverse Open Standards with other companies like Microsoft, with an aim to establish some level of interoperability or portability of assets between virtual spaces. Apple didn’t join, and Zuckerberg said “I don’t think that’s a surprise.”

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So much for the idea of just having an Oculus account.

Now it appears that any options not requiring a Facebook account will instead require a Meta account.

Quote for the week

“ Oculus’ founder, Palmer Luckey, promised in no uncertain terms that users would never be required to log-in with Facebook to Oculus headsets, nor would developers need to do so to develop content for those headsets.”

“ he wasn’t acting on his own. Luckey had long been a visible spokesperson for the company; the promise wasn’t his, it was that of Oculus and Facebook.

Following Facebook’s announcement this week, Luckey confirmed as much, saying that his guarantee had been “approved” by Facebook.

“I want to make clear that those promises were approved by Facebook in that moment and on an ongoing basis, and I really believed it would continue to be the case for a variety of reasons.” “