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568 points rntn | 13 comments | | HN request time: 1.482s | source | bottom
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freedomben ◴[] No.41882500[source]
It's ironic that farmers (traditionally thought of as less technical people, "workers of the earth", etc) and hackers (highly technical nerds writing operating systems and engineering compatibility parts) are so connected by this issue. Some of the farmers I've talked to understand the importance ownership and right to repair better than even many engineers.

That said, I think John Deere is just the asshole willing to weaponize the legal system to enforce their dreams. The real problem is laws that protect IP like the DMCA and the patent system. I'm not saying we should just delete all those, but they are in bad need of reform and enable a tremendous amount of abuse. The abuse is only going to get worse unless we treat the cause(s) rather than just the symptoms.

I'm glad the feds are giving John Deere some attention, but I really hope they are going to fix the lopsided system instead of just try to bully or micro-regulate John Deere into "voluntarily" allowing more repair. If we stopped unleashing the lawyers on people for modifying or interfacing with devices they purchased, it would shift the balance of power more toward the center (whereas currently the power is almost entirely on the side of the companies).

Even if you have no interest in repairing or "tinkering" with your own stuff, you should be on the side of right to repair.

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1. genter ◴[] No.41882642[source]
> traditionally thought of as less technical people

You've never met a farmer. Admittedly no one in my family is a farmer, but half of them are loggers, diesel mechanics, or heavy equipment operators. Most of them are ridiculously intelligent and able to fix anything that moves.

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2. genter ◴[] No.41883099[source]
Actually mine don't.
replies(1): >>41883143 #
3. BoingBoomTschak ◴[] No.41883106[source]
Are you gunning for "most close-minded post of the year"? I know this is HN, but m8.
replies(1): >>41884928 #
4. bigstrat2003 ◴[] No.41883143{3}[source]
More to the point, it's not really acceptable to accuse people of being stupid based on how they vote. Reasonable people can disagree on things. I strongly disagree with the political views of some of my family members, but that doesn't make them stupid or anything... we just see things differently.
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5. CamperBob2 ◴[] No.41883396{4}[source]
Reasonable people can disagree on things

Usually. Not this time around, though. You can't call yourself a "reasonable person" and vote for the people behind https://i.imgur.com/WQ4qbfj.png .

Sorry. You just can't.

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6. cyberax ◴[] No.41883456{4}[source]
> More to the point, it's not really acceptable to accuse people of being stupid based on how they vote.

"I've been voting XXX all of my life, and my state has been ruled by XXX over the last 20 years, and the life is still shitty. It's totally a failure of YYY, they want to destroy America"

7. mhuffman ◴[] No.41883526[source]
Agree with this. I do come from a family of farmers and they could do anything it seemed! Phone line repair, diesel repair, welding/fabrication, plumbing, hydraulic repairs (very dangerous), all manner of home repairs, light vet work, and the list goes on and on. BTW, the description I just gave was for a specific guy that dropped out of school in sixth grade.
8. llamaimperative ◴[] No.41883574{5}[source]
+1

Could you share a link to that full PDF? I assume it's from the recently published documents from Smith?

Edit: Found it! https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25238371-chutkan-ord...

9. cyberax ◴[] No.41884928{3}[source]
How else would you classify farmers?

To the topic in question, Republicans want to abolish most regulations (see: Project 2025). And so far the only states to pass right-to-repair laws are Democraticly-controlled (NY, MN, CA, OR, CO).

10. bigstrat2003 ◴[] No.41885164{5}[source]
Yes, you can. Stop treating politics like it's an existential battle between good and evil; that attitude is literally destroying our country.
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11. CamperBob2 ◴[] No.41885310{6}[source]
No, people who engage in insurrection and election fraud are literally destroying our country... or trying their hardest to. We are lucky that they're such idiots, but there is no reason to expect our luck to hold indefinitely.

In any case there are other venues where this type of conversation is better held.

12. freedomben ◴[] No.41887807[source]
> You've never met a farmer.

What a stupid thing to say. Not only do you not know anything about me (I am myself a small-time/part-time farmer, and my neighbors are all farmers. My 14 acres is the smallest lot in my area. My neighbor/friend across the street farms 80 acres and sells his crops as some of the highest quality produce to top buyers. I also grew up with farmers as family members and friends. I think I've probably met a farmer before), but you clearly didn't even read my comment before replying to it or you would know that you're opening salvo is quite wrong. A quote from my comment that you replied to:

> Some of the farmers I've talked to understand the importance (sic) ownership and right to repair better than even many engineers.

It seems to me that logically, it's hard to have talked to people, while simultaneously having never met them.

After such a sloppy and unnecessarily assumptive (and incorrectly assumptive) response, it's hard to give any credibility whatsoever to anything else you say. I agree with it, but (as many of us rural livers/farmers) like to say, "even a stopped clock is right twice a day".

Also, I never said they aren't intelligent or able to fix anything that moves. If something I said suggested they weren't intelligent or capable, please point it out to me. Such a thing would be absurd - all the farmers I know are quite handy and can fix just about anything (that big corporations don't actively engineer to prevent, hence the hullaballoo over right-to-repair).

What I said was that they don't usually care about political fights like right-to-repair. And I stand by that, many of them don't. It's not a direct relation with intelligence level or handiness, it's more about personality and individual interests. Most of them just think John Deere are assholes but have no idea about the right-to-repair movement. They don't realize how deep the poison goes. More and more are getting into it, but it's still pretty unusual.

It's a free-ish country so you can do as you please, but I would recommend that you read and think a little more carefully before replying to people, especially when you're going to insult them by loudly proclaiming that they are an ignorant liar like you did to me.

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13. freedomben ◴[] No.41895547[source]
Apologies for the harsh portions. After re-visiting, I feel I was a bit too harsh. As is probably apparent, you touched a nerve.