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Is it possible to allow sideloading and keep users safe?

(shkspr.mobi)
205 points ColinWright | 2 comments | 30 Aug 25 12:03 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source
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enriquto ◴[30 Aug 25 12:59 UTC] No.45074254[source]▶
> Are you allowed to run whatever computer program you want on the hardware you own?

Yes. It is a basic human right.

> This is a question where freedom, practicality, and reality all collide into a mess.

No; it isn't. The answer is clear and not messy. If you are not allowed to run programs of your choice, then it is not your hardware. Practicality and "reality" (whatever that means) are irrelevant issues here.

Maybe you prefer to use hardware that is not yours, but that is a different question.

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accle ◴[30 Aug 25 13:32 UTC] No.45074536[source]▶
> > Are you allowed to run whatever computer program you want on the hardware you own?

> Yes. It is a basic human right.

Says who?

What's your philosophical argument in favour of this?

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justinrubek ◴[30 Aug 25 13:37 UTC] No.45074591[source]▶
It's directly in the text.

> hardware you own

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accle ◴[30 Aug 25 13:38 UTC] No.45074608{3}[source]▶
That's not an argument.

Please explain how owning an item of hardware implies that running whatever computer program you want on it is a basic human right.

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kartoffelsaft ◴[30 Aug 25 19:44 UTC] No.45077448{4}[source]▶
If there are rooms in your house someone else could lock you out of, do you own the house or do they?

If someone else could use your car without your permission, do you own the car or do they?

If someone could grow their own plants in you back yard, do you own the garden or do they?

If someone else could choose what programs run on your computer, do you own the computer or do they?

Saying "basic human right" instead of just "basic right" may be odd, but definitionally, owning a thing means having the right to say how it is used. Either you own it and have that right, or you don't own it and don't have that right. That's what owning means.

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1. shagie ◴[30 Aug 25 21:16 UTC] No.45078083{5}[source]▶
There are parts of your car that you are not legally allowed to remove or disable (for example, the muffler or catalytic converter https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/sites/production/files... ).

There are times when it is necessary to limit the rights that a individual has so that the system that the individual lives within can work.

You can buy a radio transmitter, but you're not allowed to operate it without a license. You can likewise buy a car, but you aren't allowed to operate that either without a license.

You do not have the right to modify your phone so that it acts as a radio frequency jammer.

Possession of a device does not give an individual unrestricted rights to what can be done with it.

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2. wiseowise ◴[31 Aug 25 07:59 UTC] No.45081338[source]▶
Requiring something and locking someone out are completely different things.

I’m fine with government requiring smoke detectors in my home, I’m not fine with completely unregulated private entity deciding how I live in my home, bought with my money.

And in case of a muffler, there’s literally no one in this entire world who can stop me from removing it. There are repercussion for doing so, but nobody stole my rights from removing it.