So on 14th October 2025, Windows 10 will no longer receive security updates. This will likely lead to an immense amount of, otherwise perfectly useable, laptops to end up getting recycled, or likely dumped.

I’ve been thinking for a while now that this could be an excellent opportunity to repurpose those laptops for traditionally disadvantaged communities (I’m specially thinking of indigenous communities but underprivileged areas and maybe even NGOs/non-profits). With a light, user friendly, operating system like Linux Mint, “obsolete” laptops can be brought back to life.

This could be coupled with in-community workshops on Linux, programming and some tech literacy skills (online safety, malware prevention, etc).

Has anyone had any experience with such an initiative? Maybe experience working with charities or even larger company IT departments? I’m not even sure if something like this would be possible, I’d imagine even handling former company property could be a nightmare security wise.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Ask questions about programming that may have nothing to do with socialism here, or share some of your knowledge with comrades.

Ask all of your questions that you don't feel warrant their own post. Be polite when answering and discussing, and do not fall back on sectarian slurs.

This includes general questions about socialism, not just those related to programming.

i am a recent graduate of computer science working in the data science industry. i am in a company which is head over heels for genai which means i regularly have to build stuff using genai which im not very enthusiastic about but given the current job market not able to find another job anytime soon. how do you people deal with doing tasks that are against your values/get out of that situation and still have enough money to survive? i would also be open to use cases where i can use my (python, data science, machine learning) skills that align with my values more. for some more context, i am from india and i live in an environment where it's really hard to find people who are not right wingers.

Ask questions about programming that may have nothing to do with socialism here, or share some of your knowledge with comrades.

Ask all of your questions that you don't feel warrant their own post. Be polite when answering and discussing, and do not fall back on sectarian slurs.

This includes general questions about socialism, not just those related to programming.

I really don’t trust mainstream media in the states. I know they produce these insane propaganda stories, that when you look at it from an outsider perspective (if that makes sense?) just seems batshit crazy. But because I’m in the imperial core and don’t interact much with programmers outside the “west”. I wonder what it’s like working on software from the “east’s” perspective. As someone who supports actually existing socialism, I’m really intrigued about this area, that is rarely covered (in my experience) in like “general” communist theory.

Ask questions about programming that may have nothing to do with socialism here, or share some of your knowledge with comrades.

Ask all of your questions that you don't feel warrant their own post. Be polite when answering and discussing, and do not fall back on sectarian slurs.

This includes general questions about socialism, not just those related to programming.

I recently went from a pretty meager role making spreadsheets and VBA macros to a Scrum product owner role. It’s the start of my second week.

I didn’t really know what a product owner was until I saw the job description. I have some project management experience (I also kinda stretched the truth about my mutual aid efforts being projects) and what I’m finding is kinda…. Well… idk if my values can align with this role.

It feels like a lot like I’m not essential nor valuable to the development of the software release. Like, yeah, I feel as though I’m super busy, and the devs I work with aren’t super social, but it feels like a needless hierarchy. I know the devs are paid much more than me, but it still feels lot like the current dynamic between myself and the team feels as though it has been top-down and I’d even say in opposition. I kinda miss being involved in the creation of the models and reports.

Is there any way for me to reconcile being a socialist and being a product owner? I’m brand new to this role and Agile frameworks. I wanted to get the insights of socialist programmers who know this and have thought about it already, so I hope this is the appropriate place to post this question.

Ask questions about programming that may have nothing to do with socialism here, or share some of your knowledge with comrades.

Ask all of your questions that you don't feel warrant their own post. Be polite when answering and discussing, and do not fall back on sectarian slurs.

This includes general questions about socialism, not just those related to programming.

Ask questions about programming that may have nothing to do with socialism here, or share some of your knowledge with comrades.

Ask all of your questions that you don't feel warrant their own post. Be polite when answering and discussing, and do not fall back on sectarian slurs.

This includes general questions about socialism, not just those related to programming.

I am making a fighting game which is very ambitious and has a communist message to it,because of this I would like to work with some people to help me make it

Ask questions about programming that may have nothing to do with socialism here, or share some of your knowledge with comrades.

Ask all of your questions that you don't feel warrant their own post. Be polite when answering and discussing, and do not fall back on sectarian slurs.

This includes general questions about socialism, not just those related to programming.

Ask questions about programming that may have nothing to do with socialism here, or share some of your knowledge with comrades.

Ask all of your questions that you don't feel warrant their own post. Be polite when answering and discussing, and do not fall back on sectarian slurs.

This includes general questions about socialism, not just those related to programming.

Hi all! This is a little rambley, apologies in advance! tl;dr how would you address the issue of money if you started a successful open source project? How about creative ownership?

I have a game idea that I'm really excited about. When thinking about the future of the project, I would be really happy if it went in the direction of STAKLKER Anomaly / GAMMA, where there is a community of passionate people from all over the world contributing to it because they like the base idea so much. Part of me wants to make the game available for free so there is no barrier of entry for people who want to play. However, I also would love it if I could become a full time dev working on games, or at least get some side income because I will have sunk hundreds and hundreds of hours into the project. So maybe I make the game free, but take donations, like Blender or Godot right? But then, how can I equitably share the proceeds with the other contributors? You can't really go by the number of commits or hours logged, as they're both really not accurate representations of how much someone contributed to a project. I dont know how to quantize work. But if I keep the profits to myself, or myself and a small core team if the game really blows up in popularity, I am then the exact kind of person I don't want to be, right? The people who contribute should all be compensated for their time if anyone is, right? Then there is the question of freelancers. I can't do everything on my own, e.g. I may want to pay an animator or musician to create assets. Is it really fair for them to get a fixed price, if the game then blows up? If their work is critical, shouldn't they get a slice of the success and the renown?

Then, there is the question of ownership and creative direction. The idea of me owning a product that other people contribute to is kind of insane on one hand. But if it was my vision in the first place that these people gravitated towards, it does kind of make sense intuitively for me to have creative direction over it. It's "my vision" right? But then what happens when someone, or a group of people, want to contribute to the project but also have a slightly different vision for the game in terms of features or tone or art direction? Is it really my prerogative to say NO! fork the project if you want, but MY game is gonna be done MY way! . I just don't know.

So yeah, I would really appreciate your thoughts, or any information you have on how other projects have managed these issues. I know I'm getting ahead of myself and the game is barely more than a Hello, world right now. But I want to start from the beginning with a plan, ya know? I want to decide if the game should be open sourced immediately, or if I should wait til it's cooked more. I want to decide if I should make devlogs and tell anyone who will listen about the concept, or if I should keep it private and under wraps, and have a big unveiling for version 1 and open source it at that point.

Thanks for reading, comrades!

Ask questions about programming that may have nothing to do with socialism here, or share some of your knowledge with comrades.

Ask all of your questions that you don't feel warrant their own post. Be polite when answering and discussing, and do not fall back on sectarian slurs.

This includes general questions about socialism, not just those related to programming.

I have developed my own idea of an automated city level economical model. Though i have some other ways to prove it but i need help if possible, to create the model.