Since DRM is a major threat to the open web and the freedom to chose any operating system and any browser I want,I strictly refuse to consume any DRM-enshittified content and have it set to disabled in my LibreWolf config even in situations where it would technically work.
And I can only recommend anyone to do the same.
If something requires DRM,look for other sources of that media,or simply refuse to consume.
https://www.defectivebydesign.org/
https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/opposing-drm.html
Interestingly enough, this tactic already worked with iTUnes, it used to be DRM music. Now all music sold there is DRM free. It can work in other instances. Anyhow, this is a bit off-topic here ; )
Unfortunately, refusing to consume will not lead to significant change if the amount of money being made from those who don’t care is higher than the losses from those refusing to consume.
Hence we have software that is only offered as subscriptions with no real alternatives, unrepairable devices and planned obsolecence, locked down bootloaders, personal data being forced into the cloud, excessive tracking, telemetry and sale of personal data.
Luckily, Haiku is an open source project that has resisted all these tendencies. The more the big players make their platforms worse the higher the chances that it will gain more traction as a real alternative – provided hardware platforms remain open enough to be able to install it.
So, ultimately, things like DRM might actually indirectly be a good thing for Haiku.
I think you’re right that one person refusing to consume will not lead to change,but it’s my personal choice that I don’t want to be part of that system.
And if enough people choose to refuse consuming,maybe something can change,as nephele demonstrated with the change at iTunes.
“Hence we have software that is only offered as subscriptions with no real alternatives, unrepairable devices and planned obsolecence, locked down bootloaders, personal data being forced into the cloud, excessive tracking, telemetry and sale of personal data.” - That’s a whole lot of things not directly related to DRM,that I also see very critical and don’t want to support in any way.
Haiku resisting the enshittification of the big tech companies is one of the reasons I love it.
It still has the feeling that I had when using my first Windows XP computer,that my computer is really mine and that I can do whatever I want with it.
Of course there was already proprietary software back then,but it wasn’t connected to clouds all the time,you could just use it locally and privately.
And I agree that these developments are a good thing for Haiku,because Haiku offers a way to escape them.
DRM on the other hand is not a good thing for Haiku and alternative operating systems,besides the big three,in general.
There will always be people who want to watch a specific movie or series or sports event,whatever,and since they can’t on Haiku or [insert free OS here],they’re forced to keep a installation of Windows,MacOS or Linux around.
I can resist software-wise,but only because I still have cable TV and a non-smart CRT television as alternative to Netflix/Prime/whatever and serveral FM radios and a phonograph as alternatives to Spotify/Prime/whatever.
I don’t know if I could also resist DRM crap if I didn’t have all those great oldschool devices,and the sad reality is that many people nowadays have nothing but a smartphone and a computer for entertainment.
That was the first Windows that required activation, so that already was the first version that made me uncomfortable.
I have managed to avoid DRM and subscription streaming services so far. The biggest restriction is that there is no legal means for me to watch productions made by streaming services for exclusive distribution, like Netflix or Apple shows for example (except with friends who have a subscription of course). But for music, for example, there are several services that sell lossless audio in the open source FLAC format without any form of DRM. So I personally wouldn’t have a problem using an OS without DRM support.
I’m pretty sure I’ve seen some Netflix original movies on free tv already.
It takes some time to appear,and of course they don’t license all of their content to TV channels,but sometimes they do.
I can wait,and there’s also a big selection of content available,so it doesn’t have to be that one movie that is exclusive.
For music,I know there’s a lot of options,I just prefer the good old analog stuff
Speaking of physical media,you can still buy many movies on DVD nowadays.
It’s too expensive if you want to watch 1-2 movies every evening,but if there’s one specific movie you absolutely want to see,that’s fine.
DVDs also have some form of copy protection,I think,but they play without issues on every OS I know (including Haiku) anyway.
DVD has region locking and encryption. If you are in europe there is libdvdccs from vlc which nullifies the encryption.
The region locking is still a problem for physical dvd players though.