[tde-users] why everything good gets hijacked & ruined - totally OFF TOPIC

After following some of the most recents threads, it occurs to me that some -- those that tend to go a bit off-topic -- have a few common elements. But we (myself included) usually miss the real culprits: which are a bundle of related phenomena that are almost, yet not entirely, beyond our control. Now, while pondering these matters in private, by coincidence I happened across a newer reprint of an old book, only within the past week. I had known about it for ages, had found digital copies online, here: Jacques Ellul, *The Technological Society* https://archive.org/details/JacquesEllulTheTechnologicalSociety various formats ~or~ https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/jacques-ellul-the-technological-soc… html version Due to my own engrained lifelong habits, however, actually *reading* it did not happen until I found the actual book. For those who can read French, I found this page: https://www.jacques-ellul.org/ https://web.archive.org/web/20240517224853/https://www.jacques-ellul.org/ but cannot find the original text. It occurs to me that many here on this list, if they don't already know it, may find this book worthwhile. Apologies for going off-topic, and I beg forgiveness if I sound preachy, but if anybody anywhere is likely to feel in tune with what its author has to say, then it is probably among ourselves: persons who are technically inclined, run Linux, are not quite Luddites, yet for good reason choose to do some things the old-fashioned way, using stone tools, and opting for TDE over other available desktops. Enjoy! Bill