• JustAnotherKay@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    5
    ·
    4 months ago

    I would agree if they weren’t such a prolific backbone for the tech industry. They’re not just gonna vanish when people stop using their apps because businesses will still pump cash into them

    • solsangraal@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      4 months ago

      such a prolific backbone for the tech industry

      i’m not familiar with this. what businesses require meta for their existence?

      • dan@upvote.au
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        8
        ·
        edit-2
        4 months ago

        For what it’s worth, a bunch of open source stuff is maintained by Meta, that businesses rely on:

        Parts of the Linux kernel, including btrfs, cgroup2 (which is heavily used by Docker and similar technologies), psi, bpf, and a few others.

        PyTorch, used for AI/ML stuff

        PrestoDB

        zstd compression library and xxhash hashing library - used by pretty much every database system and a large number of backup systems now

        React, React Native, Relay, etc.

        Plus all the AI research and models (like Llama) that’s published publicly with generous licensing policies. Way more Open than “OpenAI”.

      • JustAnotherKay@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        4 months ago

        I don’t think anyone necessarily depends on them - but the infrastructure for analyzing human behavior online is largely pioneered by meta and the likes. When the front ends like Facebook go away we’ll just start seeing “Powered by Meta” on targeted ads; I wouldn’t be surprised if people who see ads already do see that