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Linus Tech Tips uploaded a video showing how to block ads on Youtube. Which was removed by Youtube for community guidelines violations.
(sh.itjust.works)
https://files.catbox.moe/a6111d.png / https://nitter.poast.org/LinusTech/status/1825956050685800834
If you go the video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsjHMzGl-VY. You will see it's gone. So Youtube being Youtube.
Here's a Odysee mirror of the video, https://odysee.com/@jopec:7/linus-tech-tips-degoogle-your-life-part-2-adfree-youtube:0.
Doubled down? After being called out they slowed the upload cadence, are taking more time to make sure mistakes don't get through, and changed their production process. They also formed a volunteer team of "beta tester" viewers who see each video pre-release to catch any mistakes they didn't internally. I think they handled it well. Of course it would be better if they didn't have a problem in the first place, but I'd never call it "doubling down".
Yes, doubled down. After being called out Linus made two separate long posts about why he wasn't wrong.
So using free labour instead of just doing their jobs? If they can't "catch any mistakes internally", then they're just bad at their jobs (which they are).
Yes, the PR team they used gave them a good corporate playbook to work with.
"Slowed the upload cadence" is just another way to say "wait for this to blow over".
I used to watch LTT, mostly because it was interesting from the "let's see what those guys have to say". I had zero interest in their technical expertise because, well, they don't really have any. They've always been clowns, but after their storage server video and their Linux "challenge" I lost all respect for any talent or knowledge they claimed to have. After the Billet Labs incident I lost any shred of respect I had for them.
They are clowns.
You live in a fantasy world if you think it's possible to catch 100% of mistakes internally. Even safety critical equipment with many layers of checks fails and kills people every now and then (medical equipment, bridges).
Nice strawman. No one said anything about catching 100% of mistakes internally. But outsourcing that work to unpaid volunteers with zero verification of qualifications is the definition of "passing the buck".
The correct answer is to hire and train up a QA team.
No one said they are unpaid or have zero qualifications either.
Not initially. Linus mouthed off as he likes to do on his own podcast before eating crow after GN reinforced their claims.
Yeah, I don't like Linus all that much but I do enjoy LTT's content overall. He tends to drastically and publicly overreact to literally any criticism, and then the rest of the team gets involved and he walks it back. Whether they legitimately change his mind or just convince him he's gotta look like he's changed his mind I have no clue.
My favorite instances of Linus are when he's an absolute idiot on the WAN show and we just get to see Luke's reaction live. The hard-r thing was absolutely hilarious.
Yeah Luke's look of "oh no bro, stop" is pretty much a staple of the WAN show.
They said they did all that. But actually Watching the videos? It's the same shit as before. Sloppy edits, errors in the comments etc.
That was AFTER the backlash increased after he doubled down.
There was an initial reaction from Linus on his forums where he massively doubled down on his stance that he had not done anything wrong with the review model LTT had auctioned off without permission (I can't remember the name of the company). He had even accused GN of not following "journalistic standards" by not giving LTT a chance to put their side forward.
This was met with another video from GN, and overall criticism over the dismissive attitude Linus was displaying. That's when they came out with a YT video, admitting their numerous faults, and Linus himself admitted that the way he responded on the forum was not acceptable.
Pretty much doubled down initially, till they realised that they're in actual deep waters.
I would wager money on the suspicion that deep down, Linus probably still thinks he did nothing wrong.
And that the actual change only came about because the people around him (like his wife and executives) threatened/forced him into changing positions.
Cause we got a good glimpse into the kind of person Linus was when that whole thing started, by selling the prototype that wasnt his, then going out and lying about being in contact with the company, who he lied about forgiving him and making a deal to make up for it... Which was quickly rebuked by GN asking the company if Linus had contacted them, to which they said "No"
And the kind of guy that does that kind of shit, isnt the kind of guy that suddenly goes "Okay, I screwed Up, I did it, I'm sorry" without someone behind the scenes threatening catastrophic personal consequences.
10'000%
This is what all his rabidly loyal fans miss. He showed true colours during this incident.
Fair enough. Still commendable for taking the heat himself without ever mentioning which employee made the mistake with misallocating the review item to the charity auction.
It is, but it also genuinely isn't their fault.
He pointed to their failure at inventory management because the fact that they didn't have a functional setup for it is a systems problem, not the individual.
It's their inventory, it's their fault.
It isn't the fault of the employee he refused to call out.
It's the fault of the company.
I think we misunderstood each other. I was also referring to the company. Well, both actually.
He has a legit point that Steve did not give LTT a chance to comment. "He doesn't have to!" Maybe. But he gave the other side a ton of airtime/chances to comment. It was very one sided and while GN made some good points, it felt like a hit piece. And Linux, imo rightfully, felt a little betrayed by a guy he'd worked with in the community.
His reaction wasn't great but it was that of a guy who was defending his team and from someone he'd probably consider a 'friend' impugning his integrity and dragging them without giving them any opportunity to comment or even letting him know it was coming--two very common practices/norms.
A unflattering view of GN vid is that he felt threatened by LTT labs entering the space and he wanted to get out in front of that an expose"how unreliable" they are. He didn't give LTT a heads up or allow them to comment because he knew they'd have a solid response. He blindsided him on purpose.
All that said, GN did Linus a favor. It accelerated his transition away from CEO and forced them to review their dumb production rates and the videos that are coming out now are better than ever.
Ironically, it left a sour taste in my mouth about Steve and I haven't watched any of his videos since.
After being called out, this genius doubled down on his actions and defended his methods all the while inserting an ad right in the middle of a response video.
It was then that he lost my respect.