The Great Debate
Welcome
© Joe Casad, Editor in Chief
The history of high tech in politics writes another chapter this season, with Twitter taking on new importance. Barack Obama pioneered the use of Twitter as a campaign vehicle in his 2008 and 2012 campaigns, carefully coordinating his tweets to complement a comprehensive strategy of voter outreach.
This time, candidate Donald Trump appears to be using Twitter even more than Obama did. In fact, one could argue that Twitter is Trump's primary mode of communication – every day a few more Trump tweets appear in the news headlines.
Dear Linux Magazine Reader,
The history of high tech in politics writes another chapter this season, with Twitter taking on new importance. Barack Obama pioneered the use of Twitter as a campaign vehicle in his 2008 and 2012 campaigns, carefully coordinating his tweets to complement a comprehensive strategy of voter outreach.
This time, candidate Donald Trump appears to be using Twitter even more than Obama did. In fact, one could argue that Twitter is Trump's primary mode of communication – every day a few more Trump tweets appear in the news headlines. With all those tweets, you might be thinking that Trump spends even more time and energy studying and coordinating what he says, but judging from the content of some of his messages, he doesn't appear to be passing the contents by any kind of professional politician or handler. He really seems to be tweeting whatever happens into his head. Is this a missed opportunity for more careful coordination? Maybe not. Twitter thrives on high velocity. Trump just keeps the tweets coming, and therefore, keeps himself constantly in the news. Even if he tweets something that no experienced political manager would ever let him say, it doesn't matter, because, before anyone can even start a controversy over it, he has already moved on and tweeted something else.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
openKylin 3.0 Released with Expanded AI Integration
The latest release features a pre-installed AI agent to help perform tasks.
-
DigitalOcean Ends Open Source Credits Program
In a change that has surprised many open source developers, DigitalOcean has decided to sunset its Open Source Credits Program.
-
Office 365 Available for Testing on Linux via Bottles
Linux users can now test the official Office 365, thanks to Mirko Brombin's work on Bottles.
-
Dutch Government Turns to Open Source for Digital Sovereignty
Following in the footsteps of other European countries, the Netherlands is looking to increase its sovereign digital infrastructure with open source software.
-
Linux May Soon Work on Snapdragon X2-Based PCs
If you're thinking about buying a Snapdragon X2-based desktop or laptop, Linux may soon be an option.
-
KDE for People Initiative Calls for AI Ban in Plasma
A new community of KDE wants the project to adopt a strict no-AI policy for KDE Plasma.
-
KDE Sets Ambitious Goals for 2026 and Beyond
KDE Connect reveals the goals for the Linux desktop darling, with one of those goals long overdue.
-
It’s Time to Test Fedora 45 Beta
Fedora 45 beta has been released with updated Gnome, KDE Plasma, and kernel.
-
Ubuntu Stonking Stingray Gets Even Rustier
Ubuntu 26.10 has completed its migration to the Rust-based coreutils.
-
AI Fixes Linux Bottlenecks Using “Hideous” Code
A Linux developer used AI to fix bottlenecks that caused problems when building the kernel. The resulting AI-generated code needed a lot of work.