People profit from Free Software, but give a shit.
Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2013 12:32 am
Today, a nice "says it all" comment on slashdot on an article about Android's SDK no longer being free:
Ungrateful assholes.
...I might want to add that Apple would probably be dead, if it wouldn't have been able to use existing software under Free Licenses. So people would probably not even have their beloved iPhones, too if it wasn't for us Free Software guys (and of course, many many many more thingies, they use and love)> No one would give a shit. People buy phones because they like the software / hardware or they trust the brand. They don't care if it's "open" or "free".
Posts like this are really starting to annoy me.
Actually some people do care. They're called people who read slashdot. And the people who read slashdot don't really give a shit that 99% of the population does not give a shit. Do you know why? Because we are smarter, more educated and have longer attention spans. Our last 30 years of software experience has taught us that over time open licenses do matter, they do make a difference in the power we have over our own computing devices. Would Android even exist without the open license Torvalds gave Linux? No. You would be stuck choosing between a locked-down Apple phone or a locked-down "Windows" phone. It is because of slashdot-type people that the other 99% have much more choice. You are welcome, you ungrateful asshole.
Ungrateful assholes.