this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2024
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Free and Open Source Software

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Don't let the title fool you! This is not anti-FOSS!

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (7 children)

Author seems to ignore that FOSS projects tend to be much smaller teams without budget to create the user experience that private VC funded projects can.

Ths whole accountability argument seems to be pretty disingenuous, allowing anyone who wants to evaluate the source code is about as accountable as it gets.

The not-so-subtle "you will be lazy about what your doing if someone is not paying you not to be" vibe throughout this article is off putting to say the least.

I also find prioritizing user experience over the sharing of source code to be misguided. Allowing folks to gate keep knowledge and hide what they are doing is a big price just for a better user experience.

The real issue with FOSS is the same as with P2P networks. Most people are leechers whose only contribution is lip service.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago (6 children)

I... these are all good points, but... did we read the same article?

Article seems to ignore that FOSS projects tend not to have the budget to create the UX that VC-funded projects can. ... I find prioritizing UX over sharing of source code to be misguided.

The author specifically calls attention to this exact point:

If a weirdo guy moved into your kitchen and blocked you from grabbing a spoon whenever you wanted and instead rented them out to you provided you only ate the gruel he provided, the people who would be most able to see the absurdity in that would be be the people who remember what it was like before. Those who grew up with that system would be “whaddayamean? This is super convienient. I just stick my hand in the kitchen and a spoonful of gruel is shoved into it. Like it, love it, want more of it”. They’d be like “people who don’t have a spoon guy are so gross and so dumb. What the heck are they even? Doing rifling through their own cutlery drawer like some sorta eggheads”.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

@AVincentInSpace @Imprint9816

I find this take fascinating...the only thing I would add is that if you have something else more important to do than grabbing a spoon...then the spoon guy could be a godsend...

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

???????????

Tell me you are not arguing in favor of only being able to eat gruel for the rest of your life simply because it is convenient?

Even if you did want that, you'd have a MUCH better time setting up the gruel station yourself, so that you could bypass it if you wanted to.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

@AVincentInSpace
Well not gruel...I would hate that obviously 😅

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

...so you're perfectly happy being prevented from eating anything other than what the guy renting your own kitchen out to you cooks, so long as most of the time, he makes something you like eating?

In this metaphor, if he decides to change his recipe and you don't like the new food, you can't just ask him to make something else. He owns your kitchen.

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