this post was submitted on 04 Jan 2025
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We have a problem. People have learned that they shouldn't use a free VPN. By that logic you shouldn't use a free ad blocker either. People don't understand the details enough so they operate on broad ideas.
There is a difference between "free & open source" and "free because you don't pay with money".
The first means it can be peer reviewed by anyone to make sure they aren't doing anything shady.
Yeah that's right. Really, the difference is between free software and free services.
Software can be free and open source and that can be a viable model, even a preferable model. Services can not be free without some party being exploited. In the best of cases this means services are provided by volunteers (and they are being exploited), but more commonly in business, it's the users who are being exploited.
But as a rule, you should be suspicious of free services.
UBO is also free as in beer.
That's why we need to start using libre
The issue is that the difference is clear to us, but not to everyone else. Even at the periphery of the tech world, I've met people generally aware what source code is, but not of the specific concept of "Open Source" and why it makes a difference. We should avoid falling into the bubble trap where we assume that what's familiar to us is familiar to everyone else as well.
I dunno if there's just a lack of education around what open-source means or what. Like jeez, you can contribute to unlock origin. You can study it and see if there's anything you disagree with. You can fork it and change it.
Can't save them all.