this post was submitted on 07 Dec 2023
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TechConnectify@mas.to - Oh my gosh I just figured it out.

Okay, all you open source evangelist people: your knee-jerk reaction to come at people who are talking about a problem with whatever commercial software they use and suggest Your Favorite Alternatives™ is exactly like saying "why don't you just buy a house?" to someone complaining about their landlord.

TechConnectify@mas.to - Actually, to borrow from @DoubleA, it's worse than that.

It's like talking to someone who is in a crappy apartment as though they have the agency and skills to stake out a plot of land and build their own home.

You have to be at peace with the fact that some people just want to exist and not worry about so many things. And they still have a right to complain about their situation.

Link to thread: https://mas.to/@TechConnectify/111539959265152243

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[–] onlinepersona@programming.dev 34 points 11 months ago (1 children)
[–] JustinHanagan@kbin.social 18 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Exactly! I actually talked back and forth with him a bit and eventually said that "complaining about a missing FOSS feature is like complaining to the volunteer ladeler at a soup kitchen about the lack of a gluten-free option. It's just not the path to getting the change you want."

In the end he seemed to get what I was saying, but was still irritated. I've been really learning lately how hard it is for some people not to see themselves as customers in FOSS land.

[–] onlinepersona@programming.dev 7 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I’ve been really learning lately how hard it is for some people not to see themselves as customers in FOSS land.

It perplexes me, because when people get free stuff that isn't FOSS, they have no place to complain. Their only option is to pay for the software, but most don't. As soon as they see a place they can complain, they go twitter on the place.

[–] sukhmel@programming.dev 4 points 11 months ago

People often can't make companies to do stuff even if they pay for it, so that is a really meh argument 😔