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The fundamentalist FOSS mentality

blog.hiri.com

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Re: The fundamentalist FOSS mentality

#11

Post by dpower »

simion314 wrote: post #5
dpower wrote: post #2

I'm the author of this particular blog post. Curious to see how this is received by the tech community.

FOSS is something I aspire too, I still use some proprietary software but as I dream at a Star Trek world similar I dream that in future I would work only on FOSS. If there is a choice use FOSS app A or proprietary app B I will use A if it does what I need, as a developer I adapted the open source apps to my needs where with proprietary apps I could never done it.

The question is, will you choose FOSS even if it is a poorer choice?

Re: The fundamentalist FOSS mentality

#12

Post by mrspeaker »

I didn't read the other post that was controversial, so I'm only seeing this as a self-contained piece: but what is the author saying? Is it just a laundry list of things about open source? What is it arguing? Is it new, or just someone thinking about FOSS for the first time? I can't see how any of the things mentioned support the conclusion "the Linux community should embrace proprietary software with open arms".

Maybe it makes more sense in relation to the other post. If so, I think the essence of it should be worked into this post to give it some context.

Re: The fundamentalist FOSS mentality

#13

Post by shmerl »

> If we do Open Source Hiri, there is nothing to stop someone from forking it and selling it for less /offering it for free.

Tbsync developers have no problem with that.

> Also, you literally trust your life to proprietary software every time you jump into a car or onto a plane.

Is that a good thing? People do it out of lack of choice, not because they want to. Trusting closed software for communication purposes is especially bad in the age of mass surveillance, so Hiri is actually not an example to be used if you are so interested in pitching for closed software.

> There is ample evidence that companies competing using proprietary knowledge is actually a pretty good model for more productivity / technological progress. It’s why we have anti-trust laws.

Laws which aren't working for the most part because they have been diluted by monopolists / oligopolists to completely toothless state.

> I believe the Linux community should embrace proprietary software with open arms

No, thanks. Linux doesn't need to become another macOS. There are cases when proprietary software has no alternatives, but encouraging such situations isn't something to aim for.

Re: The fundamentalist FOSS mentality

#15

Post by village-idiot »

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #4

There's another problem with the "make money by offering support" argument: it incentivizes creating software that requires support, usually via added complexity. Similarly the customization argument: it incentivizes creating inflexible software. I'm not sure there is a monetization strategy that actually aligns with what should be the goals of FLOSS.

IMHO, the “make money selling support” only really works for products you build your app out of or on. Think databases and message queues, not end user apps.

Re: The fundamentalist FOSS mentality

#16

Post by ekianjo »

dpower wrote: post #2

I'm the author of this particular blog post. Curious to see how this is received by the tech community.

I think you fail to see the usefulness of fundamentalists. They help keep some kind of balance in the overall system, by pulling some of the practices towards one end. If no FOSS fundamentalists existed, we may be living in a very different software world right now. A number of extremely useful POSIX tools were the products of such ideologies.

I think one of the "better" approaches if you cannot survive with a "support/customization" model (which is certainly not for everyone) is to open-source elements of your software offering that are not business critical but still somewhat useful for other parties to live in the open. This way you do not take away your livelihood, but you still contribute back in some amount to the tech world. That's like being a good citizen.

Re: The fundamentalist FOSS mentality

#17

Post by dpower »

jgrahamc wrote: post #3
dpower wrote: post #2

I'm the author of this particular blog post. Curious to see how this is received by the tech community.

I read it but I'm not sure what you're trying to say really. Sure, there are people like Stallman, there are others who are more 'pragmatic'. World keeps turning. Do your thing. See how that plays out for you.

Key point is this: If more Linux people embraced proprietary software it would help spread Linux. Simple as that really.

As a proprietary app, we have encountered quite a bit of resistance from Linux users, usually berating us for not being open source. I think that's short sighted. We need more pragmatists.

Re: The fundamentalist FOSS mentality

#18

Post by whitehouse3 »

gnulinux wrote: post #8
AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #4

There's another problem with the "make money by offering support" argument: it incentivizes creating software that requires support, usually via added complexity. Similarly the customization argument: it incentivizes creating inflexible software. I'm not sure there is a monetization strategy that actually aligns with what should be the goals of FLOSS.

It's not fully FLOSS but double licencing your library GPL and commercial license is another business model, and it seems to be working fine for companies doing this.

Plotly does this with the added option to use their paid, hosted solution. Seems to work for them.

Re: The fundamentalist FOSS mentality

#19

Post by liotier »

Ignore the naysayers. I loathe having to trust proprietary software for anything critical or anything I want control over, but there are things for which proprietary software got my money... So focus on your market segment - elsewhere, as all producers know, there will always be a chorus of negativity that you are better off ignoring.

Re: The fundamentalist FOSS mentality

#20

Post by village-idiot »

throwaway4799 wrote: post #7

No one is entitled to a business model. If your userbase has a culture of being (rightfully, in my opinion) defiant toward proprietary products, that's for you to remedy. If you can't make any money from ancilliary uses of your product (support, hosting, whatever) maybe you should question why you're monetizing in the first place. Free software is strictly more ethical than nonfree software. Any attempt at arguing ot…

> maybe you should question why you're monetizing in the first place.

I assume that the author happens to enjoy food and shelter, how strange of them.

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