Comment by RobertoG
8 years ago
I see this touch you personally, so I want to apologize if I bothered you.
I have no idea how Red Hat or SUSE would act, maybe they would be an exception, and, maybe, very ethical workers could keep some companies in check.
In the other hand, I don't think that the idea of companies, in order to survive, will try anything (legal), should be so polemic.
My (somewhat strong, sorry about that) response was mainly a reaction to the larger trend I've seen in the free software community as of late -- that companies that work on free software are somehow a net negative.
I don't know where this view comes from, it was Stallman's goal from day one that it should be possible to have companies built around free software. The fact that my first job out of high school was working at a free software company should be celebrated as a huge accomplishment by the wider community. But it's not seen that way. I find it quite disheartening, because I've always been an advocate for free software and my job title doesn't suddenly change that.
I realise that you're not saying that (and so I'm sorry for the strong response), and of course we must question the motives of companies. But it's become a popular game these days to pretend as though everything that a free software developer does as part of a job must be part of a conspiracy to create a monopoly -- it's ludicrous and is quite grating.