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Lol, first time I hear that, as Europeanπ what a stupid movement..
I always like to say the fruits of FOSS labour are the common heritage of mankind. It belongs to all of us as a public good, created and maintained by selfless workers. (Nevermind the fact that most FOSS projects are based out of Europe anyways).
Free software is the antithesis of capitalism. It doesn't make sense to boycott them.
Is someone doing that? If it's FOSS it's from the internet.
FOSS is definitely not boycotting capitalism, but its still an objectively good thing. I see FOSS work as a way for relatively rich imperial core citizens to give back to the world.
Definitely do not boycott FOSS projects.
There are some pretty corporate "open core" software companies tho, that's a more grey area
Are they open or free? That's the point here.
I'm the most anti-American user on here and I agree.
I'd rather use USA-linked free software than Spotify.
Wasn't Spotify Swedish tho? But yeah
Didn't microsoft buy them?
I think that's the point, he's saying he'd rather use USA-linked FOSS than non-USA proprietary software.
Agreed.
I get it as an European that it means more to me to consume "locally" and to prioritize services that are European-based. But due to the nature of computers and FOSS, borders are redefined and it is more about ideas and politics rather than physical location. However, computers and servers are also physical and submitted to legislations of countries, we cannot ignore laws such as the Patriot act and the power that the American state can have even on FOSS projects.
For me the priority is to use software that match my needs; if I have the choice between an American and an European solution, I'll tend to choose the latter one.
I canceled ongoing donations to several projects based in the US and stated that my reasons for doing so was US policy against my country. It doesnβt matter if the dev or project lead supports those policies or not, I refuse to contribute to the US economy if I can at all help it.
I understand, but I am also thinking about the dev of those projects, as an individual who (probably) really despises the current US Gov, and even though they have to engage in the US economy, as they need to eat, pay bills, etc. It is a very tricky problem for those individuals and how to emancipate from. It is like with Russia where such individuals do not endorse at all the ongoing war but still live in that system π€
If you are worried about US laws affecting FOSS projects, it can always be forked, perhaps even be rewritten.
Of course, but what about the individual behind it, if it is someone who is also against their current government, while having to live in that country? It is tricky to ask how to reconcile the need for EU solutions while encouraging American citizens to fight against their system!
FOSS devs can do FOSS work only because of the relative luxury conditions of their imperial core countries, which comes at the expense of global south countries.
In other words, they can do that because their countries imperialist relations with the global south, this is the reason that most FOSS projects come from the US and Europe.
In some way FOSS work is a way for these people to give back to the world, i think its fine to donate to these projects regardless of their location.
Agree with the main point, though disagree that FOSS is "boycotting capitalism", many for-profit companies contribute to FOSS and FOSS can be used by for-profit companies too, much of today's capitalism runs on FOSS.
The point of free software is that it does not have owners, so what exactly are you "boycotting"?
Tell it to the Russian Linux devs that foss has no owners :-) Theory and practice are 2 different things
FOSS doesn't mean that you are entitled to a place at the table or that your contributions have to be accepted. Nothing prevents these Russian devs from continuing to to work on the kernel.
They can fork it, if nobody wants to work with them anymore that's their problem
Seeing people look for corporate social media alternatives is painful.
I agree, but am happy that X is losing users to Bluesky, so I don't try to convert friends and family from Bluesky to Masrodon. I'd rather they start changing other stuff instead that is easier.
> "Hey guys, I want to leave X, should I go to Bluesky or Threads? What? Mastodon? Never heard of that. Looks very complicated, I'll pass"
> -- CEO, founder, IT wizz on LinkedIn
Every time!