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Have you ever read anything by RMS on what he calls Service as a Software Substitute (SaaSS)? I can't think of many large businesses who aren't "guilty" of that

• Frondo 11y ago
  This looks like the SaaSS article: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.en.html https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-s... The payoff comes at the very end, "Do your own computing with your own copy of a free program, for your freedom's sake." Nah, I'll pay someone to do compute (and maintain the API, infrastructure, etc.) for me. I'm a huge free software advocate, but in the SaaS situation, I'm not paying for a program, I'm paying for results. As such, it's immaterial how I get those results--they could have a roomful of people arranging bits by hand. (What if that's how they were doing it? Would that represent a loss of freedom, if I were paying people to shuffle bits by hand?) This particular essay seems like the RMS take on that old saw, "if all you have is a hammer..."
  • tremon 11y ago
    The loss of freedom, in your case, is control over the development direction of your tools. If the tools match your business, fine. Let's hope they still do in a few years. If the match is only partial, your choice is between lobbying for tool change from your vendor, or conforming your business to match the tool.