3 ms·
I used to be a big fan of prtmissive licenses until I bought a $700+ android phone a couple of years back and discovered that it did not "support" my native lan
by goodplay 10y ago
I used to be a big fan of prtmissive licenses until I bought a $700+ android phone a couple of years back and discovered that it did not "support" my native language (it could render the glyphs but system-wide support was not enabled).
Having extensive experience with unicode and how text is usually rendered, I knew exactly how to fix the issue; the fix was likely as simple as injecting an SO that hijacks a specific system library function. However, because the phone was locked down, I was unable to fix the problem myself. All important system apps including SMS and the browser displayed gibberish.
It was the most expensive brick I ever bought.
This experience taught me the true value of the GPL and why user freedom far outweighs the freedom of developers.
- davexunit 10y agoThanks for sharing your story. I think English speaking people, particularly in first-world countries, don't realize how inaccessible a lot of software is for so many people because those people don't align with the business interests of a company.
- goodplay 10y agoYou're welcome. I must stress that I do not blame developers for not catering for a language they do not speak, and I can't blame I company for not supporting a group of people if it doesn't make business sense. I do, however, hold a grudge against a company that prevents me from fixing an issue in a product I payed for and own. More so when the fix is for a issue that renders the device useless and is incredibly easy to fix.