I agree with the general sentiment, but the author gets a few things simply backwards: Individual hobbyists care about tinkering with the software of their cho

I agree with the general sentiment, but the author gets a few things simply backwards: Individual hobbyists care about tinkering with the software of their choice, emphasizing freely licensed source code. These concerns do not affect those who do not make a sport out of modifying code. There is nothing wrong with this, but it will never be a household issue. This couldn't be further from the truth. Consider the simple example of tinkerers making a patch that disables DRM or telemetry, and sharing it with "those who do not make a sport out of modifying code". This is no hypothetical - she writes: Consider third-party clients to centralized unencrypted chat systems. Although two users of such a client privately messaging one another are using only free software, if their messages are being data mined, there is still harm. The Off-The-Record plugin (https://otr.cypherpunks.ca/ https://otr.cypherpunks.ca/) encrypts otherwise unencrypted centralized chat systems. It works even if you "do not make a sport out of modifying code".