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I enjoyed reading the talk. But must also admit that his way of thinking is a bit alien to me. I see questions of freedom and autonomy as much larger issues tha

I enjoyed reading the talk. But must also admit that his way of thinking is a bit alien to me. I see questions of freedom and autonomy as much larger issues than just whether you can tinker with your computer software or not. And I don’t appreciate the constant looking down on people who doesn’t want to spend their time fiddling with their software. I am very happy that OSS exists. But let’s not assume that people who prefer to use commercial software are somehow giving up their freedom. It reminds me of the argument that if you don’t own guns you are not free. Swap software for guns and you can find people arguing kinda the same way. Which is fine. I just don’t think that narrowing your view to just software or guns when talking freedom makes sense. It is so much bigger than that.

yoyohello13 5y ago
The intention is not to look down on people, but too make people aware of the places they may be giving up freedom for convenience. We all do it in one way or another, it's required for modern life. People who prefer to use commercial software are indeed giving up some of their freedom in exchange for convenience. Almost all of us willingly give up some freedom by not growing our own food, or building our own car. This isn't a value judgement, just an observation.
- mbrodersen 5y ago
  I will argue that it is not true. Not using OSS or deciding not to grow your own food doesn’t mean that you give up any freedom for convenience. You still have the freedom to change your mind and start using OSS or grow your own food tomorrow. Having the choice to use OSS or not makes you more free than being forced to use OSS (or non-OSS) software. It might be true that the majority of people don’t know or have any interest in fiddling with OSS software. But that’s fine. Most people also don’t know how to build their own car or grow their own food. That doesn’t mean that they are giving up any freedoms.
  - legends2k 5y ago
    > You still have the freedom to change your mind and start using OSS or grow your own food tomorrow. Might be too late. We've long lost the freedom to simply plant the seed of an apple bought from a supermarket. Thanks to genetically modified, engineered fruits. What I mean is if we keep supporting heteronomy, the balance with autonomy will become so skewed that this option of switching to autonomy might not exist. Today there aren't as many hardware options as they used to be, to run your own BIOS replacement like CoreBoot, or even Linux for that matter. One has to buy a Windows laptop and install Linux on it. I have to constantly turn off Secure Boot off for it to work. Windows 11 made UEFI (as opposed to BIOS) mandatory, so the laptops on market don't have BIOS anymore. This means that I don't have the option to buy a BIOS based laptop.
    - mbrodersen 5y ago
      > Might be too late. We've long lost the freedom to simply plant the seed of an apple bought from a supermarket. I don't think it is too late. YouTube for example has many videos showing people growing their own food (including apples) and instructions on how to do it. > Today there aren't as many hardware options as they used to be True. Hardware constantly changes and sometimes what was available 10 years ago no longer is. However you still have the freedom to buy a PC without any OS installed and install Linux instead of Windows.

yoyohello13 5y ago

The intention is not to look down on people, but too make people aware of the places they may be giving up freedom for convenience. We all do it in one way or another, it's required for modern life. People who prefer to use commercial software are indeed giving up some of their freedom in exchange for convenience. Almost all of us willingly give up some freedom by not growing our own food, or building our own car. This isn't a value judgement, just an observation.

mbrodersen 5y ago
I will argue that it is not true. Not using OSS or deciding not to grow your own food doesn’t mean that you give up any freedom for convenience. You still have the freedom to change your mind and start using OSS or grow your own food tomorrow. Having the choice to use OSS or not makes you more free than being forced to use OSS (or non-OSS) software. It might be true that the majority of people don’t know or have any interest in fiddling with OSS software. But that’s fine. Most people also don’t know how to build their own car or grow their own food. That doesn’t mean that they are giving up any freedoms.
- legends2k 5y ago
  > You still have the freedom to change your mind and start using OSS or grow your own food tomorrow. Might be too late. We've long lost the freedom to simply plant the seed of an apple bought from a supermarket. Thanks to genetically modified, engineered fruits. What I mean is if we keep supporting heteronomy, the balance with autonomy will become so skewed that this option of switching to autonomy might not exist. Today there aren't as many hardware options as they used to be, to run your own BIOS replacement like CoreBoot, or even Linux for that matter. One has to buy a Windows laptop and install Linux on it. I have to constantly turn off Secure Boot off for it to work. Windows 11 made UEFI (as opposed to BIOS) mandatory, so the laptops on market don't have BIOS anymore. This means that I don't have the option to buy a BIOS based laptop.
  - mbrodersen 5y ago
    > Might be too late. We've long lost the freedom to simply plant the seed of an apple bought from a supermarket. I don't think it is too late. YouTube for example has many videos showing people growing their own food (including apples) and instructions on how to do it. > Today there aren't as many hardware options as they used to be True. Hardware constantly changes and sometimes what was available 10 years ago no longer is. However you still have the freedom to buy a PC without any OS installed and install Linux instead of Windows.