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Here’s the deal. Pay for your software or someone else will. If you use FOSS then donate or the developer might have to pivot into adware. Or abandonware. If
by ianai 4y ago
Here’s the deal. Pay for your software or someone else will.
If you use FOSS then donate or the developer might have to pivot into adware. Or abandonware.
If the HN crowd can’t afford to financially support the FOSS they use then who will? You’re a huge group of SV types. Probably amongst the top representation of shareholders in some of the most valuable companies on the planet. Feel shame if you’re not supporting the tech ecosystem supporting your literal bottom line.
Or show that you’re an actual entrepreneur/capitalist and provide the pricey RH style support of whatever it is and make it official.
- austinjp 4y agoWhile I fully agree with the sentiment here, paying or donating doesn't necessarily prevent ads. Some software and entertainment providers just jam ads into everything, even for paying customers. But yes, I do agree that paying for FOSS should be the norm, where possible. And hopefully this will indeed prevent ads in many cases. It's a shame that advertising has become so normalised that is reflexively added to so many fledgling projects. Most startups fail, but there are always others being born in their place, churning out more ads into the gap. Another niggle, which is admittedly at a tangent from what I took as your main point. Not everyone in the "HN crowd" is in a position to donate. Recently I read a comment here from someone who said they're homeless, for example. But for those HNers who are employed, yes, donation to FOSS should be far more common.
- ianai 4y agoIf there’s money in forking a project that just added advertisement solely to remove the ads and take donations away then there’s an avenue of counterbalance. And of course there’s an inappropriate audience to my original comment. That’s life. Edit: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33175839 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33175839
- ttymck 4y ago> Some software and entertainment providers just jam ads into everything, even for paying customers. Sorry, but who are you referring to?
- ianai 4y agoCable companies. But that fight should have been had in the 80s I think.
- carlmcqueen 4y agoHulu is one, if you need an example.
- ttymck 4y agoMmm, indeed. Although they began as a free ad-supported service. Certainly a peculiar case.
- celestialcheese 4y agoThey have an ad-free tier still - it's just more expensive.
- horsawlarway 4y agoAnd it's still not "ad" free. They show all sorts of material that they can only license with ads in place in that tier. And that's not even going into the whole "It's not an ad - it's a promotion for another one of our shows" crock of bullshit they pull.
- robertlagrant 4y agoMicrosoft was putting ads in the Start Menu for a while, if I remember correctly.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- akho 4y agoSo your view is that Ubuntu has ads because Canonical is the least funded, most desperate maker of Linux distributions.
- pid-1 4y agoI'm actually hyped by Ubuntu Pro. Might be a real alternative for SMB using Windows.
- encryptluks2 4y agoI have lost hope in Ubuntu. They should just complete there merger with Microsoft and get it over with. So many distros outperform Ubuntu with a fraction of the resources.
- thesuperbigfrog 4y ago>> I have lost hope in Ubuntu. They should just complete there merger with Microsoft and get it over with. So many distros outperform Ubuntu with a fraction of the resources. Ubuntu could be rebranded "Microsoft Linux" and WSL2 could begin full integration into Windows. Windows would really become "Windows subsystem for Linux" which would be a proprietary, fully-working version of WINE for compatibility with old Windows software. It has been speculated in the past, but it might be the future.
- prirun 4y agoI don't think you get the big picture. The MS plan is to assimilate Linux into Windows to increase Windows' perfection. You will comply.
- thesuperbigfrog 4y agoResistance is futile: https://forums.windowscentral.com/microsoft-news-rumors/482257-microsoft-borg.html https://forums.windowscentral.com/microsoft-news-rumors/4822... https://jacobsalmela.com/2015/04/02/microsoft-windows-infects-the-borg/ https://jacobsalmela.com/2015/04/02/microsoft-windows-infect...
- nix23 4y agoOr just the 16 free RHEL instances...per person ;)
- geodel 4y agoYou mean well. But I get very strong sense that huge number of folks here either are or like to be oblivious to the cost of things they like using. It could be software utils, IDEs, cloud storage, free tiers of various services, internet charges, piracy and so on.
- krolden 4y agoSo every other Linux distro has more funding than canonical? Doubtful.
- Mikeb85 4y agoCanonical has half the revenue of Suse. Which is less than half Fed Hat... So yes they're third by a long shot and definitely least funded of the "commercial" distros.
- kornhole 4y agoI agree. Maybe in the donation drives, they should threaten ads if a target is not met. This might avoid this drastic step and surprise to users.