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I sad that in a place with hacker on its name people are contrarian when somebody wants to use the computer they bougth for whatever they want.

by lomase 1y ago

andrewmcwatters 1y ago
It’s definitely sad and weird. Times and people have changed. For whatever reason the community now is filled with a weird mix of corporate bootlickers who want to give the largest corporations money while they take away our freedoms and they simultaneously want to make known their entitled behavior by claiming individual developers and small businesses should only ever give away their software for free. It was bad enough people here chime in technical conversations that they have no experience with loudly contesting the points of actual experts and practitioners, but now they also want to tell us that we don’t have a right to use our property how we want.
- lomase 1y ago
  Even if times have changed I will keep being anoying about this. The hacker culture is something that fascinated me as teenager and the reason I am able to pay the bills today. I don't really know what would be of me without it.
- commandersaki 1y ago
  It’s definitely sad and weird. Times and people have changed. Yeah, I grew up tinkering with Linux since 1994; was good times. I've changed. For whatever reason the community now is filled with a weird mix of corporate bootlickers who want to give the largest corporations money while they take away our freedoms and they simultaneously want to make known their entitled behavior by claiming individual developers and small businesses should only ever give away their software for free. A bit after the turn of the millennium I became legally blind and I also needed to eat. Apple was able to serve my needs with their accessibility tools and keep me fully functional without additional costs beyond the hardware and base software, and still to this day. Nothing had come close back then nor now. While I appreciate Stallman's ideals and how he wouldn't use assistive technology if it isn't free software, I can't succumb to those artificial restrictions. The reality is that I would have been much worse off financially, being self-sufficient, going through studies, progressing in my career, etc. if it wasn't for Apple's accessibility tech. So yeah I'll own the whole corporate bootlicker nonsense, and it's why in later years of my life I now invest in Apple, because they deliver usable solutions to real problems to the vast population rather than cater to an insignificant population with piddly ideals. It must be nice if your only issue with tech is that you need it to go brrrrrrrr.
  - mrtesthah 1y ago
    What if Apple, et. al. decided to require an unaffordable subscription to use those assistive features you have become dependent on, or they stop supporting or even outright remove those features? Your devices become useless, and the ability to run free software becomes the only way to salvage them. And sure, you could go looking elsewhere in the market, but the same thing could happen with any vendor, and there's no guarantee that the specific set of features you desire is going to be available at a price point that makes sense (especially if your income changes due to further disability). What if the current US federal administration continues its fascist descent and decides that supporting disabled people is "woke DEI shit" and puts incredible pressure on companies to discontinue features for, or even surveil and report, its disabled users? Eugenics is part and parcel of their ideology after all. Or more likely, the US govt requires a ChatControl-like feature in all commercial software. Free software is a matter of personal self-reliance -- not just some hobby.
    - commandersaki 1y ago
      Eh, not really interested in entertaining some hypotheticals that has negligible probability relative to a black swan event occurring. Needless to say there is very little evidence of what you describe with Apple; if anything over the 23 is h years of having used Apple products, the access to the latest accessibility and assistive tech has gone from paid upgrades to free. Your devices become useless, and the ability to run free software becomes the only way to salvage them. Free software is a matter of personal self-reliance -- not just some hobby. Free software provides me negligible utility, I can't rely on it for anything, since it has virtually unusable accessibility and assisitve tech. The chances free software can come to the table with something usable is a lot less likely than the scenarios you have dreamt up, so we'll be fine in the long run. Like if the Stallman life works for you, go for it; but I would've been left stranded in many areas of my life having stunted growth (not physically) if had not found another way to use tech/computers, which would probably involve spending stupid amounts of money on (again) proprietary niche accessibility tech. Stallman and his FOSS sycophants only care about their ideals, not actually empowering people.
trallnag 1y ago
It's the Apple bias
- lomase 1y ago
  I upvoted you, but I am I not so sure. I have seen this rethoric in many HN posts.

I sad that in a place with hacker on its name people are contrarian when somebody wants to use the computer they bougth for whatever they want.

by lomase 1y ago

I sad that in a place with hacker on its name people are contrarian when somebody wants to use the computer they bougth for whatever they want.

andrewmcwatters 1y ago

It’s definitely sad and weird. Times and people have changed. For whatever reason the community now is filled with a weird mix of corporate bootlickers who want to give the largest corporations money while they take away our freedoms and they simultaneously want to make known their entitled behavior by claiming individual developers and small businesses should only ever give away their software for free. It was bad enough people here chime in technical conversations that they have no experience with loudly contesting the points of actual experts and practitioners, but now they also want to tell us that we don’t have a right to use our property how we want.

lomase 1y ago
Even if times have changed I will keep being anoying about this. The hacker culture is something that fascinated me as teenager and the reason I am able to pay the bills today. I don't really know what would be of me without it.
commandersaki 1y ago
It’s definitely sad and weird. Times and people have changed. Yeah, I grew up tinkering with Linux since 1994; was good times. I've changed. For whatever reason the community now is filled with a weird mix of corporate bootlickers who want to give the largest corporations money while they take away our freedoms and they simultaneously want to make known their entitled behavior by claiming individual developers and small businesses should only ever give away their software for free. A bit after the turn of the millennium I became legally blind and I also needed to eat. Apple was able to serve my needs with their accessibility tools and keep me fully functional without additional costs beyond the hardware and base software, and still to this day. Nothing had come close back then nor now. While I appreciate Stallman's ideals and how he wouldn't use assistive technology if it isn't free software, I can't succumb to those artificial restrictions. The reality is that I would have been much worse off financially, being self-sufficient, going through studies, progressing in my career, etc. if it wasn't for Apple's accessibility tech. So yeah I'll own the whole corporate bootlicker nonsense, and it's why in later years of my life I now invest in Apple, because they deliver usable solutions to real problems to the vast population rather than cater to an insignificant population with piddly ideals. It must be nice if your only issue with tech is that you need it to go brrrrrrrr.
- mrtesthah 1y ago
  What if Apple, et. al. decided to require an unaffordable subscription to use those assistive features you have become dependent on, or they stop supporting or even outright remove those features? Your devices become useless, and the ability to run free software becomes the only way to salvage them. And sure, you could go looking elsewhere in the market, but the same thing could happen with any vendor, and there's no guarantee that the specific set of features you desire is going to be available at a price point that makes sense (especially if your income changes due to further disability). What if the current US federal administration continues its fascist descent and decides that supporting disabled people is "woke DEI shit" and puts incredible pressure on companies to discontinue features for, or even surveil and report, its disabled users? Eugenics is part and parcel of their ideology after all. Or more likely, the US govt requires a ChatControl-like feature in all commercial software. Free software is a matter of personal self-reliance -- not just some hobby.
  - commandersaki 1y ago
    Eh, not really interested in entertaining some hypotheticals that has negligible probability relative to a black swan event occurring. Needless to say there is very little evidence of what you describe with Apple; if anything over the 23 is h years of having used Apple products, the access to the latest accessibility and assistive tech has gone from paid upgrades to free. Your devices become useless, and the ability to run free software becomes the only way to salvage them. Free software is a matter of personal self-reliance -- not just some hobby. Free software provides me negligible utility, I can't rely on it for anything, since it has virtually unusable accessibility and assisitve tech. The chances free software can come to the table with something usable is a lot less likely than the scenarios you have dreamt up, so we'll be fine in the long run. Like if the Stallman life works for you, go for it; but I would've been left stranded in many areas of my life having stunted growth (not physically) if had not found another way to use tech/computers, which would probably involve spending stupid amounts of money on (again) proprietary niche accessibility tech. Stallman and his FOSS sycophants only care about their ideals, not actually empowering people.

trallnag 1y ago

It's the Apple bias

lomase 1y ago
I upvoted you, but I am I not so sure. I have seen this rethoric in many HN posts.