Nothing was mentioned about payment processors like Square, Stripe, Bluepay, Heartland, Authorize.Net, CCNow, Transfirst, etc.
They have their disadvantages too, but the writer doesn't even evaluate them.
They have their disadvantages too, but the writer doesn't even evaluate them.
". Most merchants outsource to third party card processing facilities (which won’t be mentioned here), typically redirecting to a page on that providers website, for accepting payments. The problem with this is that they often serve proprietary JavaScript"
The browser running the javascript can be free/libre, the OS it is running on can be free/libre, the javascript language and browser environment is relatively standardized, it's sandboxed ... The JS is really just part of the page and/or service API.
FSF doesn't have as big a problem calling banks that use closed-source telephony software or making api requests to closed-source webserver backends, there's really not that big a difference from a fully free/libre client interpreting a script in a standardized sandboxed environment, which it just received from a service, as part of using that service.
The other odd FSF corner-case is that firmware blobs that you can't update are OK, but firmware blobs that you can update are not OK (even if they are freely redistributable). I'd say having a hardline stance on this is just not helpful.
On firmware, the FSF has drawn a bright line on where hardware ends and software starts, and where they've drawn it is on whether firmware on device can be updated or not. If its not updatable, its a piece of hardware, plain and simple. If its updatable, then it is software, thus said code should be freely licensed and not Tivoized.
I've looked into some of those services, though not all. Most of them seem to require me to maintain a Web server and to write back end code (hope I'm using the correct terminology) to route the customer's payment to the payment processor. This isn't something I know how to do, especially if I want it to be secure, and paying to have it done for me would be an expense.
So it's PayPal for now until something better comes along. I check out the alternatives every year or so.
There's a reason people care enough to hate them.