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Comment by lorenzfx | Hacker News Reader

> [...] have you donated? [...] > FreeBSD runs your movies on Netflix, your games on PlayStation 4 and Nitendo Switch

This really isn't how this should work. If one uses Netflix or some gaming hardware (for which one payed) one should not feel obligated in any way to give to FreeBSD. The Netflix or Nintendo might want to donate to ensure they have an even better system available in the future, but because of the BSD license, they aren't obligated either.

That aside, as a personal FreeBSD user, I have actually donated to the FreeBSD foundation every year for the last four or five years and plan to do it again this year.

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These examples are not used to imply that it should the way you suggest they do. They are used as an example to show, that one day if you want to run a business requiring advanced technical platform available for free, you can do it thanks to FreeBSD and you can be as successful as these companies. Not only these commercial products use it, but also many free/open projects and non profit companies, and if that doesn't open your heart and wallet, then I don't know what would, if at the same time you're OK paying for products ;)

Or is it, not wanting to start any kind of flame-war, just the fact that the BSD licenses used here means these commercial products are not obliged to give back making non-BSD licensed software (e.g. GPLv*) less likely to be used for these companies?

Or looking at it cynically, I am paying for Netflix development who then also charge me for the privilege.

Netflix is contributing quite a bit to FreeBSD development.

> because of the BSD license, they aren't obligated either.

No free software license that I know of would obligate them to donate money to FreeBSD.

I know you didn’t say otherwise, but in license discussions a lot of people (particular GPL fans) suggest changing to a copyleft license would improve FreeBSD’s financial status, without anything to back it up.

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