Even if I’m not as ardent about it as a beneficiary of open source in all its forms I can understand the viewpoint of those who are.
There is value in that I think.
Yes, thinking does have value. :P
> There is value in that, I think.
Totally agree with your comment, though.
I did some search, and this discussion seems helpful and exactly on this topic: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3417033
Ideally we want to live something close to the "pure" lifestyle and also get the convenience we want. That requires dedication on the part of programmers to get us closer and closer to it. You can't get that kind of dedication from people who are halfway dedicated.
The fact that you'll write "I'm all for OSS, but..." shows how successful this cultural branding effort has been...
In any community - social, religious, utility - you have those people on the fringes. How hard they hang off the edge, and how many they can convert to "edgers" informs where the average point will be.
So if the moderate software moralist is half way between Bill Gates and Richard Stallman, one would imagine that the mean average would be slightly left leaning, slightly pro FOSS, but ultimately pragmatic. Were Bill Gates any more megalomaniacal, or Richard Stallman any more bonkers, the mean might shift.
The problem lies with the repugnance. Only those already willing to feel the pain are willing to align with RMS fully. To most of the rest of the world, we see pieces like this and bristle; we recognise that freedom + cost = nonfree - it's not free if we're shackling ourselves to a system that we can't use properly, or have to cart around dongles to duplicate the functionality already theoretically in our machines.
However keenly we do or don't recognise the moral shackles, we'll certainly recognise the convenience shackles.
Of course, FOSS isn't RMS' only soapbox. His GNU/Linux stance - to the point where he insists podcasts and publications change their name or he'll pull out last minute - creates a second repugnant pull in another direction. Again, the shackles are obvious, the moral imperative not so obvious, the sanity of the flag-bearer even less obvious.
So yeah, you're not alone in it pushing you away. Thankfully, everyone within a standard deviation of the mean will ignore his ravings as he hangs on the edge. As the mean shifts, so will how far off the edge he hangs (until he drops).
Feel free to go as close to the edge as you feel comfortable. And for everything else, shake your head and whisper (not my president) :D
No one has the time and attention to address everything, and so I am glad there are those that focus on each of these individual issues.