This article makes a good argument to the same: https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/09/18/too-much-dark-money-in...
There's even a school of thought that the existence of things like Patreon for funding open source development is actively harmful insofar as it can create the illusion that it's a viable funding mechanism for sustainable open source development when it really isn't.
The author has zero care for security and the product had plenty of vulnerabilities. This harms users and also other people.
Furthermore, poor behaviors attracts blame on the whole open source community.
By what chain of reasoning do you derive the existence of the moral obligation to users who have paid exactly nothing let alone the obligation to consider what the broader world thinks of open source developers. It's pretty clear Kovid is a bit of an asshole and sometimes outspokenly incorrect but what right do we have to demand different? Usually such an obligation is transactional. Even if unspoken and devoid of monetary context there is some broader context SOMETHING of value is gained or lost.
So far as I can see the only thing we give Kovid is attention which is cheap and he gives us work which is dear. If you don't agree that the present transaction of putting up with the existence of opinionated posts which you don't have to read for a useful piece of software you don't actually have to use it.
It would even be useful for you to expand on why you think its insecure because that may inform users who can then see to their own interests better for having the benefit of your counsel but don't bore us with talk of his moral obligation unless you can't substantiate such.
The spoiler alert is that you cannot because you have confused the right to control the mores of a particular community with the right to impose those on non-members.
I once made the mistake of accepting donations for a forum I run and learned how people will expect the world from you, like 1:1 customer support whenever they need it, just because they once gave me $5.
Eventually all the "this is outrageous, I am a paying customer!" made me refund everyone and I never accepted donations again.
But if you really need to see transactions everywhere, here's one:
When I give software away for free (which I do) or food (which I do) people give me something in exchange: their trust.
I also give my trust to other software developers.
Not caring of security is a breach of such trust. Same as giving someone some spoiled food.
Here's Kovid responding to reports of security vulnerabilities: https://bugs.launchpad.net/calibre/+bug/885027
You use open source software that is made by one guy and offered to the world for free, you kind of have to deal with the possibility that that guy has better things to do than fuss over every bug report.
Also, I think a vulnerability that allows unprivileged users to gain root on a system on which Calibre is installed is worth fussing over.
> Something answering posts from fools like you over the years should have taught me a long time ago.
And submitter is correct - he does this often. I recall a security bug that he refused to fix as fixing it would break some convenient feature. That one got really heated, and only when distributions declared they will stop carrying calibre in their package management system did he cave in and fix it.
Nevertheless, I don't see these as obvious reasons not to support him in Patreon.
Did you need Calibre in the first place? If so, what did you end up using instead?