Ask HN: Why the negativity about all non-free products or services? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Why the negativity about all non-free products or services?

1 pointDrNuke6 comments

It is a number of weeks HNers have been going to fully fledged war (made of flagging or nitpicking and downplaying comments) against any non-free product or service that gets on the frontpage!? Why? How do these brigades think makers and doers have to sustain their startups? There is an underlying rage at global level that needs to be addressed, imho, because it is not healthy to innovators (people going against the tide, you know... not dark or gray masters only aiming at the booty). This is not a meta-thread bashing the community, it is an attempt to make both parties, creators and users, agree a new common ground for 2021 and beyond.

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> HNers have been going to fully fledged war

That's not accurate though, is it? Unless you're exaggerating for effect.

I don't think most people on HN are against non-free products at all. I think they're against products that provide little value compared to their price.

There may also be some general exhaustion from so many products moving to a subscription model, instead of an old-fashioned one-off purchase. $9/month may not seem a lot, but it quickly adds up.

Ok but $9/month is $0.30/day... what can people buy for $0.30/day? More at large, why the fuss? Anywhere in the world, wherever possible, you go out one evening and spend more just to get a drink or a snack?

I have not observed what You have, infact from my POV it seems the opposite of what You have described.

Sure there are zealots on both sides and they always tend to be the loudest voices in the room but over all, I find that premium products offering value and not just rebranding otherwise free products are met with positivity.

I think it's interesting how the same thing can appear so different, depending on who is looking.

> offering value

That’s the hot matter! Value expected for $0.30/day, just taking from the comment above, as the most common price point?

Adding value, not taking someone elses work which they gave away free and thinking that because it has value You are entitled to charge for it.

Eg. Someone makes and shares a WP theme for free, then another person comes along, changes the font size and lists it as a premium theme. Even worse another person pays the 2 bucks for the "Premium Theme" then rents it out to a unsuspecting customer who builds their own WP site and pays the company a recurring 0.30/day or 10$ monthly fee for using said theme.

No value added just parasitic marketing.

Free as in "freedom" or free as in "free beer"?

Non-free (as in freedom) software is not something that any self-respecting programmer would willfully associate with because it's inherently dirty. A proprietary license is (literally) a form of DRM. It's a feature that is hostile towards its users, especially those who are "makers" or "doers."

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