No good deed goes unpunished [0].
The irony is that if Apple hadn't given them a dime, we wouldn't even be having this conversation. Instead, they did them give them (a little bit of) money and are now being criticised for it!
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[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_good_deed_goes_unpunished
It's like driving by a homeless person in a stretch limo and giving them $0.10. It's an insult, not a donation.
[1] https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/27/apple-q1-cash-hoard-heres-ho...
Apple donates $250, out comes the torches and pitchforks.
We only care because money was given. $250 > $0, so on the whole, it is a good deed. In perspective, Apple having hundreds of billions available, does make the donation look like a slap in the face.
"We say nothing" does not imply "we are OK with it".
It might just be that people aren't thinking about this issue 24/7.
I definitely remember this being discussed on HN previously.
IIRC somebody even said that they were donating by hiring people who worked on BSD.
It is morally wrong, but morally wrong stuffs are not the reason to got pitchfork on them.
My view is that if they donate a huge lump sum of money, great! If they don't, fine by me too.
That’s all this is. No one is threatening legal action against Apple. Some of us are just remarking on how douchey they are in regards to open source. Many of us have done so in the past, and yes this small donation is bringing more attention to that.
Edit: Your edit seems to align to my view. Ignore this comment
Reminds me of Charlie Stross' talk about predicting the future of sociopathic AI's by comparing them to corporations. I think it's a huge issue in modern society that we have these powerful entities treated on a similar footing to people, but that are expected not to have moral standards.
Universities receive larger endowments from ordinary college graduates with far less money to give.
My previous employer matched contributions 1:1 and donated $500 to a local charity that provides kids with hot meals, homework help and a friendly environment out of trouble.
My employer at the time made a few billion dollars a year in profit. What would be an appropriate match? 10x my donation? 500x?
Maybe you should be angry at Apple employees for donating to causes that aren’t FreeBSD? Or maybe it would make sense to take it for what it is — an effort to encourage and support employee giving.
It is not like Apple was making rounds marketing their contribution. Somebody had to spot this to report it.
Rather than criticize take a look at everybody else who did not give anything.
Apple's relationship with open-source software is a criticism that is brought up often. So, yes, we wouldn't be having this specific conversation had Apple not donated, but we've had, and will continue to have, very similar conversations and criticisms without donations.