No, it's not a suggestion, it's definitely a command.
Don't use nonfree tools, or you'll become a sharecropper ripe for abuse, such as the complete and utter "it's our computer now, fucko, even though you paid for it" nonsense demonstrated in TFA.
Free software can't behave like this because the moment it tries we'll simply patch it out.
See also: vscodium, ungoogled chromium.