Hacker News Reader

Comment by gkoberger | Hacker News Reader

This... is an insane take. It's "humiliating" for you to use the communication platform your company has chosen?

I'm an activist for software freedom and I refuse to use non-free software in my life, as a matter of principle. When I'm forced to do so it's certainly very humiliating for me.

Besides, I don't work for a company, but in the public sector (which by the way I think it should not impose non-free software nor secret protocols into the citizens).

> as a matter of principle

> by the way I think

"Maybe" it's you the one putting that burden on yourself.

I got that you prefer to use open/free sw, but to feel humiliated by it... As the other commenter mentions, it's over the top...

It can be, yes. For someone who is a strong believer in and advocate of FOSS, who makes her/his livelihood developing FOSS for a FOSS software company, to be forced to use proprietary solutions where there are reasonable FOSS alternatives can be very disheartening, demoralizing, and even humiliating.

I am not sure still why it is humiliating specifically - disheartening sure, demoralizing makes sense. But why would it be humiliating if you are not the person pushing that the paid / non FLOSS app be used in the first place?

Isn't this also a good chance to evangelize an alternative to whomever you are speaking with?

I also thought of that as being a chance to 'evangelize' FLOSS alternatives.

The first thing I actually thought of was this set of verses talking about evangelizing in a somewhat similar context: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+9...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com