FDroid can remove the app if they want, but it's annoying that folks decided to show up and harass the developer on his Github repo.
EDIT: I didn't see the further replies that happened after this was posted on HN. I misunderstood and referred to creation of the issue itself.
That's that, if you want to use it just fork it.
Author is free not to remove ToS, but he doesn't have to be a dick about it.
One could argue that demanding something of a developer of software you don't pay for is the jerk move.
FDroid still has the option to remove the app. Author appears to be okay with that. No issue, unless you are demanding something of the developer.
Freedom cuts both ways, both for the user and the developer.
Author is free to call people "zealots", others are free to see it as being a dick.
It was simply uncalled for, if author does not want to deal with this he could've stopped replying after closing the issue as "Won't Fix", instead he decided to insult people that care about the free software.
He didn't initially, his reply was
> I'm not a lawyer and I'm not interested in this kind of issues.
> If you think the app, as it is with its terms, should be removed from F-Droid, feel free to reach out to them.
which I find completely reasonable. After that wasn't enough and people kept pestering him, he said that he doesn't want to deal with zealots.
That's false? https://i.imgur.com/EFIfxRF.jpg
If the order was reversed, you're right.
Some people take their freedoms seriously and "Libre" version of the app mentioning tracking in ToS is a big no-no.
From what I can see the author just dismissed two valid (and separate) issues on the matter that he does not care about it, it's his right, but in no way it was "pestering" or "harassing".
Beyond that, I think they should respect that no means no and not bother authors because they take themselves or their freedoms (too) seriously.
The person writing you free (as in beer) software is not hurting you, they are trying to help you in a way you don't completely approve of.
I am a zealot for FOSS licensing.
I'm fine, reason why I posted reply is because top comment called creating an issue on a public issue tracker "show[ing] up and harass[ing] the developer". Hence my reply that the only harassment(however mild) I saw was from the developer himself, as per his right, but it still goes against the comment I was replying to.
The moment they show up in his issue tracker complaining about it, they're being zealous.
Why the entitlement to have the project do the work for you?
Because I for example consider a good tone at least giving upstream a heads up before forking and cutting out pieces of it.
There's nothing entitled about creating an issue on a public issue tracker that author can disable or limit at any time.
The developer has total right to say he doesn't care but the issue is quite clear and as such the app should be removed as it does not comply with free software. Let the developer start his own app store that allows for such shenanigans.