I think he’s referring to the Adblock as the free service here.
There is no "entitlement" to videos. They are free. YouTube sends them to us for free. They do so hoping we're gonna look at the ads. We're under exactly zero obligation to actually do that though. It is not at all our responsibility to make their business model work.
Abusing open source developers is the true entitlement.
Sure. Let's see them return HTTP 402 Payment Required instead of a free video stream then. I'm actually okay with that.
Somehow I doubt they'll ever do that. They want that mass market appeal, don't they? I know it. You know it. Everyone knows it. Just like the "free" apps who do anything in the world to get themselves installed so they can start monetizing.
They need to either start charging everyone for access or stop complaining. I pay for access to a lot of things but I'm not paying money to avoid ads. I sure as hell am not gonna pay money to watch videos with hard coded ads.
Then don't. It's fine. However please don't complain about not being able to get access to the content on Youtube without paying or watching ads.
> I sure as hell am not gonna pay money to watch videos with hard coded ads.
That's up to the content creators, not Youtube. Very few of my subscribed channels use hard-coded apps and if they do they need to make up for it with worthwhile content.
I don't complain. If I see an ad I just close the tab. uBlock Origin and yt-dlp is the only reason I watch stuff on YouTube at all.
> That's up to the content creators, not Youtube.
Their business relationships are not my concern. I'm not paying to watch ads. Maybe YouTube should implement their own Sponsor Block system for the benefit of their paying customers.
What part of my comment, specifically, is this responding to?
> They need to either start charging everyone for access or stop complaining.
Why?
The notion that detecting our adblocker and actually charging for content are equivalent.
> Why?
Because if they send us ads we'll delete them and there is pretty much nothing they can do about it.
Well then maybe you meant to respond to somebody else, because that's not something I said at any point.
> Because if they send us ads we'll delete them and there is pretty much nothing they can do about it.
This entire HN thread and the linked article are about how they are literally doing something about it, and it's working.
The cat and mouse game is not instantaneous. Give it a little time.
They're relying on me doing work to run a browser that renders their ads, rather than providing a binary. They're not sending me a page of ads, they're sending me a couple files that I can choose how to show and what to put through a JavaScript interpreter
As GP said, maybe this is not your position, but it's a common enough one that their comment is not out of line (given that you are the one who replied to them).
I have revanced which edits their binary to remove ads. I don't see what your point has to do with mine though. My point is this: adblock users are grazing from youtube's field. We are eating the grass that youtube has planted and watered. To expect that such a field exists and then to expect that it can be eaten from at will is entitlement. To say "but they put up no fence" (or, more accurately, a weak fence) is not a refutation of this point. In fact it is exactlty what defines it as being a tragedy of the commons.
If people don't, then YouTube will stop delivering videos for free. Your argument is pretty disingenuous.
uBO does work fine, and is easily one of the most valuable pieces of end user software there is. Raymond Hill is very generous and has made a very positive impact on the world.