Mozilla CEO donated to rightwing candidates, records show

theguardian.com

Yes free software and open source can be adopted by those to the right of the political spectrum. Is this surprising, how?

Perhaps it's because we think that FOSS is free like socialism. I think it's more free as in free market. Perhaps it's because those in power have defended certain corporations in anti competitive practices and patents etc - but this is not really a political issue, more like corruption.

I work with open data - and one of the things we see in this field is that proprietary software likes it, a lot. It means that there's loads of great data to run on the software. And free software is used by commercial companies also.

I think partly because the free market tends to be very money-driven, whilst FOSS doesn't. But, in general, it's no surprise that some members of the community have pretty right-wing views, and not necessarily much of a problem, beyond the wider implications. In this particular case, it's fodder for those wishing to attack Eich, and possibly more reason for those concerned about Mozilla's working environment and how it will be affected. Personally, I don't think there will be any direct impact on life at Mozilla, and the products it produces are hardly about to start being politicised, but it's more of a general concern that companies and CEOs convey some kind of authority, and views such as his might be lent credence as a result.

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