[jonfw]

Open source solves both of these problems. The way I see it, software that costs money is a problem, and software that compromises your freedom is a problem.

Sure Google can solve one of those problems, but we also shouldn't pat ourselves on the back unless we solve both problems.

[43920]

I've seen this attitude a lot, and I don't really understand it. Software takes a ton of work to produce, and in many cases a significant degree of skill as well, and I don't really see an issue with wanting to be compensated for it. If charging money is bad, and advertising is bad, what are you supposed to do? Given that you're posting here, I'm assuming that you likely get paid to write software as well - do you think it's reasonable for everyone to expect that you produce software for free?

[jonfw]

You're right, it's certainly more nuanced than 'money = bad' and 'advertising = bad'.

I still think that in the context of this discussion, open source does solve both the privacy problem and the accessibility problem. But you're right that there are problems, namely incentive, that open source does not solve.

Open source is not the only solution to those problems, and sometimes solving those problems (privacy and accessibility) just isn't practical. In those cases, I would just wish for more transparency.