[rvz]

> He had the power to stop this madness from big tech, but he sided with them.

He (Torvalds) had no power to do anything and sold out. Even if he did, big tech would just go and use BSD.

For over a decade both Torvalds, and Stallman sold everyone out. They don't make their money directly from "free software" or "open source" in the first place.

Stallman was right in that he knew digital surveillance was going to happen, but he was incorrect in believing that FLOSS was ever sustainable economically and especially with AI replacing the developer and that big tech and startups are weaponising that against them.

Even when Stallman is against AI, he doesn't care. He knows he doesn't make money from "free software"; but only by speaking about it. Torvalds is the same but likes AI.

Can any other developer do exactly that in 2026?

[surajrmal]

What do you define as selling out? Having a different perspective from your own? There are many legitimate reasons for why someone can believe the opposing view points. Devolving into us vs them rhetoric is not conducive to a reasonable conversation.

[rvz]

> What do you define as selling out?

I think you need to read the comment again:

>> They don't make their money directly from "free software" or "open source" in the first place.

>> He (Stallman) knows he doesn't make money from "free software" but only by speaking about it. Torvalds is the same...

My (unanswered) question:

> Can any other developer do exactly that in 2026?

To avoid repeating myself, the point is the majority of these typical developers do not have the level of influence that both Stallman, and Torvalds have to make a lot of money from their open source projects, especially in the age of AI; making it pointless to maintain such projects.

[surajrmal]

I did read your comment, but making money from speaking about software is not selling out to me. Is that what you meant?

I think open source works best when folks don't expect to make money off of it. I don't think Linus or Stallman expected to make money off of their free software. In some cases you might be lucky and able to get consulting contracts from firms related to your open source code but it's not reasonable to assume that will happen. It's possible it's harder to get lucky today than before but it was always unlikely.