Reflecting on Free Software
Jul. 12th, 2022 11:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
innerstorySort of a hot take, but I think the pandemic has actually been good for me. It forced me to make decisions I would have likely belabored and waffled about for much longer otherwise. It also provided the space to really think about my stress level and those things that trigger me.
One of those things it turned out was the free software movement.
On the surface my values exactly line up with what this movement is trying to do, but the day to day just never seems to shake out that way. Ideally, you'd support a project by finding a way to contribute. This could be in the form of code, documentation, help with the moderations of lists/forums, or boosting during fund raising. But that ideal universe doesn't exist (shocking, I know).
From top to bottom the free software movement is about control freaks being control freaks.
I tried contributing to a few projects, but quickly found nothing but a brick wall. Bug reports, simple edits to documentation, outreach to moderators, and offers of more formal participation either were just never responded too or rebuffed consistently over the course of years. What's more, to get simple questions answered as a user was either not possible due to lack of support outlets or you had to swim through a sea of shitposters that go unchecked. The only way through it all is fork and start your own project, which is a really high bar to join the ranks of a "movement" unless you are fine being a shitposter or a parrot.
Right around the same time the pandemic started I came to the feeling that the internet was in no way enjoyable to me any longer. I either left or idled a lot of the places I used to be. Some of this was for deliberate reasons like the free software community and other are less clear beyond simply losing interest.
Around the same time I picked one computer, packed up everything else, and installed mainline Linux Mint. I then left all the free software "communities" I was part of and immediately felt better. I haven't really thought about it until today to be honest, turns out RMS and his followers create a world so toxic it turned me off to even caring about it.
These days, my online life is less about the mode in which I do things and more about not doing them at all or at least not online. I stick with Mastodon because I have carved out a pretty decent and positive spot in there. Here has become my personal journal with no real desire from me to engage with anyone. Beyond banking, this is the sum total of my online presence. I even stopped shopping online. I'm better for it, sad to say.
One of those things it turned out was the free software movement.
On the surface my values exactly line up with what this movement is trying to do, but the day to day just never seems to shake out that way. Ideally, you'd support a project by finding a way to contribute. This could be in the form of code, documentation, help with the moderations of lists/forums, or boosting during fund raising. But that ideal universe doesn't exist (shocking, I know).
From top to bottom the free software movement is about control freaks being control freaks.
I tried contributing to a few projects, but quickly found nothing but a brick wall. Bug reports, simple edits to documentation, outreach to moderators, and offers of more formal participation either were just never responded too or rebuffed consistently over the course of years. What's more, to get simple questions answered as a user was either not possible due to lack of support outlets or you had to swim through a sea of shitposters that go unchecked. The only way through it all is fork and start your own project, which is a really high bar to join the ranks of a "movement" unless you are fine being a shitposter or a parrot.
Right around the same time the pandemic started I came to the feeling that the internet was in no way enjoyable to me any longer. I either left or idled a lot of the places I used to be. Some of this was for deliberate reasons like the free software community and other are less clear beyond simply losing interest.
Around the same time I picked one computer, packed up everything else, and installed mainline Linux Mint. I then left all the free software "communities" I was part of and immediately felt better. I haven't really thought about it until today to be honest, turns out RMS and his followers create a world so toxic it turned me off to even caring about it.
These days, my online life is less about the mode in which I do things and more about not doing them at all or at least not online. I stick with Mastodon because I have carved out a pretty decent and positive spot in there. Here has become my personal journal with no real desire from me to engage with anyone. Beyond banking, this is the sum total of my online presence. I even stopped shopping online. I'm better for it, sad to say.
