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+---
+tags: general, open-source, software
+summary: Salute to open-source software engineers
+---
+
+# Free As In Freedom
+
+This is a hot take kind of article, but here it goes the rant.
+
+## This applies to me and you.
+
+I'm writing this to remind myself somethings that I too often take for granted. I am going to
+preface this whole article by saying that everything I'm going to lay out / mention is something
+that I am personally guilty of. This is an open reminder and call out of things that I feel should
+change.
+
+# Our perspective is flawed
+
+Nobody can dispute that the advances in technology have greatly improved our lives. Like anything,
+though, there is a trade off.
+
+## What is FOSS
+
+FOSS is an acronym for "Free and Open Source Software". It is generally about how software is
+licensed, meaning that the source code is available in the public for review, allowing a broader
+spectrum of people than the originators of the code to have input, look for bugs, redistribute the
+software, contribute, etc. It does not however mean that the software should be no cost to the end
+user.
+
+This is where the word "freedom" comes into it. Overtime, as a society, we generally now think of
+FOSS as "free" software. This takes what was originally a noble / courageous idea and devalues it to
+the point that we now expect things to be free. It encourages corporate greed to take advantage of
+people who created something to solve a particular need, or as a hobby, expecting the creator to
+handle the burden of maintaining / patching bugs while they profit from it. Don't get me wrong,
+these corporations will also contribute back, sometimes even donate money to the creators. I am not
+at all opposed to capitalism, nor saying that these corporations are in the wrong. At the end of the
+day, **_we_** created this problem.
+
+## Current state and how we got here
+
+Software services / giants create applications that we come to rely on. They tempt / bait us with
+them being "free" or cheap, but that is because **_we_** are their target. They bloat the software
+with tracking and telemetry to capture data about us and sell us more products and services. Once
+again, if you're pro-capitalism, it's somewhat hard to blame them for this. We're the gullible sheep
+who will blindly eat out their grain bins.
+
+I can remember back in the day when there were music pirating services on the internet (napster is
+the one that comes to mind). As a giant music buff, I quickly jumped on board with services like
+these. Back in those days, I was young, didn't make very much money, so it was hard to afford the
+latest and greatest tunes. I also remember back in this time frame a lawsuit from the metal giants
+Metallica (other's words not mine ;)). At the time I remember thinking, like many others, that
+Metallica didn't need the money, but then a comment from Lars Ulrich the band's drummer struck a
+cord with me (pun intended). I'll will paraphrase here, but it was something along the lines of
+"We're not pursuing this for us, but for all of those (musicians) that come after us". After this
+and reflection, I decided that I would not pirate music anymore.
+
+Fast forward, now the majority do not purchases music / albums, we typically utilize streaming
+services (myself included), sure it may be more fair to the artists than pirating was, it can be
+argued that it's easier today for independent artists to become known / discovered, I'm also in no
+way saying the old school music industry wasn't a giant pile of dog poo, but I am saying that who is
+really winning(?), it's the Spotify's and Apple Music's of the world, that's who.
+
+I'm also reminded of the great "MeasureQuick is now charging for services" that happened in the HVAC
+industry. I have personally never complained and have always supported this decision, because it is
+not sustainable to run a software company and not charge for services, generally. Sure, you may not
+like their pricing model, etc. Where I think they went wrong was not charging from the beginning, as
+it sets the wrong expectation that is presumably hard to recover from. There are those who took some
+of Jim's words / opinions in a way different from how I do / did, which is fine, we're all entitled
+to our opinions. What is often forgotten is that we're all also entitled to change those opinions.
+Heck, I will probably be shouting a different story tomorrow, so be it!
+
+## Conclusion
+
+What I would like to encourage people to do is to support software development. If an application is
+free, but has a donate button consider giving a donation. If an application is free and they don't
+want to charge that's fine too, however I would say to be suspicous, meaning is it free because
+**_you_** are the product?!?
+
+I would also encourage you to be active in communities and organizations that foster community (HVAC
+School is a great example). Show appreciation and encouragement, but at the same time don't be
+afraid to be critical or speak up.
+
+At the end of the day, I hope to lift up my brothers and sisters, help to fight against the
+corporations who abuse the little guy's and hopefully feel good about my decisions.
+
+Over the last few weeks, I have been going through my software and services and looking for those
+donation buttons and giving back a little bit for the software that makes my life better. Help
+change the narrative and remember that it's about **_Freedom not Free_**.
+
+### Links
+
+- [Open-source Software](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_software)
+- [Free Software Fondation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Software_Foundation)
+- [Electronic Frontier Foundation](https://www.eff.org/)
+
+### Software used in this blog.
+
+- [Neovim](https://neovim.io/)
+- [Hugo](https://gohugo.io/)
+- [Hugo Theme](https://themes.gohugo.io/themes/poison/)
+
+> **Note:** I do not use any trackers or analytics on this site to respect your privacy. So feel
+> free to contact me directly to share feedback or let me know how I'm doing.