Why the FOSS community hates the corporate world
If you’ve been around the free and open source community for any amount of time, you will notice that there is a general disdain for the corporate world. This is not without reason. The corporate world is known for its greed, exploitation, tracking, selling of user data, and other unethical practices. The free and open source community, on the other hand, is known for its values of freedom, privacy, and community. These two worlds are fundamentally at odds with each other.
Profit Over Principles
The corporate world is driven by profit. This is the bottom line. Everything else is secondary. This means that corporations will do whatever it takes to make money. This often means cutting corners, selling user data, violating privacy and suing anyone who gets in their way. The free and open source community, on the other hand, is driven by principles. These principles include freedom, privacy, sharing and community. These principles are non-negotiable. This is why the free and open source community is so opposed to the corporate world.
Crushing Competition
When AT&T decided to commercialize Unix, they sued BSD. Even though BSD had contributed a lot to Unix and AT&T benefited from their contributions, AT&T decided to sue them. Later on, when Unix was sold to SCO, SCO sued Linux and everyone who used Linux. Microsoft secretly funded SCO’s lawsuit against Linux, donating millions of dollars to SCO. SCO’s claim that Linux contained Unix code was proven false in court, but the damage was done. This is how the corporate world operates. They will crush anyone who gets in their way and this is one of the reasons why the free and open source community are so opposed to the corporate world – because they have seen first hand how ruthless and unethical the corporate world can be. It is the exact opposite of the values of the free and open source community – which are based on sharing, collaboration and community.
Selling User Data
It is no secret that companies like Microsoft, Apple and Google track their users and sell their data to advertisers. This is how they make money. The free and open source community is opposed to this practice. They believe that users should have control over their data and that their privacy should be respected. This is why the free and open source community is so opposed to the corporate world. They see the corporate world as a threat to their values of freedom and privacy.
Tracking & Surveillance
The corporate world is known for its tracking and surveillance of users. They track users across the web, build profiles on them and sell this data to advertisers. The free and open source community is opposed to this practice. They believe that users should have control over their data and that their privacy should be respected. This is why the free and open source community is so opposed to the corporate world. They see the corporate world as a threat to their values of freedom and privacy.
Privacy
The corporate world is known for its violations of privacy. They don’t mind tracking users, building profiles on them and selling this data to advertisers. This is just unethical. The free and open source community is opposed to this practice. They believe that users should have control over their data and that their privacy should be respected.
Conclusion
It’s no mystery why the Linux, open source, and free software communities have such deep-rooted skepticism, if not outright disdain, for the corporate world. The track record is crystal clear: the corporate world has consistently prioritized profit over principles, stifling innovation, locking down software, suing competitors, exploiting user data, and forcing people into never-ending payments for something they don’t even own. It’s not just a few isolated incidents—it’s a pattern that runs deep.
The corporate world has shown that they’ll crush competition, hide source code, and monetize every possible aspect of software, even at the expense of user freedom and privacy. Given that, is it any wonder the open-source community isn’t lining up to give corporations a standing ovation?
The community has seen these tactics over and over again, and every time, it’s a reminder that corporate interests and the ideals of free software and open source simply don’t align. That’s why, despite corporate attempts to co-opt or crush open-source efforts, this community remains fiercely independent, committed to freedom, transparency, and innovation without strings attached.