Re:Google Blew a Ten-Year Lead
by thomasahle on Wednesday June 24, 2020 @01:32PM
(#23631087)
> You're paying for the computing resources to run LibreOffice; it isn't free.
That's silly. Paid office suites use just as many computing resources, and Google docs use plenty resources through your browser as well.
I think the "if you don't pay for it, you're the product" quote is fine. You just have to exclude free and open source software.
Excluding free software from a quote that starts "When something is free..." is equally silly. The quote stops being about anything.
But yeah, good point that my argument didn't make sense.
There is free as in Freedom as well as free as in beer. The quote seems to apply to things that are free as in beer but not free as in freedom. It'd be valid given that distinction.
Re:Google Blew a Ten-Year Lead
by thomasahle on Wednesday June 24, 2020 @07:01PM
(#23634853)
> The quote stops being about anything.
It is still about stuff other than open source software.
You can't expect some Internet quote to apply universally. Just know the exceptions and use it when it applies.
The quote is pithy but assumes some context - the [something] is being provided below the marginal cost to produce and therefore being provided with an expectation of benefit for the provider.
Acquiring LibreOffice is not $0 marginal cost but they have a big "DONATE" button top-right corner of the website and The Document Foundation turns a small profit from donations.