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Re:Mozilla to launch free built-in VPN in upcoming Firefox 149 by Angostura on Thursday March 19, 2026 @06:17AM (#47437100)
And by extension, all users of FOSS must be the product, right?
Re:Mozilla to launch free built-in VPN in upcoming Firefox 149 by fivetomidnight on Thursday March 19, 2026 @06:42AM (#47437273)
I see it more like a question than a rule.

"The service is free. Am I the product?"

That is a valid thing to ask. Even with FOSS sometimes.

Some FOSS projects are backed by companies, then yes, plausible to ask.

Otherwise, I would answer with a clear no.

(Projects can still collect telemetry and other data and sell that, though the sell part should be very rare, imo...)

Edit: Was that a bad faith argument or a honest question?

Sometimes I can't tell, maybe because of old or ESL...

Re:Mozilla to launch free built-in VPN in upcoming Firefox 149 by chii on Thursday March 19, 2026 @06:45AM (#47437285)
> all users of FOSS must be the product, right?

i would default to this being the truth, until demonstrated otherwise. Call it cynical, but it's the cynical that survive.

Re:Mozilla to launch free built-in VPN in upcoming Firefox 149 by Bender on Thursday March 19, 2026 @08:43AM (#47438405)
And by extension, all users of FOSS must be the product, right?

Crowd sourced Development and Quality Assurance for something multiple companies, governments and the military are using.

Re:Mozilla to launch free built-in VPN in upcoming Firefox 149 by gkbrk on Thursday March 19, 2026 @08:48AM (#47438477)
When you use a FOSS product more, the person that wrote the code doesn't end up spending more money. When you use a free service more, someone is paying for that usage and resources.