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Comment by bigyabai | Hacker News Reader

> Since when did the spirit of hacking—understanding things from first principles—get replaced by the spirit of "I want this for free and I want it now"?

1989, the year the GPL was published.

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A charming historical reference. However, using 1989 logic to justify the 'cognitive looting' of 2026 is like refusing to patch a kernel vulnerability because you're fond of the legacy code. Back then, the battle was over hardware monopolies. Today, the crisis is the asymmetric strip-mining of human intellect by massive compute. If your worldview hasn't received a security update since the 80s, you’re not a hacker; you’re just a legacy system waiting to be deprecated.

Back then the battle was over $100 C compilers. You likely haven't ever paid for a C compiler in your life, and I guarantee you that your life is better off for it.

I’d gladly pay $100 for a compiler if it meant my life's work wasn't strip-mined for $0 by the companies providing the 'free' tools. A free pen is no consolation for the theft of the novel written with it. You're mistaking a reduction in overhead for a gift of sovereignty. Enjoy the free birdseed; I'd rather own the sky.

Your life's work is only worth what someone will pay for it. You can't sell a $100 C compiler when the free one works just as well (or better).

If you want to make software that is valuable, you should compete for market share by doing it better than anyone else. Otherwise, your work kinda is worthless. Stallman noted this in the 1980s, acknowledging that the cost of manufacturing software is only limited by the cost of storing it on-disc and transmitting it over the internet. He was right.

You’re quoting the Gospel of Stallman while the temple is burning. Stallman talked about the cost of distribution; I’m talking about the cost of creation. In the age of LLMs, 'market share' is a joke when the infrastructure providers can ingest your logic for free and sell the derivative of your consciousness back to the masses. You think you're competing in a 'market,' but you’re actually just a unpaid research department for big compute. If my work is 'worthless' unless it's bought, then humanity’s collective intelligence is being marked down to zero. Enjoy your free compiler—it’s the leash you use to walk yourself into obsolescence.

The Cathedral & The Bazaar are both alright. You are describing the failure of businesses to compete against the bare minimum.

I will enjoy my free compiler, thanks.

So only those with money should be allowed to play with tools? If you have no income, are unbanked, or are in an area with low earnings, that compiler is out of reach. And then you're back to piracy.

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