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Comment by na85 | Hacker News Reader

>If you pick software based on your opinion of the attitude of the authors, rather than its actual qualities, you're going to make a lot of mistakes.

Disagree.

I don't like the way Microsoft does business, and I think Steve Ballmer is an egotistical prick, so I don't buy their products. I don't use Windows on my devices (including phone), I don't use Skype, I don't own an xbox and therefore I don't use xbox live, etc.

I'm not interested in the "actual qualities" of Windows Phone or Metro UI because I don't want to support Microsoft with my dollars.

Have I made a mistake, pg?

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Do you use GNU/Linux or OSX? Good luck claim Steve Jobs or RMS isn't a dick.

I think Steve Jobs was a prick too.

I don't know much at all about RMS, but I will agree that Linus is a jerk.

The difference of course is that Linus doesn't head a company that engages in predatory business practices, ships spyware and DRM (malware) in its operating systems, etc.

So I can overlook the fact that Linus occasionally says mean things to people over the internet. I don't think Linus has ever thrown a chair across his office when someone wanted to leave Linux. Can't say the same for Ballmer, who has very real personality issues: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xR-P6HPZgMs

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Finally, I know that this comments+karma format encourages extreme pedantry so let me pre-empt you:

The fact that I choose not to use Microsoft products because I don't like Microsoft or Ballmer doesn't mean I am required to abstain from ALL products whose authors have engaged in behaviour I don't like.

More often than not it's a "lesser of $num evils" situation.

The claim was that you're prone to making mistakes if you judge software by the traits of the authors. How do you know that you haven't made a mistake?

Disregarding that, strictly speaking, the onus is on pg to show that you made a mistake (if this were a debate)

In general, statements and actions of the authors do seem to be extremely irrelevant components of software quality.

If that's the claim then the onus is on the claimant to demonstrate why or how I have made a mistake, not for me to demonstrate why or how I haven't.

I acknowledged that and asked you to put it aside for just a moment. Did you even read my comment?

>Did you even read my comment?

Uhh... no. Not really.

Having read it now, though, I don't care if I've made what someone else considers to be a mistake. My operating system choice suits me just fine.

Err, a) you clearly cared enough to respond this far, and b) the question is how do you know that you have not made a mistake not do you care if someone else thinks you've made a mistake

> how do you know that you have not made a mistake

I guess I just don't understand the purpose of asking this.

Because my operating system choice hasn't let me down or hindered me in any significant way?

I gave the "I don't care" response because I don't know how else to answer your question. "a mistake" is so nebulously defined that in this context it has nearly no meaning to me. Can you give an example of what you mean when you say "a mistake"?

RMS is not "a dick". He is misunderstood by cretins. There is a difference.

The whole RMS is only a dick for those that don't understand him doesn't work around here. You just have to accept that many people understand him and his motives and think he's a dick.

There needs to be a "free software extremist" though. That role is necessary so that when someone like myself stakes out a less-extreme position I can't help but seem reasonable in comparison.

I accept that many people, despite a longstanding superficial familiarity with RMS and his work, are nevertheless cretinous ingrates who don't understand the first thing about software freedom or RMS's role in preserving same.

"His motives"? Really? What are you thinking here? Fame? Fortune? Pull the other one.

I in many ways agree with RMS's work and motives. I still think he's a dick. Ain't nuance grand?

I agree with this in concept: your money is your economic power, and that economic power supports the people you spend it on, including their actions and attitudes. You are handing over the economic power for them to continue with whatever behaviour you dislike.

While I agree with pg in that perhaps this shouldn't be your first consideration in picking software, there clearly is significant reason to consider your opinion of the authors.

I think there are many better reasons than those to base your decision on what to use or not to use. To each their own, of course, but it would take a really strong, personal dislike of someone for that dislike to prevent me from using quality products (not saying that MS's products are or aren't quality). And not knowing any of the people involved personally, I can't really form such a strong personal judgment.

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