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FOSS is not American. Foss belongs to literally everyone.
I kept saying it all over the place regarding the fascistic rejection of Russian (as in race) code and got flamed as result. These people use FOSS, especially GNU/GPL software and yet they have no clue about the license themselves.
Weren't Russian contributors (from very specific sanctioned companies) rejected from contributing because of US sanction laws and with Linux Foundation being HQ'd in the US?
I think that was mainly due to the concern of hostile actors committing code to the kernel.
I think it was US OFAC sanctions
https://www.linuxfoundation.org/blog/navigating-global-regulations-and-open-source-us-ofac-sanctions
https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/23/linus_torvalds_affirms_expulsion_of/ (links to the OFAC sanctions set up after Russia invade Ukraine)
The OFAC sanctions do have quite a few lists, with one of them being "Russian Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions", so it could be fear of harmful actions and not just retaliation for the invasion
Free software is the antithesis of capitalism. It doesn't make sense to boycott them.
I've tried to extol the virtues of FOSS for a long time. Not many people even care about it or their privacy, always parroting the adage "If i do nothing wrong what do I need to worry about" without a further thought.
lol who is suggesting boycotting foss projects?
I think OP means that one shouldn't boycott FOSS projects just because they are from USA. That said, I don't like to be told what I have to do and don't agree to "FOSS projects, which should always be preferred to corporate software". My pc, my LAN, my rules.
I don’t like to be told what I have to do and don’t agree to “FOSS projects, which should always be preferred to corporate software”. My pc, my LAN, my rules.
...he said, without a hint of irony.
Meanwhile, "my PC, my LAN, my rules" is precisely the reason I do agree with always preferring FOSS to corporate software.
you seem to hold your individual freedoms high, there is a kind of software i think you'll really like
I'm the most anti-American user on here and I agree.
I'd rather use USA-linked free software than Spotify.
Seeing people look for corporate social media alternatives is painful.
> "Hey guys, I want to leave X, should I go to Bluesky or Threads? What? Mastodon? Never heard of that. Looks very complicated, I'll pass"
> -- CEO, founder, IT wizz on LinkedIn
Every time!
I always like to say the fruits of FOSS labour are the common heritage of mankind. It belongs to all of us as a public good, created and maintained by selfless workers. (Nevermind the fact that most FOSS projects are based out of Europe anyways).
From a purely "vote with your wallet" standpoint it doesn't make sense, because there's no money paid. However, one might worry about data/information getting in the hands of a fascist/compromised government. So I think people should judge this themselves case by case.
I think the important part is about who is running the server, rather than who made the software
The fediverse is interesting in that context because each instance can decide where they set up the infrastructure or how they process data / requests. The same applies to self hosting
I saw an article that outlined which country each fediverse platform "originated" from, such as Canada for Pixelfed and Germany for Mastodon. That's fun to know about, but otherwise not important to users compared to the instances themselves
At most it might speak to which laws will govern the project itself, but even then someone can fork a project that goes astray
Voting with wallet is oligarchy
Not sure why you say that, all projects I'm seeing they ALL include FOSS, sometimes they just specify if one is European and another one no. Also, and to be fair this is the main reason your post make no sense, there is not only software but mainly services and goods as core part of the projects.
Counterpoint: Fedora is a testing bed for Red Hat. One of Red Hat's notable customers is the US military. I'd prefer to stay off that path if I can help it. It's a matter of trust, and it's a matter of indirectly contributing. I've seen people say the same things about Deepin and everyone nods in agreement, but why the hell should I trust a US project, for the same reasons?
Honestly this should be a wake call to the FOSS community that we are way too reliant on the US.
Every default we have is US centric and if FOSS is really meant for everyone we should move away from that.
Is someone doing that? If it's FOSS it's from the internet.
Agree with the main point, though disagree that FOSS is "boycotting capitalism", many for-profit companies contribute to FOSS and FOSS can be used by for-profit companies too, much of today's capitalism runs on FOSS.
The point of free software is that it does not have owners, so what exactly are you "boycotting"?
I get it as an European that it means more to me to consume "locally" and to prioritize services that are European-based. But due to the nature of computers and FOSS, borders are redefined and it is more about ideas and politics rather than physical location. However, computers and servers are also physical and submitted to legislations of countries, we cannot ignore laws such as the Patriot act and the power that the American state can have even on FOSS projects.
For me the priority is to use software that match my needs; if I have the choice between an American and an European solution, I'll tend to choose the latter one.
Totally agree. The majority of Americans are great people. Not everyone is MAGA. We need to support the good ones. Sanctions and boycotts tend to unite.
One exception would be if the project imposse a security risk because key people and servers, within the US, may be blackmailed or pushed by the new administration. We're not there yet though. And I hope these projects and people migrate if this becomes the case.
Also, FOSS projects run by big tech are probably also wise to avoid for strategic reasons.
The majority of Americans are great people
They're not the majority if they can't win an election — just sayin'.
More like "buy white"
The white supremacists think trump bailed on them so they are desperate to hold the remains of their fourth reich together
And of course they hate FOSS, because they hate freedom
FOSS is definitely not boycotting capitalism, but its still an objectively good thing. I see FOSS work as a way for relatively rich imperial core citizens to give back to the world.
Definitely do not boycott FOSS projects.
Lol, first time I hear that, as European😆 what a stupid movement..