It seems like the author is confusing open source with Open Source. The latter has a formal definition which includes a lot more than simple access to source code.
I also agree that no one is entittled to free support or enhancements, bugfizes, etc.
this post was submitted on 07 Apr 2025
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Free and open source software. "Open Source" has always been an attempt to attract big fish, hoping they are not evil, just slow. It's morally obsolete, while FOSS still isn't.
And BSD\ISC\MIT understanding of FOSS is even less morally obsolete every day that comes, no expectations that a properly designed virus license will somehow convert the humanity, just letting out seeds of knowledge that will eventually change the world or maybe not. It's sacrificial, but also very potent.
Anyway, most of those expecting free support are companies making money on products they haven't spend a dime improving. Or employees of such companies.
The whole world is using Java, but where is Sun? The whole world is using Asterisk (ok, maybe not all of it), but its developers are not millionaires AFAIK.
Entitled script kiddies are just dumb and rude, but I think there's much less of them than the former group. And they are less persistent, than that former group.
I agree with parts about entitlement. The expectation of support and treatment of open source software as if it was proprietary is a real problem.
But, the authour makes a similar mistake - they conflate open source software with source-available (proprietary) software. As an example, I strongly disagree with this part:
When software is open-source, it is open-source, not necessarily free and open-source (FOSS), and even if it is FOSS, it might still have a restrictive licence. The code being available in and of itself does not give you a right to take it, modify it, or redistribute it.
If you replace it with this version, I am happy:
When software is source-available, it is source-available, not necessarily open source or free and open-source (FOSS). The code being distributed under a source available license does not give you a right to take it, modify it, or redistribute it.
I think it's really important that we keep a clear delineation between free/open source software on one side, and source-available (proprietary software) on the other.
A lot of companies are trying to co-opt and blur the meaning of the term so they can say "seeing the source was always the point, none of the other freedoms mattered", in order to sell you proprietary licenses.
Open source gives you the right to take, modify and redistribute it. Source available does not. And that's ok, just please don't blur the terms together.
even if it is FOSS, it might still have a restrictive license
Likewise, this is definitionally untrue. The whole purpose of FOSS is to give you the four freedoms.
I once had an argument in another community on here about something very similar. And they told me I was wrong. The mods deleted my posts.
I posted the links and the definition/requirements for FOSS as compared to just open source.
They kept telling me i was talking about open source and not libre.
The links and definitions and requirements I posted:
From Richard Stallman, from the site whose creators developed the rules and requirements for FOSS, GNU.org, and from the itsFOSS site which, indeed, references and links to the first 2.
The definitions also explicitly state the difference and uniqueness of each and compares them to the nonstandard open source (source available) labels.
I unjoined that community and found a less ignorant one.
Maybe it sonds a bit like a conspiracy theory but with how often people make this "mistake" i really believe it's a deliberate effort to undermine the meaning of open-source
I think many people fail to wrap their head around the concept since almost everywhere else nothing is really free.
Yeah, freedom has become vanishingly rare
Yes, just because the source code is available doesn't mean it is licensed for others to take. Now we have AI tools that have scraped the web for all of its content and won't see the difference between source available, open source , and free and open source. It is possible that those who use AI tools could be unknowingly using code without the license to do so.
The rant describes the bad kind, the look-but-don't-touch Open Source.
Open source is just that
"Open" is an unspecific, a range of openness from not redistributable to (libre) free software.
Yeah, seeking support is notoriously difficult. Everyone working in IT knows this. I feel with open-source, it's more the projects which aren't in a classic Free Software domain, who attract beggars. For example the atmosphere of a Github page of a Linux tool will have a completely different atmosphere than a fancy AI tool or addon to some consumer device or service. I see a lot of spam there and demanding tone. While with a lot of more niche projects, people are patient, ask good questions and in return the devs are nice. And people use the thumbsup emoji instead of pinging everyone with a comment...
I feel, though... I you're part of an open source project which doesn't welcome contributions and doesn't want to discuss arbitrary user needs and wants, you should make that clear. I mean Free Software is kind of the default in some domains. If you don't want that as a developer, just add a paragraph of text somewhere prominently, detailing how questions and requests are or aren't welcome. I as a user can't always tell if discussing my questions is a welcome thing and whether this software is supposed to cater for my needs. Unless the project tells me somehow. That also doesn't help with the beggars... But it will help people like me not to waste everyone's time.
Good article. As an open source maintainer, I agree. The majority of interactions I have from my users are positive, but every once in a while, some entitled asshat does make unreasonable demands. I usually respond with a stern dressing down, but respectfully. If they continue, I’ll block them from whatever channel.
One thing that annoys me is when people get upset that I use Discord for support. I get it, it has drawbacks, but I’m not going to spend my limited resources hosting an alternative that most people won’t want to use anyway. Everything I use to host, distribute, and support my projects is free for both me and my users, and that’s because I’m not getting paid to make my projects. I also give out my email, so it’s not even a fair criticism.
Well said.
Seems that 2 of those entitled ones are following you on Lemmy. 😄