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Mar. 4th, 2015 02:40 pm
Anger over the most petty things...
Earlier today, I was giving some advice to someone in a chatroom to help them write. They were looking for a good tool to begin writing with on Windows, that cost no money, but did not want something as advanced as a word processor.
I mentioned that Scrivener, while a somewhat costly application, was one of the best editors for them to eventually graduate to. For the time being, I suggested simply using either Wordpad, FocusWriter, or Dark Room, all of which are free and easy to download. I also recommended that they sign up for either Evernote, or a Microsoft Account for the free OneNote application, as a note-taking application is a very handy tool.
Within moments of making these recommendations, I was textually attacked for them by another person. They effectively suggested that simply mentioning Microsoft products as an option was akin to treason against the technology world, and that only Free Software should be an option. After a few minutes of ranting and raving, they were unsurprisingly kicked from the chatroom, and more than a few people I know to be GNU/Linux users spoke of how that sort of attitude was "getting old fast".
I find it rather amusing that people still argue and attack others over such petty subjects, especially in regards to the Free Software Foundation and the followers of its founder, Richard M Stallman.
Stating that you want people to be free to use software as they see fit, then attacking others for choosing to use software that you do not agree with, angered me at one time. Over time, I have realized that the situation is much like any other involving politics. People wish to be "right", whatever that may mean, and often do not realize when they making themselves look foolish in doing so. In this case, someone championing freedom in software also seems to champion taking away the freedom to choose non-free software, therefore limiting one's actual freedom to what is deemed acceptable by an arbitrary third-party guideline created with political bias.
Personally, I shall continue suggesting both free and non-free software, whether that be Scrivener (which is licensed under a proprietary license) or FocusWriter (which is licensed under the GNU General Public License). I shall also continue to chuckle at the foolishness shown by someone who shows anger at subjects so small that they should not even be given any attention.
I mentioned that Scrivener, while a somewhat costly application, was one of the best editors for them to eventually graduate to. For the time being, I suggested simply using either Wordpad, FocusWriter, or Dark Room, all of which are free and easy to download. I also recommended that they sign up for either Evernote, or a Microsoft Account for the free OneNote application, as a note-taking application is a very handy tool.
Within moments of making these recommendations, I was textually attacked for them by another person. They effectively suggested that simply mentioning Microsoft products as an option was akin to treason against the technology world, and that only Free Software should be an option. After a few minutes of ranting and raving, they were unsurprisingly kicked from the chatroom, and more than a few people I know to be GNU/Linux users spoke of how that sort of attitude was "getting old fast".
I find it rather amusing that people still argue and attack others over such petty subjects, especially in regards to the Free Software Foundation and the followers of its founder, Richard M Stallman.
Stating that you want people to be free to use software as they see fit, then attacking others for choosing to use software that you do not agree with, angered me at one time. Over time, I have realized that the situation is much like any other involving politics. People wish to be "right", whatever that may mean, and often do not realize when they making themselves look foolish in doing so. In this case, someone championing freedom in software also seems to champion taking away the freedom to choose non-free software, therefore limiting one's actual freedom to what is deemed acceptable by an arbitrary third-party guideline created with political bias.
Personally, I shall continue suggesting both free and non-free software, whether that be Scrivener (which is licensed under a proprietary license) or FocusWriter (which is licensed under the GNU General Public License). I shall also continue to chuckle at the foolishness shown by someone who shows anger at subjects so small that they should not even be given any attention.
