NewsForge: Should FOSS Supporters Become Consumer Activists?

“By definition, members of the free and open source software
(FOSS) communities have shown themselves to be more than software
and hardware experts. They’ve also proved themselves people willing
to take a stand on behalf of their ethics and the quality of their
work. Contrary to the stereotype of the geek, many apply this same
commitment to politics and social events. Now, when many companies
are hovering around the question of how they should support FOSS,
and some are considering implementing restrictive technologies like
digital rights management (DRM), maybe it’s time for the next
logical step. Maybe it’s time for FOSS supporters to become
consumer advocates. In other words, perhaps they should start
officially endorsing or condemning companies and organizations
according to how well products and policies fit with FOSS
ethics.

“Admittedly, FOSS supporters are a minority of computer users.
The hardcore supporters are probably about 5% of the total computer
users…”

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