I write StayGrounded.online a newsletter about establishing healthy boundaries with the digital world.

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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 23rd, 2023

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  • “Hey so my free car that was built and maintained entirely by volunteers who received no financial compensation and was provided to me no strings attached is making a weird noise and I don’t want to learn how to fix it myself nor am I willing to wait for someone else to fix it, nor am I willing to even tell the car-builders it has a problem.”

    In this context suggesting they complainer pay for a car doesn’t sound so crazy?


  • I and a few other people kinda chatted with him a while and the reality kinda seemed to click with him? He was very stuck on “it is a product and I am the customer” mindset that is very ingrained into so many people. He said filing a bug report felt “dehumanizing” and we tried to illustrate that it can actually feel empowering if you view yourself as a collaborator, not a customer. I think he’s coming around.

    At least I hope he is because (opinion on FOSS aside) he really is one of the all-time best creators on YouTube right now.


  • Exactly! I actually talked back and forth with him a bit and eventually said that “complaining about a missing FOSS feature is like complaining to the volunteer ladeler at a soup kitchen about the lack of a gluten-free option. It’s just not the path to getting the change you want.”

    In the end he seemed to get what I was saying, but was still irritated. I’ve been really learning lately how hard it is for some people not to see themselves as customers in FOSS land.