I am tired of entitled freeloaders
This has been driving me up the wall for a few years and I’m finally posting about it.
We have an entire generation that expects quality software, journalism, and content in general for free.
People complain about alternatives to Google, Microsoft, ragebait news sites, whatever it is, costing money for varying levels of quality.
If nobody pays for alternatives, they can’t improve. And if it’s already good, is not sustainable to continue existing.
There is so much good, freely available software, journalism, video content, etc often made by one person or very few, that people expect to be as flawless as products from billion dollar companies. And when it’s not, THEY JUST COMPLAIN WITHOUT DONATING EVEN A SINGLE BUCK. Even supporting by using it and increasing user statistics would be more than nothing!
“Oh, the software “isn’t there yet” in the free version without paying for a subscription, I’ll stick to big tech software x and y.”
Newsflash: it’s never going to get there without support.
You get what you pay for and if nobody pays for anything, we will get slop shoved down our throats and we’d deserve it.
The same thing is happening with privacy at the moment. If people are aware of what is happening globally right now (and that’s a big if) all they do is complain about it on social media. But changing your habits? Using Signal instead of Whatsapp? Changing your browser or search engine? Contacting politic representatives to voice your concern?
No. That would require 5 minutes of effort. I prefer farming likes on my now age verified social media and complaining in my AI scanned group chats instead.
If nobody speaks up thinking: lol that would be insane and won’t happen. They will shove surveillance down our throats, and we’d deserve it.
If your favourite band releases an album you like, buy it instead of streaming. Even once a year will help artists more than streaming it.
Downloading free software that you use often on a new install? Donate as if buying a license.
See a cool feature article? Subscribe/donate to the website for a month.
Have a favourite Youtuber you watch a lot of? Donating 10 bucks a year will support them a lot more than just watching with ads. (Same for podcasts)
The list goes on…
I’m gonna post my rss feeds that I finally settled on soon, but might incorporate it in a bigger post or page with a list of software etc I frequently use (and advocate). Got some nice inspiration from other blogs.