Boycotting FOSS projects in the wake of the "buy canadian/european" movement makes no sense

lol who is suggesting boycotting foss projects?

FOSS is not American. Foss belongs to literally everyone.

Free software is the antithesis of capitalism. It doesn't make sense to boycott them.

From a purely "vote with your wallet" standpoint it doesn't make sense, because there's no money paid. However, one might worry about data/information getting in the hands of a fascist/compromised government. So I think people should judge this themselves case by case.

Seeing people look for corporate social media alternatives is painful.

I'm the most anti-American user on here and I agree.

I'd rather use USA-linked free software than Spotify.

Counterpoint: Fedora is a testing bed for Red Hat. One of Red Hat's notable customers is the US military. I'd prefer to stay off that path if I can help it. It's a matter of trust, and it's a matter of indirectly contributing. I've seen people say the same things about Deepin and everyone nods in agreement, but why the hell should I trust a US project, for the same reasons?

I always like to say the fruits of FOSS labour are the common heritage of mankind. It belongs to all of us as a public good, created and maintained by selfless workers. (Nevermind the fact that most FOSS projects are based out of Europe anyways).

Totally agree. The majority of Americans are great people. Not everyone is MAGA. We need to support the good ones. Sanctions and boycotts tend to unite.

One exception would be if the project imposse a security risk because key people and servers, within the US, may be blackmailed or pushed by the new administration. We're not there yet though. And I hope these projects and people migrate if this becomes the case.

Also, FOSS projects run by big tech are probably also wise to avoid for strategic reasons.

Is someone doing that? If it's FOSS it's from the internet.

I've tried to extol the virtues of FOSS for a long time. Not many people even care about it or their privacy, always parroting the adage "If i do nothing wrong what do I need to worry about" without a further thought.

I get it as an European that it means more to me to consume "locally" and to prioritize services that are European-based. But due to the nature of computers and FOSS, borders are redefined and it is more about ideas and politics rather than physical location. However, computers and servers are also physical and submitted to legislations of countries, we cannot ignore laws such as the Patriot act and the power that the American state can have even on FOSS projects.

For me the priority is to use software that match my needs; if I have the choice between an American and an European solution, I'll tend to choose the latter one.

I would think it depends on the project

I think you're missing the point a bit.

Both BuyCanadian and BuyEuropean are about supporting their respective economies as they are boycotting America's.

For Canada, we're looking at a recession (brought on by our "ally") so people are trying to help fellow Canadians out as things get rough and people lose jobs.

While I support FOSS and recommend them in threads etc I fully understand why they don't meet all the goals of those movements. (That being said, I think one of the most rocking counter punches would be EU investment in stabilizing Linux enough to make it a feasible alternative to Windows/Apple for casual and corporate users, solid shot to 2 of the magnificent 7.)

There are some pretty corporate "open core" software companies tho, that's a more grey area

Lol, first time I hear that, as European😆 what a stupid movement..

Agreed.

I think there is a different problem. Many of the best FOSS products are unknown to the general public ;/

@not_IO
I agree on that.

I came into this thinking its more like "Oh no open sores is full of communists let me pay for worse software I never own" which is an argument that comes from the same camp as "this software I don't like is woke"

I have been following some of these movements in the last few weeks and, at least the ones I know of, include FOSS in the alternatives to American products and services. So while I support what you say 100%, in my experience so far, it looks like most people are aware of this.

Not sure why you say that, all projects I'm seeing they ALL include FOSS, sometimes they just specify if one is European and another one no. Also, and to be fair this is the main reason your post make no sense, there is not only software but mainly services and goods as core part of the projects.