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Boycotting FOSS projects in the wake of the "buy canadian/european" movement makes no sense (lemmy.blahaj.zone)

submitted 4 days ago by not_IO@lemmy.blahaj.zone to c/opensource@lemmy.ml

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I've seen many threads suggesting products but they often don't mention FOSS projects, which should always be preferred to corporate software. With FOSS you are already boycotting capitalism, on either side. Free and Open Source ignores borders and shouldn't be categorized in nationalist terms, no matter where some of the maintainers happen to live.

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[-] ksp@jlai.lu 21 points 4 days ago

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.

[-] DishonestBirb@lemmy.world 5 points 4 days ago

I canceled ongoing donations to several projects based in the US and stated that my reasons for doing so was US policy against my country. It doesn’t matter if the dev or project lead supports those policies or not, I refuse to contribute to the US economy if I can at all help it.