A mini-rant about the growing feeling of entitlement surrounding Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)
22:48 < Lt_Dan> <rant>
22:48 < Lt_Dan> there was also a heated exchange on the xmltv list
22:49 < Lt_Dan> there are a bunch people that deem the Schedules Direct non-profit org a group of people RIPPING off people
by charging $5 a month (for now–likely will be reduced) for listings
22:49 < Lt_Dan> there is this feeling of entitlement to free sh** that people feel…
22:50 < Lt_Dan> why in the FZ would Isaac Richards (mythtv), the chairman of SD, be trying to get over at the rate of $5 per
month?
22:51 < Lt_Dan> he’s only been giving Mythtv away FOR FREE — or likely at cost to him at the beginning–webhosting costs and
what not
22:52 < Lt_Dan> in my opion the mythtv suite is much more valuable as something that could be sold (and is in some cases)
than the listing data. I believe that the price is what TMS is charging them, minus some costs they have
22:53 < Lt_Dan> the fact that some people rant and rave about “I pay enough for TV–i’m not paying for listings” is something
that NEED not be posted to the xmltv lists, as Robert Eden of xmltv is on the board of schedules direct.
22:53 < Lt_Dan> the response everytime he got that BS is “Ok.. Then DON’T USE THE SERVICE”.. WTF do I care?
22:54 < Lt_Dan> You’ve paid me $0 so far to use my xmltv program… You don’t want to use this service then don’t–but
ranting and namecalling is unecessary.;
22:55 < Lt_Dan> if you are so privileged, go write your own secret screen scraper….. the days of screen scraping by 5,000
myth users is gone– there is a noticable impact on the site it’s done to
22:56 < Lt_Dan> i’m sure a handful of enterprising folks will be able to go page scape y!, zap2it proper or the like
22:56 < Lt_Dan> for me, $5 a month for 3 months, then maybe only $20 a year is fair trade for the YEARS of free ridin’ i’ve
been getting from Myth
22:57 < Lt_Dan> much too often the “F” in FOSS is equated to “Free, as in beer”, then later turned to entitlement
22:58 < Lt_Dan> you are ruining FOSS cuz EVERYTHING isn’t without a charge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
22:58 < Lt_Dan> xmltv and mythtv utilizing schedules direct is still FOSS in the proper definition of “F”
22:58 < Lt_Dan> the data it uses for part of its functionality is no longer “Free as in beer”
23:01 < Lt_Dan> oh well.. can’t please everyone, even with mostly free as in beer software.
23:02 < Lt_Dan> another answer: Don’t wanna pay $5 a month? go buy Vista Ultimate edition for $399–it comes with Media
Center and all the free as in beer listings you can drink!
23:02 < Lt_Dan> act now, and they’ll throw in virii , User Access Control nag screens and instability for Free (aib), too!!!
23:04 < Lt_Dan> but don’t buy yet.. you can also get Vista Home Premium for about $299.. also comes with Media Center
I must agree, FOSS does have a bit of a nomenclature barrier to overcome. Just because it is FOSS doesn’t mean that it hasn’t cost someone a great deal, and that your obligation to support the products you like and use is implied instead of forced down your throat as it is in other OS environments. Don’t like the thought of paying for your listings?? I take it you don’t own a TIVO, or a DVR supplied by your cable company… Oh yeah… Same principle, slightly hidden model. As good as TIVO is, it isn’t half the product that MythTV is, nor will it likely become. WHY? Dedicated individuals that participate out of love of a product or idea, not the cashing in of hours for money.
If you like a FOSS product, drop a thank you to the author or organization. Its not hard.. Can you say PayPal?
And btw.. If you are reading this, and use MythTv, its worth every penny of $5/mo…. What is that..16.4 CENTS per day?? Puh-Leaz….
RANT ON LT!!