Comment on [deleted]

Robin@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

• choreomania@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  [deleted]

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  • NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Yup. When it’s required in order to access something then it’s no longer a donation, it’s a fee.

    I wasn’t aware of that instance and I can’t really advise. To me that’s a bit of a red flag (specifically the fact that it wasn’t mentioned upfront) but not necessarily a reason to count them out if you really think they stand out.

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  • Robin@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    I agree and would avoid this instance

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• Robin@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

  (But if you can affort it please do donate to your instance. Hosting costs money)

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  • waigl@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

    Hm, agree in principle, but it should also really be noted that a donation that is required to get an account (or arguably even smaller perks) does not count as a donation anymore. At that point, it’s a weasel-wordiy way to say “payment”. Which should, IMHO, not be supported.

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    • Adderbox76@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

      “Free as in Freedom” doesn’t mean “Free as in Beer”.

      There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a paid service using FOSS software if that’s the route they want to take. Using FOSS doesn’t mean you have to rely on donations only.

      There’s a pervasive, damaging, and limiting misunderstanding about the word “Free” that has always been a problem in the Open Source world. This notion that things that are Open Source should be “No Cost” just because the source code is readily available and anyone could technically spin their own fork of it if they had the ability to do so.

      But NO WHERE does it actually say that FREE means “Free as in Beer”.

      If you don’t like it and don’t want to sign up, more power to you. That’s your freedom of choice. And to be honest, an instance asking for a fee probably wouldn’t be very successful.

      But pretending that there is something either shady or legally or morally wrong with asking for a fee for using FOSS software is harmful to the very notion of FOSS and the upvote ratio you’re getting is a shameful example of how pervasive the whole “But GIMP/INKSCAPE/BLENDER is supposed to be free!” whining has become from users who have no clue what the FREE ifnFREE and OPEN SOURCE actually mean.

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