free software resistance

 the cost of computing freedom is eternal vigilance

### britney-isnt-an-idiot-or-anything *originally posted:* mar 2025 this is going to bore most people (skip it by all means) its more of a for-the-record sort of post. i know the title looks like damning with faint praise, for the record i think britney is pretty smart and at least occasionally a genius. if you dont know who britney is, thats cool too. this is going to be very boring indeed then. most of the possibly controversial things britney is saying right now are things i agree with. since we dont talk anymore, i feel like theres no reason not to be critical of things she says that i think are stupid. its not that i think britney is an idiot- i dont- its just that i think she sometimes says things that are stupid. heck, lets go a step further and say i think she says a bunch of stupid things. i mean, im not sure its really a persona, but her personality is a bit trollish. mostly i think its cute, which is why i spent years (on and off) talking to her. other times, its obnoxious. but despite our differences, i mostly think of her fondly. we dont talk anymore because she said something incredibly insulting and political, about an issue we are on the same side of. the difference was about approach, the topic was genocide, and she implied (well, she came right out and said) that anyone who didnt agree with her approach was on the other side of the issue. ordinarily, that wouldve led to an argument and maybe blocking her for a while. but this had happened a few times, and i simply decided the friendship had run its course. to be clear, we are both against the ongoing genocide to the best of my knowledge. i dont agree with her political approach and she doesnt agree with mine. i dont think shes a bad person, nor do i wish her unhappiness. i mean, i dont remember if i said "fuck you" (its certainly possible) to what she said, but if i said that it was absolutely called for and i dont regret it, but i dont actually wish her any ill. actually, id rather she just became a little more fair about how she argues, but ive made that point with her several times. arguing like a lawyer is great for adversaries, but she lets that bleed into how she argues with friends and it really sucks. its the only thing i "hate" about her. and i mean, she does like "open source" way too much, and i mean the nasty corporate side of open source. im mostly sure shes a leftist, but she wouldnt be the only leftist that gives open source a pass for every dirty corporate trick it pulls. shes definitely left of most people. "other than that", i mean, this is why we arent friends anymore. it just got tiring. on the other hand, her legal crusades are kind of cool. ive tried to support them and i have never wished she fails at them. she talks shit about danielle smith and tells people to boycott the states, and i have no problem with either of those positions at all. we rarely disagree on something important, other than tech stuff. i think our disagreements about tech are very important, and debating those with her was a waste of time. i think she has integrity overall, but she fights like a lawyer in an argument. and lawyers fight dirty in an argument. but its a very specific kind of fighting dirty, lets call it "lawful neutral" because its not always good and its not always evil. anyway, anything "bad" i say about britney, its about the thing we disagree about, and despite reaching a point where i dont want to be Personally associated with her, its not because i think shes a bad person or that i want anyone else to think so. my hope is that people will see in her what i saw, at least the good parts, and that theyll give her all the chances i did, because someone should. also i would take this page down if she asked me to, but i doubt she will, because shes never tried to censor me for being honest. of course im not saying any of this for her sake, if i was i could do better than this. its for clarification, we both went through a lot with some... other people, and shes definitely a lot better than most of the people she stands up to. i agree with most of the things she continues to post on her blog, though as ive already hinted at, i dont think much of her takes on tech. they tend to be superficial and on the side thats winning. im sure her takes on legal things are better, and as to why she gets tech wrong a lot, i think "open source" is just the wrong side to be on. but its got strength in numbers. i supported open source many, many years ago, but stopped because of the same kind of crap you still hear from britney (and devault) today. open source is disingenuous, based on advertising tactics and corporate money, and founded by a white supremacist. free software is nearly as cursed, and i would love a third option (though not the one from bruce perens, which brings new licenses and basically fuck-all-else to the table- we dont need new licenses, we need new activism and better perspective). but we really didnt get along when it came to tech anyway, and that hasnt changed. i liked her then, and i dont hate her now. i just got tired of her particular style of insisting she was right. i chalk it up to the particular sort of geek she is, more than i think its about integrity or bad intent. or to put it another way, thats the internet for you. i dont have any agenda against britney, nor do i stand with anyone who does. ive always been willing to say when i dont agree with her on an issue. the only way thats changed is im slightly- and only slightly- more likely to say so than before. all in all i wish her the best. if theres any point to this ramble at all, its that making it out to be more than what ive said here, is a tactic more likely to be used by someone else, and against britney, and anyone who does that isnt speaking for me nor are they being honest. and since we have both known people who take the time to do that, i just thought id say- whoever does that is full of shit, and i dont approve. im happy to attack what britney says, but im never fond of people who attack britney as a person. license: 0-clause bsd ``` # 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 # # Permission to use, copy, modify, and/or distribute this software for any # purpose with or without fee is hereby granted. # # THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE AUTHOR DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES # WITH REGARD TO THIS SOFTWARE INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF # MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR # ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES # WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER IN AN # ACTION OF CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTION, ARISING OUT OF # OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE. ``` => https://freesoftwareresistance.neocities.org