I am not distrubed that so many don't care about free software. How is it any
different than so many other issues? There are smokers who won't quit
smoking, alcoholics who won't stop drinking, people who don't exercise, junk
food junkies, etc. There are many people who don't do their best to protect
themselves nor their health, which is no different to me than those who won't
CYA with free software. Some might eventually make the choice of free
software after getting burnt by other choices once or twice. Others might get
burnt by closed, proprietary software repeatedly and still won't ever figure
it out. That's the nature of humanity.
So in the end, my prime concern is that I protect myself by using free
software, because I only have control over myself. I have zero control over
the choices others make.
I've seen this with friends of mine. One lost her activation code for a copy
of Quickbooks in 2008. She had written it down on a sticky note and given it
to me because I was using it for several businesses in another state at the
time, which wasn't my choice, but the choice of the accountant managing these
businesses at that time. She called me asking for the piece of paper with
the activation code. I was in another state, for months, and the paper was at
home. I pointed out how Quickbooks was completely useless without the
activation code. She didn't get it then and still swears by Quickbooks. Had
she gotten burnt badly enough by this, she might have seen it then. In the
end though, she will get burnt by not choosing free software. I will not.
