Hi Turleman,
We mustn't think people are hostile to free software ideas, but many people
are hostile to whatever is "new" or "different" respect to their vision of
the world. It's due to prejudices. We tend to rationalize our behavior before
than considering what has been told to us.
I'm an activist for Animal Rights and I know perfectly that everybody may
change whenever we are able to explain our arguments. The relationship
between free software (ethics) and open source (utilitarianism) is nearly the
same than veganism (ethics) and welfarism (utilitarianism).
Welfarist is the person who applies an utilitarian ethics to other animals.
They just concern the benefits or detriments of consuming non-human animals,
discriminate among species and perceive that a damage is justified or not
according to if the "pleasure" during their lives is highter than their
suffering (e.g PETA). Nowadays, most people who declare themselves being an
"animal lover" are welfarist.
However, we vegans defend all non-human animals by considering their
intrinsic value. They have own interests such as perpetuation of their lives
or quest for freedom.
Everyday I try to point out that, if we desire a better society and to be
fair to others (humans or not), we should assume the equality principle.
I would like to recomend stronly this website created by Gary L. Francione
(doctor in Animals Rights): http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/
I wrote some articles, but they are in Spanish (anyway...):
http://elguardiandeloscristales.com/wordpress/el-principio-de-igualdad-para-otros-animales/
Cheers!
