> far more abstract principle of the home PC user being able to recompile their own software stack from source.
I contributed hundreds of hours of work into libraries. They are used by the same companies that sell me locked-down devices that I cannot modify or even inspect. They even invade the my privacy and I cannot disable that.
At least GPL tries to mitigate this problem. MIT turns volunteering into unpaid labor for some billionaires.
Calling it "far more abstract principle" is quite absurd.
These companies try hard to push the narrative that MIT is "practical" and GPL is "political" - guess why.
Repeating this mantra all the time is not helpful.
People have been told that modern computing and privacy cannot coexist. That all software companies spy on them and users can only choose between giving up privacy or giving up technology.
On top of that, privacy, by itself, is meaningless. What matters is information inequality. Inequality is power.
When people can monitor a government you have democracy.
When people cannot monitor a government and the government monitors people you have tyranny.
Unsurprisingly, there are many paid privacy and anonymity services for wealthy people.
Please don't say that people just don't care. People have been educated to be meek to authority.
It's even worse: some societies reward quick thinking and shun deep thinking.
Mostly the English-speaking societies, people can even become unsettled or giggle if they see someone staring at a wall, deep in though.