>world of corporate politics, bureaucracy, envy and greed— a world so depressing, that many people quit in frustration, never to come back.
I think one reason people get disillusioned is not simply because those things are depressing, but because those things exist at the same time that there's a strong disconnect between what's the right thing to do and what will bring the company most _money_.
The depressing part is having to go through all of these hoops and realize that it was all for nothing, because the end result is either not what the user truly needs or outright evil. I just want to build things that helps others.
The evil thing is what upsets me the most, so much of technology appears to have a truly sinister side nowadays. Perhaps it always did and Im only now seeing it.
• Microsoft made it impossible to install Windows 11 Home Edition without a Microsoft online account. I know of no FOSS with the nerve to try something like that.
• Non-Free games that charge real money for in-game cheats, and are of course designed to prevent you from manipulating your own game-state
• Mobile apps that request clearly unnecessary permissions, for reasons never revealed
• Mobile apps that sell your location data, and any other data they can get their hands on, with minimal regard for how this might impact your physical security
• Lies of omission about fixes to security flaws, and their specifics
• Intrusive telemetry that can't be disabled (although FOSS doesn't offer a total guarantee against this, see Firefox)
• Lies about security properties that are hard to verify without access to source code, such as falsely claiming proper end-to-end encryption
Deceptive marketing/monetisation, as in using psychological tricks to get people to spend money on things they don't want or need. Basically how every modern app and game works nowadays[0].
I think one reason people get disillusioned is not simply because those things are depressing, but because those things exist at the same time that there's a strong disconnect between what's the right thing to do and what will bring the company most _money_.
The depressing part is having to go through all of these hoops and realize that it was all for nothing, because the end result is either not what the user truly needs or outright evil. I just want to build things that helps others.