> I buy software tools that make me happy, better IDE's, licenses to tools I find useful, etc.
I don't use free software because it's cheap, but because it is free. Anyone trying to make a profit on the tools I depend on will eventually screw me over by capitalizing on that dependency or leave me in the lurch by abandoning the business. Tools maintained by and for the community which uses them are the only tools I can trust.
> Nobody gives a shit that you are some cheapskate that "gets by" with less.
Oh, but I certainly do - and, like most of us, I care far more about my own opinion of myself than I do about yours. It feels good to get by with less; it suits my aesthetic. Self-imposed constraints are almost as interesting as external ones, and discipline sharpens my skill.
I don't use free software because it's cheap, but because it is free. Anyone trying to make a profit on the tools I depend on will eventually screw me over by capitalizing on that dependency or leave me in the lurch by abandoning the business. Tools maintained by and for the community which uses them are the only tools I can trust.
> Nobody gives a shit that you are some cheapskate that "gets by" with less.
Oh, but I certainly do - and, like most of us, I care far more about my own opinion of myself than I do about yours. It feels good to get by with less; it suits my aesthetic. Self-imposed constraints are almost as interesting as external ones, and discipline sharpens my skill.