Here is my standing on FOSS. I had thought a lot and talked to people whose opinions i value before making the decision to adopt this stance
I love FOSS . I love good software – even if its proprietary.
There are context and situations for which FOSS becomes a solution.
FOSS is a must only when it comes to software used for governance and public education
I don’t care if Microsoft or other companies make money off their proprietary solutions. In fact the point of the whole FOSS thing comes into light only when we think about software as something that is used for solving problems faced by the society.
Governance is one such area . So is education.
A government or a population should never be under the mercy of a company who provides software for their day to day functioning. Community Owned Software [COS] would be a more appropriate term for FOSS in that light. A government using COS is not dependent on any external force for its software needs . The advantages include job opportunities generated for software maintenance and customization as well as lower overall cost . The same arguments apply to education also.
Leave out the rest .There is no harm in making proprietary software or using it – whether to create something that will be owned by the community or not is your choice .
You can create and sell a wonderful app and make a living . It is perfectly alright. It is your code , after all.
Software is a matter of convenience. It makes life easy .
Lastly, don’t bash companies like Microsoft or Apple . Behind all their dirty tactics and copyright cases , there are developers . Respect their efforts .