I first found the tone of the article harsh and unjustified, and stopped reading after the second section.
I don't think I've read Morozov before, so after reading your comments, I dove back in for a second take.
I agree that it is an impressively concise and clear history of free vs open source - that alone made the article worthwhile, I think.
Regarding HN readers dumping on him:
> Lumping everything under the label of “Internet freedom” did have some advantages for those genuinely interested in promoting rights such as freedom of expression—the religious fervor that many users feel about the Internet has helped catalyze a lot of activist campaigns—but, by and large, the concept also blunted our analytical ability to balance rights against each other.
This is spot-on, and is especially poignant when applied to sites such as Reddit, where users championing "Internet Freedom" occasionally eschew morality in order to create an ethical martyr for their cause - see the case of the 'jailbait' subreddit. I have no doubt that those users and similarly minded users who browse HN would find the above insulting.
He makes other insights throughout the article that would apply to similarly ardent groups of users that are around the HN-sphere.
I don't think I've read Morozov before, so after reading your comments, I dove back in for a second take.
I agree that it is an impressively concise and clear history of free vs open source - that alone made the article worthwhile, I think.
Regarding HN readers dumping on him:
> Lumping everything under the label of “Internet freedom” did have some advantages for those genuinely interested in promoting rights such as freedom of expression—the religious fervor that many users feel about the Internet has helped catalyze a lot of activist campaigns—but, by and large, the concept also blunted our analytical ability to balance rights against each other.
This is spot-on, and is especially poignant when applied to sites such as Reddit, where users championing "Internet Freedom" occasionally eschew morality in order to create an ethical martyr for their cause - see the case of the 'jailbait' subreddit. I have no doubt that those users and similarly minded users who browse HN would find the above insulting.
He makes other insights throughout the article that would apply to similarly ardent groups of users that are around the HN-sphere.