Well-said!

> fatalism makes you unable to see the countless counter examples that definitively prove your statements false

Some of my loved ones have given in to such thinking as well. The most frustrating thing about it is that they rant about a lot of issues but don’t do anything about them: no advocacy, no protesting, no changing their own actions—nothing! When confronted with examples contrary to their woes, they fall back upon cynicism of the solutions or outright dismissal of the contrary evidence.

I’m not going to assume that all fatalists are similar, but from what I’ve seen in my friends/family and others online, I haven’t seen any of them work towards ending the problems they point out, mainly just lashing out at those who don’t think similarly. It seems like an extremely tiring way of existing.

Entirely agree.

What a lot of people also don’t realize is that free (as in “freedom” and “beer”) software runs most of the world. The proprietary stuff like Microsoft and Apple systems are all at the consumer level, which is dwarfed by the number of Linux-based machines out there. And Linux is entirely free! No built-in tracking, ads, monetization, subscriptions, etc.

The phrase “if it’s free, you’re the product” is excellent advice when dealing with proprietary tech. To my knowledge, OP’s site is not free (as in “freedom”), so it’s warranted to be wary. As you mentioned, there are several ways to test OP’s claims and it seems they check out, as far as verifiable.

But it’s also important to keep in mind that there are millions of individuals across the world who just want to do good for others through contributing free works to society with no strings attached!