So I just read Bill Gates' 1976 Open Letter To Hobbyists, in which he whines about not making more money from his software. You know, instead of being proud of making software that people wanted to use. And then the bastard went on and made proprietary licences for software the industry standard, holding back innovation and freedom for decades. What a douche canoe.

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[–] CountryBreakfast@lemmygrad.ml 9 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Honestly it makes me so fucking depressed when I hear people saying something as fundamentally disconnected from reality, something so needless and unthinking, something so flavorless and insipid as even ironically implying Gates is one of the "better" ones, that "as a person" he may be fine and that no one is "defending him."

[–] UNY0N@lemmy.wtf 4 points 4 months ago (2 children)

I wasn't being ironic. Better is a relative term, and I do believe that gates is a significantly better person that musk or zuckerberg, or many other evil asshat billionaires. But that doesn't make him a good person. I'm not defending him, he has greatly contributed to the rampant capitalism that is destroying our climate and society.

Things are seldom black and white in this world, pure good and pure evil do not exsist. Is it easier for you to see things in absolutes?

[–] causepix@lemmy.ml 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Why even make the comparison though

[–] UNY0N@lemmy.wtf 2 points 4 months ago

You are right, it's a worthless endeavor.

[–] BrainInABox@lemmy.ml 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Things are seldom black and white in this world, pure good and pure evil do not exsist. Is it easier for you to see things in absolutes?

Jesus, you're really doubling down on the unthinking and insipid takes.

[–] UNY0N@lemmy.wtf 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I'll triple down if you like. Absolutism is stupid and a hollow comfort. It's easy to vilify people, and difficult to hold cognitive dissonance about how any one person can be both good and evil.

Gates is a Epstein customer, an IP thief and a con artist. I 100% agree with the OPs original comment about him. But he also helped eradicate polio from the face of the planet.

It would be nice and simple if we could point to him in his volcano lair of villany, touriring small animals for fun, and say "there, that's pure evil, that's him, the devil incarnate", but the real world isn't a movie or a video game. It is just not that simple.

If that sort of opinion is a sign of "unthinking" to you, then I suppose I'm wasting my time here.

[–] BrainInABox@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 months ago

Oh my God. Please tell me you're a teenager and not an adult who thinks any of this pablum is wise or profound.