This kind of moral preening makes me sick. I will probably become a customer, but phrases like "the world’s first ethical" really, really rub me the wrong way. tptacek has covered many of my issues below, but, simply put, it implies that the rest of us who work for telecoms or who choose not to buy the Purism are lesser.
"Don't do evil" hit me the same way. I assume Google is well-intentioned, but there are many, many areas in which Google and I have moral disagreement regarding the way they operate. That's fine. Principled people can differ.
The same is true with Microsoft and Kroger's and Costco and lots of other brands I deal with. I know for a fact these companies support causes I believe to be immoral. I suspect in turn they disagree with some of the causes I support. But they don't rub my nose in their superiority with smarmy phrases like "don't do evil" this or "first ethical" that.
In the case of Purism, a much quicker way to my heart and wallet is say it's completely open for the following reasons. That's enough for me. I don't need your fundamentalist preacher bloviating on top of everything else.
Purism is a manufacturer that directly buys into the principles of the FSF - that closed-source software is probably the most important ethical issue in computing. You can read about why on the FSF’s website.
"Don't do evil" hit me the same way. I assume Google is well-intentioned, but there are many, many areas in which Google and I have moral disagreement regarding the way they operate. That's fine. Principled people can differ.
The same is true with Microsoft and Kroger's and Costco and lots of other brands I deal with. I know for a fact these companies support causes I believe to be immoral. I suspect in turn they disagree with some of the causes I support. But they don't rub my nose in their superiority with smarmy phrases like "don't do evil" this or "first ethical" that.
In the case of Purism, a much quicker way to my heart and wallet is say it's completely open for the following reasons. That's enough for me. I don't need your fundamentalist preacher bloviating on top of everything else.