Open source must boldly go where no software has gone before
Perens says that users don't understand the freedoms FOSS gives, and developers don't understand users. He was right on both counts. The software that developers build is the software we talk about – it lives in repos, in source files, in distros. The software users see a multi-headed mutant shape-shifting dragon that swallows up and disgorges data – whatever that is – according to its own rules. Userland isn't built out of software at all, it's built out of data that flies from the screen to the eyes, from the mouth to the microphone. Users know that once inside the dragon, their data can be stolen and abused. They didn't know how to do anything about it, like they don't know why they have to use two calendars and three video conferencing systems. They don't know why the app they've been using for three years just changed beyond recognition.