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I didn't get free software until I became a reverse engineer
Quoting: I didn't get free software until I became a reverse engineer —
Free software can remain an abstract concept until you're staring down the barrel of a 10MB executable in a hex editor. It was to me when I began my first year of college. Like many budding software engineers, I saw free software as a subculture for hobbyists and tinkerers. It was interesting, even admirable, but not particularly relevant to me. I didn't run a free operating system, and didn't see much reason to. I was a computer science student who loved coding, but assumed that proprietary and free software simply coexisted, each with its place in the world. I didn't begin to see the stakes more clearly until I spent a summer working with a small engineering firm.
Despite being just a summer intern, I was the only person at this company that was constantly getting new clients and projects. That meant I got handed an unusual job—reverse-engineering a proprietary codebase for a medical console. There are certain things I'm not at legal liberty to disclose, but the essence of it was this: our client wanted to manufacture cheaper peripherals (or accessories, such as a mouse) for the console, but the device's software was designed to prevent third-party compatibility. The company behind it—for our purposes, let's just call it Nonfree Software Incorporated (NSI)—had gone to great lengths to lock users into their overpriced scheme.