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@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ For a brief overview let us average some data over time -- the table that follow
| 2021 | 2173 | 4096, 1000, 64000 | 780, 920 |8192, 3100, 60000, 4G GPU (FC6) | 221865 | 161706 |
| 2022 | 2280 | 4096, 1000, 64000 | 780, 920 |8192, 3300, 125000, 2G GPU (CODMWF2)| 248477 | 191785 |
One of a very frequent questions you may hear a noob ask is **"How can bloat limit software freedom if such software has a [free](free_software.md) (or "[FOSS](foss.md)") [license](license.md)?"** Bloat [de-facto](de_facto.md) limits some of the four essential freedoms (to use, study, modify and share) required for a software to be free. A free license grants these freedoms legally, but if some of those freedoms are subsequently limited by other circumstances, the software becomes effectively less free. It is important to realize that **complexity itself goes against [freedom](freedom.md)** because a more complex system will inevitably reduce the number of people being able to execute freedoms such as modifying the software (the number of programmers being able to understand and modify a trivial program is much greater than the number of programmers being able to understand and modify a highly complex million [LOC](loc.md) program -- see [freedom distance](freedom_distance.md)). Once a piece of software becomes very large, it **starts to require full time developers**, meaning someone has to stop working and dedicate all his time to the project, meaning he has to make money from developing it and here [money](money.md) enter the scene, sponsors come in, [ads](marketing.md) start to appear, data start being collected and once the business (even one based around a "FOSS" project) is established, [forks](fork.md) become undesirable, inviting in a creeping obscurity, incompatibility, lock-ins and other obstacles (despite a free license) etcetc. { I recently noticed in the so called "open source" Firefox browser that "sponsored" links start appearing at the blank page :) ~drummyfish } A more bloated program won't run on simpler (older, cheaper, homemade, ...) computers, effectively limiting the freedom to use the program, forcing the user to run it on a mainstream (unethical, expensive, spying, abusive, consumerist, power hungry, shitty, ...) computer etc. This is not any made up reason, it is actually happening and many from the free software community try to address the issue, see e.g. [HyperbolaBSD](hyperbolabsd.md) policies on accepting packages which rejects a lot of popular "legally free" software on grounds of being bloat ([systemd](systemd.md), dbus, zstd, protobuf, [mono](mono.md), https://wiki.hyperbola.info/doku.php?id=en:philosophy:incompatible_packages). As the number of people being able to execute the basic freedom drops, we're approaching the scenario in which the software is de-facto controlled by a small number of people who can (e.g. due to the cost) effectively study, modify and maintain the program -- and a program that is controlled by a small group of people (e.g. a corporation) is by definition [proprietary](proprietary.md). If there is a web browser that has a free license but you, a lone programmer, can't afford to study it, modify it significantly and maintain it, and your friends aren't able to do that either, when the only one who can practically do this is the developer of the browser himself and perhaps a few other rich corporations that can pay dozens of full time programmers, then such browser cannot be considered free as it won't be shaped to benefit you, the user, but rather the developer, a corporation.
One of very frequent questions you may hear a noob ask is **"How can bloat limit software freedom if such software has a [free](free_software.md) (or "[FOSS](foss.md)") [license](license.md)?"** Bloat [de-facto](de_facto.md) limits some of the four essential freedoms (to use, study, modify and share) required for a software to be free. A free license grants these freedoms legally, but if some of those freedoms are subsequently limited by other circumstances, the software becomes effectively less free. It is important to realize that **complexity itself goes against [freedom](freedom.md)** because a more complex system will inevitably reduce the number of people being able to execute freedoms such as modifying the software (the number of programmers being able to understand and modify a trivial program is much greater than the number of programmers being able to understand and modify a highly complex million [LOC](loc.md) program -- see [freedom distance](freedom_distance.md)). Once a piece of software becomes very large, it **starts to require full time developers**, meaning someone has to stop working and dedicate all his time to the project, meaning he has to make money from developing it and here [money](money.md) enter the scene, sponsors come in, [ads](marketing.md) start to appear, data start being collected and once the business (even one based around a "FOSS" project) is established, [forks](fork.md) become undesirable, inviting in a creeping obscurity, incompatibility, lock-ins and other obstacles (despite a free license) etcetc. { I recently noticed in the so called "open source" Firefox browser that "sponsored" links start appearing at the blank page :) ~drummyfish } A more bloated program won't run on simpler (older, cheaper, homemade, ...) computers, effectively limiting the freedom to use the program, forcing the user to run it on a mainstream (unethical, expensive, spying, abusive, consumerist, power hungry, shitty, ...) computer etc. This is not any made up reason, it is actually happening and many from the free software community try to address the issue, see e.g. [HyperbolaBSD](hyperbolabsd.md) policies on accepting packages which rejects a lot of popular "legally free" software on grounds of being bloat ([systemd](systemd.md), dbus, zstd, protobuf, [mono](mono.md), https://wiki.hyperbola.info/doku.php?id=en:philosophy:incompatible_packages). As the number of people being able to execute the basic freedom drops, we're approaching the scenario in which the software is de-facto controlled by a small number of people who can (e.g. due to the cost) effectively study, modify and maintain the program -- and a program that is controlled by a small group of people (e.g. a corporation) is by definition [proprietary](proprietary.md). If there is a web browser that has a free license but you, a lone programmer, can't afford to study it, modify it significantly and maintain it, and your friends aren't able to do that either, when the only one who can practically do this is the developer of the browser himself and perhaps a few other rich corporations that can pay dozens of full time programmers, then such browser cannot be considered free as it won't be shaped to benefit you, the user, but rather the developer, a corporation.
**How much bloat can we tolerate?** We are basically trying to get the most for the least price. The following diagram attempts to give an answer: