> He had the power to stop this madness from big tech, but he sided with them.

He (Torvalds) had no power to do anything and sold out. Even if he did, big tech would just go and use BSD.

For over a decade both Torvalds, and Stallman sold everyone out. They don't make their money directly from "free software" or "open source" in the first place.

Stallman was right in that he knew digital surveillance was going to happen, but he was incorrect in believing that FLOSS was ever sustainable economically and especially with AI replacing the developer and that big tech and startups are weaponising that against them.

Even when Stallman is against AI, he doesn't care. He knows he doesn't make money from "free software"; but only by speaking about it. Torvalds is the same but likes AI.

Can any other developer do exactly that in 2026?