Why does Free and Open Source Software get trolled so much? You'd think we were doing something awful by just writing programs and giving them away. While it is true that a lot of it could be mere paid asstroturfers courtesy of large commercial software companies, that doesn't explain them all. Over the years, I've seen so much online flamage - and even some in person! - that I couldn't miss spotting some patterns. You'll recognize these common trolls in this list. Most of them could almost be cut-and-pasted. Direct one here the next time you see them, if for nothing else than to urge them to get a new trick!

The Stockholder - This is very sad, because we have Joe Sixpack and Susie Soccermom out there with their 401-K being 50% tech stocks in proprietary software companies. And they then assume that all competing software companies are their mortal enemy. Look for lots of bad-mouthing the "competition" and boosting a well-known publicly-traded company, without much evidence of any technical knowledge.

The Ugh-meri-kin - This neanderthal attacks GNU/Linux (it's always GNU/Linux) based on the nasty allegation that FOSS is communist, anti-capitalist, or anti-American. That goes 100% anti-logic. If anything, GNU/Linux is software as the signers of the Constitution would have had it. Democratic computing for Democratic people. It belongs to everyone, and is designed with the individual's maximum freedom always as its number-one cause. But then, not too much logic ever went into neanderthal philosophy.

The Vandal -

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