> The problem with this utopic vision is that the vast vast majority of users have no power over their software regardless of whether it's proprietary or open source: they just don't know how to write software, so the supposed four freedoms are almost entirely lost on them.
If you have seen any Stallman talks: The idea here is, that in a society people can help each other out. Non-coders can ask their coder friends to look at things. If it is a bigger job to get some wanted changes, maybe they can pay them to do the change.
How often have you helped a friend by coding a patch for their Linux kernel? Why do you think you would do so more for some random iOS app if you were allowed to?
Software "maintenance" is just extremely hard compared to mechanical maintenance, so all of these arguments fall flat when confronted with any significantly-sized code base.
I'm putting maintenance in quotes for software because that is not what is actually required here. Fixing bugs is not actually equivalent to repairing a physical device. It is equivalent to repairing a design flaw in such a device. Which is of course also way beyond any repair service's abilities beyond the simplest flaws.
If you have seen any Stallman talks: The idea here is, that in a society people can help each other out. Non-coders can ask their coder friends to look at things. If it is a bigger job to get some wanted changes, maybe they can pay them to do the change.