Political Leaning and Free Software

00_NOP writes "HateMyTory is the world's first political rating site and occasionally gets blasted or promoted by British bloggers on either side of the political spectrum. But here's something even more intriguing: when the right come visiting they hate the site but they are disproportionately likely to be users of free software, whether that is just Firefox on top of their Windows box, or all the way with some Linux distro. But when the left rally to the cause they are more likely than not to be proprietary software users, albeit with a big bias towards Apple. If Microsoft's defenders think free software is the road to socialism, why don't the left seem to agree? As a leftie, and a free software advocate, I find this pretty puzzling."

Bleeding heart pinko commies ...

[Anonymous Coward]

are technically inept. They can only use the software that came on their computers; they stand no chance of getting even Ubuntu installed (even if they knew about it).

Darn, my tongue seems to be embedded in my cheek. My mother warned me that might happen.

Re:Moding up political items

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

"It doesn't have to stop with just Democrats and Republicans, there are tons of groups that are at odds, or simply different than mainstream."

Star Trek vs. Star Wars, for example. Hmm... I dig that idea.

Obligatory Walter Sobchak

[ZaMoose]

Nihilists?

I mean, say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it's an ethos.

Re:The education connection

[Anonymous Coward]

Or to put it a little more bluntly - many college students have not grown up and become conservatives yet. Some college kids never grow up. We call those professors...

The answer is obvious

[Anonymous Coward]

The British drive on the wrong side of the road, and so to, apparently, do their political leanings. Another lefty for free (speech) software.

Re:It's the exact reverse in France...

[hey!]

Nihilism? I've lost my faith in it.

Re:It's the exact reverse in France...

[Anonymous Coward]

The funny thing is that most libertarians seem to have this self-image of themselves as powerful, self-reliant people who could defend themselves from anything absent a government-controlled police force.

The average libertarian is about as intimidating as a poodle in a sweater and wouldn't last 5 seconds in the world they hunger for so much.