I hadn't thought of it in these terms. Sometimes, someone says something profoundly true and you just have to stop and reckon with it. Fuck RealPlayer and all the other crap (RealPlayer may have been the first (popular) app to deliberately trick people into enabling stuff (hidden checkboxes)). What if capitalism hadn't happened to the internet.
It's because Jean-Baptiste Kempf is a GOAT and said "non" to fuck-you amounts of money to sell out VLC.
I don't know if I've had the strength to say no to that much money and obviously, that kind of cash has corrupted all but a few bastions of what makes the Internet an awesome place.
Shoutout to Raymond Hill of uBlock Origin fame and all those supporting the lists it depends on. Some many adblockers sold out (including the original uBlock) but he champions on making the Internet a remarkably better place when used. Dude even refuses donations (says list maintainers deserve it more).
Because people would immediately call him a sell out. And because it then would be the property of whatever company, and he could be tied legally from recreating it.