this post was submitted on 18 May 2026
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[โ€“] Ulrich@feddit.org 84 points 12 hours ago* (last edited 12 hours ago) (4 children)

"As someone who lives near a Best Buy, I'm at Best Buy often," Newsom told reporters during a news conference. "And I'm paying sales tax on a lot of this prewritten software. And then I find out that all my friends that aren't near a Best Buy, they're downloading and they are not paying sales tax. How is that fair?"

I agree, its not fair, let's just remove the sales tax, k? ๐Ÿ‘

Also pretty sure no one is buying software from Best Buy in 2026, that would be dumb as hell.

[โ€“] Fredselfish@lemmy.world 21 points 11 hours ago

Also I fucking doubt Newsome been anywhere near a Best Buy much less bought software from there.

[โ€“] adarza@lemmy.ca 27 points 11 hours ago (2 children)

this is just reclassifying 'digital' software as taxable. the same as software on physical media already is in california. some states have a similar tax status for these products.

many states already did the same with digital video and streaming.

i don't really see a problem with it.

[โ€“] Cris_Citrus@piefed.zip 17 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

I think their point may be more thay sales taxes are regressive- they disproportionately impact people with less money, as those people need to spend all or most of what they have for necessities, while folks with a large surplus of wealth or income only need to spend a small portion and much of it can go towards savings or investments

I dont think its unreasonable for someone to say they'd rather just do away with sales tax altogether. We may have more appropriate tools with which to fund the government

[โ€“] Ulrich@feddit.org 0 points 11 hours ago

Yes, I also read the article.

[โ€“] agentTeiko@piefed.social 22 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

You all are buying software? I just donate to my friendly neighborhood FOSS Developer.

[โ€“] XLE@piefed.social 3 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

How else would I get this year's version of Macaffe Antivirus!

[โ€“] darkdemize@sh.itjust.works 4 points 9 hours ago

You could always try clicking on some shady links online.

[โ€“] Ulrich@feddit.org -2 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

Let me know when your friendly neighborhood FOSS developer creates a CRM or accounting software that doesn't cost me more in time to get running and figure out how to use than the paid options.

[โ€“] michaelmrose@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

The majority of people cannot easily turn a few hours of their time on a whim into money because most of their working life is pre-scheduled. Others especially those most likely to be able to pick up a shift aren't paid all that much. I find that ANY new software requires spending time learning in addition to any cost up front. Furthermore most of the paid software would require me to use a worse OS and pay for the privilege so its an awfully hard sell to bother.

As far as accounting software I who simply manage my wages haven't ever needed anything more complicated than a spreadsheet. What software I've seen is kind of obnoxious and terrible so maybe this is an opportunity for someone.

[โ€“] just_another_person@lemmy.world 8 points 12 hours ago (2 children)
[โ€“] Ulrich@feddit.org 5 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago) (1 children)

Yeah I didn't say "when they exist".

These are also not "free as in beer".

Also your Big Capital has a .Claude file at the top of it and likewise Twenty has .cursor so LOLOLOL no thanks

[โ€“] feannag@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 hours ago

I'm not saying these are plug and play, but they are quite literally free as in beer.

AI is definitely problematic. But if you think your paid for software doesn't use AI in it in the present day, I have a bridge I'd like to sell you.

[โ€“] hightrix@lemmy.world 3 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) (4 children)

Yeah, our IT department will definitely replace our CRM and Accounting software with some random GitHub projects.

Thanks!

[โ€“] mpramann@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 10 hours ago

Stop shifting the goal post

[โ€“] NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip 3 points 9 hours ago

Your IT department likely just selects some random vendor that doesn't really give a shit and puts all your data beyond some bullshit cloud service anyways. That they probably cobbled together from github anyways.

Did you not read? Those are established for-profit companies who also happen to release open-source versions of their stack. They also have hosted cloud versions.

You're just backing away because you've been pointed out to be wrong in your sarcastic bullshit, buddy. Just walk away.

[โ€“] DeckPacker@piefed.social 4 points 12 hours ago (3 children)

Why are you against a sales tax?

[โ€“] YtA4QCam2A9j7EfTgHrH@infosec.pub 37 points 11 hours ago (2 children)

Sales taxes are regressive. The poorest people pay way more of their income to buy things at stores. Therefore they are getting taxed a lot more than someone who saves money because they have bigger incomes

[โ€“] timwa@lemmy.snowgoons.ro 1 points 1 hour ago

It's only regressive when framed as a tax on consumers - which is of course easier to do in a ridiculous country that allows retailers to advertise prices without all the retailer's costs included.

A properly organised VAT type tax is not regressive - it's a tax on corporations that buy product for cents and then sell them on for dollars, pocketing the difference. I've no idea why sales taxes bring out this "but won't somebody think of the corporations!" handwringing.

[โ€“] DeckPacker@piefed.social 2 points 2 hours ago

That actually makes sense, thank you

[โ€“] iamthetot@piefed.ca 3 points 8 hours ago

People who downvote someone asking a question is insane. Gods forbid you want to learn something or engage in a dialogue.

[โ€“] Ulrich@feddit.org 1 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Same reasons I'm against most taxes.

[โ€“] DeckPacker@piefed.social 2 points 2 hours ago

How dare the government raise money to fund useless things, like infrastructure, education or social services, right?