environmental cost of freedom - should it be a consideration?

There's a flip side to that coin in asking how many devices were saved from being tossed in the landfill due to being able to continue to be used by free software ? How many laptops for instance see an extended life on operating systems like Trisquel that have been abandoned by Windows support ending ?

Most electronics now a days gets tossed in the landfill, because of proprietary software. One of the reasons that green organizations supported badvista.org was that proprietary technology forced people to dispose of their electronics because the latest operating system would no longer work for them.

What people didn't realize or were afraid to try was free software that could run on their old computers. Now for most people it is more difficult to install free software on tablet/phone devices because those devices will get bricked.

I think there are efforts on to reduce landfill electronics by projects like Inkplate 10 that is going to reuse kindle screens.

Hello PublicLewdness,
Thanks.

Although poorly constructed, the original post's question attempted to acknowledge the devices that "were saved from being tossed in the landfill," in "offset by the continued use of other equipment..."

The original questions seek benefit from some stated principle. Preferably the principle will not betray itself.
Without that principle, can I question, for instance, a Gates who claims to offset his "largest carbon footprint of any human" on the planet by assertion of the doing of 'good' things' to reduce others' use of carbon? Not that I have a right to question him, just meant if I were to.

I am not sure what the purpose of your question is.

If you decide to stop using devices you own that can't be used without non-free software, you probably also stop buying such kind of device, so the waste happens only once.

I don't think existing devices running with free software are always better for the environment than devices running with proprietary software, but should there be free software available for all devices, that could greatly help to reduce environment impact of human activities.

As for Bill Gates, his impact is also the impact of his company.

Hello PublicLewdness,
Thanks.
Your question, "How many laptops for instance see an extended life on operating systems like Trisquel...," was overlooked in my last post.

Many laptops are saved by Linux, Unix, and GNU. Not all are free.