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The web's survival was far from certain, other similar more proprietry instances didn't - many would argue freedom was the webs USP. Ubuntu & Debian improved m

by deepnet 11y ago

The web's survival was far from certain, other similar more proprietry instances didn't - many would argue freedom was the webs USP. Ubuntu & Debian improved my interfaces. I cannot in good conscience support a walled garden or advocate its use knowing how important freedom is. ;) In the UK the trains have never run on time.

catnaroek 11y ago
> The web's survival was far from certain I didn't say it was certain in 2000. > Ubuntu & Debian improved my interfaces. Certainly, GNU/Linux has come a long way in terms of usability. I'm a very happy user of a GNU/Linux system nowadays (Arch Linux). But I wasn't really comparing Windows and GNU/Linux. I was comparing Windows and Web applications. IMO, Web applications in 2016 are still significantly less usable than Windows applications were in 2000. In fact, the more “modern” a website is, the least usable I'm likely to find it. > I cannot in good conscience support a walled garden or advocate its use knowing how important freedom is. I value civilized freedom (GNU/Linux on the desktop), not the law of the jungle (the Web). --- Let's face it, the competition between Windows and Web applications was actually between business models. Between users paying for software, and filling the screen with ads and “sponsored content”. Given these two alternatives, I'd gladly pick the first. Freedom has nothing to do with it.
- deepnet 11y ago
  Your clarifications make sense and I agree. By walled garden I thought you were advocating Apple, I see I was mistaken. I too support the freedom to be civilized and not subject to laws red in tooth and claw. Yet diversity is important and so I also support there being freer places where new types of organisation can arise free from the old order - places like the Web.
- deepnet 11y ago
  --- Agreed web applications also sidestep the GPL as a service running on GPLed code web apps didn't publish source code.

by deepnet 11y ago

catnaroek 11y ago

> The web's survival was far from certain I didn't say it was certain in 2000. > Ubuntu & Debian improved my interfaces. Certainly, GNU/Linux has come a long way in terms of usability. I'm a very happy user of a GNU/Linux system nowadays (Arch Linux). But I wasn't really comparing Windows and GNU/Linux. I was comparing Windows and Web applications. IMO, Web applications in 2016 are still significantly less usable than Windows applications were in 2000. In fact, the more “modern” a website is, the least usable I'm likely to find it. > I cannot in good conscience support a walled garden or advocate its use knowing how important freedom is. I value civilized freedom (GNU/Linux on the desktop), not the law of the jungle (the Web). --- Let's face it, the competition between Windows and Web applications was actually between business models. Between users paying for software, and filling the screen with ads and “sponsored content”. Given these two alternatives, I'd gladly pick the first. Freedom has nothing to do with it.

deepnet 11y ago
Your clarifications make sense and I agree. By walled garden I thought you were advocating Apple, I see I was mistaken. I too support the freedom to be civilized and not subject to laws red in tooth and claw. Yet diversity is important and so I also support there being freer places where new types of organisation can arise free from the old order - places like the Web.
deepnet 11y ago
--- Agreed web applications also sidestep the GPL as a service running on GPLed code web apps didn't publish source code.