4 ms·

When I get into a conversation about Free software being better than proprietary software, I focus on real problems with modern proprietary software that averag

When I get into a conversation about Free software being better than proprietary software, I focus on real problems with modern proprietary software that average users have these days, mainly with operating systems. For instance, lots of people don't like Windows 10's interface, but there's also the spyware and advertising issues, and various other annoyances with it, plus the forced-update problem and the fact that you have to separately purchase so much software for it to make it useful. With desktop Linux, you don't have these problems: lots of software is easily installed from the repos and you wind up with a fully-functional system very easily, updates are ridiculously simple and fast and don't prevent you from using your computer, updates aren't forced on you breaking your software, your OS won't be forcibly "upgraded" to a new version you don't want, performance-crippling anti-virus software isn't needed, etc. On the Apple side, the OS is tied to very expensive and now-crippled hardware (see the new MBP which lacks ports, requiring you to carry around a whole bunch of dongles) and still has the problem of not having useful software by default. For people who insist on using some kind of proprietary software like Photoshop, I just don't bother, but for people who just want something to surf the web, write simple documents, watch videos, etc., desktop Linux works great so this is how I pitch it.

st3v3r 10y ago
"and the fact that you have to separately purchase so much software for it to make it useful." That's not a negative, especially for anyone who makes their living selling software. And there's nothing special about Linux that saves it from that; if it became popular, commercial software would be written for it as well, and you'd have the same problem.
- Grishnakh 10y ago
  >That's not a negative, especially for anyone who makes their living selling software. So you think free things should be banned so that leaches who want to make money selling things can do so? How idiotic. If I'd like to make a living selling air for breathing, is it wrong for people to breathe the air that's freely available? I guess so, in your world. >And there's nothing special about Linux that saves it from that; if it became popular, commercial software would be written for it as well, and you'd have the same problem. Here you completely miss the point. I'm not talking about special niche software, just basic stuff. I can't even edit a fucking text file in Windows without installing some special third-party software, because Windows doesn't come with a usable text editor. Luckily there's free stuff available on the web for some things like that, but it's a big PITA to go find some website, find a download link, and install the program. On Linux, this kind of basic software is part of a standard install, and at the very worst, all I have to do is something like "sudo apt-get install vim".
  - st3v3r 10y ago
    >So you think free things should be banned so that leaches who want to make money selling things can do so? How idiotic. Point out where I said it should be banned. And nice that you equate someone trying to feed their family with being a "leech". How idiotic. > I can't even edit a fucking text file in Windows without installing some special third-party software, because Windows doesn't come with a usable text editor Wrong. It has text editors out of the box.
    - Grishnakh 10y ago
      Bullshit. Notepad is a pathetic excuse for a text editor. It can't even handle different line endings. Wordpad isn't much better. And yes, someone who tries to leech off of society providing something that can be easily obtained for free (such as air) is just that: a leech. Obviously, you DO want to ban such things, or else you wouldn't advocate leeching. You're a pathetic excuse for a person, advocating for people to be forced to purchase breathable air.
      - st3v3r 10y ago
        >Bullshit. Notepad is a pathetic excuse for a text editor. It can't even handle different line endings. Wordpad isn't much better. They're still text editors that work just fine to edit text files. >And yes, someone who tries to leech off of society providing something that can be easily obtained for free (such as air) is just that: a leech. Obviously, you DO want to ban such things, or else you wouldn't advocate leeching. You're a pathetic excuse for a person, advocating for people to be forced to purchase breathable air. Again, show where I want to ban free software. And if I write software, how is it easily obtained for free if I'm charging for it? And your air analogy doesn't work unless I'm the one creating the air as well.
      - sctb 10y ago
        We've banned this account for repeatedly violating the guidelines after we've asked you multiple times to stop. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

st3v3r 10y ago

"and the fact that you have to separately purchase so much software for it to make it useful." That's not a negative, especially for anyone who makes their living selling software. And there's nothing special about Linux that saves it from that; if it became popular, commercial software would be written for it as well, and you'd have the same problem.

Grishnakh 10y ago
>That's not a negative, especially for anyone who makes their living selling software. So you think free things should be banned so that leaches who want to make money selling things can do so? How idiotic. If I'd like to make a living selling air for breathing, is it wrong for people to breathe the air that's freely available? I guess so, in your world. >And there's nothing special about Linux that saves it from that; if it became popular, commercial software would be written for it as well, and you'd have the same problem. Here you completely miss the point. I'm not talking about special niche software, just basic stuff. I can't even edit a fucking text file in Windows without installing some special third-party software, because Windows doesn't come with a usable text editor. Luckily there's free stuff available on the web for some things like that, but it's a big PITA to go find some website, find a download link, and install the program. On Linux, this kind of basic software is part of a standard install, and at the very worst, all I have to do is something like "sudo apt-get install vim".
- st3v3r 10y ago
  >So you think free things should be banned so that leaches who want to make money selling things can do so? How idiotic. Point out where I said it should be banned. And nice that you equate someone trying to feed their family with being a "leech". How idiotic. > I can't even edit a fucking text file in Windows without installing some special third-party software, because Windows doesn't come with a usable text editor Wrong. It has text editors out of the box.
  - Grishnakh 10y ago
    Bullshit. Notepad is a pathetic excuse for a text editor. It can't even handle different line endings. Wordpad isn't much better. And yes, someone who tries to leech off of society providing something that can be easily obtained for free (such as air) is just that: a leech. Obviously, you DO want to ban such things, or else you wouldn't advocate leeching. You're a pathetic excuse for a person, advocating for people to be forced to purchase breathable air.
    - st3v3r 10y ago
      >Bullshit. Notepad is a pathetic excuse for a text editor. It can't even handle different line endings. Wordpad isn't much better. They're still text editors that work just fine to edit text files. >And yes, someone who tries to leech off of society providing something that can be easily obtained for free (such as air) is just that: a leech. Obviously, you DO want to ban such things, or else you wouldn't advocate leeching. You're a pathetic excuse for a person, advocating for people to be forced to purchase breathable air. Again, show where I want to ban free software. And if I write software, how is it easily obtained for free if I'm charging for it? And your air analogy doesn't work unless I'm the one creating the air as well.
    - sctb 10y ago
      We've banned this account for repeatedly violating the guidelines after we've asked you multiple times to stop. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html