4 ms·

I think this piece (along with many, many others in the genre) is unduly discounting the practical implications of a proprietary binary for users, preferring to

I think this piece (along with many, many others in the genre) is unduly discounting the practical implications of a proprietary binary for users, preferring to blame a preference for open source solely on a "fundamentalist FOSS mentality". For example, my next GPU is going to be a Radeon largely because I'm tired of the weird issues that come with installing/updating proprietary drivers, the lack of transparency around bug reports, and the general disconnects with the rest of the FOSS ecosystem. The specific issues for applications are different, but there are parallels. The key thing is that FOSS on Linux isn't just an ideology, it's also an ecosystem and a set of norms and practices. When you ship a proprietary product, users have to weigh the cost of opting out of all of that, not just the sticker price. Nobody with any sense would ship a Windows package solely as source code and expect Windows users to love it. I can't imagine anyone blaming a weak reception of such a product on a "fundamentalist proprietary blob mentality". But when they similarly sidestep standard practices on Linux, any friction is almost reflexively attributed to the users being unreasonable.

kevkav 8y ago
The intention of the article was in no an attack on the "FOSS mentality". FOSS is a reality and is a great thing! The point that was being made, was that promoting paid linux applications is a challenge. And that that challenge becomes more difficult because we need to operate in an environment where many of the biggest publications do not want to know anything about non-FOSS apps.
- hitekker 8y ago
  You did right by your customers, you made a solid product and you’re not hurting anyone with your business. Better just to ignore the religious radicals sneering on the sidelines.
- antt 8y ago
  Then why kick a hornets nests? As others have noted Linux for home and Linux for work are two completely different things. At work I use RHEL 7, packages 5 years out of date, don't have access to build tools to incorporate patches myself and a million and one other things I would never tolerate at home. Throwing some more money after a program that lets me not touch outlook sounds like a great idea. At home I do none of the above things I can't think of a reason why I would ever touch a binary blob. There are plenty of people who feel the same. Don't come into a hobbyist environment selling corporate solutions expecting a warm welcome. Instead of /r/linux go to /r/sysadmin or some such.
  - nambit 8y ago
    What? Do you see no use for proprietary software at a home linux setup? What about video games? Do you expect all video games on linux to be open source?
    - antt 8y ago
      I'm pretty close to being completely free of proprietary software at home. I have to use the proprietary bootloader for my newer machines and the wifi firmware the machines I haven't gotten around to replacing the wifi cards for yet. About half of my machines are on coreboot and atheros cards. Otherwise my user space is pure free software. For games I play open source ones like 0ad when I have the time, which isn't often.
Shorel 8y ago
I am glad Steam works in Linux and something that useful was not blocked by the likes of you. I think that having an open-source OS and whatever-source applications is having the best of both worlds. Let me repeat that: the base system should be open, including all drivers, to level the playing field, but we also should be able to choose any solution in an open market, again, to get the best technology possible for us. In other words, if I want to use some proprietary software, like I use Sublime Text, it does not affect you, and I don't think you can decide or limit in any way the software I can use.
- 0xcde4c3db 8y ago
  > I am glad Steam works in Linux and something that useful was not blocked by the likes of you. It would be silly for me to try to block Steam on Linux, since I'm a Steam user. > In other words, if I want to use some proprietary software, like I use Sublime Text, it does not affect you, and I don't think you can decide or limit in any way the software I can use. What makes you think I want to? This is exactly the kind of assumption that annoyed me in the otherwise reasonable article. My point was that it's important to appreciate the factors that drive user preferences and not just write off a negative response as ideology-driven.

kevkav 8y ago

The intention of the article was in no an attack on the "FOSS mentality". FOSS is a reality and is a great thing! The point that was being made, was that promoting paid linux applications is a challenge. And that that challenge becomes more difficult because we need to operate in an environment where many of the biggest publications do not want to know anything about non-FOSS apps.

hitekker 8y ago
You did right by your customers, you made a solid product and you’re not hurting anyone with your business. Better just to ignore the religious radicals sneering on the sidelines.
antt 8y ago
Then why kick a hornets nests? As others have noted Linux for home and Linux for work are two completely different things. At work I use RHEL 7, packages 5 years out of date, don't have access to build tools to incorporate patches myself and a million and one other things I would never tolerate at home. Throwing some more money after a program that lets me not touch outlook sounds like a great idea. At home I do none of the above things I can't think of a reason why I would ever touch a binary blob. There are plenty of people who feel the same. Don't come into a hobbyist environment selling corporate solutions expecting a warm welcome. Instead of /r/linux go to /r/sysadmin or some such.
- nambit 8y ago
  What? Do you see no use for proprietary software at a home linux setup? What about video games? Do you expect all video games on linux to be open source?
  - antt 8y ago
    I'm pretty close to being completely free of proprietary software at home. I have to use the proprietary bootloader for my newer machines and the wifi firmware the machines I haven't gotten around to replacing the wifi cards for yet. About half of my machines are on coreboot and atheros cards. Otherwise my user space is pure free software. For games I play open source ones like 0ad when I have the time, which isn't often.

Shorel 8y ago

I am glad Steam works in Linux and something that useful was not blocked by the likes of you. I think that having an open-source OS and whatever-source applications is having the best of both worlds. Let me repeat that: the base system should be open, including all drivers, to level the playing field, but we also should be able to choose any solution in an open market, again, to get the best technology possible for us. In other words, if I want to use some proprietary software, like I use Sublime Text, it does not affect you, and I don't think you can decide or limit in any way the software I can use.

0xcde4c3db 8y ago
> I am glad Steam works in Linux and something that useful was not blocked by the likes of you. It would be silly for me to try to block Steam on Linux, since I'm a Steam user. > In other words, if I want to use some proprietary software, like I use Sublime Text, it does not affect you, and I don't think you can decide or limit in any way the software I can use. What makes you think I want to? This is exactly the kind of assumption that annoyed me in the otherwise reasonable article. My point was that it's important to appreciate the factors that drive user preferences and not just write off a negative response as ideology-driven.