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Because the desktop experience is bad and I can get everything I need from the CLI in WSL on Windows or from the terminal in MacOS. And I try not to be a martyr

Because the desktop experience is bad and I can get everything I need from the CLI in WSL on Windows or from the terminal in MacOS. And I try not to be a martyr for politics in my choice of tools. If all else was roughly equal, I would prefer FOSS, but it's not and the sooner the FOSS community realizes a license isn't a feature the sooner we will have that world.

hammyhavoc 5y ago
By your logic, food being vegan or halal isn't a "feature". To someone who cares about privacy and freedom, a license is most definitely a feature. Different strokes for different folks.
- sircastor 5y ago
  You made their point though. Food being Vegan or Halal does not matter to people who don’t care about that. You don’t need to sell to people who already buy in. The software has to stand on its own merits against the competition. A FOSS license is very very rarely going to be the thing that pushes a user to drop Photoshop for GIMP
  - hammyhavoc 5y ago
    Then you underestimate the number of people who care about FOSS. Consider then a niche like 'power users', 99% of the user base doesn't need to care or use a feature for it to be an important aspect and have a trickle-down effect in who uses it and thus who develops it. People into FOSS commonly contribute to the development of tools they use. The key thing is choice. You don't have to use the software if you don't see the value in it, likewise with features. Just like you don't have to choose gluten-free or vegan foods, but quite commonly, lots of very popular dishes are vegan, halal, gluten-free, keto-friendly etc., and there is a not insignificant chance that you already consume it in some way and enjoy it, and likewise a strong chance your every day life is fuelled by FOSS, even if it is just part of a server stack on a website you are visiting. All the software someone uses does not need to be FOSS, however certain pieces of software might be more easily trusted in security and privacy if they are FOSS. Hence F-Droid's apps for example. Likewise, I don't care if a game isn't FOSS, but I will care about my note-taking software if I am writing down vulnerabilities I've found for responsible disclosure. With Adobe having cloud connectivity, and unknown telemetry, if I want to view PDFs that may contain sensitive information that some naïve intern compiled, I won't be using Acrobat, that's for sure. I contribute to several projects because I actively use the tools, and yes, the license matters.

hammyhavoc 5y ago

By your logic, food being vegan or halal isn't a "feature". To someone who cares about privacy and freedom, a license is most definitely a feature. Different strokes for different folks.

sircastor 5y ago
You made their point though. Food being Vegan or Halal does not matter to people who don’t care about that. You don’t need to sell to people who already buy in. The software has to stand on its own merits against the competition. A FOSS license is very very rarely going to be the thing that pushes a user to drop Photoshop for GIMP
- hammyhavoc 5y ago
  Then you underestimate the number of people who care about FOSS. Consider then a niche like 'power users', 99% of the user base doesn't need to care or use a feature for it to be an important aspect and have a trickle-down effect in who uses it and thus who develops it. People into FOSS commonly contribute to the development of tools they use. The key thing is choice. You don't have to use the software if you don't see the value in it, likewise with features. Just like you don't have to choose gluten-free or vegan foods, but quite commonly, lots of very popular dishes are vegan, halal, gluten-free, keto-friendly etc., and there is a not insignificant chance that you already consume it in some way and enjoy it, and likewise a strong chance your every day life is fuelled by FOSS, even if it is just part of a server stack on a website you are visiting. All the software someone uses does not need to be FOSS, however certain pieces of software might be more easily trusted in security and privacy if they are FOSS. Hence F-Droid's apps for example. Likewise, I don't care if a game isn't FOSS, but I will care about my note-taking software if I am writing down vulnerabilities I've found for responsible disclosure. With Adobe having cloud connectivity, and unknown telemetry, if I want to view PDFs that may contain sensitive information that some naïve intern compiled, I won't be using Acrobat, that's for sure. I contribute to several projects because I actively use the tools, and yes, the license matters.