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This is all, and will forever be, a fantasy. You cannot make a product without profit. Linux wins in the data centre because the corporations who make money of

by dash2 2y ago

This is all, and will forever be, a fantasy. You cannot make a product without profit. Linux wins in the data centre because the corporations who make money off selling compute have commoditized their complement. "Linux" wins when it's Android because Google used Linux as a kernel for their offering - which IMHO is still worse than Apple but fine if you prefer Android. It's not open source, though, none of the apps people use on Android are open source, it's just a cheap software component. The Steam Deck, again, exists to sell closed source games. I used Linux on the desktop for about 10 years. I left it and never looked back. I have a residual affection for the people who actually write open source. But the zealots, with their rants about evil corporations, their Boy Scout fantasies about running the digital economy on volunteer effort, their response to any criticism with "it works for me, you must be stupid/lying", their poor sod grandparents for whom they've kindly installed Arch ... those people are toxic and deserve to be laughed at.

any1 2y ago
Zealotry/enthusiasm tends to float to the top and is, perhaps, what you see on the surface when you look at any community. However, I think that most users of open source software prefer it, not because of their political beliefs, but because of their curiosity. Open source software is made by the community for the community; not to entice outsiders or sell to any would-be customers. The main draw of open source software for a curious person is that they can look inside and tinker with it and they can modify it to conform to their needs. Saying things like "I tried your software and it doesn't work for me" or "I left it and never looked back" (usually phrased in a less polite manner) doesn't really achieve anything constructive. An open source software developer isn't interested in that kind of "feedback". After all, they're not selling anything. They're just making software for their own needs and/or to satisfy their thirst for knowledge and understanding. If you are not curious about the inner workings of software, then open source is not for you, and that's fine.
surgical_fire 2y ago
> I used Linux on the desktop for about 10 years. I left it and never looked back. I have a residual affection for the people who actually write open source. But the zealots, with their rants about evil corporations, their Boy Scout fantasies about running the digital economy on volunteer effort, their response to any criticism with "it works for me, you must be stupid/lying", their poor sod grandparents for whom they've kindly installed Arch ... those people are toxic and deserve to be laughed at. Despite a lot of words written there, you don't mention which issues you had with Linux that made you switch away from it after 10 years. I made the opposite route. Two years ago I switched to Linux (Linux Mint, to be more specific), and I couldn't be happier. Everything has been working like a charm, and I honestly have to do less tinkering around to keep things working than I used to on Windows (which I had basically to do a yearly fresh install). Maybe it was your distro of choice?
prmoustache 2y ago
Zealots aren't specific to one OS/community.

by dash2 2y ago

any1 2y ago

Zealotry/enthusiasm tends to float to the top and is, perhaps, what you see on the surface when you look at any community. However, I think that most users of open source software prefer it, not because of their political beliefs, but because of their curiosity. Open source software is made by the community for the community; not to entice outsiders or sell to any would-be customers. The main draw of open source software for a curious person is that they can look inside and tinker with it and they can modify it to conform to their needs. Saying things like "I tried your software and it doesn't work for me" or "I left it and never looked back" (usually phrased in a less polite manner) doesn't really achieve anything constructive. An open source software developer isn't interested in that kind of "feedback". After all, they're not selling anything. They're just making software for their own needs and/or to satisfy their thirst for knowledge and understanding. If you are not curious about the inner workings of software, then open source is not for you, and that's fine.

surgical_fire 2y ago

> I used Linux on the desktop for about 10 years. I left it and never looked back. I have a residual affection for the people who actually write open source. But the zealots, with their rants about evil corporations, their Boy Scout fantasies about running the digital economy on volunteer effort, their response to any criticism with "it works for me, you must be stupid/lying", their poor sod grandparents for whom they've kindly installed Arch ... those people are toxic and deserve to be laughed at. Despite a lot of words written there, you don't mention which issues you had with Linux that made you switch away from it after 10 years. I made the opposite route. Two years ago I switched to Linux (Linux Mint, to be more specific), and I couldn't be happier. Everything has been working like a charm, and I honestly have to do less tinkering around to keep things working than I used to on Windows (which I had basically to do a yearly fresh install). Maybe it was your distro of choice?

prmoustache 2y ago

Zealots aren't specific to one OS/community.