Hacker News Reader

I think the main split between hardcore "GNU/Linux" guys and the general tech world is about principle vs pragmatism.

The hardcore crowd see free software as a right that needs to be fought for, whereas others see open source as nothing more than a way to modify or improve software without requiring explicit support from the publishers.

And there are many, many parts of Linux that make the software "freer" but worse.

View on HN

I remember when I first started reading HN I was surprised how many people refused to use Linux. I get it has friction but to me it was worth it for the social benefit of having a FOSS OS. That’s when I realized FOSS is kind of a lost cause if most tech people don’t even care.

People like to complain about the walled gardens and surveillance of Windows/MacOS but refuse to actually support the organizations working to make alternatives. So frankly, we deserve what we get at this point.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com