(Title Edit)

So yeah, I am going to start this off saying I use Linux. I love Linux, but the community and others will not let it improve. It’s time to change.

Here’s all the reasons I think Linux will never take off, don’t forget that you can also add input and that I am a human being, so please don’t be angry if you can help it. Just tell me your perspective. I know I will get lots of flack for this, but here we go:

  • Idealism, if Linux was going to take over innately it already would have

  • History (let’s be honest it’s like a discord server if it doesn’t take off all at once it never will)

  • It’s inaccessible (terminals cannot replace everything. I’m talking to you if you say “bloat”)

  • There’s only corporate funding, so they will appropriate it

  • We tolerate people who don’t tolerate others (including the less tech-savvy)

  • Microsoft has way too much power (money)

  • Few people remember RMS started copyleft as a political goal (too many people are uncomfortable challenging their beliefs, so they want Linux to be “apolitical”)

  • No one is doing the political organizing

  • Copyleft is flawed and needs to be improved (here’s a template example https://thufie.lain.haus/NPL.html) [also mind you that there’s a need to prevent corporate appropriation]

  • People worship RMS instead of realizing he alienates women, people with down syndrome, etc.

Idealism, if Linux was going to take over innately it already would have

I don’t understand, you could use this argment against anything, just pick something that took off and imagine someone saying this before it did, why is Linux different?

History (let’s be honest it’s like a discord server if it doesn’t take off all at once it never will)

Why? Lots of things take off only after a long time. Why is Linux like a discord server? You don’t explain how you’re arriving at these conclusions

It’s inaccessible (terminals cannot replace everything. I’m talking to you if you say “bloat”)

No, terminals can’t replace everything, nor are we trying to make them do that. Linux has GUI applications and conventional desktop environments. I’m one of the ppl who’s constantly raging against bloat and I use apps like eog. Terminals are great but they are meant for a certain set of uses, not for everything

There’s only corporate funding, so they will appropriate it

I’m not sure what this statement even means, are you saying only corporate things get funded or Linux only gets funding from corporations? And what is ‘appropriation’ mean here? Corporations using Linux is not a problem

We tolerate people who don’t tolerate others (including the less tech-savvy)

Sure, there are bigots and toxic ppl in many Linux communites… just like there are in non-Linux communities. I’m not convinced that Linux communities have an especially high concentration of toxic ppl, especially since you specify “the less tech-savvy”. I don’t think there’s a widespread problem with how Linux ppl treat the less tech-savvy. I think a lot of ppl have this opinion because they do things like ask questions that are answered in the documentation, or send bug reports without any information, or act too demanding of maintainers or free software.

Useful link: http://www.catb.org/esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Microsoft has way too much power (money)

Yeah, I hate Microsoft too and I wish they had less power and money than they do. But this is just a despair argument. There’s no reason free software can’t win people over, especially with Microsoft going ham on anti-features in recent versions of Windows and more people becoming more critical of capitalism. Money lets them make products and software effectievly, but it can’t let them replicate the things that make free software special.

Few people remember RMS started copyleft as a political goal (too many people are uncomfortable challenging their beliefs, so they want Linux to be “apolitical”)

I don’t see what this has to do with the Linux desktop taking off. Yeah, copyleft is a great idea and to me it is a deeply ideological thing that I support, not just a praxis. But, as someone else said, letting people enjoy Linux apolitically is good because it expands the user base.

No one is doing the political organizing

What political organizing?

Copyleft is flawed and needs to be improved (here’s a template example https://thufie.lain.haus/NPL.html) [also mind you that there’s a need to prevent corporate appropriation]

Copyleft isn’t a magic solution to all problems, and maybe we could do better with different licenses… but that NPL seems like a terrible idea. First, I don’t think you can define terms like “tracking individuals” or “discriminate”/“hate speech” in a legally sound way (the given definition of Discriminate is absurdly over-broad, and the given definition of Hate Speech is both too open to interpretation, since it hinges on the word “hatred”, and too narrow, because of the word “solely”). But even if you could get around the definition issues, you shouldn’t just load a license with your entire ideology. The more stuff you add to the license, the fewer people will agree, and the harder it will be for your software to take off.

People worship RMS instead of realizing he alienates women, people with down syndrome, etc.

Do they? You can be in a lot of Linux communities for a long time without hearing about RMS, and lots of Linux users don’t even like him.

I think you might be interested in this btw: https://drewdevault.com/2021/12/05/What-desktop-Linux-needs.html

Idealism, if Linux was going to take over innately it already would have. 
  • depends on where you are in the graph. It took over already except the desktop.

    History (let’s be honest it’s like a discord server if it doesn’t take off all at once it never will)

  • Again linux is on sort of golden age of discovery if you really look back at the past.

    It’s inaccessible (terminals cannot replace everything. I’m talking to you if you say “bloat”)

  • Agree. It improved a lot but there are things that need to change.

    There’s only corporate funding, so they will appropriate it.

  • what?? If you mean profit from linux lots of businesses will disagree with you

    We tolerate people who don’t tolerate others (including the less tech-savvy)

  • i don’t see the problem.

    Microsoft has way too much power (money).

  • how is that a problem? Money can actually be the reason linux desktop will take off. Look at android.

    Few people remember RMS started copyleft as a political goal (too many people are uncomfortable challenging their beliefs, so they want Linux to be “apolitical”)

  • apolitical is good for take off.

    No one is doing the political organizing

  • this is not required for the take off.

    Copyleft is flawed and needs to be improved (here’s a template example https://thufie.lain.haus/NPL.html) [also mind you that there’s a need to prevent corporate appropriation]

  • not related to take off of linux at all…

    People worship RMS instead of realizing he alienates women, people with down syndrome, etc.

  • really dude?

@Brattea@lemmy.ml
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Brainworms

Linux is pretty popular tho

I’m not sue if ypu wrote this out of spite or as issues that need to be solved. If the first, mods should kick you out; if the second, you should probably rethink those arguments… Start from the title. Linux never took off? Linux took off in 1991 and hasn’t stopped growing since… Maybe you mean just the desktop?

CHEF-KOCH
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You are not the only one cursed with knowledge arguments. 😅

  • Nothing wrong with idealism, depends on how you define it in such regard. I say the idea of Linux was a success.
  • Some distros tying to address your terminal argument there is btw LinuxFX and other Windows closes, which are mainly designed to imitate Windows or for Windows switcher.
  • I think the Copyleft thing can be solved with AGPL and other licenses who are more designed to protect xyz, which depends on what you choose. Linux itself is fine here because I see it as community work, I do not see how lets say Microsoft can fake or buy people for their purposes, lots of people work in their free time on the OS or within the community e.g. documentation, forum help and so on. The NPL stuff you linked is just a bad idea in general.

Here is when you are wrong

  • Money is not always a deciding factor for success.
  • Most super-computers and statistically most devices already run some sort of Linux, even if its just Android or a IoT device because Windows works badly on IoT devices. There are benchmarks etc to support this. Desktop maybe overall - for now - a different story but more because other factors and support reasons, which can be addressed over time.
  • There is not only corporate funding, you can get findings via independent contracts and deals, donations and startups. Open Collective is a nice platform some people use, Obs Studio and others to manage their income, or to let them manage by others.
  • RMS does not represents the entire Linux community. I think not much oldschool people worship him nor is that an factor why the Desktop system will, according to you, never take off.
  • I think Linux does tolerate all people, this is no argument at all. As mentioned there are lots of distros designed for beginners, the are well documented and well-discussed in forums.

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word “Linux” in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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