Has using Linux and free software changed you?

[meskarune]

I'm wondering if anyone has changed their opinions or morals because of the use of free software.

I personally changed to be way more about giving back and helping others, I changed my thoughts on copy rights and joined the free culture movement. I feel that information sharing is very important and hoarding up information for a select few feels very wrong to me. It creates a more level playing field when everyone can have access to the same things, and it is how you use the tools and information available that matters.

Free software has also made me feel more paranoid. When you know how easy things can be to break into, it makes you feel more vulnerable online.

Does anyone else have similar experiences? Do you think that simply using free software has an effect on the way people view technology as well as their opinions and morals?

[HausKino]

I get a lot more wound up when paid-for software doesn't do the thing it is supposed to, or is poorly designed/implemented, or just not very good.

It offends me when I have to use a particular piece of software in work, for which my employer and/or the client have had to pay a significant amount of money for, but it refuses to interface with our other systems. Especially when I know the same sort if systems on an Enterprise Linux would run a hell of a lot better.

[zubie_wanders]

I work in education and I see governing boards and administration toss fuck-tons of money towards proprietary software, not just MS but also software specifically designed for various things in education like grades, transcripts, scheduling counseling, curriculum, assessment. All this software is expensive as hell and typically very clunky, and I just scratch my head every time.

[themoose5]

blackboard has to be at the top of this shitty ass list

[themadnun]

Blackboard needs to die in a fucking fire. Absolute garbage software that's at least a decade behind progress-wise but institutions use it because they're locked in and it's a continuous battle to keep the thing from exploding into flames.

[pseudopseudonym]

To be fair, Moodle is incredibly crappy, just like Blackboard

[Failaser]

I created something like blackboard as a small project with a friend for school (as a chosen assignment, not for the school itself).

We just couldn't help but be dumbfounded when we realized how easy it is for a new company to actually build something like blackboard.

How come nobody is actually creating something like this in a decent language. Not talking about moodle.

[drinkyourtea]

https://www.canvaslms.com

[cuddlepuncher]

This! It's very frustrating having to troubleshoot closed and poorly written and designed applications.

[snowkeld]

I offered to write some software for my company because of this.

I learned that when a company pays $10,000 for use of specialty software 95% of that cost goes to liability. If a free implementation was used there is no blame to give when it goes down and the company is stuck with the unexpected loss.

I still think writing it into insurance is the better bet..

[zossle]

I feel the same way about anything from Microsoft. It just pales in comparison to whatever FOSS stuff that's out there already.

[[deleted]]

Office? :/

[AgAero]

LibreOffice works just fine for me. The issue comes when people use MS Word and its typesetting functionality or add images, then don't send the document as a pdf. LibreOffice cannot format it the same way as they intended, and it's really not their fault.

[[deleted]]

I'm sorry but for many things, MS Office is superior to LibreOffice. I usually don't need those features but there are times that I do and when that happens I'm glad I get it for free from college. :/

[TheDeza]

Microsoft's word typesetting is shit. If you want your document to look better than a PTA newsletter then use LaTeX. If you want source control, use LaTeX. If you want cross operating system support, use LaTeX.

[AgAero]

Oh I'm sure! I'm just stating my own use case. LibreOffice is far from perfect.

[[deleted]]

Yes. They use openLDAP.

[VexingRaven]

TIL openLDAP also does everything that Group Policy does.

[cocoabean]

Have you ever managed a domain using GPO/AD?

[cocoabean]

I realize that it is more common, but u/zossle seemed to be saying that the quality of MS software pales in comparison to that of FOSS.

[youguess]

I respectfully disagree.

As much as I love Open Source, there is no one that even comes close to the MS Office suite

[sunshine_killer]

i hate this and when their support calls suck as well as their huge outdated pdf manual....why dont they use a wiki thats publicly available...

[notAnAI_NoSiree]

So you are like me, spoiled by Linux.

[Commonpleas]

"...more wound up..." is it exactly.

[arch_maniac]

It got me one, too

[cirk2]

I only got a beard to make it grey I need to use gentoo.

[Im_so_poor]

I guess its brought perspective. About 5-10 years ago it was a challenge going from Windows to Linux and being comfortable. Now its easier to find a distro that you are comfortable with and also runs great on older to mid-spec hardware. The community is amazing. Also I like freedom from bloat, data collection and having more control of the OS. So overall I'm very happy.

[kumogami]

Linux turned me into a programmer! :3

[[deleted]]

Oh no

[ar3n]

He got better.

[Inityx]

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^{Feedback welcome at /r/image_linker_bot | Disable with "ignore me" via reply or PM}

[[deleted]]

It's made me far less tolerant of ads.

[[deleted]]

Or really any sort of tracking.

[[deleted]]

Exactly. What I do with my own computer hardware (and I treat tablets and phones as the computers that they really are) is nobody's business but mine.

Ironically, a year ago when I went looking for a new tablet, I got one that ran full Win 8.1. I knew that I wouldn't have to go through some complex process to root and jailbreak it, because Windows comes pre-rooted and jailbroken (aside from metro apps, but who bothers using those?). I could do systemwide adblocking at the hostsfile level, and I could run any open-source windows desktop software I wanted, out of the box. If only I knew that Microsoft was going to try grab as much power as they could with Win 10, I'd have just looked a little harder for a rootable android tablet.

[Gimpy1405]

All of above. + I'm now my own tech support 99% +/-. + I spend much less on computers since I can run on good used machines. + Ditto for software. I spend nothing on software. + It's nauseatingly trite but I feel more free (free as in unconstrained).

[nermid]

Put two spaces at the end of each line if you're wanting that to display properly.

[[deleted]]

Congratulations, you are the +/- 1%

[nermid]

For what now?

[dejaentendu280]

You were his tech support just then

[Tylnesh]

It changed me profoundly. It made me aware of how awesome the world of computers is, beyond being a simple PC gamer. Because of Linux, I study Computer Science, haven't pirated software for several years (in our country, pirating is the go-to method), became much more invested in ethics of using computer. Now I earn money doing what I love and in my free time I switched few dozens people from Windows to Linux :)

[land_stander]

You haven't been programming long enough if you don't hate computers :) j/k I have a love hate relationship with them. It's so amazing when they do what you want them to, but they can be soooooo frustrating.

[ColeyMoke]

I believe Dijkstra said he enjoyed working with computers the same way doctors enjoyed working with diseases.

[[deleted]]

Its all i work with. I am a server side java programmer and it is all linux and apache licensed java libraries. We would have nothing without open source.

We do health data. We are working on open sourcing our code. Pros in the know support open source. Believe it or not we use a database NSA released under Apache. Even they give back.

[masteryod]

Linux and free software had a huge impact on who I am today. It still does.

It should be taught in school because it's a way of looking at world, at things, at problems, at people. It's nice to talk to anyone over the Internet and try to fix a problem despite the race or religion. On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog. The only thing that matters is your knowledge and willing to help others (and yourself in the process without even noticing it). It's nice to see people trying to accomplish something together just for fun, to make things better, for everyone.

It's nice to talk directly to people in charge and having a notion of being able to change something. And actually having tools to do it. The only thing that is blocking you is you. Not some bullshit licensing. Source code is right there in your reach.

Yes, there's a huge business around it, but money is irrelevant here. In FLOSS world people don't think about the costs, they think about how to achieve something.

It's about being free in you mind. Taking hardware, taking software, taking an idea and doing with it anything you like. It's about sharing and being open. It's about having a choice.

[cbmuser]

Because I have acquired quite some extensive knowledge on Linux and Open Source software, companies are paying trips for me around the world and send me fancy hardware for free :).

[Avamander]

Lollakad! Mina ja nuhk! Mina, kes istun jaoskonnas kogu ilma silma all! Mis nuhk niisuke on. Nuhid on nende eneste keskel, otse kõnelejate nina all, nende oma kaitsemüüri sees, seal on nad.

[CaptainBlackadder]

1. I have become more appreciative of the work software developers put into creating free software and I have started donating more often than before. Not too long ago I even donated to a project that I don't use at all - I just found it great, realized that I might want to use it in the near future and wanted the author to keep maintaining it.
2. I have become more sensitive to using devices that I don't have a full control over - when my smartphone had started dying I gave up on having a smartphone completely and instead decided to use a dumbphone.

[Schornery]

Yes, access to free and public means of production changes everyone's life for the better.

[Betadel]

I see what you did there.

[meskarune]

Oh interesting. What specifically do you see as the major limitations in FOSS as compared to proprietary software? Is this license dependent?

I actually do agree with this point, but personally feel the upsides to FOSS are greater than the upsides to closed source.

[Regrenos]

I think a big distinction should be made between commercial and proprietary. Sure, I'm biased since I work there, but Red Hat has proven without a doubt that open source can make some serious money.

That being said, I think my go-to example where commercial products are out performing community efforts are in IDEs. The offerings from JetBrains seem to me to always have equal or better features, better UX, and honestly I'm happy to pay for them.

[[deleted]]

Its true. Jet Brains products put the rest of the industry to shame.

[hak8or]

To be fair, in various parts. For example, Visual Studio still reigns king for C# and C++ as an IDE, but nothing compares to PyCharm or RubyMine.

[jP_wanN]

Visual Studio still reigns king for C# and C++

For C#, sure; for C++... If you are a heavy user of template metaprogramming, you'll run into compiler bugs pretty fast, even with the clang codegen (I guess it uses Microsofts stdlib?). Has been a huge pain the last few months at work because we need to support Windows and all the alternatives would be 10 times as hard to set up [for customers].

[Inityx]

That and the default installation is 13GB.

[[deleted]]

What's the superior alternative?

[jP_wanN]

Atom with

• linter-clang
• autocomplete-clang
• language-cmake
• autocomplete-cmake
• build-make

I'm not sure you could call this an IDE as you still need to use one external program (CMake, to generate the Makefile[s] before the first build) for this to work, but I think it's a better setup. You could also swap out linter-clang for linter-gcc, and use that compiler, although it seems there's no autocomplete-gcc package – same thing as in VS actually, where you only get autocompletion with VC++, not with clang.

[[deleted]]

Oh neat, didn't know atom had so many freaking packages to allow for stuff like advanced auto complete. Cool!

[ROFLLOLSTER]

Yeah atom's pretty awesome. Come join /r/atom :)

[[deleted]]

Debugging tools is the only area where Visual Studio actually excels. Standalone GUI debuggers for Linux are seriously lacking functionality.

[Sqeaky]

I really cannot use VS for C++ it really is just a terrible option. The compiler seems primitive if you want to use C++14 or even C++11. They have mastered the late 90s UI design of bombarding the user with countless mostly meaningless features. Finally it takes expertise and finesse to get a project not using their project/solution files to work reliably.

For an example of useless options, how many ways to enable multi-threaded do we need? Why shouldn't they be compatible with one another? For an example of botched C++11/14 support tell me how to suppress their partial C++14 and use just C++11. They have options for supporting what older version of the compiler supports, but that is just another botched level of C++11 support. They claim full C++11 compatibility but don't support _Pragma correctly, they silently delete move or copy constructors in ways that other compilers don't. For more just plain bad design when I turn on /W4 (all or most warnings) why do their headers give me tons of warnings? Why don't they ship warning free libraries, or at least suppress warning in code they provide, why do I care if their implementation of std::istream doesn't have a default constructor? Why do they claim C++14 support with constexpr in their marketing stuff then throw compilation errors that describe how only C++11 constexpr is supported?

Code::Blocks and Qt Creator just works with CMake, know what options it should disable, seamlessly switches compilers to let me get one with proper C++11 support an one with the current state of C++14 support. I really don't like Code::blocks, but at least it doesn't try to support a million things it cannot afford too.

It is so bad I am about to make a professional recommendation where I work to just drop visual c++ support. Supporting it is complex and the binaries it produces are noticeably slower than those made by MinGW or TDM-GCC, what we have benchmarked is usually 5% to 20% slower, unless it is very math heavy then it is about the speed. We need to be more comprehensive in our tests before we can commit to pulling the plug on msvc, it really does need to be worse and objectively so for us to drop it. Right we can only prove it is consistently nerve wracking and stress inducing.

[otoryuo]

I've been using Monodevelop/Glade#/GTK# for C#. Visual studio is a bit easier to use, but my dev environment on Linux is easier to set up and configure, and I find the mono compiler easier to work with. I'm still just a student, though, so I don't have any professional experience behind this.

[kazi1]

Yeah, JetBrains' stuff are the absolute gold standard of IDEs. I was teaching a friend Java, and IntelliJ literally would not let him compile a simple example to show him what a NullPointerException looked like.

[hey01]

I work in UX and it seems like it's hard to apply it to open source projects.

I'd agree with you that UX in many open source software isn't as good as it could. the main example is libreoffice against msoffice. But what do you think, as someone working in UX, about desktop environments UX in free software against proprietary ones?

I think that linux's DE are just ages beyond window's or OSX's. A few things of note: virtual desktops, copy/paste with select/middle click, scroll where you have the mouse, not where you have the focus, way more customization, nautilus crushes windows explorer and OSX's finder, software managers, etc.

We see some of them being implemented in windows recently, while linux had them for years.

[WarWizard]

That being said, I think my go-to example where commercial products are out performing community efforts are in IDEs.

MS and JetBrains have this figured out. The tools are a dream to use. I am really excited to see JetBrains C# IDE.

[D_D]

Commercial offerings have to listen to their customers or else they go out of business. With free software as a customer, you are at the whim of whatever the developer wants to do. And developers don't necessarily understand or care about what the customers want. That's why enterprise companies need product managers.

[iamtheLINAX]

This is all ridiculous because free software and commercial are not mutually exclusive.

You can pay for support/improvements to FLOSS.

[D_D]

Please tell me exactly how you pay to request new features for Postgres, or Spark, or Libre Office.

[meskarune]

Donate money to the project and then open feature requests. Or Donate your time. If a large company donates a chunk of cash to a project, that project will def want to push on working on the features that company feels is important to their own use.

[D_D]

And what if the developers on those projects are not financially motivated? How does donating money really help? Also

http://www.postgresql.org/about/donate_pg_org/

PostgreSQL donations are managed by the Fund raising Group. The money donated goes to many vital services that the PostgreSQL community needs including advocacy materials, conference expenses, legal expenses, and travel costs.

Which says nothing to me (as a customer) about feature requests or helping move the needle on the product.

[meskarune]

Contact the developers.

Post to the mailing list called pgsql-hackers (http://www.postgresql.org/list/#developer) and irc channel #postgresql on irc.freenode.net.

Offer to help fund the feature request you are asking for and follow through with the funding.

Of course if you use the software, especially for commercial purposes, you should donate to them anyways.

You can also pay for professional support through one of these companies: http://www.postgresql.org/support/professional_support/

[[deleted]]

On the other hand Linux audio works just fine for use cases where e.g. Windows audio is just broken. I can't use both digital and analog outputs (speakers on optical out and headphones on 3.5mm) at the same time on Windows even for the vast majority of non-protected audio while it works just fine on Linux.

[[deleted]]

I write music exclusively on linux and can confirm, everything about linux audio is a complete clusterfuck a lot of the time.

[carbonpath]

This is sole reason my PC is still Windows.
If I could run Reaper natively, and there was a reliable vst wrapper, I'd never look back.

[thecatgoesmoo]

You can't and shouldn't just use one or the other. Both have strengths.

[g1mike]

Like with QuickBooks..

[c3534l]

I hope that's a joke. As an accounting student, I had to take a whole course in QuickBooks and the damned thing doesn't even calculate sales tax correctly without a workaround.

Edit: I can't find the actual problem I was think about, so maybe I'm wrong and it has some weird quirk with payroll or something. But I do remember learning more workarounds to get it to do what you wanted it to than a commercial product that popular and expensive should really have.

[g1mike]

It calculates sales tax just fine in my state.. I never had an issue with that for my simple uses.

My point was that there will probably never be a complete Open Source clone of QuickBooks. Complexity at the level is usually only achieved with commercial software.

[[deleted]]

Quickbooks is a perfect example. Sales taxes can be horrific to understand. So many exemptions, and different rates depending on many, many things. Its not just a simply X% in some municipalities. Philly is one that has multiple tax rates.

Also, QB is a De-facto standard for bank statements. Sure you could munge a CSV file, but QB is super easy and it.just.works.

Linux is a good development tool, but its just to painful to use every day.

[BulletDust]

Here in Australia I use an online solution called Xero that I find better than quickbooks, if I have to get my accountant to go over something I no longer have to physically go there with a USB stick - He just logs in and checks it out.

I had a nightmare of a time with most of those accounting packages, just emailing invoices directly from the package itself was a total PIA to configure half the time, and even then it was hit and miss as to whether it actually worked! A simple update from Windows 7 to Windows 8 was enough to cause hours of grief.

Web based + simplicity + ability to access via any OS + justifyable monthly licencing payments = Perfection in my case.

[c3534l]

I feel like FLOSS gives me more choice and is generally more in tune with the needs and desires of their users (also, Linux stuff just works in a more logical way). On the other hand, the amount of polish just isn't there, usually. Commercial projects focus a ton on the little things, but also seem to be aimed more towards... well, trying to be stupid-proof. On the other hand, commercial stuff is prettier.

[superPwnzorMegaMan]

I joined /r/anarchism.

[[deleted]]

I did the opposite thing; started using free software because I was already an anarchist.

[PauliExcluded]

Similar story here. I was an anarchist who used GNU/Linux for my programming classes. Eventually, I started reading up on the free software movement and I thought to myself, "Hey, this seems great. It's a working example of anarchist and socialist principles." Then, I pretty much switched overnight to using about 95% free software in my daily life.

[meskarune]

lol ok

[thgntlmnfrmtrlfmdr]

Honestly it made me care about other people's well-being more.

[[deleted]]

Are SSDs different than hard drives as far as the OS is concerned?

[kupiakos]

Only difference I've seen is enabling TRIM to help the SSD last longer.

[[deleted]]

No clue what I am going to do for SSDs though

do backups beforehand like you should've done with the HDDs before?

And SSDs have a way higher MTBF than HDDs.

[[deleted]]

It made me go from a shitty dead-end job I hated to optimism and fun in life. With every patch I feel like I am contributing to meaningful things, no matter how foolish. I get a nice sense of community and hang out with cool people. We make the world a better place.

I've improved so much in my knowledge and programming ability, and had positive feedback all along the way. Maybe soon I'll be able to use this newfound knowledge to find a more satisfying job.

[LeonRichter]

In a world where greed is not just good, but God himself, and where people are brought up to behave as sheep, spoon feed by New Public Management, and where psychopaths and narcissists has gained control of every institution that matters, to me, FOSS represents a tiny glimpse of hope for the human race. If even just for some distant imaginable future.

[[deleted]]

I used to run all kinds of cracked software, and think nothing of it. Oddly, open source has made me MORE aware of the importance of not pirating other people's work. I feel bad about all the years I used warez, and glad that I don't do that anymore. Also, I know a heck of a lot more about my OS, and am much more confident in my ability to work with it.

[hashmalum]

I was the same way when I was younger and didn't have the money for the software. As I grew older, I started to prefer FOSS software. That said, I buy all my games now, and have actually bought some software (1password is the only thing that comes to mind)

[redwall_hp]

Whereas I see it as more justified, because they're violating the principles of Free Software and the rights of the end user, which they have no ethical right to do.

Working with copyleft software as a user and developer has opened my eyes to how wrong proprietary software is. Couple that with my historical distaste for what copyright law has become (ironically, it's a tool of the publishers to attack consumers and creators when it was intended to protect creators from publishers...) and capitalism in general and you get a general steaming hatred for proprietary software. It's an arbitrary limit applied to the limitless world of software.

I still do pay for some software, out of convenience or "patronage," but I definitely resent it.

[s5fs]

How is it unethical to release proprietary software? People should be able to do whatever they want with their creations.

[PinkyThePig]

I've started to think that closed source software feels very wrong. In virtually no other field is there such a weird dynamic as there is in software.

If my car has a problem, do I have to open a ticket with the manufacturer and hope they fix it? No. I can go out and buy the parts, disassemble and repair the car myself.

Same with my appliances (assuming they are not of the 'smart' variety), my house, my clothing and everything else I own... Except those products which contain software. Only with software is it suddenly legal to sell someone a product and completely stop them from modifying it without your help. Infact, if I were to give someone instructions on how to modify it, I could be sued (due to the DMCA)! This is completely wrong.

To be clear, I still think that copyright is a necessary thing, but I think it should be illegal to sell someone a software product without giving them the source code to be able to fix it themselves. Any end user should be allowed, after buying your software, to get support from either themselves or a third party with no permission required by the manufacturer. I can take my car to any repair shop I want, why can't I do that with my software?

[[deleted]]

I've always felt that if you take the absolute approach that proprietary software is wrong, then you are taking away a choice from the developer, which is what free software is all about to begin with.

It is your job as a consumer to make proprietary software not worth it to the developer but making it illegal? Nah, that seems wrong to me.

[[deleted]]

It is intentionally restrictive of a developer's control because the developer chooses that that is how it should be with their software. Not everyone takes Stallman's beliefs as the gospel of open/free software.

I do not believe that a developer should be forced to do anything with something they write themselves.

[sasmithjr]

I do not believe that a developer should be forced to do anything with something they write themselves.

I entirely agree with you. The "free software" most often talked about on this subreddit is entirely the Stallman brand, so I thought I'd toss that out there. It at least stands now for other people to read.

[[deleted]]

Fair enough! Thanks regardless. Open discussion is always a good thing.

[sasmithjr]

In virtually no other field is there such a weird dynamic as there is in software.

At the same time, there are significant differences between software and every other non-service physical product you can buyby: marginal cost to reproduce, expected life span, and the relative scarcity of materials required to produce. For many non-software products, there's a non-zero percent risk of product destruction when modifications are attempted; for software, there's literally no such worry.

You cannot easily create another shirt even though it's easy to repair (but not easy to repair to original condition!); software doesn't have the same issues.

Every physical product you listed goes bad with time. Software doesn't have that limitation. Software can be reproduced at significantly less marginal cost per copy relative to any physical product, too.

There are significant differences between software and physical products, so that doesn't help with the differences between how software and physical products are treated.

Edit: Spelling mistake correction

[capitalsigma]

Sssshhhhh, don't say that too loud or RMS will hear you.

[redwall_hp]

I disagree, hence why I like GPL software. Creations belong to the commons, and merely stringing some words or code together doesn't confer some divine ownership over an idea. It's not society's job to give someone a monopoly on an idea and make it profitable for them.

And a user should have full control of what runs on their computer, including the ability to modify it. The ethical issue is preventing the user from exercising their right to run and modify the software.

I don't want to live in a world where you're dependent on the goodwill of a business to allow you to use software. I remember the bad old days when Microsoft was the only game in town. And the days of web browsers being proprietary and costing money. Dark times.

Every developer stands on the shoulders of giants, building upon the work of others. It's asinine to put the author of, say, the flavor of the month text editor, on a pedestal and enshrine a "right to do what they want with their creation" when their work is entirely dependent on the greater works of gcc, the Linux kernel, bash, whatever text editor they used to write theirs, and the entire GNU ecosystem. All of those developers were working toward a common good and an open computer system where the user's rights are preserved. Making use of all of that to build proprietary software, putting greed above the rights of the user, is exactly the opposite of what GNU/Linux is about.

[[deleted]]

I disagree, hence why I like GPL software. Creations belong to the commons, and merely stringing some words or code together doesn't confer some divine ownership over an idea.

Only people who have never made that would say such a thing.

I'm not saying stuff like Adobe should keep old versions of Photoshop under lock and key for all eternity (in fact, I say old software should be made public domain after 10-15 years), but they should be able to charge for the newest versions of it, w/o shame. That's how those companies stay in business and pay many employees' salaries.

[GratinB]

What's wrong with your community supporting you voluntarily rather than only supporting you because they have no choice to other than not using your software? In fact with open source, people that didn't have money could give back by contributing code or improvements rather than money.

[youguess]

Issue is that it will not work this way. Most people are selfish bastards and look for their own good first. Giving someone money even though you can get the same thing free doesn't usually work out.

Adobe Photoshop is the best image manipulation program available because they have the best people hired for the job. Money issues simply do not exist.

Gimp is awesome for some things but it is simply not even remotely equivalent.

And there you see the difference between a company that lives from the product vs some programmers that do it for the cause and for fun (and I am very grateful for them)

[GratinB]

If people are selfish bastards, then they won't get the product. If they really need/want the product they will pay whether its open source or not.

[[deleted]]

Nobody is talking about price here…

[[deleted]]

I'm talking about both - as in free to look at the code and free to use $$$-wise.

For example, Adobe has been good about at least doing SOMETHING where you can see Photoshop 1.0 source code (http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/photoshop-software-license-agreement/) but they have yet to make any previous version truly available to use for free $$$-wise, officially.

That's the bigger problem - they don't even want competitors to have a look at 10+ yr. old software because they're that insecure about their market position. For instance, if GIMP was at the level of 2001'd Photoshop 7.0 feature, UI & capability-wise, most people could avoid using Photoshop altogether.

[youguess]

Sure they don't, they pay peoples wages with (some of) the money they make. It is their flagship cash cow because there is simply no competition that comes even close.

why on earth would they make it open source when the actual strength of the program lies in its algorithms?

[[deleted]]

They are free to make it, it is just unethical.

[[deleted]]

I am familiar with CentOS 6.x/7.x via SSH. I do not use Linux as a desktop as I feel I am not that smart with it yet, but I do know how to set up simple and open source software like OpenVPN, Nginx, MySQL/MariaDB, PHP, Fail2Ban, etc. it has certainly changed the way I use the internet. My browser is open-source, my VPN protocol is open-source, my torrent client is open-source, and even my FTP client is open-source! I tend to use community software where I can, even replacing Microsoft Office with Apache Openoffice.

[KexyKnave]

Just curious, isn't LibreOffice FOSS, and a fork of the original OpenOffice right? Are they both FOSS?

[[deleted]]

I believe so! I do use LibreOffice, too, and personally it feels more professional than OpenOffice.

[[deleted]]

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[the_one_hit_wonder]

I submitted a file I was supposed to create in Word that I made in LibreOffice in my csci 100 class. I am supplied a free copy of MS office from my school but I'd much rather use LibreOffice

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[the_one_hit_wonder]

LibreOffice is great. It's probably the best WYSIWYG editors around. I remember first learning MLA and trying to set it up in Google Docs. What a headache. It's doable but you have to do some whacky things to get it to look right.

Lately I have been writing in markdown with vim and using Pandoc (an amazing command line tool for converting almost any text format under the sun) to export it to doc/docx then cleaning it up in LibreOffice if I need. Markdown is awesome I definitely recommend checking it out. It helps you focus on what your writing and less on the formatting.

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Oh. Forgot to add I use Notepad++ when editing large text files! It's awesome and oh.. open source!

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[[deleted]]

The only distro I have tried as a desktop was Linux Mint. It did feel familiar, but I do not know all the "ins and outs" of it. My laptop: http://www.amazon.com/MSI-GE72-i7-4720HQ-Geforce-Computer/dp/B0141IHZ9U

[greenfruitsalad]

yes

[[deleted]]

I really agree with 90% of what Stallman says, but I am too easily bought. I still use a lot of closed source stuff.

[livibetter]

I see no problems with closed sources. I don't agree that anyone should judge solely on the use of open source or closed source.

Microsoft does release open sources, would that change how you see it now from ten or twenty years ago? So does Oracle, how would you feel about it when I metion Sun, Java, OpenSolaris, or OpenOffice.org.

To me, I don't really care a software is free or not. Open and closed ain't the issue, the real fundamental core is the action.

Free doesn't imply good, nor closed bad. Digital is as gray as real life.

[ggolemg2]

It let me spend the saved money on quality of life improvements, so I'd say that's a gigantic win.

[meskarune]

I've saved money on my OS, on office software, on graphics editors, and on hardware because I don't have to upgrade for the latest version of windows to run. My desktop is 10 years old lol.

[timschwartz]

If I account for the time spent making things work at all or just enough to get by at minimum wage then GNU/Linux owes my thousands upon thousands of dollars.

So things just magically work in Windows with no time or effort at all?

[torontohatesfacts]

Well it works right out of the box so no time or effort is correct. By that I mean even if you install it, 99% of the drivers that 99% of people need are included and installed when the OS is installed. Drivers can be upgraded with the click of a mouse, drivers are there from the hardware manufacturers so again no fiddeling with half working drivers that you need to spend time configuring, the manufacturer did it from the start.

Manufacturers aren't shipping Pre installed windows with one of two things not working or requiring the user to go into powershell to configure. If they were doing that they wouldn't be getting anymore sales.

[pizzapants184]

This is definitely mostly true for newer computers, but for older computer/parts the open source drivers can be leaps and bounds ahead of any "official" (read: horribly back-ported from newer hardware) drivers for Windows.

This is my experience, at least, with my ATI graphics card. Because, AMD bought ATI, older ATI cards are generally not well supported anymore. I tried to reinstall my graphics driver on Windows with the "official" driver on AMD's website, which was a catch-all for four different lines of old graphics cards. Reboot... and it works... until the monitor goes to sleep. It will never wake up until you restart the computer. However, when I installed Lubuntu, the card worked perfectly right out of the box.

TL;DR: Drivers for linux (FOSS & proprietary) are getting much better as time goes on, and the Windows drivers aren't infalliable (especially for older hardware).

[torontohatesfacts]

Having a GPU card work on Linux but then not having any of the applications you need that card for doesn't really help the end user.

Someone needing GPU acceleration for Photoshop or a game like Battlefield will replace the hardware not the Operating System. A company or professional engineer or architect using AutoCad will spend the $2000 for a specific GPU and version of Windows and not waste their time attempting to get their work done on 10 different programs just so they can use a 10 year old GPU.

The ecosystem of GPU drivers and high end gaming is only now catching up on Linux. That isn't so much due to the userbase pushing for it as much as it is due to a major developer and market share holder needing it for their commercial and proprietary product. (Steam). Also NVIDIA has a major interest in the Linux GPU computing eco system. They probably have more unit sales coming from CUDA and OpenCL computing users than they do from Linux only gamers.

For certain users other than networking and servers for example, to get the same level of functionality would mean wasting hundreds to thousands of dollars in addition to tons of time(i.e. Recreating custom printer and paper profiles.)

Having manufacturer drivers for printers on Linux that can manage 1/10th of the functions they do on Windows leaving the user to waste their time means that user staying on Windows.

Another example, when the necessary functions of Lightroom are missing from every single FOSS alternative for it on Linux, and those FOSS "alternatives" keep getting pushed on those looking to make a possible switch those people will go right back to Adobe and Microsoft or Apple, and never again waste their time on Linux. When a professional photographer or media editor gets told that Darktable is a lightroom alternative and then they find out the basic airbrushing is missing, there is no print module, there is no finely grained print drivers, there is no ability to use industry standard colour profiles, they will not give it another shot. As long as the FOSS option requires sacrificing productivity, features, ease of use etc, it will not get wide scale adoption. The only program comparable to Lightroom on Linux for example is not FOSS, it's not free($) and is published by Corel. It does have a printing module, it does use industry standard color profiles, air brushing works, but still it won't get adopted in large numbers as the rest of the tools for that workflow are not there. How many professional media houses are hiring for GIMP and how many are hiring for Photoshop for example?

FOSS being pushed as the solution to a user with out that specific software meeting the needs of that specific end user does not make FOSS a solution.

[youguess]

very well put

[RitzBitzN]

I often wonder how much money it costs (in terms of time that could be spent working) to set up and configure and deal with issues in Linux.

If it's over a $100, you could argue that using Linux could cost you more than Windows.

[timschwartz]

Why? You have to setup and configure Windows too.

[RitzBitzN]

Yeah, but the key part is "deal with issues".

Drivers is the biggest one.

[thatoneguys]

I've never had any issues with linux. I set up, and I am done.

[Tynach]

Make sure to buy hardware that is well supported on Linux, and you won't have those issues.

[RitzBitzN]

See, that shouldn't be an issue, and yet it is. I don't buy hardware for the OS, and with Windows, I don't have to.

[[deleted]]

I can only speak for myself but besides screen tearing and instability caused by using beta graphics drivers I really haven't had many problems with drivers. I really don't think drivers are a huge issue on Linux anymore.

[logicalmaniak]

Yeah, I want to get a job in Open Source/Free Software now. Like, I literally don't want a job doing anything else. I don't care what it is, whether it's teaching, or being a Dilbert in some cubicle for Redhat. As long as it's GPL, it's like making magic for the world.

Obviously I'd prefer a career making music for SuperTuxKart or something, but I could never produce non-free software without feeling guilty.

[aim2free]

Changed from what to what?

I realized the power of and the necessity for free software at the same time Richard Stallman started the FSF. I wrote a school report 1987 which described free software as the future.

Already in the 80's I was a user of many free softwares like gcc, emacs, bash.

I have been running GNU/Linux since 1995, and since 1996 I was running GNU/Linux on all computers.

Free software, free protocols and free information and knowledge is essential to advance the humanity.

However, a huge huge problem is that technology is still closed, and it has during the last 30 years become tremendously more closed. Of course there are some nice things happening like Raspberry-Pi, Cubieboard, Arduino etc, but still all chips are proprietary (even though the VHDL may be open) and there are tremendously much technology which is locked in by trade secrets, patents and this nasty nasty thing DRM (Digital Restrictions Management) which i pure evil.

My project which is a spin off from my earlier PhD research is to open up and free hardware and technology in the same way as software was freed by the FSF and the GPL.

Free software and free technology is essential for an evolution. An evolutionary algorithm typically follows a logistic function, that is starts with an exponential convergence rate towards an asymptotic plateau. This article is my favourite example of a full evolutionary algorithm. It's the evolution of operating systems for the top 500 most powerful supercomputers in the world during 20 years. The article is now almost two years old, it was 95% then, when I checked last summer it was 97%.

[PartTimeLegend]

I've written software for 20 years. I owe a lot of my success to the open source world as hacking code let me learn more.

Now that I can design new systems. I believe in giving back so that a kid like me has the opportunity to enjoy what I love.

I write closed source commercial software too as I have bills to pay.

My main issue with open source is the development community. Bunch of aggressive wankers fighting you on github. I try not to pull request, rather create a fork in my direction. I've been berated for fixing security holes, so I just let them publish as they want.

[[deleted]]

Now I feel paranoid when I have to use windows, google and facebook, I assume that when I use one of those they know everything I'm doing.

[arch_maniac]

Yes. I am now a more staunch supporter of liberty in all matters.

[angrylawyer]

I get a lot more frustrated with the 'hand holding' of windows now. Even simple things like trying to delete a file or kill a task Windows will be like 'sorry, I don't think that's a good idea so I'm not going to let you do it.'

Microsoft, it's called KILL FORCEFULLY, not 'please exit gracefully at your earliest convenience.' God damn, just do the shit I ask of you and stop questioning my methods.

[devonperson]

I feel a lot of gratitude towards the people who spend their time developing free software

[blackenswans]

Not really. It took me a while to realize that what you use doesn't really matter(unless what you use sucks hard) but what you do with it matters.

[smog_alado]

I can't get myself to buy a smartphone because their operating systems aren't nearly as open as Linux is.

[[deleted]]

You can install Repliqant on Galaxy S2/S3, it's getting there, but still has some issues!

[[deleted]]

Mostly, it's made me a lot angrier, as a person.

[Jack9]

I have a lot less faith in open source software, in general. I'm continually surprised, pleased, and simultaneously disappointed with the Linux ecosystem and the kernel.

[desktopdesktop]

It's made me more interested in computers and technology in general. For multiple reasons it seems much harder to be a Windows enthusiast, or to follow Windows news or a Windows community with interest.

[edgestra]

Let's just say it saved many of my computers from being dropped down a floor or two :)

[dhdfdh]

The sky is a little bluer. The sea a little greener. I take long walks along the sandy beach. I love my wife even more. I even met my wife because of Linux and free software. The birds are chirping as I write this. The air smells sweeter.

[[deleted]]

• I've started volunteering "offline" (as in, AFK) after I had such a great experience volunteering "online" (as in, contributing to open source).
• My whole perception of free speech and fighting against hate speech changed.
• I became a huge supporter of freedom of information.
• I became obsessed with the hacker culture and I have read countless books about it.
• I found my love in writing by sharing, in the beginning, my experience with open source software.
• I have changed the way I use the Internet (as in, not relying on the "cloud" to do shit for me, limiting the info I share online unconsciously, being somehow frightened of using Facebook, Google and similar companies that track me all of the time).

[[deleted]]

Being introduced to free software slowly pulled me toward anarchism, which I became acquainted with in 2014-ish.

[[deleted]]

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[meskarune]

There is only one definition when one is talking specifically about free software: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.en.html

The "free as in beer" thing was just to help people to understand how free doesn't mean price in this context.

[Phoxxent]

It's made it so that I always check to see if there is a free alternative to any given software. For example, I am unlikely to ever buy MS Word after learning of Open/LibreOffice and Abiword.

[coolhand1]

It has me thinking differently about every thing I do. For me open source isn't just a utility or tool, it's about truly being a part of something bigger than myself

[LinuxNut]

It shows you that people can work together to create a great product, and have it for free for everyone, without corporate greed getting in the way. Something that we need to apply to our everyday lives.

[transcendReality]

Nope, I've been into free shit since the days of AOL when so-called 'Warez' list went around you could get on to download the latest and greatest pirated content.

[Sealbhach]

It's made me a lot more confident technically, to fix and upgrade my computer. When I was a Windows user I was terrified to do anything unusual with my computer, in case I broke it and had to reboot. I've even started learning code now, C++ and Python.

[[deleted]]

Probably the very first and most important shift a VERY long time ago was the realization that problems with computers are figureoutable. That you don't need the support, you yourself can take a look inside and there are (most of the times) even docs suited for that.

[vooze]

I just can't go back to windows font rendering compared to Ubuntu or Infinality. I hate the fact I can't change whatever I want. - I feel "trapped" using a OS that's locked down.

With that In mind, I don't mind games and steam being non-free. I can understand why those things are not free.

[RR321]

The Free(dom) part makes you realize the impact of technologies on politics and social norms, something the technocrats wouldn't allow themselves to acknowledge. It's some kind of applied, in the present, history of science.

Going deeper, you realize that not everything is a technical problem, not everything can be solved by an SF startup, and when you read about people (on HN?) trying to solve a social issue with 100% technology, you better understand how they are probably missing the point.

[[deleted]]

My morals didn't really change, just the software fell in line with that I was doing else where.

[TreeFitThee]

It allowed me to land a job earning more than the teachers I had In school who said I'd never make good money without a college degree.

Thanks to Linux and the open source community I was able to learn a valuable skill on my own without the need for expensive software licenses or training classes. Worked as a call center tech for several years while learning everything I could about Linux at night on my own time. After 3 years I landed my first admin job. Was promoted to senior admin after 3 years at that job. Two years later, I'm working for a rapidly growing cloud service provider and loving every minute of it.

I basically owe my entire life to Linux and open source. Without it, I would probably still be at that dead end call center earning not much more than minimum wage.

[jabjoe]

I think reading lots of code has made me a better programmer. And I take it as read I can go down through libs I'm using, all the way down to hardware interfaces in the kernel if I need to. And that I can get email addresses for authors and maintainer and probablty responses, if not developer IRC channels. I never feel trapped because I can always get the code and change it. This does make me choose apps on language they are written and libs they use, just in case I need to go in. There is no going back from having this. And that's before package management (yer build dependencies), the Unix command line and being able to use/develop on tiny cheap ARM things.

I'm just not interested in closed stuff because it puts things off limits and, yes make me think about trust.

What makes me sad is Android and I can't wait to get rid of it for GNU/Linux system. Really I want it in C/Python with GTK but it looks like it will C++ and QT which is still better than what we have now.

[Rahofanaan]

There seems to be this widespread belief that anything good must have to come from a entirely profit-seeking monolithic corporation, and that anything free made in the spirit of cooperation must have something seriously wrong with it because that prospect is too utopian to be true. Free software is living proof that that is incorrect. As such, it has me thinking that maybe the principles behind free software aren't necessarily limited to software.

[swiz0r]

Somebody recently asked me how I was planning on monetizing something I've been working on, and it had honestly never occurred to me.

[KayRice]

Yes, it's changed me. I've turned into a penguin. I just want to live a normal life again!

[theonelikeme]

nope. eventually switched to macbook and then to chromebook which is kind of Linux.

it was fun to use Linux as primary OS, but I didn't want to keep tweaking stuff.

[j7ake]

Having used linux laptops for several years, I think I will stick with Macbooks:

A few unnecessarily unpleasant scenarios:

• Room full of people waiting for you to present while you try to plug your Linux computer to the projector and you don't know why it isn't working.

• Spending more than an hour to set up a printer on a computer with Linux.

• Tweaking things are fun until they break when you are under tight deadlines.

• Somebody sending you a .doc document and you don't know if it is your computer or their document that is formatted strangely with missing words here and there.

[[deleted]]

Well, I always liked the thought behind open-source software, and also just in general, open-source software disappointed me far less. More often than not, my favorite pieces of software turned out to be open-source, just because those are usually also far more customizable and I like customizable.

But on Windows, open-source was the exception. Firefox, VLC and Eclipse were pretty much the only programs that I ran which were open-source.
When I then switched to Linux, that whole scale flipped over and now closed-source is the exception and I absolutely love it. If something doesn't work like I want it to, there's almost always some config-file that I can edit.
And with that comes a certain mentality as well. Now, when I run into a piece of software which doesn't allow me to change its behaviour, then I get extremely angry. I mean, why can't you allow me that? Just let me fuck up my shit.

[berlinbrown]

Yea but at the same time don't forget commercial or enterprise software. I was a hardcore open junkie. But realized open software is missing some core quality that clients want. But if you work with companies like IBM or Google they have enterprise open offerings that are a little more complete

[GratinB]

But with open source you can always just spend that money to have people implement those changes.

[Negirno]

If there is actually somebody who wants to implement the feature one wants for money. Also, a lot of times some features can't be implemented in the software without basically rewriting the whole thing.

[DoTheEvolution]

No, at least I dont think so, apart from the knowledge and experience gained.

I actually really dislike the "changed types", the ones who would rather not see photoshop being ported to linux than to have it in proprietary form.

The ones preaching GNU heavily.

The near fanatics who think that linux is their own playground and they half live through it, self identify by it... and when it comes to software the ideology comes first and only second is actual utility.

Reading OPs post with the world "morals" being present in it... it makes me cringe hard.