RIP: Linux Community (1991-2007)

[Andrew Harris]

The main reason I like open source/Linux is the people. They share their work with others so that other people can work on it and make it better. I love that! I wish everything was that way!
   
  This community also likes to help each other and give each other tips on how to use their software/OS. It's like having tech support, but it's free and you can give tech support back to the tech support guy.
   
  To be honest, I forgot how this topic got started, but I think it was something along the lines of proprietary drivers and things destroying the Linux community. I don't think that this will ever happen for good.
   
  What could destroy the Linux community is what left Minix in the dust, which is some guy comes along and develops their own OS, which is something that Linus mentioned in the end of his book (Andrewix?).

Darrin Chandler <dwchandler at stilyagin.com> wrote:
  On Thu, Mar 29, 2007 at 06:30:02PM -0700, Andrew Harris wrote:
> Well being one that has a Micro$oft Office class at school and therefore is forced to use Windows EVERY DAY at first period, I HATE Windows. I wish it would die. I hate the closed-sourceness, the viruses, the crazy money you have to spend on it, and how often I am forced to use it, including right now when I have been grounded from the only GOOD computer in the house--My laptop that has Ubuntu with Gnome, KDE, and Xfce installed on it.
> 
> That said, I will use proprietary stuff if:
> 
> 1. I know it's safe
> 2. It's absolutely necessary.
> 3. There's no (good) open source solution.
> 
> Examples include Macromedia Flash and Java. And if I had an NVidia graphics card, I'd use the proprietary drivers too.

When you have to interface with the rest of the world, sometimes you
have to use what they use. At this point, there just aren't substitutes
for everything. Likely there never will be, if you have to work with a
certain proprietary file format. Open source may produce a word
processor that's just as good or better than MS Word, but when dealing
with Word format files, MS Word defines the standard.

There's another whole rant on that topic, but it's not appropriate here.
If you're stuck, you're stuck.

> The thing is, I want my system to run well. I, although I am a big open source freak, will use proprietary drivers/software if need be.

This is where I disagree. I want my system to run well, too. One choice
I have is to buy a copy of Windows and tun that. Everything will be
supported if I do that. Instead, I'm running an open source OS, and if
my video card doesn't have full acceleration, I wonder why the vendor
doesn't allow me to use their freaking hardware. Aren't I their
customer? Only if I use it with an approved OS in an approved way. And
by accepting this you validate their behavior.

"I love open source, but I don't mind having big closed, proprietary
parts if my system runs well."

Is that really how you feel about it? Did I misprepresent you with my
paraphrasing? Why, exactly, are you a big open source freak? I'm not
trying to pick you you. I'd really like to know. This stuff really
matters. At least to me.

-- 
Darrin Chandler | Phoenix BSD User Group | MetaBUG
dwchandler at stilyagin.com | http://phxbug.org/ | http://metabug.org/
http://www.stilyagin.com/ | Daemons in the Desert | Global BUG Federation
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