RIP: Linux Community (1991-2007)

[Darrin Chandler]

Thanks for the thoughtful response!

> And, this vast majority I speak of just want their tools to work.
> 
> It may be Linux enthusiasts' role to educate the majority as to why
> _this_ OS is better than _that_ OS and why everyone should use "code
> that doesn't suck," but we should never forget the hours,days
> weeks,months of sometimes frustrating study that enabled us to be
> comfortable in this role. Not everyone is willing to spend the time.
> Most don't care what goes on "under the hood."

"Just works" is getting closer all the time. Certainly Linux is easier
to use out of the box than it was years ago. Getting close to the goal,
there's a big temptation to make that sprint to the finish line by
whatever means work. Therein lies the trap. If free software compromises
its principles just as it's close to winning, then it's basically all
over and we lose. Or rather, we "win" by becoming the same as that we
were trying to get away from in the first place.

As for people who just want their tools to work... that's a valid view.
Not everyone will care about some obscure philosophies expounded by some
bearded hippie. But there are lots of practical reasons to use free
software as well. Anyone who's had their productivity lowered by
installing the latest version of Windows on older hardware can benefit.
Anyone who's had a vendor end-of-life a perfectly workable product (and
drop Windows/Mac driver support) can benefit. Anyone who suffers from a
flaky vendor supplied driver can benefit. "Take back your computer" sums
it up pretty well. Anyone who has been bitten can understand this to
some degree.

-- 
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