Aral Balkan
“Just install Linux on it” is the “just change the engine of your car” of tech.
Not everyone is a mechanic, not everyone wants to be a mechanic, and, if we want a world where freedom is the norm, we must stop expecting everyone to become a mechanic.
Note: this is not because these people are too dumb to be mechanics. It’s because they’re brain surgeons and space-shuttle pilots and they have three kids and they care for a loved one and they don’t have time to also be a mechanic.
Aral Balkan
We are not going to compete with the mainstream car industry by promoting engine replacements. We are going to compete with the mainstream car industry by building better cars that are safer and more sustainable. But those cars aren’t going to grow on trees. We must fund the organisations that will create them from the commons for the common good.
Aral Balkan
@rugk > the brain surgeon could be interested in having Linux installed and go to a mechanic, who does it for them. Or they buy a device, which comes pre-installed with it.
Those two options are worlds apart. Again, no one goes to a mechanic to install an electric engine in their gas guzzler, they buy an electric car.
So the first option is the problem, the second is the solution. We need to stop conflating the problem with the solution. And we need to stop victim blaming. People do care.
z428
@rugk Most people care about operating systems just as much as about the company which built the engine in their car. They care about things that work for them. That's our challenge. 😌
@aral
z428
@rugk It depends, and I'd try / suggest another route: Make people sensible for reasons why to use FLOSS software, not necessarily just Linux. And enable them to do so as much as possible. If you're in example supposed to work with CAD or a lot of planning software, Linux is no meaningful option but you still could use a lot of FLOSS on top of your current platform. That already would help in some cases. 😉
rugk
In any case, I think the end of update support of Windows 7 in 2020 can be a chance to bring people to Linux.
I mean many people still use Windows 7…
Due to the lack of a real cross-distro discussion platform I've written up some ideas here, now:
https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/t/campaign-to-get-windows-7-users-to-upgrade-to-linux/1015
Aral Balkan
@vk How did I get it so wrong? Is there somewhere I can go to read up on all this?
Aral Balkan
@retro64XYZ Right. So let me get this straight: unless you have a lab in your own home, you deserve to get food poisoning (didn’t you test those eggs for listeria? What are you, an idiot?)
No one deserves to be exploited. No one deserves to be ripped off. No one deserves to be violated.
No one is asking you to design anything for free. We design things for ourselves, for the way we want to be treated & for the world we want to live in. Go stand in the corner and think about what you just said.
Aral Balkan
@lerk You’ve convinced me, I should give it a shot one day. Just to confirm: the computer does need to be on before changing the OS, right? I don’t have to open it up or anything?
MMN-o ✅⃠
MMN-o ✅⃠
Aral Balkan
@eukara When you buy a Mac, it comes with macOS. You turn it on. It works.
When you buy a Windows computer, it comes with Windows. You turn it on. It does what could generously be called working.
When you buy a computer, you do not then install a different t OS on it just like when you buy a car, you do not then install a different engine in it (unless that’s at your hobby).
So yes, you’re right. But no one else asking them to install an OS.
Aral Balkan
@rigo @phessler I thought Jolla was closed source. Has something changed?
Aral Balkan
@_ :Wiseau: :Wiseau: :Wiseau: :Wiseau:
Aral Balkan
@CharredStencil @leon_allen Agree, hence why I spend time trying to push the idea of commons funding… but it’s a tough sell when you’re saying “we must spend money” and Silicon Valley is telling politicians “we’ll give you money.”
Kim
@aral All purchase is politic, when you buy a Mac you buy from a capitalist company of dubious ethics, the worse you favor proprietary software and programmed obsolescence because motherboard is welded to the laptop. There are a lot of companies selling pcs with gnu/linux preinstalled for the half price with same hardware power, of course without retina screen.
People need to know that companies like Apple or Microsoft make them slaves of their proprietary products.
It's my humble opinion ;)
tuttle
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