Dricot: A freasy future for GNOME [LWN.net]

Dricot: A freasy future for GNOME

Posted Aug 12, 2012 2:22 UTC (Sun) by elanthis (guest, #6227)
In reply to: Dricot: A freasy future for GNOME by khim
Parent article: Dricot: A freasy future for GNOME

> Think about it: most Linux users use it not because it's free but because it's cheap (I'm talking about server and emdebbed here, obviously, not about desktop: on desktop, indeed, most users prefer Linux because it's free

I'd argue that most Linux desktops users are those looking to tinker and play around. Look at the install base of proprietary drivers, the excitement over Steam, and the constant demand for more ISVs to support Linux. I don't see Freedom being the most valued attribute of Linux on the desktop.

Personally, the vast majority of folks I get asking me about Linux outside of the server are programmery types looking for cool toys to tinker with. Freedom is not a concept that they have yet grasped, most of them care just as little as anyone else, and cheapness is hardly an issue for them. Obviously my anecdotal evidence here is biased, since I'm surrounded by programmery types in an industry that is very proprietary in nature, so take that as you will.

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The plural of anecdote

Posted Aug 12, 2012 17:12 UTC (Sun) by Wol (guest, #4433) [Link]

IS data.

Okay, anecdotes are often a biased sample, but as another poster said - "everyone I know" ...

When you get stuff like that, you *need* to find the explanation if you want to understand. I suspect that people who object to anecdotes are actually indulging in the very UNscientific pursuit of collecting only the evidence that confirms their prejudice, not the scientific pursuit of evidence whether or not it supports them. Indeed, true science is the pursuit of evidence that does NOT support you.

If you can't find any, then you can conclude you are probably right :-)

Cheers,
Wol

Dricot: A freasy future for GNOME

Posted Aug 13, 2012 8:44 UTC (Mon) by Pawlerson (guest, #74136) [Link]

I'd argue that most Linux desktops users are those looking to tinker and play around. Look at the install base of proprietary drivers, the excitement over Steam, and the constant demand for more ISVs to support Linux. I don't see Freedom being the most valued attribute of Linux on the desktop.

From my observations freedom doesn't matter much for most of the Linux users, but it's the most important to Linux itself. What most users want is software. That's why Windows is so popular. Its users don't care if their toy OS has vulnerabilities that come from DOS or that GUI operates in the kernel space. Bring software to Linux and Windows will loose an only advantage.