I receive the Linux Update newsletter from Linux Magazine. This item is included in today’s (September 5, 2024) issue. I think the issues reported in it need to be considered. What do you think?
Ernie
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Hi, @ernie
I think I would like to hear what @abhishek thinks about it what FOSS looks like in the short & long-term future.
While most of the article is probably over my head, it did say to me that a lot of major distros are using both FOSS & proprietary together.
I guess since my introduction to FOSS, I believed the way to support it was to use it. So nouveau over nvidia, for one. But I have had no issues whereas maybe some do, and as the article stated, use proprietary until a FOSS alternative becomes available.
Thanks for the article.
Sheila
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I dont care how they do it, but I want open source software to continue and grow.
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I appreciate the choices and boundless freedom to experiment. Windows and Mac are mental prisons, and unpleasantly inefficient ones at that. And I wouldn’t keep my old man merit badge if I didn’t mention that tightwads like free things!
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I dont know about Mac? Can you escape from its glossover and use the Unix that is underneath it?
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I agree. I think of him as one of our most knowledgeable information sources, and when he doesn’t have valid answers/solutions, he knows how to do the research to find the most authoritative information. @abhishek, please chime in on this topic,
Ernie
My sentiment exactly! I must admit to using the proprietary NVIDIA drivers here, because the nouveau drivers don’t provide the performance I want for streaming video, etc.
Ernie
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I don’t know much about Apple products because I’ve never had one. I’ve always objected to their falsely superior/better-than-though attitude toward other OS users, and I’ve always felt that their closed source approach limited the evolution of their products. To my mind, the single factor that sets GNU/Linux apart from the run-of-the-mill commercial offerings is that it’s a community-wide effort, where anyone can contribute directly, with the most functional contributions achieving the widest adoption/support from the community at large, essentially enhancing the quality of GNU/Linux’s evolution over time.
Ernie
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I dont care about the odd bit of closed source software, as long as they maintain it.
It fills a gap. There are gaps in open source, it does not do everything.
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That’s another point in the beauty of Open Source Software (OSS), proprietary software/drivers can be incorporated into the system/kernel as easily as their OSS counterparts, and the owners/developers of those proprietary software packages/drivers get the advantage of OSS contributions too. As long as both sides adhere to any implied/specific contract agreements, both sides win.
Ernie
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Same here.
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On a mac
Open Terminal
Click the Launchpad icon in the Dock, type Terminal in the search field, then click Terminal.
Or
In the Finder , open the /Applications/Utilities folder, then double-click Terminal.
But its not like using linux some commands are limited to what you can do, been a long time since i used it or needed it perhaps 20 years ago.
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Only if I can get a free one. I vowed never to spend a dime on an Apple product.
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My sister did get an almost free one.
The school her grandchildren attend use Macs… for one year… then sell them for about a quarter the new price, and start the new year with brand new ones.
Great way to keep updated if you can afford it.
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Not me! I don’t want one of their machines, free or otherwise, although if I can put Garuda Linux (without the macOS) on it, a free one might not taste so bad after all. Is it even possible to put GNU/Linux on a Mac machine, replacing the OS?
Ernie
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I have linux mint on my old mac no problem. Mainly as a client donated it as he could no longer update it, keyboard faulty, would not get on to his bank due to software not seeing https sites, although chrome would safari said no.
Had this one about 2 years and its running lmde 6 no problems for 13 year old technology.
My last mac ran for over 15 years on mint mate but only 32 bit version again too old to update, finally the motherboard died beyond repair.
Mac hardware is good and the system is fine just different, if in control panel it even looks similar to linux.
As most just do internet access no big deal if using chrome or firefox. But safari has some differences.
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If I ever get my hands on a Mac, I’ll give using it as a Linux box a try. Thank you for offering your experience. It’s helpful,
Ernie
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Hello @ernie! I have read the full article which you asked us to read. I am, in heart, against proprietary software. I was and I am still a Windows user for more than 28 years and I had to use Windows and the other proprietary software as I had no open source alternatives. As an example, I use Photoshop and honestly speaking, GIMP has a long way to go even Adobe Photoshop where is today. I used Adobe Premiere, recently I have shifted to Davinci Resolve but that also a proprietary software and Kdenlive is nowhere near to them. Kdenlive doesn’t even recognise the GPU in most of the time. So, it is pretty hard to find an alternative free open source software for professional work. Not everybody use a Linux system for gaming. So problem is everywhere in FOSS ecosystem and there is not enough involvement to solve this. Why? The answer lies in the core of the human need. The very first needs of a human being are food, clothes and shelter and to get these, we need money. For the instance I am donating myself to be the hero of the example. 
Now, if I need to devote myself for free open source software, I have to spend time and if I want to spend a significant amount of my time, I need money to support my needs. A revolution cannot be made in empty stomach and just like that, a revolution cannot take place working on a part-time basis. So, FOSS needs funding. Now from where this funding will come? From general public? I doubt that. Most of them doesn’t even know what FOSS means. So, the other source is corporate. Now the question is, why would corporates fund a project, the fruit of which they are getting for free, till date and making huge profit by making proprietary software using them? No. They wouldn’t. They are only interested in their profits. Generous funding for FREE open source software is not an option for them. But if we think, $10,000 funding by Microsoft to GNOME is enough, then it is a separate question. So, the only option is to make them pay. How? Simple. All those mega-corporations are making profit using open source software or codes. They have to pay for what they are taking and that will lead to a variable fee structure and that money will support FOSS. There is NO OTHER WAY, unfortunately to make FOSS alive and to make it grow to FREE our generations to come from the grip of these corporations.
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Thank you, Skywalker71, for your thoughts. IIUC, they seem to generally align with the article’s arguments on the side of creating a new GPL. I agree with you, in that, to my way of thinking, if a corporation profits from a FOSS project’s work, it should provide support for that project. Similarly, if it profits from using a GNU/Linux distribution, it should support that distribution. In either case, the support provided should come in both manpower and financial forms.
My2Cents,
Ernie
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There are niches where FOSS thrives.
I came from an entirely different world… scientific computing. In that area FOSS made a huge impact very early (say 1980’s) because it provided a free OS with compilers for various languages. That is about all most working scientists need … they generally write their own software.
I know that is different to what most people today expect from a PC … the point is that FOSS can achieve breakthroughs in specific areas, without huge funding inputs.
Large programming teams do not necessarily produce good software… look at windows. I think we should be looking for brilliant individual efforts. That is where the breakthroughs come from.
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