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by rglullis 1329 days ago
> which the FOSS community uses to exclude non-technical users.

Sorry, that is bullshit. Any FOSS enthusiast will gladly help other people, when there is a clear path to make the change. When I told my friends and family "I am not going to use WhatsApp anymore, but there is this program that we use instead", I went to help all of them that were interested. I didn't force them to choose between Element or WhatsApp, I just said "here is one alternative."

> Just as FOSS should produce high quality, usable, popular, free software.

I can bet FOSS beats proprietary solutions on any class on a dollar-per-unit-of-quality and even dollar-per-user-acquired metric.

> If you actually want people to use FOSS you need to stop shoulding potential users and start making software that satisfies their needs in obvious and delightful ways.

Everyone wants an unicorn. No one wants to pay for it. If we want developers to work on FOSS projects, we need to foment a marketplace that rewards FOSS developers.

"Oh, but I don't care about FOSS. I care about getting things done, or less inconveniences, etc"

Fine, then enjoy your shit sandwich that is called "Big Tech".