[SonnyTark]

A long time ago when I was in University, I was a volunteer in the Ubuntu group. In addition to evangelizing Linux/OSS, We were trying to convince our University to switch to opensource software for at least some engineering education with only a little bit of success.

After a particularly busy OSS event a non-programmer friend of mine asked me, why is it that the Linux people seem to be so needy for everyone to make the same choices they make? trying to answer that question changed my perspective on the entire community. And here we are, after all these years the same question seems to still apply.

Why are we so needy for ALL users and use-cases to be Linux-based and Linux-centric once we make that choice ourselves? What is it about Linux? the BSD people seem to not suffer from this and I've never heard anyone advocate for migration to OSX in spite of it being superior for specific usecases (like music production).

IMO if you're a creator, operating systems are tools; use the tool that fits the task.

[devnullbrain]

When you (try to) use libre software, the problems you run into tend not to be related to insufficient engineering, but more societal and economic, where they would be less likely to appear if there were more people in your cohort.

Examples:

- An important document is sent to me in a proprietary format

- A streaming service uses a DRM service owned by a tech giant that refuses to let it work with open source projects

- A video game developer thinks making games work on Linux isn't worth getting rid of rootkit anticheat

The downside is Windows users would have to live in a world without subscription-based office suites, locked down media, and letting the CCP into your ring 0.

[jact]

It’s bad for society for the desktop OS market to be a proprietary monopoly. It basically allows Microsoft to extract rent from the public defender.

I do understand the evangelism being obnoxious. I don’t advocate for people to switch if they have key use cases that ONLY windows or OS X can meet. Certainly not good to be pushy. But otherwise, people are really getting a better experience by switching to Linux.

[dwaite]

Because there are people who care about Free software from a philosophical standpoint on how societies should function and interact.

The community aspect of free software both pushes for more people to participate (and often for other groups to be excluded as "wrong" or "evil").

But that community only offers secondary benefits to those who are authors or painters or photographers rather than software developers - economic factors, risk aversion, functionality, and so on. The FLOSS communities are almost invariably driven toward hobbyists and developers rather than authors, artists, gamers, and the like - people whose interest lies outside of tinkering with and/or improving software.

The BSDs were never really a movement in that sense, and macOS is still just a product even if there are enthusiastic users of them both.

Similarly on the Linux side: Android, Steam Deck, and countless IoT devices are examples of successful products where the Linux aspect of them is not really even advertised.

[I_am_tiberius]

Because we want the best for other people.

[heresie-dabord]

> Why are we so needy for ALL users and use-cases to be Linux-based and Linux-centric once we make that choice ourselves? What is it about Linux?

Software freedom is A Good Thing.

And if you want my help, don't ask me to support the garbage that $OSCORP is foisting on you.

[kombine]

> why is it that the Linux people seem to be so needy for everyone to make the same choices they make?

This is the sort of question an apolitical person would ask a liberal (I am aware liberalism had been tainted in the recent times), like why is it you people are so needy and constantly preaching about democracy?