Stract| A search engine where the user has the ability to see exactly what is going on and customize almost everything about their search results. by AlphaXChance in FLOSS

[–]Genuinesoftwarekey 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I bought the genuine key in https://microprokey.com/, the key is working. and it is very cheap, Use Promo Code: SAVE30GIFT - Windows 11 Pro Key only $27.99.

We need more of Richard Stallman, not less by Drewski in FLOSS

[–]Drewski[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Stract| A search engine where the user has the ability to see exactly what is going on and customize almost everything about their search results. by AlphaXChance in FLOSS

[–]AlphaXChance[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I am not the developer of this project.

Stract| A search engine where the user has the ability to see exactly what is going on and customize almost everything about their search results. by AlphaXChance in FLOSS

[–]twolanterns 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

can you change the basic search mechanism to be AND based between the words instead of these advertiser at top facilitating searches which employ OR logic on multi word queries

Stract| A search engine where the user has the ability to see exactly what is going on and customize almost everything about their search results. by AlphaXChance in FLOSS

[–]neolib 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Docs: https://docs.trystract.com/

I can't find how many pages are currently in their index though...

Stract| A search engine where the user has the ability to see exactly what is going on and customize almost everything about their search results. by AlphaXChance in FLOSS

[–]In-the-clouds 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

This is interesting and I will give it a try. I like this particular optic:

Remove the top 10,000 most popular websites from search results.

The most popular websites are also the most likely to host propaganda.

Linux-powered AI assistant killed off by 'patent troll' by Drewski in FLOSS

[–]bucetao6969 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

How it can be "killed off"? just... copy the source code 😂

How Jack Dorsey’s Bitcoin Legal Defense Fund is fighting for the future of open source software by Drewski in FLOSS

[–]Drewski[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Decentralized Communication - #SolutionsWatch (54:39) ~ The Corbett Report [unofficial mirror] by JasonCarswell in FLOSS

[–]JasonCarswell[S] 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

I may be moving to some/all of these sooner than later.

It would be nice if we could archive and share everything from SaidIt there too.


  1. https://EuroVPS.com
  2. https://Qortal.org
  3. https://Wiki.Qortal.org
  4. https://Bastyon.com
  5. https://Nostr.com
  6. https://Damus.io
  7. https://Astral.Ninja
  8. https://Minds.com, now with Nostr


https://www.CorbettReport.com/solutionswatch-communication/

Linux-powered AI assistant killed off by 'patent troll' by Drewski in FLOSS

[–]Drewski[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Why We're Rebuilding The Thunderbird Interface From Scratch by Drewski in FLOSS

[–]Drewski[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

working with the public domain and finding public domain content by panel30 in FLOSS

[–]panel30[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

related post - creative commons content (not necessarily public domain)

lotide (Reddit Alternative), federated forum / link aggregator using ActivityPub. by [deleted] in FLOSS

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Open signup instance: https://lotide.fbxl.net/

lotide (Reddit Alternative), federated forum / link aggregator using ActivityPub. by [deleted] in FLOSS

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Bionic Reading - Convert Text into Better Way to Read Faster by Drewski in FLOSS

[–]IkeConn 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I wonder how many cruel high school english teachers will try to ban this device.

Bionic Reading - Convert Text into Better Way to Read Faster by Drewski in FLOSS

[–]chottohen 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Every action is followed by an equal and opposite over-reaction.[Posted to the wrong sub.]

PeerTube v4.1 is out! by Drewski in FLOSS

[–]magnora7 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Nice. I'm glad there are some solid alternatives to youtube developing. It's way too much of a monopoly.

Why trademark Open Source software by [deleted] in FLOSS

[–]JasonCarswell 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Great post!

It's funny in that I've kept talking about my next-gen Phoenix forum and MetaVote™ concept with the TM icon because I think:

  1. It's hillarious
  2. I want to make it seem very important
  3. Bcause I know it's a potential game-changer (unless I'm very deluded)
  4. It's a big fucking concept with far-reaching aspects
  5. It's going to be a monster load of work all the way to make it
  6. People who work on it should be credited and rewarded
  7. It's the beginning of an institution of sorts
  8. I'd love to make money from it but realize that's unlikely so I'll parody the institutions of power instead by laughing at their intellectual property and copyright laws that only serve the wealthy and their army of lawyers.

For whatever it's worth, here are MetaVote™-related conceptual hints in my comments:

I hope to share more on MetaVotes™ soon, but I have other "epic" projects to outline first too. Then I will present them all for SaidIt to determine which we should focus on. More on this here.

We Need to Save What Made Linux and FOSS Possible by Mnemonic in FLOSS

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

How could you put a price on conquering linux gaming forever, by obsoleting Wine with ProtonDB? Android gaming is a lot closer to linux than it is to Windoze too.

Jitsi - open-source alternative to Zoom video conferencing by JasonCarswell in FLOSS

[–]Airbus320 2 insightful - 3 fun2 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 3 fun -  (0 children)

Ring.cx another alternative

We Need to Save What Made Linux and FOSS Possible by Mnemonic in FLOSS

[–]Airbus320 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Waste of money

Snap by dissent in FLOSS

[–]JasonCarswell 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Sad but true. That's why I won't use Ubuntu again.

Calibre 5.0 released. The powerful e-book manager has moved to Python 3, has dark mode support and more. by Pis-dur in FLOSS

[–]JasonCarswell 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

I've had this for years.

Xfce 4.16pre1 released! - the first development release leading up to Xfce 4.16. It comes with a boatload of new features and improvements. by Pis-dur in FLOSS

[–]Pis-dur[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Yeah, have to -Syuu ASAP 8)

Xfce 4.16pre1 released! - the first development release leading up to Xfce 4.16. It comes with a boatload of new features and improvements. by Pis-dur in FLOSS

[–][deleted] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

might be time to fire up an Arch linux

Snap by dissent in FLOSS

[–]Scrubjay 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Ha ha very funny :)

Jitsi - open-source alternative to Zoom video conferencing by JasonCarswell in FLOSS

[–]JasonCarswell[S] 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

"Not chuffed"? New to me.

Chuffed = delighted; pleased; satisfied - or - displeased ("Not helpful when a word is its own antonym.")

(1957, from dialectal (northern England) chuff, originally meaning “puffed with fat”.)

 

Also new to me:

Chuffed | Non-profit charity and social enterprise fundraising

Chuffed is a crowdfunding platform for socially-conscious projects. We support individuals, not-for-profits, social enterprises and community groups to run awesome crowdfunding campaigns, all 100% free.

https://www.chuffed.org/us

(Added to: /s/DecentralizeAllThings/wiki)

All good to know!

 

Thus far I've avoided ever using video chats (except 1 choppy call in 2003 and a few Skypes in 2010). Monday I want to join a Zoom call with my local Green Party folks so I was looking into it.

FarmBot: open source backyard robot for a fully automated garden (31:43) ~ Kirsten Dirksen, 2016-09-25 by JasonCarswell in FLOSS

[–]JasonCarswell[S] 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

The OP video and the TED Talk videos are good but out of date. Check this out:

It's time for FarmBot Express and Genesis MAX (2:30) ~ FarmBot, 2019-11-28

Now back to notes on the OP video:

For a kit: $2,900, in 2017, coming down over time (up to 9x more cost effective with the larger 2019 garden versions in the short video above). Does not include water or electricity or wifi. Save $1000 by building your own parts (it helps to have a 3D printer). Almost everything is off the shelf. Open source and completely customizable. The software will only get better. Be independent off grid with a water source (rain barrel, tank, pond, river, etc) and only needs the 2 solar panels ($100 each? or $50 each? and/or with the batteries?). The 4x8 garden should easily provide enough vegetables for one person all year. Getting all your calories is another story. They're working on a bigger tougher 8x16 version to feed a family of 4.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FarmBot

Official sites:
https://farm.bot
https://forum.farmbot.org
https://software.farm.bot/docs/farmbot-os
https://developer.farm.bot/docs https://github.com/FarmBot
https://meta.farm.bot/docs - Intro to FarmBot Inc

TEDxUCLA | Open Source Automated Precision Farming | Rory Aronson (9:21) ~ FarmBot, 2017-04-12

Using FarmBot as an Accessibility Technology (7:56) ~ FarmBot, 2017-08-01

FarmBot channel on YouTube has 79 videos:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2O2FyrBnJjzyTSKHxpa9_A/videos

Mirrored post:
/s/DecentralizeAllThings/comments/49zw/farmbot_open_source_backyard_robot_for_a_fully/ /s/FLOSS/comments/49z1/farmbot_open_source_backyard_robot_for_a_fully/
/s/gardening/comments/49z0/farmbot_open_source_backyard_robot_for_a_fully/
/s/Sustainability/comments/49zx/farmbot_open_source_backyard_robot_for_a_fully/

GNOME files defense against patent troll by Mnemonic in FLOSS

[–]Zizzle 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

A gnome defends itself against a troll? I'd there a video of this or what?

Does going Full Stallman isolate a person? ~ Bryan Lunduke by JasonCarswell in FLOSS

[–]JasonCarswell[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

At 10m, I LOVE that at Purism they're trying to pre-package (dumb down) stuff for the normies. We need more of this!!!

We Need to Save What Made Linux and FOSS Possible by Mnemonic in FLOSS

[–]worm 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I've always loved it when people take specific quotes and respond to them individually without responding to the passage as a whole. I think it frees them from the responsibility of understanding the thesis before them, and consequently from producing a counterthesis of their own.

In my opinion, singling these replies out is a surefire way to identify someone who's arguing in bad faith, having given up any hope of understanding the arguments they oppose and hoping only to "win" on some obscure internet forum that nobody else will ever read in order to satisfy their egos.

The fundamental point which I made again and again is that most users don't want Stallman's four freedoms. You could put all four freedoms before them and they wouldn't care. You could take them away and they still wouldn't care. If they're using free software, it's just because it happens to be free while possessing some characteristic they like; not because it is free software in and of itself. The exceptions to this rule are the exceptionally paranoid, government agencies or those who insist on getting a Librebooted laptop and reading through every single line of code they run, and the Stallman worshippers who refuse to use proprietary software on moral grounds. Sure, maybe it'd be possible to create free software that people like to use. But the moment something better comes along? Even if it's proprietary, people will move on to that without fail, because they don't give a shit about the 4 freedoms, because in an ideal world they'd never exercise those freedoms anyway.

The argument I'm making is really just that simple. You can bring up as many ancillary points you'd like about free software being terrible, or servers being defined as consumer goods, or trusting in FOSS vs trusting in scale, or so on - but none of these ancillary points address the central issue, which is the simple fact that most people don't care about Stallman's 4 freedoms either way, and that it is rational for them to not care. The average user is not any better off in Stallman's dreamworld than they are in the present world; in either case, their reluctance to read source code for themselves would mean that they are reliant on developer honesty, and frankly, if I had to choose between trusting Google and trusting you to make sure that my software hasn't got any weird shit in it, it wouldn't be irrational at all to prefer to trust Google.

As a final ancillary point - just because I cannot help myself sometimes - the definition of a web server as being consumer software is clearly wrong in every sense of the word. A personal website, or a portfolio for that matter, are goods produced to satisfy other consumers. In other words, the man who creates his personal website, or the artist who creates a porfolio website, is hiring a web server in order to produce a consumer good for others. The consumers who visit that ultimate product don't give a shit whether it's running Microsoft or Google or Apache technology, and I'd challenge you to find any average Joe who boycotts websites on the ground that they're on non-free web servers. For all I know, Stallman might actually do that - somehow I don't think that's too out of character - but good luck convincing the average Joe to discriminate on the basis of web servers.

We Need to Save What Made Linux and FOSS Possible by Mnemonic in FLOSS

[–]Mnemonic[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The need for security and paranoia (as if you could forget) was in fact brought up by you, when you argued that RMS and his 4 freedoms aren't the only reason to use FOSS. You argued that intelligence agencies use FOSS too!

Exactly, though I don't see how using a modified Ubuntu nor Wireshark helps with privacy nor paranoia. This remark of me was to show that FOSS doesn't suck, not that it's protecting your privacy (Wireshark is used to sniff stuff out), again something you made up.

Here you went from taking an argument which was meant to be a counter to 'it sucks' and turn it into some fantastical thing that I have said FOSS is great for privacy. You could have asked instead of making stuff up about what I meant. But it's common knowledge I presumed you knew. Like I keep asking what FOSS is in your eyes, I presumed you knew and had some criticism, then in my eyes turned out you were bumped about Gimp, Libre Office and Signal.

you're literally citing RMS' 4 freedoms as the only justification for FOSS for the masses

? No I just pointed out what FOSS is at it's core (you, again, make up it's somehow 'my only justification'):

  1. Freedom to run the program as you wish.

  2. Freedom to study the source code of the program and then change it so the program does what you wish.

  3. Freedom to help your neighbour. That’s the freedom to redistribute the exact copies of the software when you wish.

  4. Freedom to contribute to your community. That’s the freedom to distribute copies or modified versions when you wish.

You see how it says 'freedom to'. You don't have to, but you can. Like painting your house, you don't have to, but it's nice to know when you want it to do, you can call a local painter to sort it out. But I guess RMS got you triggered somehow, I appreciate you not bringing up the toe jam though.

right back to the point where I started about why FOSS doesn't appeal to most users.

And I ask now, again, why is that the part that doesn't make it appealing for the public? and with 'the part' I mean FOSS. Like we both agree, normal users don't give/know a damn: Why would something being FOSS be bad in their eyes. You gave 3 examples of a GUI that 'sucked' (and went on to say everything FOSS sucks and it's developers, which I'm countering and then my arguments become oil somehow in your eyes). The label FOSS or even the truth of something being FOSS is not something people turn away from it. (because they don't even know)

that means the programmer didn't do the job properly.

They never do their work properly, I don't assume and I hope you don't think that non-FOSS means 'they did their jobs before shipping it out for cash'. But to be more specific because it's hard to grasp: I buy something and I can't do with it what I want, that's not freedom. It's not about that people 'should' tweak it, but it's optional. Like the Brave Browser, he didn't like Firefox, so he made his own with the things he liked from Firefox. Is this too hard to grasp? Is this the thing we are hung up on?

Instead of having to write and understand and repair and maintain his own program, he wants the exact opposite, which is to let the developer do it for him so he can just use a pretty-looking program to write letters or watch porn. That's it.

You mean like, installing firefox for example? Or installing a web server? setting up LaTeX for university reports? Or any other FOSS application? That's it.

because even if they could hire a programmer they wouldn't want to proofread their work to make sure the programmer didn't put in something awful.

I really don't see how this is FOSS exclusive; at least in FOSS you might have the luck some nerd catches the awful thing instead of letting it slide because the company wants it in and else the programmer gets fired/sued for leaking details about a very vulnerable opening.

playing with definitions, dragging in unrelated software

Sure, me... I still don't believe you know what FOSS means outside your bad experiences with those 3 applications and RMS memes.

(defining web servers as consumer products? Seriously?)

How are they not? You don't have a person website? Portfolio (wanted among artists)? Family history site? That's cool, but if your definition of the web is: corporations only... well LOL how did you get here? (because well FOSS developers suck and all, your words, ehm, why you use saidit? saidit's only proprietary code is Cassandra, something to keep it all in RAM IIRC) Or am I now twisting your words? (How does it feel?)

and now, contradicting and denying your own statements. I'm just not getting any signs of thought from your replies at all.

Could you point them out? Because I only spotted you misinterpreting my words on purpose (because I don't think you're a fool).

We Need to Save What Made Linux and FOSS Possible by Mnemonic in FLOSS

[–]worm 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Here he is again, Mr Slippery doing what he does best. Oiling himself up and slipping away from his own earlier words to redefine the argument in his own favour.

The need for security and paranoia (as if you could forget) was in fact brought up by you, when you argued that RMS and his 4 freedoms aren't the only reason to use FOSS. You argued that intelligence agencies use FOSS too! And I note then, as I note now, that this still means that only the paranoid and the Stallman clones would logically use FOSS over technically superior proprietary software. Hardly a large audience, isn't it?

Additionally, given that you're literally citing RMS' 4 freedoms as the only justification for FOSS for the masses, forgive me for being a little bit doubtful of your earlier claim that RMS does not speak for FOSS. Funnily enough, in all the slipping and sliding you're doing you've actually managed to slip all around in a full circle, right back to the point where I started about why FOSS doesn't appeal to most users.

As I've said from the very beginning: the problem comes down to the fact that the average Joe doesn't care at all about the option to check out the source and tweaking the source. As far as he is concerned, if you have to look at the source code to change something so that it works the way you want it to work, that means the programmer didn't do the job properly.

Instead of having to write and understand and repair and maintain his own program, he wants the exact opposite, which is to let the developer do it for him so he can just use a pretty-looking program to write letters or watch porn. That's it.

None of these people are interested in the gig-economy you describe in which you can hire a programmer to rewrite a program to fit your needs, because even if they could hire a programmer they wouldn't want to proofread their work to make sure the programmer didn't put in something awful. On a rational level, normal people realize that they simply wouldn't benefit from FOSS that much, and that is why normal people making rational decisions won't push for FOSS. It simply doesn't matter to them.

For what it's worth, I'm sorry if I sound exasperated with you, but I am. You've been slipping round and round in circles, playing with definitions, dragging in unrelated software (defining web servers as consumer products? Seriously?) and now, contradicting and denying your own statements. I'm just not getting any signs of thought from your replies at all.

We Need to Save What Made Linux and FOSS Possible by Mnemonic in FLOSS

[–]Mnemonic[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

First, it changes the definition of "mainstream" from "being widely used by users" to "being widely used by developers to offer their own end-products";

I'm not doing that, you're doing that in your own envisioning of my words somehow.

I pointed out with the examples I gave of people using FOSS that it did nor does suck (as you claimed). Now, if you would have looked at the list and know what is on there (I even hinted nicely to web-based), you would know that the majority uses FOSS for web servers. (If you don't believe: https://w3techs.com/technologies/overview/web_server/all) .

The fundamental point I make has always been the same. FOSS will never be adopted by the vast majority of people because the vast majority of people don't give a shit about reading source code. The only reason anyone might have to use FOSS would have nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that it is FOSS, and will only be because the FOSS option happens to be the better product, which is rarely the case.

That last part came later than your first reply and 'and will only be because the FOSS option happens to be the better product' is what I'm trying to show you all the time. (like the web servers ^ )

There is a very common misconception amongst Linux and FOSS fanatics. Once they buy into their ideology enough, they begin to argue that their software is not only morally superior to that of the mainstream systems, but is also technically superior too.

I didn't do that, stating that the Libre office suit is more powerful is based on the same functionality as the Microsoft counterpart BUT Libre office supports more standards. I admitted that GIMP isn't as cool as photoshop.

I even use Steam to get my puzzle games, Dropbox to get people in the UK their weekly dosis of pirate loot and I run the Oracle Java (not the openjdk). [I also have a Ps3 {ABSOLUTELY PROPRIETARY!}]

The whole moral bullshit is something again, you make up.

will clearly never concede that FOSS programmes simply lack the polish to appeal to the vast majority of computer users on the planet until I positively compare every single programme he wants to pull up and debate the pros and cons of each one in comparison to its proprietary counterpart

That's not true, but you may have your delusions. I don't buy your argument that is means all FOSS and gave counter examples of polished and appealing programs.

As long as FOSS remains true to its core ideology of making software freely available (in the liberal sense of the word), a rational member of the public would have no reason to use FOSS over proprietary software.

The whole point of the source being available is that you have the option to change it (or hire some one to do it for you). Like you're free to paint your house and you don't have to pay the original construction company money to only let them do it for excessive amounts off money.

The obsession with linking being able to read the source code and paranoia and somehow privacy is something you, again and again, make up. That is not what it is about and I never brought that up. This is also why I asked you to explain FOSS how you see it, because this makes no sense and seems to be solely based on /v/-memes.

And why are the FOSS 4 freedoms standing in the way for a 'rational member of the public' she/he should be concerned about what program is the best for them. Just because they have the option of checking out the source and tweaking it to their own liking they are going to discard it? Now if they think they have a better option, that would be a rational decision.

as long as the FOSS movement cannot provide a pressing need for normal people to have access to source code

Again, this is not pressing for normal people.

We Need to Save What Made Linux and FOSS Possible by Mnemonic in FLOSS

[–]worm 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

/u/mnemonic, your argument about FOSS being mainstream is the same as /u/JasonCarswell 's argument about Linux being mainstream, and with respect to both of you, it's a stupid argument about definitions rather than a real argument about the end-results.

To argue that "FOSS is mainstream because big companies base their tech on it", is more or less the same argument as, "Linux is mainstream because Android is Linux and servers run Linux". It makes two slippery definitions at once: First, it changes the definition of "mainstream" from "being widely used by users" to "being widely used by developers to offer their own end-products"; and secondly, it changes the definition of FOSS / Linux itself to encompass items which are partially made out of or based on FOSS / Linux instead of items which are actually FOSS / Linux.

If you're going to keep moving the goalposts like that, then there really isn't any point to this argument. I can continue to point out all the ways in which "FOSS" is not going to become "mainstream", and you could then point at my examples and go, "yes, but by my esoteric definition of mainstream and FOSS they are already mainstream." It won't even amount to a disagreement, and would be no different from three drunks rambling.

The fundamental point I make has always been the same. FOSS will never be adopted by the vast majority of people because the vast majority of people don't give a shit about reading source code. The only reason anyone might have to use FOSS would have nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that it is FOSS, and will only be because the FOSS option happens to be the better product, which is rarely the case.

Instead of responding to this point, /u/mnemonic blames the system. "The overall public is only a problem for the F(L)OSS community because they get doused with Windows/Mac adverts even in local news," he claimed.

There is a very common misconception amongst Linux and FOSS fanatics. Once they buy into their ideology enough, they begin to argue that their software is not only morally superior to that of the mainstream systems, but is also technically superior too.

I'm not even going to bother to respond to this point, because /u/Mnemonic will clearly never concede that FOSS programmes simply lack the polish to appeal to the vast majority of computer users on the planet until I positively compare every single programme he wants to pull up and debate the pros and cons of each one in comparison to its proprietary counterpart. And even then, as shown in the LibreOffice comparison, he will contend that his chosen program is "more powerful" or is better in one department or the other, and argue that the mass consumer is blinded by advertising rather than making a rational decision to use the simpler and more polished product.

I will not respond to his argument since it's a hopeless one, but also because it's a pointless point. The fundamental point is that regardless of why the vast majority of the world decides not to use free software, it's a simple fact that the vast majority of the world simply doesn't care about reading source code and would probably not give a shit about whether the software is proprietary or not.

As long as this remains the case, then FOSS will only ever reach the mainstream when it is far technically superior to its proprietary counterparts; funnily enough, by the very nature of being completely free, this also means that this could never happen, as proprietary counterparts could simply build on top of their developments and soon regain any lost market share in any consumer division.

As long as FOSS remains true to its core ideology of making software freely available (in the liberal sense of the word), a rational member of the public would have no reason to use FOSS over proprietary software. Of course, there might be FOSS running under the proprietary shell that he uses - but he neither cares, nor does he have a reason to care. You may argue that this is already a sufficient triumph for the FOSS community, and you are welcome to that triumph if that is what you wish to establish.

If, however, your point of contention is that free software will someday be used by consumers instead of proprietary software, then it's very clear for the reasons already outlined that it will never happen. Reasonable people have no reason to buy into the ideology that source code needs to be readable, because reasonable people would rather not read it. Only the supremely paranoid, the Stallman clones, and the developers would ever care about that; and as long as the FOSS movement cannot provide a pressing need for normal people to have access to source code, this will never change.

We Need to Save What Made Linux and FOSS Possible by Mnemonic in FLOSS

[–]JasonCarswell 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Most servers run Gnu-Linux, not for nothin.

We Need to Save What Made Linux and FOSS Possible by Mnemonic in FLOSS

[–]Mnemonic[S] 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Great job of deflecting from the main point. You hit the nail on the head when you said "the average Joe [...] calls MacOS the 'fancy windows'," but somehow manage to lose track of your own thoughts not even a sentence later when you talk about how FOSS is everywhere because all systems have some sort of basis in a FOSS program.

I did attack that main-point in the lines above that. I put that last part in there to illustrate that the average Joe uses FOSS but just doesn't know and did not (like you suggested) make a 'choice'. I would have hoped this, along with the nice wiki-list, would help you realize what FOSS is in reality instead of something used only by "for the extremely paranoid or the Stallman clones" (as you put it in the previous post) .

Somehow this all got lost and as I read this response I'm finding out you don't know what FOSS is and why it is what it is.

In the first place, the argument was about whether or not FOSS would ever be mainstream. The contention I'm making is that no, it won't be mainstream because the fundamental ideology of FOSS is just wrong.

But it is already... I pointed that out in the part you didn't quote. I would like to add this comment to it though. Would you then care to explain "because the fundamental ideology of FOSS is just wrong." What this ideology is in your eyes and why is it 'just wrong'?

To answer this claim, you simply argued that FOSS is totally everywhere, because look at intelligence agencies, look at the back-ends of all these proprietary programs, look at all of these people I've chosen to look at who use FOSS!

You argued it 'sucked' out of thin air (3 very subjective examples), I just gave example to counter that claim. (look at these three programs I don't know how to use, it sucks! was your argument... )

But hey, here some more tangible examples:

VLC, Firefox, chromium, Apache, Nginx, and so on... just a quick grab from the list I provided.

Yeah, sure, you've found a few people who use FOSS.

A few?

The man on the street really doesn't give a fuck about reading it, and why should he?

He shouldn't be concerned about reading it if he is not inclined, it's not needed to use it. I don't see the argument here...

As long as FLOSS developers cannot answer this question

Why this question (which I answered above)? First it was because FOSS sucks, but now it's because not everyone likes to read source code?

I don't know if you still think FOSS sucks, including the developers working on it?

I hope I explained well enough that you don't have to read source codes to use FOSS. The man in the street will stare at any developer in mild exasperation when the developer starts talking.

I think this is the crux : Would you care to explain "the fundamental ideology of FOSS is just wrong." What this ideology is in your eyes and why is it 'just wrong'?

We Need to Save What Made Linux and FOSS Possible by Mnemonic in FLOSS

[–]worm 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Great job of deflecting from the main point. You hit the nail on the head when you said "the average Joe [...] calls MacOS the 'fancy windows'," but somehow manage to lose track of your own thoughts not even a sentence later when you talk about how FOSS is everywhere because all systems have some sort of basis in a FOSS program.

In the first place, the argument was about whether or not FOSS would ever be mainstream. The contention I'm making is that no, it won't be mainstream because the fundamental ideology of FOSS is just wrong. Most people don't find it appealing to know that they can read source code for someone's shitty program if they want to. In fact, for the general public, if you need to read the source code to use a program then the programmer's dun goofed. As long as FOSS remains true to its roots, it will never be marketable, because most people who aren't paranoid, Stallman clones, or government agencies, or developers themselves simply don't give a shit about reading source code.

To answer this claim, you simply argued that FOSS is totally everywhere, because look at intelligence agencies, look at the back-ends of all these proprietary programs, look at all of these people I've chosen to look at who use FOSS!

Yeah, sure, you've found a few people who use FOSS. Good luck getting the man on the street to read the source code for the core of Amazon, Google, or Facebook's programs. The man on the street really doesn't give a fuck about reading it, and why should he? As long as FLOSS developers cannot answer this question, the man on the street will continue to stare at them in mild exasperation. And I'm of the opinion that there is no really compelling answer to this question at all.

We Need to Save What Made Linux and FOSS Possible by Mnemonic in FLOSS

[–]Mnemonic[S] 5 insightful - 3 fun5 insightful - 2 fun6 insightful - 3 fun -  (0 children)

Libre Office is a worse version of Microsoft Office.

Nope, it's even more powerful.

GIMP is a worse version of Photoshop.

Maybe to a professional, but a normal person doesn't go spend the enormous license fee to use Photoshop.

Signal is a worse version of Whatsapp.

Just wait when it's merged with facebook and instagram

And so on, and so forth.

Yeah these are all so bad, nobody uses these: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_free_and_open-source_software_packages (Hint: maybe look under web-related and web browsers)

because most members of the public looked at the choices before them

I'm pretty sure that average Joe doesn't even know there are options and calls MacOS the 'fancy windows'.

As long as FOSS programmes continue to suck ass,

Just because you dislike 3 packages, okay.

FOSS will never be more than a fringe movement for the extremely paranoid or the Stallman clones.

Hmm I don't think you know what F(L)OSS entails and who/what is all running it:

Today FLOSS software is everywhere. In some ways the dream of 20 years ago has been realized. FLOSS software is the norm, GitHub is mainstream. The technology that dominates our era — the internet — is firmly based in FLOSS software, open standards, and interoperability. These are victories, and we should celebrate them. FLOSS was radical idea, and we proved its value.

However, Internet life is increasingly run by a handful of organizations. Many of these, like Facebook, google and amazon have FLOSS software at the core of they systems. However, the layers on top are not FLOSS and there is little openness in the systems they create and run. Today a common refrain is “the Internet is broken. What can we do?”

https://fosdem.org/2019/schedule/event/floss_internet_future/

We Need to Save What Made Linux and FOSS Possible by Mnemonic in FLOSS

[–]worm 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

The simple reason people don't use FOSS software is because most FOSS software is simply a crappier version of proprietary software. Libre Office is a worse version of Microsoft Office. GIMP is a worse version of Photoshop. Signal is a worse version of Whatsapp. And so on, and so forth.

The reason FOSS fails is simple. It's not because of some vast corporate conspiracy to pull the wool over the eyes of the public. It's because most members of the public looked at the choices before them and went for the most convenient and functional options, which tend to be proprietary programmes.

As long as FOSS programmes continue to suck ass, FOSS will never be more than a fringe movement for the extremely paranoid or the Stallman clones. The average Joe simply doesn't have a compelling reason to look through source code for knock-offs of proprietary software.

We Need to Save What Made Linux and FOSS Possible by Mnemonic in FLOSS

[–]JasonCarswell 4 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

I'm glad you posted it, but I don't think it was a great article, through no fault of your own. It raised a few good questions but IMO wasn't deep and didn't offer anything new, much less solutions. I almost would have rather he took a positive or negative stance rather than a meh stance.

We Need to Save What Made Linux and FOSS Possible by Mnemonic in FLOSS

[–]JasonCarswell 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

^

We Need to Save What Made Linux and FOSS Possible by Mnemonic in FLOSS

[–][deleted] 6 insightful - 2 fun6 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Free software is bigger than ever? Steam must have just dumped millions into into supporting Linux gamers as an example.

We Need to Save What Made Linux and FOSS Possible by Mnemonic in FLOSS

[–]Mnemonic[S] 8 insightful - 4 fun8 insightful - 3 fun9 insightful - 4 fun -  (0 children)

It's dying out precisely because the ideals of RMS and the other FSF-advocates are exactly the opposite of what damn near everybody else on the planet wants.

This is not true, the hiding of policy driven settings or the repositioning of settings in windows 8-8.1-10 alone has not done good under 'the wants of the public'.

Windows hit the saturation point with their OS under XP, Hell A lot (if not all) countries are still paying Microsoft for keeping their XP system running and '''safe'''.

FOSS will never be more than just a fringe resistance movement that will be at best regarded as eccentric and pointless.

Yeah that's why intelligence agencies like to use that garbage.

The overall public is only a problem for the F(L)OSS community because they get doused with Windows/Mac adverts even in local news. Consultancies are trained to give the cheapest solutions for the highest price, ans that's just that either a preinstalled Mac thingie or a highly customized (and very costly) Microsoft solution for somrthing a 1st year student could have fixed in a secure way in a Linux environment for minimum wage.

You might be focus you musings on the 'want' of the overall public, but they swallow all as long as it has a hui, from 98 to NT to 10, they will take it and that's like saying people will by the ps4 pro and HEY they did.

RMS does not equal FOSS (the other way around, probably will be a subset). GUI is the thing were FOSS in lacks, though with the mobile market and Windows 10 coming out, they are not far behind and it's not something they focus on.

It's not dying, it's just that CPU devices became more prevalent and most of them are smrtphones which (overall) all have non FOSS implementations.

[UGH MUH ICONS AND STUFF, IMMA TECH GENIUS NOW!] ~ a manager of a raqndom company.

We Need to Save What Made Linux and FOSS Possible by Mnemonic in FLOSS

[–]worm 10 insightful - 3 fun10 insightful - 2 fun11 insightful - 3 fun -  (0 children)

The fundamental problem of FOSS / FLOSS or whatever you want to call it isn't that it's locked in some eternal struggle with proprietary programmes or Javascript or what-have-you.

The fundamental problem is much simpler: It's simply a fact that most people don't give a shit about whether their software is free or not. They just want their machines to work, and be intuitive, and show them pretty animations while doing what they want them to do. In the average man's ideal computing paradise, nobody needs to read source code, because nobody wants to read source code: In the first place, if you actually have to look up lines of code to figure out what a programme is doing, as far as most of the world is concerned that means that the programmer dun goofed. Nobody has the time for that.

Free Software isn't dying out in spite of its high-minded ideals. It's dying out precisely because the ideals of RMS and the other FSF-advocates are exactly the opposite of what damn near everybody else on the planet wants. And as long as software developers don't realize that, FOSS will never be more than just a fringe resistance movement that will be at best regarded as eccentric and pointless.

Dystopian Hypothetical: Free Software outlawed. Join the resistance or keep family safe? ~ Bryan Lunduke by JasonCarswell in FLOSS

[–]JasonCarswell[S] 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

F my family, I'm joining the circus!

MiniWin | Open source embedded window manager - for small embedded systems with a touch screen. by JasonCarswell in FLOSS

[–]JasonCarswell[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I don't even remember how I came across it. It's been sitting in folder for a while. Seemed neat to share.

Dystopian Hypothetical: Free Software outlawed. Join the resistance or keep family safe? ~ Bryan Lunduke by JasonCarswell in FLOSS

[–]happysmash27 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

I haven't seen the video yet, but I would definitely join the resistance looking at the title, especially if it already exists! Free culture is one of my most treasured values.

MiniWin | Open source embedded window manager - for small embedded systems with a touch screen. by JasonCarswell in FLOSS

[–]happysmash27 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

So this window manager uses its own windowing system?

Open source - a term for a product with permission to use its source code, design documents, or content, most commonly referring the model, where software or other products are released under a license. Originating with software, it has expanded to cover other open content and collaboration. by JasonCarswell in FLOSS

[–]JasonCarswell[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Not to toot my own horn, but if I don't no one else will.

I finally decided to do something about it last October or so. The https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source_(disambiguation) list was dismal at best. I made it huge adding every single thing I could find that was remotely relevant. I'd also found that many redirects linked to either Open-Source Model, Open-Source Licence, or Open-Source Software when really they need not be so specific. So I changed the redirect.

That didn't exactly break the internet but it more than doubled all the redirect warnings and errors for the entire Wikipedia site. Redirects are not supposed to go to disambiguation pages, they are supposed to be specific. A link to John Smith needs to link to the correct John Smith. That brought on a whole other slew of problems. Someone cut my list I'd labored over down to be "clean" but void of information.

Then I started this article, a BCA Broad Concept Article, that could have all the detail it wanted, satisfy the redirect problem, be a better general reference link, and a better hub for all things open-source.