On Thu, Aug 07 2025, Jean Louis <bugs@gnu.support> wrote: > * Psionic K <psionik@positron.solutions> [2025-08-05 08:50]: >> I'm sure you all have worked very hard. However, you have not made a >> coherent body of reasoning. It is a circular body of reasoning. Its >> complexity is a trap. If one should attempt to find the framing, they >> will find that it has deconstructed and dismissed any disbelief in >> advance. It is not axiomatic. It is grounded in itself.
> Ah yes, the classic “your logic is too circular because it doesn't > agree with mine” argument. Very postmodern. Did you major in *Vibes*? >> Reality doesn't care. And that is why we can see the outcomes not >> fitting the model. The honest scientist throws away the model and >> starts over. > Reality doesn’t care? Funny — reality runs on free software: > 1. The Internet? Mostly powered by Linux, Apache, NGINX — all free > software. Reality seems pretty online these days. > 2. Android? Billions of phones based on the Linux kernel. Free > software in your pocket, calling your mom, stalking your ex. > 3. Supercomputers? 100% of the world’s top 500 run Linux. Even > reality’s cheat codes use free software. > So if the model doesn’t fit your outcome, maybe it’s your outcome that > needs debugging. >> I believe users should be free to experience the Year of the Linux >> Desktop. Hundreds of millions of users. I believe that if I use >> "free" tools, they should not be low quality, poorly adopted, >> abandoned and ignored. There is no good on earth besides software >> which delivers value at scale with such a low marginal cost. There is >> no excuse for free software to abandon hundreds of millions of people. > Here is the thing: free software hasn’t abandoned anyone. It’s just > that: > - You expected polish with no budget. > - You mistook volunteer-driven for vendor-driven. > - And you assumed “free as in freedom” means “free as in concierge service.” > Hundreds of millions are using free software every day — they just > don’t call it that. They call it Android, Firefox, Ubuntu, VLC, > Blender, and “that Linux thing my cousin installed.” > So no, free software didn’t abandon users. It just didn’t come with a > marketing department or a TikTok campaign. >> The way is to embrace specialization, embrace paid development, and >> figure out the sales and finance of the production of the good. That >> way, like every other good that requires specialized skills to >> produce, those who have the capability to produce it can translate the >> demand of those who want it into the existence of it. > Absolutely — and ironically, free software already does exactly > that. Here are three points proving it: > 1. Paid development is already core to free software. > - Red Hat, Canonical, SUSE, Collabora, Igalia, Purism, and others pay > full-time developers to maintain and improve free software. > - The Linux kernel? Over 85% of contributions come from paid > professionals — not hobbyists. > - Libreoffice, GStreamer, GNOME, and KDE all have companies and > organizations funding core contributors. > 2. Specialized services and support are the business model. > - Free software companies thrive by selling support, integration, > customization, and hosting. > - Example: Red Hat was acquired by IBM for $34 billion — all built on > free software. > - Gitlab, Nextcloud, and Elastic (at least originally) built scalable, > profitable businesses around FOSS. > 3. Sales and finance mechanisms already exist and succeed. > - Platforms like OpenCollective, GitHub Sponsors, NLnet, and Sovereign > Tech Fund provide funding channels for free software. > - Government procurement (EU, US, Brazil) now includes mandates or > incentives for FOSS — converting public need into sustained funding. > So yes — we already embraced paid dev, specialization, and > finance. That is the way. Welcome aboard. > -- > Jean Louis Thank you Jean. Not everyone puts the time to debate. I was following the topic and had nearly the same opinions as yours (mostly); but, didn’t dear to put my precious time at writing anything (particularly, since I writing in English isn’t easy for me.) I want to add that, I hope to see more donation based things. I guess FSF is one example, right? I guess, a donation based economic system would be the most ethical economical system. But it never was easy to achieve. How do I know? I’m not an economist. -- English is not my native/mother language. I can read and understand English well, but I have problems expressing my thoughts in it. Please, bear with me. Sincerely, Pyromania. PGP fingerprint = 2B24 291E 0637 4D2E 0D14 9EFC D7B3 10D4 5C9D 5892 () ASCII ribbon campaign - against HTML e-mail /\ www.asciiribbon.org - against proprietary attachments --- via emacs-tangents mailing list (https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/emacs-tangents)
