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Linux Advocate Suggests Using More Closed-Source Software (techrepublic.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Open Source advocate Jack Wallen is a writer for Linux.com and Tech Republic. He predicts that both Windows and OS X will be Open Source within 5 years, writing that "neither Microsoft nor Apple make serious money from operating systems any longer" (with both companies giving away major OS upgrades), but argues that smaller software companies still see close-sourced code as a profit center. So yesterday Wallen wrote a surprising column urging Linux fans to begin considering closed-source software.
"That doesn't mean, in any way, you are giving up on the idea of freedom. What it means is that the best tool for the job is the one you should be using...be that open, closed, or somewhere in between. Should you close your mind to close sourced tools, you could miss out on some seriously amazing applications. On top of that (and this is something I've harped on for decades), the more you use closed source applications on open source environments, the more will be made available."
I'd be curious to hear how many Slashdot readers agree with Mr. Wallen...
"That doesn't mean, in any way, you are giving up on the idea of freedom. What it means is that the best tool for the job is the one you should be using...be that open, closed, or somewhere in between. Should you close your mind to close sourced tools, you could miss out on some seriously amazing applications. On top of that (and this is something I've harped on for decades), the more you use closed source applications on open source environments, the more will be made available."
I'd be curious to hear how many Slashdot readers agree with Mr. Wallen...
Desktop Linux is getting to a point where it is viable for day to day work tasks, and gaming is becoming not just a wish, but actually something coming around (slowly but surely).
Sorry but this is BS. I've used Linux since 1995 and the only time it was ever remotely viable as a desktop was during the really bad days of Windows XP. Every Linux DE looks dated, is buggy as fuck, has really horrible config settings, missing options people have had for decades........ the list goes on. The closest to a viable desktop I found was MATE but even that had massive issues.
I love Linux and FreeBSD but they will never be main stream desktops for the sole reason that the people who are developing the "desktop" part of it are morons. KDE is so buggy its laughable. GNOME has stripped so much stuff out it's not usable and you have to use beta extensions that break on every update just to regain basic functionality.
The kernel developers war against graphic drivers has destroyed any hope whatsoever of Linux as a gaming OS. Not even Vulcan can save it now. It is so god damned hard to get nVidia drivers let alone NEW drivers that its fucking pointless to try.
I spent the last week trying to get Fedora into a usable state as a desktop OS only to have it fucking puke on the floor and shit itself before running off into a corner to cry like a little baby. One "dnf remove application" was all it took for dnf to literally uninstall its own fucking dependencies (sqlite3) and render the entire system unusable. Ok, fine, I switched to Ubuntu MATE and within 5 minutes of adding the nVidia PPA for the latest drivers the system crashed and wouldn't boot anymore due to kernel/nvidia driver issues.
Seriously, just fuck right off with this Linux as a desktop OS bullshit. It's tired and not going to happen. Give Linux one thing to do as a server and it will likely be ok. Give it more than that and it's a pathetic, unstable and barely usable system developed by grown men acting like babies and fighting on mailing lists to show each other how manly they are.
That now famous picture of Linus flipping off nVidia is me in reverse flipping him off.