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The Greatest Of Illusions: The Linux Community
I was reading today, like i usually do, and began to get irritated by a phrase that I see repeated over and over: The Linux Community.
Now, this is not to say that there aren't people devoted to GNU/Linux, this is to say that there is not a single community. Communities have common goals, values and ideals. Truthfully, when it comes down to it, GNU/Linux has one of the weakest "communities"; we don't even agree about the purpose of having GNU/Linux!
I use GNU/Linux because it is Free Software. I specifically use Debian because I like the way that it is implimented and because the Debian Project's Free Software Guidelines give me marginal confidence in what I'm installing.
There are people who install SimplyMepis to add non-free software to their system, considering Debian's "lack" of non-free packages to be a problem. "Opinions are like assholes", it's been said, "everyone has one" and they almost always stink.
I don't have a problem with opposing view points, I do, however have a problem with publications (that focus on monetizing GNU/Linux) trying to hone in on the "Linux Community". You're "insight" is misleading in many cases. "The Linux Community" does not want restrictive applications ported to GNU/Linux. "The Linux Community" does not oppose Microsoft's Evil Marketing. "The Linux Comunity" is not vibrant, fragile, touchy, quasi-religious.
We are individuals. We all have our own reasons for using GNU/Linux, and even when some of those reasons overlap, the motivations behind them often differ.
Now, this is not to say that there aren't people devoted to GNU/Linux, this is to say that there is not a single community. Communities have common goals, values and ideals. Truthfully, when it comes down to it, GNU/Linux has one of the weakest "communities"; we don't even agree about the purpose of having GNU/Linux!
I use GNU/Linux because it is Free Software. I specifically use Debian because I like the way that it is implimented and because the Debian Project's Free Software Guidelines give me marginal confidence in what I'm installing.
There are people who install SimplyMepis to add non-free software to their system, considering Debian's "lack" of non-free packages to be a problem. "Opinions are like assholes", it's been said, "everyone has one" and they almost always stink.
I don't have a problem with opposing view points, I do, however have a problem with publications (that focus on monetizing GNU/Linux) trying to hone in on the "Linux Community". You're "insight" is misleading in many cases. "The Linux Community" does not want restrictive applications ported to GNU/Linux. "The Linux Community" does not oppose Microsoft's Evil Marketing. "The Linux Comunity" is not vibrant, fragile, touchy, quasi-religious.
We are individuals. We all have our own reasons for using GNU/Linux, and even when some of those reasons overlap, the motivations behind them often differ.
#2 Re: Above Comment
Kevin Dean, <E-Mail> / 8 January, 12:58pm
Danjiel posted the above comment on my old blog. The original post timestamp is September 25th, 2007 at 8:38 pm
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#2.1 Re: Re: Above Comment
bedroom furniture, <E-Mail> / 26 March, 4:39am
Luckily, my friend used this time to also begin complaining about his existing install of Arch Linux which has otherwise been working well for him. In fact, it's worked SO well that he managed to stay on it for several months which is amusing since he's the butt of a running joke about breaking every system he touches. The solution to the problem in his case was to finally buy the bigger SATA drive he's been desiring. This still leaves open the idea of how to migrate the data, the proper partitioning scheme and the like. The idea then, was for a friend and I to share our "wisdom" with him and convince him to use LVM and not fuss with Arch.
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#1 Re: The Greatest Of Illusions: The Linux Community
You might be right, but I still feel that there is a strange connection between people who like GNU/Linux and Free Software for completely different reasons. Maybe it’s because they’ve all, in some way, experienced the same thing, mostly freedom, and on that basis at least relate to each other.
I sometimes think that really the biggest thing the “GNU/Linux Community” has in common are their differences which made me call for us to unite around the fact that we are different. Unite for what, that’s the question - why do we still feel that at the end of the day, we still have something common to pursue?
Maybe it’s because we all want to promote the same thing, even if for different reasons. Those who accept proprietary software mixed with Free Software never really reject promoting Free Software as well and those who want only Free Software obviously want to promote that, so it seems that one thing we all agree on is that Free Software is desirable and needs to be promoted. The degree and priorities is where we differ.