this post was submitted on 30 Aug 2023
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[–] tabular 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Is it not "serious" to work towards a better future because that's more difficult to obtain? There is a future out there where more industries are dominated by software that respects user freedom. The games industry has changed over the years and it is my hope people will not tolerate it forever. Even if I achive no impact with my games I can look back and see I tried for what I thought was the better moral outcome.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Is it not "serious" to work towards a better future because that's more difficult to obtain? There is a future out there where more industries are dominated by software that respects user freedom.

I do not believe that distros ignoring the problem of binary software distribution is actually accomplishing anything productive on that front. All it does is put a gigantic KEEP OUT sign for most outside developers who might have briefly considered porting their software. Package maintainers are also incredibly overburdened, and are often slow to update their packages even on rolling release distros.

Worse, it also inconveniences their userbase, pushing them to solutions their that bypass the distro completely such as third-party repos, Steam, Wine, Flatpak, Docker, or even running Linux in WSL. All of them function as non-free escape hatches, but all of them are inferior to distros getting their act together and deciding that binary software distribution is a problem worth collaborating on and solving together.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I tried to get wine to work on my RX580, and the card could t even support it. It's only the last few AMD video card generations that do.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Why not both? I don't see how proprietary software on Linux will slow down FOSS at all, and it'll only bring more users to Linux who otherwise have to use windows for their software, so overall more FOSS users in the community

And programs like Blender have already matured to a professional level, so I'm pretty optimistic that other FOSS apps will eventually follow, too

[–] tabular 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

If the goal is software freedom for everyone then proprietary software working on Linux isn't the end goal. Maybe it's good - a step towards the end game - but I worry it's a peak which is difficult to get down and up to a higher peak. Proprietary software on Linux is convenience above freedom.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

AutoCAD has been industry standard for 40 years now, and it's never going away. Can't run it on Linux. It and Revit are 100% mandatory in construction/ arch / engineering

[–] tabular 1 points 1 year ago

I have heard of those examples before but I have no use for that so I have not learned specifics to talk about.

Would bet it is harder to combat that "this will never change" mindset in the userbase than actually making alternatives. For 20 years from the 50's it was normal for ALL software to be public domain. Times change, and it's up to us users if they want better.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Yeah, that's what I'm getting at, proprietary software on Linux is just a step forward towards a fully FOSS future

For the most part, there aren't many professional fields that have a good FOSS option, so in the meantime their only option is to keep using the industry standard until a good alternative matures like Blender has

At the very least, people would have the freedom to not use microsoft or apple while still working professionally in their respective industry, so that's more free overall