Comment by kovac
6 hours ago
If winning means mass adoption, I think by definition free software won't win while remaining free.
If a tech becomes main stream, corporations (and people) begin commercializing it. The de facto strategy in our era for commercializing any tech is surveilling its users.
If a technology can't be harnessed, corporations will contain if not outright kill it.
We've seen this time and time again. So, the only way to win, in the sense of surviving and thriving, would be for that tech to fly under the radar. Remain in the hands of individuals who care and build it for themselves. In that sense, there are many free software that have already won.
My question is, why on earth are people obsessed with things like the year of the Linux desktop, and more people adopting their software.
Fragmentation is probably the only way free software will remain free.
> I think by definition free software won't win while remaining free.
The Linux kernel is widely adopted and remains kind-of-free.
LibreOffice is widely adopted and remains quite free.
> If a tech becomes main stream, corporations (and people) begin commercializing it
Not necessarily. That is, they may engage in commercial activity surrounding it, but that's not the same thing.
> So, the only way to win, in the sense of surviving and thriving, would be for that tech to fly under the radar.
Your "winning" requires not-winning, i.e. most people not using the relevant software.