Comment by raw_anon_1111
7 hours ago
> Open source gives people complete freedom, the freedom that a software can run for posterity, can be modified towards your liking, and the most important thing which I failed to mention: peace of mind
And why should users care about their “software running in prosperity”? How many are modifying open source software? “Peace of mind” comes from knowing that if something goes wrong they have company to call on. They aren’t going to be modifying the Linux kernel to debug an issue.
To a first approximation, no one would choose the relatively crappy experience of fdroid over standard Android or iOS.
> How many are modifying open source software?
This is irrelevant. Few people repair their cars themselves, but its possibility alone creates a free, competitive market, where consumer can choose a reasonable service. With proprietary software, you have an artificial monopoly: Only the original vendor can fix things, and they choose any price they wish. Or they choose to abandon the software complrtely, then you're out of luck.
So because of open source code there isn’t a duopoly when it comes to phones that anyone cares about, operating systems, etc?
Neither Microsoft or Apple are staying up late at night concerning themselves with Linux or is Apple and Google staying up late worried about Fdroid.
In fact, there are more Linux VMs running on Azure than Windows VMs. Every large tech company supports open source to a certain degree to “commoditize their complements” or to get a foot in where they aren’t competitive.
Is there a “reasonable service” that is open source for any of the major cloud providers? ChatGPT? The various AI assisted coding products? Hell even JetBrains products?
> So because of open source code there isn’t a duopoly
Neither iOS, nor Andoid are open-source. GNU/Linux phones provide the opportunity I'm talking about.
Most AI models aren't open-source but open-weight.
> Every large tech company supports open source to a certain degree to “commoditize their complements” or to get a foot in where they aren’t competitive.
And they keep as much closed as possible to achieve that. Imagine their software would be licensed as AGPL.
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