Comment by zelphirkalt
4 months ago
> Open source produces good infrastructure, but does not build good products. Asking people to use a worse alternative for some ideological reason that they don't feel strongly about is silly.
Waaay too generalized a statement. I've not seen a better password manager than KeepassXC. I have not seen a better browser than Firefox or its derivatives. There are so many good Open Source apps, that it wouldn't be "Asking people to use a worse alternative for some ideological reason". It would be asking people to be a bit more informed and then having a better digital life in many cases.
In contrast, I've not yet heard of any good Windows deployments. So far whenever I have somehow noticed, that a server is running Windows, it was because of it acting in silly ways or silly URL structure, or the thing frequently stopping to work. (See for example Deutsche Bahn infrastructure in Germany, ticket machines, in train screens, their ticket search and shop online ... all suck.)
So to me it actually seems like uninformed people making worse choices by not knowingly making them, and instead accepting whatever the vendors of proprietary software prescribe for them.
Firefox is not a great representative example. It's development is primarily driven by a single company so it receives all of the benefits non FOSS would get as a result. However, most FOSS cannot find a similarly effective monetization strategy to Firefox to enable a company to invest and produce a good product that way.
Windows is poorly suited to be used as infrastructure compared to open source so again, your example isn't great.
Unless you have ever been in a position where you need to make important decisions, it's best not to assume things about the decision makers knowledge. Hiring folks who trained appropriately on the software you choose can be a very strong motivator.