7 Unpopular opinions about Linux and Open Source
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Ok, so Patreon supporters voted for this one, so here we go, let's go through a few personal opinions about Linux and open source, and its community, right after this !
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## Some parts of the Linux community just discourage people from getting into Linux
Let's start with the Linux community, or at least some parts of it. I think this is the biggest reason why people can get discouraged about Linux. While I had a great experience when I started back in 2006, there was already some elitism from long time users, and this hasn't improved. I'd even say it has gotten worse, with users that have been on Linux for 3 months becoming the most vocal and aggressive pro-linux advocates, and going around touting arch or their distro or choice - let's be honest, it's mostly arch - as the superior distro, harrassing newcomers, and trolling windows or mac os x forums.
## Telemetry isn't that bad
I already explained my opinion on this in various parts of videos I made, but the uproar against telemetry data is just unjustified in my opinion. Collecting data about your hardware, without anything to identify the user himself is not a big deal. it's actually helpful for distros, since they can focus on making stuff work for the majority of users, instead of trying to work in the dark and wasting their efforts and valuable development time on some unused piece of hardware.
## Windows and Mac OS X are fine, and dual booting is OK
I said it. I much prefer using Linux, and that's what I use at work and at home. But Windows or Mac OS X aren't "garbage", they aren't "trash" or "inferior". For my needs, Linux is the better system, but for other people, Windows or Mac OS X can be better suited. Trashing these other systems isn't helpful to anyone, and doesn't bring Linux forward, it actually decreases our chances to make people notice and use Linux. When you feel attacked on your system of choice, or on anything you like, your first instinct isn't to say "hey this guy is right, my choices are terrible". It's to lash out in defense of your stuff, and to automatically dislike what has been suggested you use instead.
## Snaps are OK
Snaps are just a software distribution method. They're not cancer, they're not trying to turn Linux into a proprietary OS, they're not Canonical trying to become Microsoft. They're a packaging format. It's perfectly within one's rights to dislike snaps and not use them, or to point out their drawbacks, because they have some. But once again, attacking anyone who uses them, promotes them, or works on them just gives a bad look to the Linux community. Imagine what a newcomer must feel when they look at the forums, mailing lists, or any conversation which always devolves to "snaps are trash". Would you feel that this is a unified, helpful community, if said community can't even support various initiatives, or at least tolerate them ?
## Some proprietary software isn't a problem while we wait for open source to fill the gaps
I prefer open source. The list of advantages to using open source software is extremely long. And yet, I use some proprietary software. Steam, Spotify, Davinci Resolve, the Nvidia drivers, some apps on my phone. Proprietary software is a reality, and fills in some gaps that open source hasn't bridged yet. In an ideal world, everything would be open source, but in the meantime, there is nothing wrong with using a few blobs and pieces of proprietary stuff if they fill a need that you can't fill using open source software.
## The multitude of distros and desktops environments and apps is actually a good thing
Having many, many distros to choose from, and a lot of apps that fill the same role, but laid out differently, is a good thing. Having a choice between multiple desktop environments is a good thing.
Some may say that this multitude of choice harms the beginners by giving too many options, but the problem isn't that we have too much choice, it's that we lack a good starting point to help users pick their distribution depending on what they like or what they need. The choice is not the problem, it's the onboarding experience that we struggle with.
## I don't understand using Arch in production
This one isn't going to go well, I think but I'll say it anyway. I don't get using Arch in production. Arch Linux is a fantastic system to learn how Linux operates, and how a distro layers various components on top of each other to make a fully functional system. Its packaging tools are great, it's always up to date, and it's speedy. But it's also super unstable for a production system, and I don't get why people insist on saying it's the better option for anyone.