Oddbean new post about login | logout I'm trying to come up with a succinct value proposition for using Linux or buying a Linux laptop for average users. This is one benefit. > When you use Linux, most of the software is free. That's in contrast to the other ecosystems where that's not guaranteed. Here's another one: No need to make annoying accounts for every app. Thoughts?
@1ce4e61d would really appreciate if you changed that to something like funding is a community responsibility. If nobody is willing to pay because nobody is expected to pay, projects die. They still need sponsors/donors/what have you or realistically what happens is apps with unsavory monetization models win out. Those who have the means to pay should do so for the good of those that can’t afford to.
@e1ef0c19 I get where you're coming from. More to think about. In a hypothetical example where I had Google levels of ad spend, it would irresponsible to market the 'free as in cost' part of the ecosystem without incorporating some way to fund those projects. At the same time you don't want to lose the competitive advantage of 'free as in cost'. How to balance...
@1ce4e61d I think it goes back to cathedral vs bazaar. Closed source software is very top down. Open source software you are joining a coop. You have more of an ability to be part of the process. You can build community. Part of that community is supporting your neighbors tho. If you are advertising this great community where everyone cares about each other you don’t want to invite people whose primary interest would be not contributing to the community
@e1ef0c19 How do you bring that idea down to the level of a non-tech savvy consumer who is just looking for a new computer at their local tech store? How do you integrate that into a pitch for the average user who doesn't care how the sausage is made so that you don't leave behind this value?
@1ce4e61d I mean, I think we could literally look at food marketing here. Would you rather have the sausage that Nona made by hand on the local farm with free range livestock and she donates 5% of her profit to charity and she cares about the environment or Big Company Beef Franks™ which are squeezed out by a soulless capitalist machine designed to extract as much profit as possible while lobbying against animal rights. I think consumers can be more conscientious about process and impact