Dr. Quadragon ❌ on Nostr: I've been thinking about the role of FOSS in technology and society, and noticed that ...
I've been thinking about the role of FOSS in technology and society, and noticed that all the innovation, and raising the bar talk is all fine and good, and true, but it'only the half of the story.
The other half is, that FOSS provides the utilitarian baseline to resort to. It's "what a person can get legally for free, for no effort, without any obligation". It's the nuts and bolts, "The Boring Tech", The Legacy (in the best sense of the word). It's accessible, it's available everywhere, so you can just take it. And, honestly, for what you pay for it, it has no right to be this good.
This is why it's the future, no matter if it takes a year or fifty. Proprietary software (especially SaaS) is designed to break or turn obsolete as soon as it stops being profitable. And that timeframe gets ever more narrow every day. FOSS is designed to survive its creators.
The other half is, that FOSS provides the utilitarian baseline to resort to. It's "what a person can get legally for free, for no effort, without any obligation". It's the nuts and bolts, "The Boring Tech", The Legacy (in the best sense of the word). It's accessible, it's available everywhere, so you can just take it. And, honestly, for what you pay for it, it has no right to be this good.
This is why it's the future, no matter if it takes a year or fifty. Proprietary software (especially SaaS) is designed to break or turn obsolete as soon as it stops being profitable. And that timeframe gets ever more narrow every day. FOSS is designed to survive its creators.