God Does Not Use a Computer

If you can’t step outside the whole debate, you can’t possibly understand any part of it.
I know how David Gewirtz feels. He makes it pretty clear he’s not part of any of the computer religions. He’s just a power user who wants to use his computers to get things done. The computers and the operating systems are just tools. Without actually saying it in so many words, he understands the computer technology field reflects the wider world of human politics. Most of us have things to do and just want a reasonable opportunity to proceed without undue harassment. It will never happen.
What makes this worthy of comment is the vast layer of putrid propaganda which hides the truth. I’ve noted often here the Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) world is not fundamentally different from the standard commercial software industry in terms of morals and character. Only the methods are different.
I read Gewirtz’s original post on the issue and some of the comments. Some of it is predictable minor gripes about nit-picking differences between the two systems, and I’m sure he admits that. When I consider the comment on both articles, the first thing I notice is how many ignore what he’s trying to say, and react to some perceived blasphemy against their demigods. Then there are a bunch who are using his article as a forum for disputing which religion is superior, never mind what the article was actually about.
The real issue no one wants to confront is FOSS promoters are capable of lying, same as any Microsoft advertising slimeball. We have a lot of people warning you about the snake oil from MS, and they get kudos. What happens when someone reveals there is a Linux brand of snake oil? “Jihad” might be putting it mildly. You aren’t permitted to discuss your negative experience with Linux unless you are a recognized high mullah.
Credible threats of physical harm? This is the part of FOSS I hate. I hate it most because this points out everything wrong with FOSS as a means of delivering the product: Too few give a darn about what the user experiences. I didn’t have time to read all the comments; there were too many. In my brief scanning, I didn’t see too many folks offering to help, especially with the same level of “free” that is supposed to characterize the software development process.
Having the opportunity to use lots of different operating systems, and not possessed of a zealot’s devotion to any of them, I can tell you Linux is more secure, but it doesn’t work as well over the broad range of activities most computer users engage. That’s because the FOSS agenda is excellence for what the developers want to do, and user experience has never been a priority. Indeed, as I’ve often noted, too many FOSS developers are hostile to users. The opportunity to develop whatever you really want, and with all your personal prejudices of how you want it work, tends to appeal to the “boastful pride of life” be-your-own-god instinct in fallen man. And the product will not find wide adoption outside the relatively small community which embraces this as the norm.
So you have essentially two options with your computer. You can deal with those who worship Mammon, or those who worship themselves. So rare are those who operate from a genuine concern for the users, so negligible their impact, you can ignore them as a factor. Until we see the kind of sacrificial love which drove Christ to carry His Cross — just a tiny shred of compassion — there won’t be any good choices in software, just some which suck less for the job at hand.