Linux

49964 readers

1026 users here now

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

Rules

Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
No misinformation
No NSFW content
No hate speech, bigotry, etc

Related Communities

Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0

founded 5 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

How do you, or do you vet if a software will paywall features or "enshittify"? (lemmy.world)

submitted 3 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

46 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Obviously we all want to avoid enshittified (aggressively monetized) software or at least get our money's worth. I'm looking at self-hosting software right now and one I'm looking has a pricing page but only for cloud (no other paywalled features) and is open source. I tried looking up future plans and didn't find much, so it doesn't seem like it will enshittify. (not related) I had thought about switching to Omnivore for a long time but then they merged with ElevenLabs and the rest is history.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Just because you can work around it doesn't mean it's not enshittification.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

You're avoiding the point: when you have the source code, the ability to build it yourself, and the right to continue community development in any direction you want, there is nothing that a company or any other entity can do to make your experience worse.

If I don't like the direction of Lemmy, for example, there's nothing that stops me from forking the last known good version and continuing to use/develop that myself for the rest of time. It's fundamentally different than if you're someone who uses Reddit, for example, and you're 100% beholden to the whims of what the developers decide. That's the point I'm making.

Call me a true believer, but I think FOSS is at least extremely resilient to enshittification. I say this as a long time FOSS user and current professional FOSS developer.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

Yes, but that's no longer Ubuntu, and it takes a lot more time and effort on your part to maintain your fork. That's not sustainable, especially if it happens to multiple products.