What was your turning point/motivation to use FOSS?

Was meant to respond to this post ages ago, but never got round to it.

Even though I’ve only been on Linux for a few months. I first discovered it years ago when googling how to make windows desktop and UI look better - I came across some gorgeous desktops posted by Linux users.
However, I didn’t install it back then because gaming was tricky to do in Linux. Although I really wanted to for the same reasons others have given e.g lack of trust in Microsoft and inability to customise my PC to my liking. I’ve not liked UI of Windows since win8.

Anyway, fast forward several months ago and I decided I’d had enough of windows and decided to finally install Linux as the Linux gaming situation had improved.
The turning point was when windows (over several days) kept doing forced updates as I was trying to write one of my Uni assignments. One time it took 3 hours to do the update, so I ended up falling asleep during the process. :expressionless: After that incident I decided I’d install Linux on all household systems once I’d finished Uni.

Plus, I was sick of internally complaining about the ugliness of the Windows UI everytime I logged on and navigated round the system. Those Linux desktops were never far from my mind. :joy:

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This :point_up_2::point_up_2: exactly this. You can make your pc how you want it not how Microsoft or apple tell you it has to be

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Exactly. Your OS should respect the fact you’re the boss of your hardware, not Micro$oft.

The OS that does not do that or only pretends to do it is, simply put, treasonous, and should be wiped off the drive.

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Snowden

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The nail in the coffin was when microshaft decided you had to buy another license every time you wanted to install your purchase on another machine because it was tied to the original motherboard at installation. Even if a board died, you replaced it, and it was the same machine.
external-content.duckduckgo.com

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And I’m pretty sure their response was tying the license to a Microsoft account automatically if you created your user without noticing the small faded text at the bottom that says “skip logging into a Microsoft account”. So it’s 1 machine per account, but it wouldn’t lock up with too many hardware changes. :rofl:

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I just wonder what they would do with a machine containing a (for me) typeical multi-boot setup… perhaps for Win, I’d have a WinME, WinXP, Win 7 and Win 10 (alongside something to get work done). How would they handle a motherboard change on something like that? :grin:

Edit: Even as a hypothetical, I couldn’t add in Vista or Win 8!)

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I switched to Linux from Windows 10 (especially the windows-updates frustrated me :roll_eyes: )

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Gobble gobble gobble!

Translation : Due to how many of the FOSS stuff i used were better or even equal to the proprietary ones. Windows 10 is still something i can’t get rid of it, yet. I am still looking here and there on how everything is getting developed in such way that Windows apps and games with Anti-Cheat will work either flawlessly or with minor issues. Linux has really come a long time to the point where you can use it on a daily basis. It has all the stuff you need to code with, you have a DE to choose from, you have a package manager where you can install what you need and want, and system updates not throwing x and y at your screen, thus preventing any sort of distraction. So yeah, i love linux and all FOSS apps developed.

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It just sort of happened. Late 2010 I switched fully to Linux after a year of “testing” (messing around). I didn’t use a lot of software on Windows and I still don’t on Linux. The things I did use were, for the most part, already open source. For stuff that was closed source, mainly Office, I found that the open source equivalent, Libre Office, works just as well.

So after a few years of using only open source on the computer I found f-droid. Now I only have one closed source app on my phone, which is a banking app.

It became a crusade for me a couple of years ago when I decided Google was an issue, so I cut that out of my digital life. Then I realised that that wasn’t the only thing stealing information from me. Now I feel strongly that one should use open source software, because it’s the only way to know for sure your privacy isn’t compromised. I can have a look at the code of the software I use to determin what it does with my information. I’ll admit that I didn’t check all of the software I use, but I could, which is important. Also, if it is open source, changes are someone else did check.

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I hear ya! I need to de-google my phone. Just waiting for the OS I want to be compatible with my phone.

ETA: Writing this post just reminded me to go to aforementioned OS website to see if they’ve released an update that is compatible with my phone and lo and behold I see a fab looking homescreen in the “Share your home screen” section by non other than @Joris It’s a small open source world :joy::joy: Screenshot_20201107-195638_Chrome

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Haha cool! Hiya!

By the way, due to weird design changes I’ve already moved on from e/os. I’m now using LineageOS for MicroG. It’s not as degoogled as e, but a more stock Android experience. I can recommended it.

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Yeah I know I can use LineageOS. However I was leaning more towards /e/ as it is more degoogled.Thanks for the heads-up though :slight_smile:

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My motivation was that it was the backbone of the only OS I could find I liked. I didn’t like Windows 95 or 98, so started looking for alternatives. The only REAL alternatives I could find were linux-based. So eventually when I managed to get online (winmodems, grrrrr…) with Linux, I started abandoning Windows for it, as at no point have I ever actually LIKED Windows in my life. I honestly didn’t REALLY care about it being FOSS, just so happens it was. Nowadays that I work (at least some) in IT Security I actually DO care about it being FOSS now, but I started using it YEARS UPON YEARS before I cared.

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I’ve had an interest in FOSS for around 15yrs or so now. The things that made me go FOSS and eliminate Windows and the like a couple years ago

  1. Same resons I avoid Google, deleted FB,etc. When I started getting advertisements for things I talked with people about but never actually searched for. That’s when I NOPED out

  2. It gives me more things to work on, as someone who suffers heavily with depression and anxiety if I can’t keep myself occupied mentally I go to dark places

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Meaningful distraction is an excellent tool - and working on Linux is one of the finest…

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Gotcha. I however should stress I didn’t suggest LineageOS, but LineageOS for MicroG, which means no Google Play Services, but still working apps reliant on those services thanks to the MicroG part there.

Http://Lineage.MicroG.org

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For me it was privacy and choice. No ‘call home OS’ and the choice of DE and making the desktop in my own image.

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It looks interesting, is it able to handle apps like banking? (Rabo, ABN-AMRO, ING, KNAB and Tikkie)
And you being Dutch, are you using Whatsapp on it? (I hate it, but everyone I know uses it)

I know for a fact that Rabobank and ING work, as I use both. WhatsApp also works (and yes, I am also forced to use it due to friends and family).

One thing to note is that you will either have to download the banking apps from a different store, like aurora, which might be a security issue, or grab the apk from a phone with Play Store installed and transfer it to your own. I personally used Aurora as to keep receiving updates. Just something to be mindful of.

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