In the past, most software I used was paid and proprietary and would have some sort of limitation that I would try to get around by any means possible. Sometimes that would be resetting the clock on my computer, disabling the internet, and other times downloading a patch.

But in the past few years I've stopped using those things and have focused only on free and open source software (FOSS) to fulfill my needs. I hardly have to worry about privacy problems or trying to lock down a program that calls home. I might be missing out on some things that commercial software delivers, but I'm hardly aware of what they are anymore. It seems like the trend is for commercial software providers to migrate toward online or service models that have the company doing all the computing. I'm opposed to that, since they can take away your service at any time.

What do you do?

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[–] GetAwayWithThis@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 2 years ago

I also use open source options whenever they fulfills my needs. I am not changing to linux yet because of gaming.

I grew up relatively poor, so burning cd-s for each other and trading games was the jam when I was in school. Games I usually still pirate and even when I buy them I have already tried them to an extent, or finished them 5 times. Steam sales are a godsend for multiplayer only titles tho. I have nothing against supporting devs. But ubi, ea and those responsible for games with 0 content and giant day1 patches, season passes and all that crap can get fucked.

I rather spend that money on zero knowledge mail and vpn, maybe a donation to foss devs for things that I can't live without anymore. I need to get into the habit of donating some at least. Now that I am out of the financial danger zone.

[–] zxo@sopuli.xyz 0 points 2 years ago

FOSS over piracy for sure. While the UI and/or functionality is not often as good as the proprietary option with FOSS apps, I feel a lot more comfortable using them because they are free and you can see what's going on with them better.

[–] pseud@lemmynsfw.com 0 points 2 years ago

About 20 years ago, I saw this exact same discussion on mozillazine. Everyone was raving about FOSS being nicer, friendlier, and more convenient, and how piracy is bothersome.

Then this guy posted a reply, to the tune of "Yeah, and now imagine your entire OS was like that... you should try it."

A little later I did, and never looked back. For me, FOSS is convenience.

I use Arch btw.