01.14.20
Why You — Yes, You Too — Should Consider Migrating to GNU/Linux
Summary: The window is closing (and Windows/Vista 7 closing down); the chance to use machines that the users actually control is still there
THE RELEASE of Vista 7 was over a decade ago and now it’s officially out of life. Today. After midnight.
But I won’t be using that as the primary reason to migrate to GNU/Linux or at least some BSD. A migration was well overdue for at least 2 decades. Yes, 2 decades. And I also realise most readers of this site aren’t GNU/Linux users. Many work for the European Patent Office (EPO), some are connected to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) one way or another (e.g. attorneys), and I’m assuming many are examiners fed up with employers who measure everything in terms of money. To them, moneyflow is all that counts and 35 U.S.C. § 101 is seen as a barrier.
“You are a product to them and transactions take place.”So okay, I want to offer a different kind of perspective or advocacy style (than most). Forget about money. Forget about cost. I won’t be saying things like, “Linux is cheaper than Windows” or “Linux will save you money” (even if that’s true!) because that’s just not the point. Earlier this week I spent a long time explaining the notions of free and freedom. When you use Facebook or Slack it’s not “free”; you pay them. Maybe not with classic currency. But they’re paid. You might not see the payment. You are a product to them and transactions take place.
Nowadays, as more computers become de facto listening devices, it’s time to escape to something that treats you, the user, as the person in charge, in control. People tend to assume that machines they use still take instructions from them, but over time these machines actually take instructions from the real owners, the developers (Apple, Microsoft, Google) and subject the users (who hold these machines) to the will of those real owners. Do you want a machine you control or a machine that controls you? Make the choice today. Or this coming weekend. Or later this month. Or this year. But make that choice soon. Because time is running out as computing becomes more malicious over time. █
Translation: NSA was using major flaw in Windows 10 for years and is now revealing it because foreign actors are now also using it. https://t.co/VvtdIhFMkY
— Jin SEO (@JTSEO9) January 14, 2020
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