Bonum Certa Men Certa

Advocates of GNU/Linux and the Uphill Battles Behind Us

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Nov 08, 2025

Straw Fodder Bales in Winter: straw that were left after the fall harvest are used as animal feed and bedding during the winter months

Crossposted from Tux Machines

"In social dynamics, critical mass is a sufficient number of adopters of a new idea, technology or innovation in a social system so that the rate of adoption becomes self-sustaining and creates further growth. The point at which critical mass is achieved is sometimes referred to as a threshold within the threshold model of statistical modeling." -Critical mass (sociodynamics)

Lately we've noticed a lot more articles about the growth of GNU/Linux, e.g. among gamers. The platform seems to be growing unstoppably and traffic in this site also grew; we assume that's because more people look for information or news regarding GNU/Linux.

Next week, in the middle of November, it's still expected to be over 15 degrees here, so going to the outdoor markets and/or to coffee outdoors (or long runs in the park with summer clothes) is still doable. Over time we find that running this site gets easier because our toolsets improve and a lot of the news is just chaff or slop that we can quickly skip. We can spend less time running this site... and just running, instead.

Prioritising physical and mental health can ensure this site will run for another decade to come. Taking more "computer breaks" is time worth investing; I started sleeping a lot more this year and that didn't reduce my productivity because I can focus better while I'm awake. It was misguided to assume that more hours awake necessarily translate into more being accomplished (getting done).

If you are a heavy user of computers, then consider taking more "computer breaks"; wellbeing is important and there's more to life than a keyboard and mouse.

GNU/Linux felt like "activism" 20 years ago. Now it's mainstream. Advocates can relax more (or for longer). The man who started GNU/Linux is attracting vast crowds, even for talks that he barely mentions in advance. █

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