Bonum Certa Men Certa

Penguin Pete Quits Advocacy of GNU/Linux and He Isn't Alone

Outgrowing the need for advocacy

Penguin
Photo by Hannes Grobe/AWI



Summary: The need for advocacy of the leading operating system (based on units installed or shipped) is diminishing

WAY back in the days, Penguin Pete and others like him -- myself included -- spent a great deal of time trying to take GNU/Linux from underdog to de facto standard. With Android and some other operating systems we are pretty much there now.



Penguin Pete, who became mostly provocative (rather than informative) and at times sought attention by insulting Edward Snowden and anyone who thought surveillance was a big deal, is now throwing in the towel [1], but in a sense this action of his might actually be confirmation of the status of GNU/Linux. It no longer needs many of us (GNU/Linux users) running around, shouting from rooftops, trying to spread it. In a sense, GNU/Linux advocacy is no longer really required. The future of FOSS is assured. It doesn't mean that there are no dangers and even patent parasites like Microsoft.

There are other new examples which help herald the end of an era of advocacy. Jono Bacon starts/joins a new audiocast focused not only on GNU/Linux [2] (it is called Bad Voltage), Linux Format turns to mobile (where Android is), and people who spent many years writing articles about GNU/Linux in servers and desktops turn just to summaries of short bits of news [4]. The British Ubuntu audiocast has a new episode titled "Gone With The Ubuntu" [5], which probably speaks volumes. Hopefully they're right.

Related/contextual items from the news:



  1. It's Been Fun, Linux Community, But It's Time To Move On
    Well, I've arrived at a conclusion today: Starting January 1st, 2014, penguinpetes.com will no longer be focused on Linux, Free & Open Source Software, or even technology in particular. Before you all cry "sell-out!" or just cry in general, there's three very level-headed arguments in support of this...


  2. Bad Voltage


  3. Did we forget? Linux Format 177 is on Sale - Mobile mashup
  4. Linux Top 3: Linux 3.0 EOL, Oracle and SUSE


  5. S06E34 – Gone With The Ubuntu


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