"Capitalism means the freedom to choose! You won't get any choice or individuality unless the profit motive is involved!"
Windows and Mac: Install this upgrade you never asked for that will make your computer unusably slow or we will kill your entire family.
Linux: Hi which of our twelve million distros would you like to use and what would you like to use it on, a supercomputer or your Tamagochi handheld device?
@ljwrites Talk to Sophie about her choice sometime.
TW: Mass genocide, at a personal scale.
https://invidio.us/watch?v=DZ9bht5H2p4
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie%27s_Choice_(novel)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sophie%27s_Choice_(film)
@ljwrites The "but yer freechoizes" argument is more bullshit that must die.
For several reasons.
As you point out, it's often simply a lie --- oppressive systems, many "capitalust", offer no true alternatives or capabilities.
And any jackbooted Nazi (literally), mafioso, or tyrannical boss / abusive partner / cop can make you an offer you cannot refuse.
Or now-estranged parents. As I think you're aware.
@ljwrites Bingo.
Find this lens and apply it, you'll see tons and tons of bullshit.
@ljwrites See also US retirement systems, esp. 401k, rather than defined-benefit plans:
James W. Russell, “Social Insecurity: 401(k)s and the Retirement Crisis” (Beacon Press, 2014)
New Books in Economics
Duration: 50:35
Published: Tue, 20 May 2014 14:59:57 -0000
Media: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/LIT6339144553.mp3
Jim Russell is a sociologist and it was his encounter with the hidden realities of his own 401(k) retirement plan that touched off his ...
@ljwrites Back to the Linux context: I can't find the reference now, but distictly recall Greg K-H having a Web page up reading:
Q: Is Linux about choice?
A: NO!
Circa ~2012--2015 AFAIR.
That, and the ongoing systemd shitfest, have cooled my enthusiasm for Linux markedly. It's still the best thing going, but all is not joy and light.
(For the uninitiated, Greg is #2 on the Linux dev team, after Linus, and stable kernel maintainer.)
... by the choice-fetishist petit bourgeoisie's own metric ...
Sure, and that (previous commentary notwithstanding) is an absolutely valid point.
For myself, the chief benefit of Linux has been my capacity to refuse the latest idiocy-of-the-day, mostly in desktop metaphors / environments.
I settled on WindowMaker in the late 1990s ... and continue using it to this day. Yes, I've tried other alternatives, and watched GNOME & KDE since the 1990s.
Constant churn of basic UI is a tremendous antiusability factor.
Other points of stability: general userland, scripting languages, editors, etc.
The churny bits of Linux (firewall, audio, graphics (Wayland) are the most frustrating.
@ljwrites There are a few alternatives. Because Reasons I'm considering larger jumps. Possibly OpenBSD on security grounds, though I haet haet haet BSD userland vs. GNU.
Plan 9 also has appeal.
Otherwise, Debian w/ sytemd deps pinned -9999 or a sanitised variant (Devuan), are options.
@ljwrites Mirowski's written on the Mont Pelerin Society several times, incl. a book with that title. Here he is discussing Never Let a Serious Crisis Go To Waste, covering some of that ground:
Spammy Snarker L.J.
Doc Edward Morbius ⭕