

Ask HN: Why hasn't free software been able to compete with proprietary software? - gschiller

Geniuses like Richard Stallman have evangelized free software, arguing that it should be a basic human right, and often they argue that it is monetizable, but free software has largely failed in that regard.<p>Why has free software failed to be a commercial success?
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mindcrime
_Why has free software failed to be a commercial success?_

Your premise is flawed, and this entire question is nonsensical. F/OSS _has_
been able to compete with proprietary software, and - in many cases - has won.
Just because it hasn't won _every_ segment doesn't mean that it's been a
failure.

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SEJeff
Depends on your definition of success really. Linux beats the living snot out
of windows in high performance computing and supercomputers. It also beats the
snot out of windows in embedded and mobile / tablets because it is so much
easier for manufacturers to adapt it for their own needs. What is your
definition of success? Linux never tried hard enough with desktops I think.
Canonical's Ubuntu is trying awful hard to make Linux desktops relevant (which
is cool) but even they have mostly ceded that fight and are going after the
more viable mobile.

Ever bought a smart tv like the Sony Bravia or basically any of the nice
Samsung TVs? Linux as well. How about a home router? Many of those are Linux.
I'll go out on a limb and say there are a lot more Linux devices than Windows
total (primarily due to the plethora of embedded and mobile).

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paulhauggis
Server software and programming languages have succeeded, but general desktop
software has mostly failed.

I feel it's because the time and effort isn't put into actually making it
user-friendly. Look at any apple product, for instance. It's so easy and
intuitive and I don't need to play around with the command line to get
something to work.

I use Linux and tons of open source software every day for running my
business. I've tried to use pretty much every desktop version of Linux..but I
always switch back to windows or mac. Why? It never feels finished to me.
Random crashing, error messages that don't make sense, a horrible UI (that
looks like a programming just threw it together with no thought).

There needs to be a movement of Open source UI and graphic designers.

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rgubarenko
You're likely talking about desktop software and OS, because open-source and
free dev platforms are successful. I myself, after being a .NET guru a couple
of years now creating more and more stuff in PHP5 and node.js and I'm totally
happy with them. But for OS yes, for average user those free ones really suck.
I remember trying to setup XBMC on ZBox with Ubuntu - every single feature
caused issues. To get proper sound I spent half of a day sitting with command
line. After 2 days of fight, I gave up and installed Windows XP where I did
not have to do anything - it just started working out f the box. So, for
average user or for person that does not want to waste time with command line
(like me) free OS is not an option. I need a complete product, not a DIY Lego
parts.

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benologist
Free software was on the path to success, then SaaS and the internet and
mobile computing exploded in popularity which revived proprietary platforms in
spite of heavily/fundamentally exploiting free software.

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Twirrim
RedHat and a sizeable number of companies will disagree with you there. Open
source is perfectly profitable and competitive.

