Edit: Guys I didn’t write the headline; the subtitle that I added, I’ve now fixed tho
Edit: Also, the information about there being no escape is out of date – here’s a quick guide to how to fix the problem in the modern day
Don’t want to sound like I’m proselytizing, but there are other free operating systems not based on Linux: FreeBSD, FreeDOS or ReactOS in example. I wish, I could add GNU/Hurd to the list, but from what I know, its unusable at the moment. Redox is also a new OS written in Rust, but it’s not ready yet (I think).
Now, are these real alternatives to a regular Linux based OS? In some cases they are (FreeBSD and their family), but most probably would just use Linux for their PC. They aren’t even suited for gaming I guess, the likes of Steam. I was just “Acktually”-ing around that you don’t “need” Linux for owning your computer. I mean, you mentioned closed firmware, so technically I was allowed to. :D
Yeah my position is really to recommend any FOSS OS in the large over proprietary ones. However, since my experience is primarily with Linux distributions, and I do think that Linux makes sense for a lot of use cases, I usually start by talking about “Linux” first.
But, from my experience, if a “solution” to a problem “forces” the user to make a choice, then they’ll stick with what “currently works” over having to make a choice. So when I talk to people about Linux IRL, I typically direct them to Linux Mint directly, even though other distros exist and it actually doesn’t fit my use cases. Once they’re comfortable in the Linux ecosystem, they can switch to a different distro or OS family if they feel the need to do so.
Yeah, I know people running FreeBSD as their daily driver; totally left that one out haha.
The rest of them are either niche (e.g. FreeDOS for retrogaming) or not quite ready for daily driving (e.g. ReactOS – which I’ve been rooting for for a while now).
There’s also TempleOS lol
When we’re talking FOSS, feel free to “ackshually” all day. Worst case is I learn something new/cool.
I would absolutely run FreeBSD on my laptop if the WiFi wasn’t awful. It doesn’t matter which chipset, max is like 20 Mbps. Rouuugh.
On the server side of things, Docker/Podman is so convenient, and keeps me from blowing so much time on “maintenance.”
Hopefully, some day, I can daily a BSD. Until then- NixOS!
