I can't tell what's worse, people still insisting on using Windows or macOS despite them becoming even more locked-down than ever or the freetards who insist on using only FSF-approved GNU+Linux distros that can only run on 2011 Thinkpads.

Don't listen to these idiots. Even using a shitty distro with SystemD such as Linux Mint or Pop_OS is 1000x better than putting up with the bullshit that Microsoft and Apple are giving you and will give you in the future. Despite most GNU+Linux distros coming with some proprietary software, I have yet to encounter a single distro that requires you to link your installation with some online account, unless you count ChromeOS, Android (which is only Linux, not GNU), and SteamOS. I would say that you should stay away from those distros and maybe stay away from anything RedHat or vanilla Ubuntu, and that you should install Librewolf after installing your distro as most distros still bundle vanilla Firefox as the default browser, but other than that, you should be fine.

And look, I would love to see the day where nobody has to rely on proprietary software anymore, but we are just not there yet. I still like to remain optimistic, despite all the blackpills, but you need to be pragmatic about this. Sometimes, you do have to work within the system before you can fully replace it.

@xianc78 I love the free software movement and I have a lot of respect for Mr. Stallman and his valuable contribution to computer science, despite his eccentricities.

However I will never be able to justify the "everything must be FOSS or you're a stupid normie" mindset. Diehard FOSS advocates are some of the most toxic elitists and I don't think they understand that they're only hurting their cause. RMS knows this and tries his darn best to not blame individuals for being abused by bad software companies.

A normal person is not going to think "I should drop everything I rely on to do my work because this guy on the internet told me I'm a retard." They're going to think free software is lame and continue to delay the inevitable M$ bullshit by using old Windows and then eventually just accept the malpractice.

I think a lot of the evil of proprietary software is overblown too, yes it is inherently anti-user in some ways, but the whole point of concern is that it's *easier* to abuse, not that it's always worse or better. Not all proprietary software is malware. Part of education on Free Software should be helping people understand how FOSS is more trustworthy and make it a selling point, distinct from the faux-privacy-focused corporations that lie to people using black boxes. Telling someone they need to go schizo and change their computing habits overnight to become some copyleft protestor to their own detriment will do nothing.

When I found out about the FOSS movement I did not drop all of my proprietary software. Especially since I'm a gamer so that makes up 99.9% of what I do. But I did learn a valuable lesson about trust and was able to selectively choose some free software alternatives for my work so that I could control my computer a little more. Software freedom is all about making good choices for yourself.

@xianc78 Regarding the FreeSoftwareExtremist fedi instance: the last time I interacted with someone from there, they straight up told me to commit suicide because my website had JavaScript on it.

The funny part was, the part that got them upset was a page asking for their consent.