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Paying for free software
(lemmy.ml)
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this post was submitted on 09 Feb 2024
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I am interested in paying donations to free and open source software I regularly use and have into my workflow. I will completely ignore your project if you make me deal with license keys. The Grayjay method is ok but would prefer that code and buttons not be dedicated to getting in my way. I hope that the mentality of paying for what you use becomes more common in FOSS culture so that prompts aren't needed.
That said if your broke, don't dontate. Take advantage of it being free and when you get a good job again, then consider helping out the developers.
In recent personal experience, I recently changed the motherboard on my Winblows VR gaming PC and It wouldn't recognize my legit product key anymore. I don't have patience for DRM shit so I activated it with KMS. Activation keys are a pain in the arse.
I emphasized It's use for VR gaming just in case someone tries to sell me on the Linux Proton compatibility system. Someday soon steamVR will hopefully have good compatibility and I will give it a go. However I will always at minimum be stuck with windows on a secondary ssd as I have some Oculus games I also like and Oculus+revive will likely never work under Linux.
I should add that I am broke myself so it's a bit high and mighty of me to say people should donate when I have not done so yet.
I have started by at least supporting game developers on Steam. Mostly indie to medium size studio ones. Again, I can't stand the AAA game DRM key crap.
Steam puts DRM in games and requires proprietary software (the Steam client), so you should consider not buying there at all. GOG's client is also proprietary, but its optional and there is a free alternative called Heroic Games Launcher. Itch.io has a libre client (also optional). As far as I know games on those two platforms are DRM-free.
Steam is my dirty little secret when it come to my interest in open source. I believe that Valve will continue to hold it's long tradition of user first business as a private business with lord Gaben at the helm (yes I know he's mostly in the background at this point). I know that GOG exists however I really like steam forums, achievements, steam deck integration, steam link streaming and most importantly steamVR. Buying through GOG is going to massively impact my steamVR experience if you can even at all. steamVR compared to Oculus makes steamVR look like a very open platform. I hate Facebook with a passion for a variety of reasons so steamVR it is.
FOSS is a great tool/concept but at this time it doesn't apply to gaming and I don't really care to massively inconvenience my gaming experience for a small amount more of open source code. I say this as someone who daily drives a PinePhone, runs a Linux server with ZFS and is looking at a Framework laptop for my next laptop to run Linux on. Windows is still where gaming is at, especially for VR, and I don't care to try and fight to run close source games on an open source operating system. Seems like a waste of effort to me.
I don't doubt that Steam is convenient. I was just saying that we should buy DRM-free games when possible and support alternatives that don't force us to use proprietary software. More freedom is better and if we don't try to change something, we will be stuck like this forever and it might even get worse.
Same as me then, nice!
It's silly to be an absolute open source purist when it comes to Valve anyway. They arguably deserve the money for the amazing ecosystem they have compared to the competition and are one of the biggest contributors to getting GUI frameworks and other Linux systems developed for the Linux based steam deck.
Valve will likely be the party that gets VR working mainstream on Linux for the upcoming Valve Decard standalone headset. You want to talk about the power of open source... well... an affordable VR headset that's at least mostly open source in the software department that is also good for gaming. Sign me up. It'll be miles better than what Facebook shits out for it measly 3-4 years of support.
I have an OG Vive that I use as the multiplayer setup for when friends come over and it's still fully supported. 8 years later.
Valve may not be completely committed to everything open source but until someone out shines them they are the best option for flexibility and longevity.
Also someone need to be paid to develop open source software. This being the beginning of the topic and all. I'm happy for that to be Valve at the moment as they have shown the industry how to be better.
No I don't work for Valve, I'm just sick of closed restrictive platforms as well as open janky platforms for gaming and hardware with fixed EOL dates. I see Valve as the best balance/compromise.
Sorry for my brains wall of text mode.
I don't think it's silly at all to demand that users should have rights and that they should be able to control their computers. Valve makes proprietary software, which takes away user's freedom, so it is unethical. They could make money in an ethical way if they only wanted. SteamOS is proprietary software too.
I don't know much about VR, but if Valve makes a headset that doesn't require proprietary software, that will be great. It should then be used as an example that other companies could follow. But it can't be used as an excuse for them abusing users in other ways.
Certainly, but Valve's business is mostly focused on proprietary software and DRM. When they do make Free Software, it seems to be for the purpose of attracting people to their proprietary platform.
Grayjay is proprietary. Its license doesn't allow you for example to modify the source code, which is one of the 4 essential freedoms. Programs that don't give you all of those freedoms are not Free Software.
https://gitlab.futo.org/videostreaming/grayjay/-/blob/master/LICENSE