What makes open-source apps great? (sopuli.xyz)

submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by CoMaps@sopuli.xyz to c/CoMaps@sopuli.xyz

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Many apps have code that is closed and not visible publicly. Other apps like CoMaps, have code that anyone can see and use. What makes open-source apps great?

Transparency: You or any developer can peek under the hood, see exactly what happens and how your data is handled.

Community Power: Developers worldwide collaborate, spot bugs faster, and add cool features you’d never get from closed-source code project.

Innovation: Because anyone can improve or fork the project, ideas evolve quickly— crowdsourced creativity.

Freedom: No lock‑in, no hidden fees, and you keep control of your digital life.

“Users” can be co‑creators, making software safer, smarter, and more adaptable for everyone.

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[-] rkd@sh.itjust.works 10 points 1 day ago

If they're not great, it's your fault /thread 😅

[-] CallMeAnAI@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

This is some rose tinted glasses shit 🤣

Look there are benefits but there is also a lot of garbage. Y'all just try to hand wave this shit away. The only reason desktop is even usable to most users is Gabe pouring literally billions of dollars into the ecosystem serving his personal vendetta against Microsoft. Y'all STILL ignore the meh state of Linux desktop while ignoring the garbage state it was in before Gabe sent his developers to the community.

None of this would be possible without valve stealing 30% of gaming revenue with their monopoly.

NONE of the meaningful work was done for free or customers. It was done by a highly paid corporate army backed by one of the biggest monopolies in tech.

Don't even get me started on "cool features" as if most the software is even close in parity.

[-] Cris_Color@lemmy.world 2 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

I'm kinda confused by this comment. The fact that open source isn't perfect doesn't mean co-maps can't explain why open source is valuable, given that it's a relevant part of the appeal of their project...

Like you're not wrong that the Linux desktop is far from perfect, but it kinda feels like you're just frustrated frequently one talks about it (which is fair, open source spaces can be a bit of a evangelistic circle-jerk. I say this as someone who loves foss), and this post prompted you to vent about that somewhat unrelatedly

I might be misunderstanding the point you're trying to convey...

[-] kopasz7@sh.itjust.works 13 points 1 day ago

I get the impression you think corporations aren't major open source contributors.

Gaming is an even small fraction desktop linux use. Desktop linux is an even smaller fraction of FOSS.

[-] CallMeAnAI@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

They aren't. Not outside the server/product realm. This thread is opened when an image of comaps and references users. Not sure why you've excluded them. And I've certainly never heard to NGinx referred to as an app. That term typically sits in under space.

How much money is coming in from corporate contributions on Linux gnome after you remove valve?

I didn't actually expect an easy answer there, but I'd bet it's almost next to nothing.

So what was wrong about my comment again?

[-] kopasz7@sh.itjust.works 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Linux kernel for example:

By changesets
Huawei Technologies	1281	9.2%
Intel	1254	9.0%
(Unknown)	1097	7.9%
Google	917	6.6%
Linaro	837	6.0%
AMD	750	5.4%
Red Hat	672	4.8%
(None)	564	4.0%
Meta	414	3.0%
NVIDIA	389	2.8%
SUSE	333	2.4%
Oracle	318	2.3%
NXP Semiconductors	275	2.0%
IBM	260	1.9%
Renesas Electronics	224	1.6%
(Consultant)	208	1.5%
Microchip Technology Inc.	192	1.4%
Arm	187	1.3%
MediaTek	164	1.2%
Collabora	144	1.0%

By lines changed
Oracle	91852	12.0%
AMD	89761	11.7%
Google	56504	7.4%
Intel	44062	5.8%
(Unknown)	33765	4.4%
Realtek	33277	4.3%
Linaro	31234	4.1%
Huawei Technologies	27856	3.6%
NVIDIA	25441	3.3%
Red Hat	24073	3.1%
(None)	21498	2.8%
Meta	18783	2.5%
MediaTek	17599	2.3%
NXP Semiconductors	14342	1.9%
SUSE	13749	1.8%
Brocade	12154	1.6%
Microchip Technology Inc.	11651	1.5%
Pengutronix	10200	1.3%
Broadcom	8054	1.1%
Marvell	8036	1.0%

https://lwn.net/Articles/915435/