This is a very importrant thing to keep in mind. Liberalism is exceptional at appropriation and assimilation, and there is already a tremendous amount of corporate influence on the trajectory of Linux development. Since the open source nature of Linux is fairly robust, this would mean that control would look a lot like accessibility and feature competition (think how Android has effectively muscled out alternative 'open source' mobile OS's and functions as one of the most expansive data collection systems in the world). It likely would not be as immediate as this suggests, for exactly the same reason Linux is so preferable to proprietary operating systems, but examples like Zorin's successful marketing campaign and paid services do point to a trajectory of corporatization separate from what exists in Redhat and Ubuntu.

As liberal states seek more power over information and computing, they will direct regulations into favourable conditions for capitalization, as they always do, and will reward corporations that comply. The big threat is the amount of resources that private capital wields with state support and how this may pressure independent developers to comply as well.

I think the "trap" is to believe "we" can "win" once and for all.

Under capitalism (and I'm not suggesting there are better systems, only highlight a core mechanism) there will always be competition to capture value, both customers and lawmakers who (should) protect them.

There are countless examples but one of the most obvious on that topic if Microsoft itself with it's sadly now classic EEE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_extend,_and_extinguish of which we can admire the comtemporary version with Github. Initially Github was acquired and no changed, nowadays a lot of basic functionalities, e.g. search within a repository are locked behind a login, there are more and more advertisements for Microsoft other products, e.g. CoPilot. That last product itself is questioning the foundation of free software and open source with its license washing process making unclear who did what, breaking provenance, etc.

The same happened with Google acquiring Android but not locking it down more and more.

The list could grow longer and longer, overall the point is to showcase a pattern : nothing is just "let" alone to grow on its own. It's gradually captured and enshittified until there is nothing left but the name of a project because corporations exist only to extract more money. There is no moral, only an imperative for profit or their death.

So... unfortunately we WILL have to keep on both building AND protecting what's been built so far with newer and more powerful threats. Microsoft, Google, and all large corporations who advertise themselves as allies of free software and open source MUST be judge on what they actually do, not on what they claim.

We have to push back and we will always have to. This year and the next.

How the fuck is Linux a trap compared to the shenanigans of Microsoft?
Microsoft and other proprietary vendors are the trap, and Linux is the way to avoid it.

Its not really something that can be avoided other than political change. Or moving to a different country. Its not a linux problem its a facism problem.

Ive been running Linux for close to a decade now and one thing that I've noticed is rarely brought up in Linux circles is that Linux Kernel Development is heavily funded by major big tech corpos. Examples include Microsoft, Google, Oracle, and IBM.

There is a vested corporate interest in keeping Linux well maintained as it is the OS that underpins the vast majority of corporate server architecture and infrastructure.

I'm not saying Linux development wouldn't exist without them, but imho, Linux certainly wouldn't be as ubiquitous as it is today without this corporate backing. Thusly, it is worth noting that in many ways, we Linux users have not escaped corporate influence simply from switching from Windows or MacOS to Linux.

We've maybe lessened it to some degree, but to think we are somehow immune to the misguided mandates from state governments, like the latest recent age verification laws, is misguided.

Here's one way that liberal fascism maintains control:

• Maintain control of everything
• If control is lost, create mass hysteria about "social media", "kids," "addiction", "islam", "immigration", whatever, etc.
• Steamroll everything.
• Regain control.

It's how they got TikTok, etc. It's how they'll try to get Lemmy, Linux, VPNs, etc. The wild part is how many lib "allies" will fully support this.

Yes, it's a trap like everything else. It's another front in the struggle.

Linux becoming mainstream would be a trap too... It will lead to the enshitification of the distros as they get more and more watered down to satisfy the average dumbass using it.

This is why shaming the idiots who say things like "what's the big deal, it's just a field in a text file" is so important. They need to be made to understand that solidarity is required to resist the tyrants.

I think if Linux becomes something for the masses it will no longer be for me. So I'm hoping that won't happen.

End users just want their hand to be held by some kind of corporation. Happy to give up their information and privacy. To have no choices in interface etc.

Basically, Linux for the masses will look exactly like ChromeOS. Completely unusable for a power user with a need for privacy and control.

That stupid Newsom age-gating OS bill is pure political theatre. It won't affect Linux -- too many capitalists would be inconvenienced, and inconveniencing capitalists is the last thing capitalist darling Newsom would do; he couldn't even be bothered to support a modest 5% tax on billionaires.

Linux is here to stay -- it runs the internet. And it will always be customizable, because that's part of what gives it so much value.

That legislation is pushed by big tech lobbies, mainly Meta. The more people use open source the less power those big companies have to push shit like this.

Also we've had attempts to microslopify Linux before, by the hands of Canonical and Red Hat.

Their building a Prison System ™️ regardless, open source (e.g. Linux) just offers SOME protections.

We have to do more regardless, but it's still all part of the good fight in my book

What people don't realize is, that every year is the Year of Linux Desktop. We just beat the previous year. It's like having a new world record every year.

It's just the buzz-word of FOSS enthusiasts.

Year of linux?

Dude, please. I'm on my third decade of the thing already.

How would anyone place a 100% community driven distribution like Debian in such a cage? There's no monetary leverage, the community is truly international, so local laws don't apply .....
Please note that it's also one of the most prolific distributions, and the foundation p.e. for *buntu.

If you're living in an oppressive jurisdiction, your employer might obviously not allow you to use a truly free operating system, but that's hardly Linux's fault.

So if your favorite distribution is starting bullshit, just switch to the next one, there are literally thousands of them. That's why "Year of the Linux desktop" is confusing: it's "year of steamOs" or "year of *buntu", probably even "year of Debian", but most certainly never "year of the nixos desktop".

You have choice. Use it.