Yeah, it’s the dishonesty that bothers me the most. How they ll argue over and over that something like Red Hat is completely free, even when they know it truly isn’t, because they know that “free” part is the main selling point to get people interested. But most anything good or worth having has a cost to it. People who focus on wanting everything for free usually aren’t on the up and up in many other ways, and like to argue on forums with anyone who they feel represents successful businesses, or capitalism in general. A lot of these guys only post on Linux threads too LOL.
In our society there are very few things that are actually free. Many of the companies who develop the major Linux distributions have somehow managed to make a lot of money despite business models that rely on giving the fruits of their labor and investments to many people for nothing. The mechanics of how this works are not well understood or even acknowledged by many here.
How software companies actually make $Billions is not well understood by most people, often including those who are very familiar with the ins and out of using the actual software. This seems to be true of many of the people on this forum who appear to be very knowledgeable about how to use Linux distributions. When people have gaps in their understanding, they typically use their imaginations to fill in the blanks and/or are vulnerable to believing over simplified explanations and myths that have become perpetuated in our society.
In February 2024 Linux “desktop software” reached 4.03% worldwide market share which was a new record. If you count Chrome as a Linux desktop operating system it increased to 6.34%. At the same time Apple's macOS, saw its desktop market share drop from 21.32 percent in June 2023 to 15.42 percent in February 2024. At the same time Windows software which dropped to a low of 68.23% in June of 2023 recovered to 72.17% and seemed to be continuing its upward trend.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/03/linux-continues-growing-market-share-reaches-4-of-desktops/
While these are interesting number they vastly understate the actual usage of Linux based operating systems. Linux absolutely dominates the server market, the supercomputer market, smaller devices including smart phones, streaming devices, and just about every other electronic gadget that one can imagine.
For example, all of the Amazon Echo devices and their supplemental accessories are Linux-powered and run on a modified Linux kernel. The same is true of their FireTV, FireTab, and Kindle e-reader gadgets.
Apple has established a niche in the cell phone/tablet market in the US. But, as mentioned above, they have slipped to about 15.4% of the desktop/laptop OS market. Microsoft is still the king when it comes to the desktop/laptop OS market.
All the griping and hand wringing we see here is for naught. Linux based systems do what they do, Apple does what it does, and Microsoft does what it does... they each have areas that they excel in that have been decided by the market's response to their products. And this is going to be the situation for the foreseeable future.
This forum is a place where you can catch a lot of flack for stating the obvious. Unfortunately, the naivety of people using Linux based products and operating systems makes them very vulnerable to those who make great efforts to rip everyone else off. There is no moral superiority granted to those who choose to avoid Microsoft's products. And the safety and security for the alternatives are typically no greater either. Linux based systems are by nature easily modified by third parties and the security systems in place run from great to non-existent.