A(nother) Restatement of Aims
14 January, 2025
Every so often, I find myself writing a post like this. Since it’s been almost two years since I last did that, I figured that it’s time do another ones of these posts.
I’ve been writing — in paying publications and on my own blogs — about Linux and free and open source software (FOSS) since the early years of this century. In that time, I’ve copped a lot of criticism and negativity from people in certain circles.
Some of that criticism has been constructive and helpful. Much of it, though, has been snarky or downright hostile. Then general thrust is that since I’m:
- Not using what my critics are using,
- Not using Linux and FOSS in way they do or the way they think I should,
- Not using the prescribed Linux distribution of the moment,
- Catering to a non-technical audience, and
- Am putting forward an opinion that differs from theirs
That I’m doing things in the wrong way and demonstrating to the world that I don’t know what I’m talking about. And that since I’m not focusing on more technical topics, what I write isn’t valid and doesn’t have value.
It might not sound like it, but I’m OK with that sort of criticism. I’ve been on the receiving end of criticism like that since I began writing professionally. I can let the bad stuff roll off me.
My critics, though, don’t seem to understand what I’m all about and who I write for. I natter on a lot about people who I call average computer users. Folks who use computers daily, but aren’t technically inclined or want to be. People who aren’t writing code or hacking on hardware. People for whom Python is a constricting snake and who never open a terminal window. No, not all computer users are techies or are interested in becoming techies.
The average computer user — not the developer or DevOps person or system administrator — is my audience. It’s an audience that definitely doesn’t include most of the denizens of Hacker News, Reddit, OSNews, and wherever else.
I write for people like myself: people who are looking for ways in which to get things done and to make their computing lives a bit easier. And who want to do that with open software and open formats.
There’s a place for everyone in the Linux and FOSS world, regardless of their technical chops (or lack thereof). Because you don’t script or program or spend most of your time at the command line doesn’t make you less of a user of FOSS than anyone else. Because you use, say, Ubuntu or elementary OS doesn’t make you less of a Linux user than anyone else.
My goal is to write for that average computer user. My goal is to write in way they can easily understand, to focus on topics that interest them. My goal is to share my love of Linux and FOSS with people who might only know the closed, proprietary universes of Windows or macOS.
If that’s not you, that’s OK. You know where the Back button is.