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In August of 2023, I wrote about my switch to Linux as a Windows-centric professional. I’ve dabbled in Linux as a daily driver in the past, but it has always ended in some form of defeat. Eventually returning to my abuser, Windows. It was a hard road leaving it behind, but determination can work wonders when flying the freedom skies. Starting with the release of Windows 11, Microsoft’s shady tactics increased to the point where it’s no longer a viable option for an operating system, unless you don’t mind that your desktop is used as an advertising platform, or being forced to allow Copilot, Recall and OneDrive abuse the relationship to your data. Much of the commercial software industry invested into proprietary applications have descended into chaos in the least five years. Recently an intense feeding frenzy for control over the user experience rose to an all time high. Subscriptions replacing purchases of software products is the biggest example of this.

In my previous article I was worried that I might give up, and switch back. Did I make it this time? Yes! Yes, I did. It’s been two years now. I finally weaned myself off of Big Daddy.  I do everything in Linux now. Obviously, there are still some pain points that I have a hard time with, but isn’t that true with any operating system?

As a survivor of that dependency, I sometimes feel that I am making the problem worse by installing and supporting Windows 11 for my customers. A new violation of trust is always just around the corner, even though I work very hard to remove or circumvent these hostile features.  OneDrive even silently reinstalled itself and moved one customer’s data to the cloud, all without consent. One day their data was on the local drive and the next it became online-only files that had to be downloaded from Microsoft’s servers. I see an avalanche of justifications from people still stuck on Windows. “It’s just a bug”, “These things will get ironed out in time” But the truth is that the freedom to choose is slowly being eroded. When we live in a consumer society where anti-trust seems to mean nothing, what does one do?  

The StopKillingGames movement is of a similar line. Someone decided enough is enough and went toe to toe with what I consider corporate culture run amok in the AAA game industry. And then we have our friends in Europe that passed the Digital Markets Act, challenging Apple’s stranglehold on the App Store. I think Europe is positioning itself as the last bastion of hope for customer rights worldwide. With digital commerce, when rights are upheld in one country, other countries can receive the downstream effects. We are also starting to see RightToRepair challenges with 3rd party equipment providers that attempt to prevent 1st party servicing using IP arguments. 

So what have I learned through all this? I’ve learned that making myself free requires effort. The technical challenges of Linux are a bit steeper, but not impossible. Ownership and control over products I purchased are more important than I realized. When I lose control over something I purchased, it disrupts my freedom, and this disruption affects the relationship with myself and the world. It happens slowly. First, I brush off violations to my freedom as an annoyance that needs to be routed around. Then, when more violations occur, I start to get angry that I have to waste more of my time fixing something that I didn’t break.

I realized that this anger is directed at myself. It’s actually a form of resentment towards myself for sacrificing something important for a minor inconvenience that’s designed to become a major roadblock by each iteration.

And this is the major sticking point. I cannot ignore that slow boil any longer. It’s time to see these dark patterns for what they are: a slow movement towards a feudal system where I will own nothing and be happy.

This problem is not just happening with software ownership; it’s happening everywhere.

I’ll leave you with this quote from the character Nemik in the Star Wars TV series “Andor”: 

Remember this, Freedom is a pure idea. It occurs spontaneously and without instruction. Random acts of insurrection are occurring constantly throughout the galaxy. There are whole armies, battalions that have no idea that they’ve already enlisted in the cause.

Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward.

And remember this: the Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear.

Remember that. And know this, the day will come when all these skirmishes and battles, these moments of defiance will have flooded the banks of the Empires’s authority and then there will be one too many. One single thing will break the siege.

Remember this: Try.

If you are a power user like me, Linux is getting closer to a real alternative to Windows and it’s about time as more and more companies move to anti-competitive practices, harming public trust and individual choice. In the long run, the products we use should be in our control and not the other way around. Do what you can to make it harder for shady companies like Microsoft to dominate markets and support the end of creative monopolies.