this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2023
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Not hating on open source, just let people use what fits their expectations and needs and stop deterring them with gatekeeping :P

UX = user experience

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[–] [email protected] 158 points 1 year ago (7 children)

This one dude has made this app for years and constantly updates it, fixes things, is responsive, and makes a great app. He's now been more loyal to his users longer than Reddit has, and I personally have used his app daily for 13 years.

Yeah, I'll happily pay for it.

FOSS is great but it doesn't pay the rent people, this guy is doing this mostly as his main gig. This isn't some huge corpo, it's one guy who makes his living building the app he loves. I'm sure he'd love to make it FOSS if he didn't have to pay bills on anything.

[–] [email protected] 83 points 1 year ago (17 children)

FOSS can pay the rent. But the users that will complain about £20 for a lifetime of ad removal, definitely aren't going to be the ones that help him should the bank come calling about late mortgage payments.

[–] [email protected] 73 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (11 children)

This is the same crap I left /r/Linux for way back in the day, so so so many people who are all "Linux is the best way and you're stupid for even considering windows or mac" but unable to see realities. Yes, of course I love linux and FOSS, I use it as my primary driver, but we live in a society where free work doesn't pay for housing.

You're exactly right, most of the "FOSS Open Source supreme" people will look at an app that was lovingly crafted for months, call it garbage, and then demand they make it free. I just can't even with them.

Meanwhile I'd love to see the stats on how many hours a week they put into FOSS apps on their own, and if they've given up their jobs to code for FOSS apps for the good of the community.

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[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago

Upvoted via Sync lol. FOSS is great, FOSS is irreplaceable, but for independent programmers FOSS doesn't pay the rent.

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[–] [email protected] 112 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 90 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 74 points 1 year ago (2 children)

FOSS is great but also developers' gotta eat

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I love the idea of Lemmy itself being FOSS but individual instances and apps being a competitive marketplace of for profit businesses.

That way profitable entities with skin in the game can contribute back to the core, as can anyone, while ensuring the communities exist on servers that actually have some kind of monetization.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Exactly! This is the playbook for how Linux has gained such a mainstay - while GNU/Linux on the desktop may still be pretty small, the extensibility and open-source nature of the platform has meant it's been able to take over on all sort of alternative platforms - Android and Steam Deck being the big ones in the consumer space, but also larger distros being used regularly in enterprise/web hosting.

If everyone had refused to embrace Android or Steam Deck or any of the other distros run and maintained by for-profit corporations due to some preconceived idea of what the 'correct' way to use Linux is, it would still be doomed to irrelevance outside of tech circles.

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago

developers’ what

[–] [email protected] 53 points 1 year ago (19 children)

I'm using Sync right now. I've tried a few different lemmy apps and this is the only one that actually works without bugs. Maybe because it's a paid developers full time job and not just some free side project?

I do wish it wasn't a subscription. Apps are generally a flat fee.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago

yeah I think I'll go to the ad removal fee. it's expensive but I use it a lot 🤷‍♂️

I originally did the monthly sub because I didn't have an option and that was the cheapest, it is kinda pricey but it's light years ahead of what I was using

also I'm a developer and I think the guy who made it has probably working like mad to make this, and if it's his sole income and it got pulled out from under him... idk. it's a gamble to not just go get a 9-5 and work on this instead

bro has to eat and I already donate to my local instance.

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[–] [email protected] 50 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't think apps have to be FOSS. It's super important for libraries, frameworks and other infrastrucuture related stuff to be FOSS, but you can always change a client.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago

I totally agree! I would much rather use lemmy with a proprietary client than reddit with a FOSS client. But when I have the choice to install something from f-droid instead of aurora store, its an easy choice. Also, wefwef works perfectly for me, so why install anything at all xD

[–] [email protected] 43 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (13 children)

The three stages of a long-term FOSS user:

  1. How the fuck do I do anything? I'm so lost.

  2. I've somewhat mastered how to use it and became a power user. I'm happy about this, I've developed a sense of superiority over those who don't use it, and will now promote it constantly to others like a goddamn cult. My SO has left me and my family has disowned me, but I don't care, they are too ignorant to be as enlightened as I am.

  3. (A decade or two later) I don't even give a fuck anymore what somebody uses, this still works for me, and what works for you, works for you. Let's just all coexist. OS and app development models don't mean shit, common standards and protocols between them do. As long as I, a Linux user, can email a PNG to a Mac user and they can open it, we're good.

It's been like this since the mid-90s. Most of the people who are being annoying about it are in stage 2.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Thank you. Exactly what is happening and why I'm so exhausted. Feels like the stupid Mac vs Windows debates back in the day, with the even more annoying LInux users.

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Everyone is always promoting that app, so I don't understand why y'all are butthurt when anyone complains about it.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 year ago

It's almost like the internet is a collective of different voices and not one unified entity...

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 year ago

The great part of the fediverse is that everyone can use whatever they want. Personally I stick to Foss clients though.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 year ago (10 children)

Don't forget this is a community built around Open Source software with many refugees who came because proprietary apps were forced on them.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 1 year ago (5 children)

The Lemmy protocol is open source and you're free to use an open source solution. You're free to use sync for Lemmy in much the same way you can run a Spotify client in Linux. One does not destroy the other.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (1 children)

but shouldn't I go online and complain about it loudly?

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I am currently using Sync, and while I agree that the UX is better I can also understand why so many on the Fediverse are against similar apps. They are here because corporations have ruined every other good thing on the internet and non-FOSS is very much associated with big corporations. While I would prefer that Sync were FOSS I also see the reality of Western society and how untenable creating an app would be without some kind of ad revenue. A majority of people are notoriously stingy and donations can only get you so far.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Also, Sync is one dev working full time by himself, not a big corp.

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago

Dude, at least people don't use Reddit is what I think about this situation.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago

I don't mind so much that it's not FOSS. Developer needs paying, fair enough

I want an app without an egregious Privacy Policy that doesn't bundle code that shares "Usage Data" with advertisers

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I installed sync yesterday, and it's nice. It's very usable without paying for it. In fact, the only reason I could see paying at all is to support the creator. The ads are negligible. I had to look for them to notice em. Basically if you don't wanna use it, don't. Not very complicated imo. There's other apps and the web browser. Your paying for the interface not the content.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (5 children)
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[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Just gonna leave this here...

https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html

As I understand it Sync could charge for the app with a free software license, but wouldn't be able to stop people copying or distributing it.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

Let's be honest though, when everyone is shifting to the fediverse to avoid corporate shit, they're more likely to gravitate to other things that are free and open and be less interested in something closed and for-profit

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

there's a lot of hate for sync out there, maybe it's just because I've been using the Reddit version for years but I really love it. i do think some people aren't aware that it's only existed for Lemmy for about 3 or 4 days. there's going to be issues this early on even if the codebase is adapted from a working app. an app this polished already is impressive to me, the pricing isn't something a fan of but I can almost guarantee it'll be evened out sooner or later

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I use Infinity for Lemmy you wanna use something else good for I've used sync myself it's good, it's in beta and it has a couple of ads if you want them gone pay or if your that desperate then pirate or use luckypatcher it's not that hard but honestly your better off just using a different client if you don't wanna pay there is like a good 7 options now at this point and I hope these posts go away soon let people use what they fancy and stop terrorising them or ridiculing then (note = intended for idiots who think criticizing people for the Lemmy client they use is a constructive use of their time not the OP who appears to be sane 🤣)

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