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[OT] free software

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From Ivan Shmakov <ivan@siamics.netREMOVE.invalid>
Newsgroups comp.lang.misc
Subject [OT] free software
Date Thu, 04 Sep 2025 18:25:44 +0000
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>>>>> On 2025-08-31, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
>>>>> On Sun, 31 Aug 2025 13:35:51 +0000, Ivan Shmakov wrote:

 >> Indeed, one good thing about free software is that when one company
 >> closes down, another can pick up and go on from there.  Such as how
 >> Netscape is no more, yet the legacy of its Navigator still survives
 >> in Firefox.

 >> I'm not sure how much of a consolation it is to the people who owned
 >> the companies that failed, though.

 > Companies fail all the time, open source or no open source.  When
 > a company that has developed a piece of proprietary software fails,
 > then the software dies with the company.  With open source, the
 > software stands a chance of living on.

	It sounds like we're in agreement on this point, no?

	My other point, however, is this: when you do run a business,
	shouldn't you be more concerned that said /business/ succeeds,
	rather than the products it delivers, whatever they might be?

	And from where I stand, releasing software targetting tomorrow's
	computers is, as a rule, a better business practice - than
	targetting decade-old ones.

 > E.g. Loki was an early attempt at developing games on Linux.  They
 > failed.  But the SDL framework that they created for low-latency
 > multimedia graphics lives on.

	Yes, that too.  (Though I like my Firefox example better.)

 >> Also, what indication is there that GNU is 'dominating' the
 >> landscape?  Sure, Linux is everywhere (such as in now ubiquitous
 >> Android phones and TVs and whatnot), but I don't quite see GNU
 >> being adopted as widely.

 > Look at all the markets that Linux has taken away from Microsoft --
 > Windows Media Center, Windows Home Server -- all defunct.  Windows
 > Server too is in slow decline.

	I've had very little interest in Microsoft since the 1990s.
	About the only Microsoft-related news I've since paid attention
	to were that Microsoft contributed a fair chunk of code to Linux;
	that Microsoft acquired Github; and that Windows now has WSL.

	I have no idea what Windows Media Center is (or was), and what
	alternatives to it the GNU project, http://gnu.org/ , now offers.

	(I'd guess VLC and FFmpeg might be such alternatives, but last
	I've checked, they were not part of GNU.)

 > And now handheld gaming with the Steam Deck.  You will find GNU there.

	So I've read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_Deck and found
	out that the device runs SteamOS which, as of version 3.0, is
	based on Arch Linux, thus presumably retaining a fair chunk of
	GNU within.  (Bash, Coreutils, Libc, to guess a few packages.
	I doubt it includes GNU Emacs or GNU Chess, though.)

	That said, I'm not sure Steam Deck can /itself/ be said to
	dominate the market:

 w> Market research firm International Data Corporation estimated that
 w> between 3.7 and 4 million Steam Decks had been sold by the third
 w> anniversary of the device in February 2025.

	How big a market share of handheld gaming computers is 4e6?

	Also, I gather it's not a direct competitor to Android and
	Android-based mobile computers, right?

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                Re: Algol 68 / Genie - opinions on local procedures? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2025-08-23 02:36 +0000
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                Re: Algol 68 / Genie - opinions on local procedures? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2025-10-07 22:04 +0000
                Various digressions (was Re: Algol 68 / Genie - opinions on local procedures?) Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2025-10-08 01:27 +0200
                Re: Algol 68 / Genie - opinions on local procedures? Andy Walker <anw@cuboid.co.uk> - 2025-10-10 01:11 +0100
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                Re: simplicity / complexity Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2025-08-30 22:43 +0000
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                Re: [OT] NetBSD vs. Linux(-based systems) Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2025-09-05 00:03 +0000
                Re: [OT] NetBSD vs. Linux(-based systems) Ivan Shmakov <ivan@siamics.netREMOVE.invalid> - 2025-09-07 15:55 +0000
                Re: [OT] NetBSD vs. Linux(-based systems) Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2025-09-07 21:17 +0000
                Re: [OT] NetBSD vs. Linux(-based systems) cross@spitfire.i.gajendra.net (Dan Cross) - 2025-09-05 12:02 +0000
                Re: [OT] NetBSD vs. Linux(-based systems) Ivan Shmakov <ivan@siamics.netREMOVE.invalid> - 2025-09-07 16:30 +0000
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              Re: simplicity / complexity Ivan Shmakov <ivan@siamics.netREMOVE.invalid> - 2025-08-30 19:39 +0000
                Re: simplicity / complexity Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2025-08-30 22:45 +0000
                Re: simplicity / complexity Ivan Shmakov <ivan@siamics.netREMOVE.invalid> - 2025-08-31 13:35 +0000
                Re: simplicity / complexity Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2025-08-31 22:40 +0000
                [OT] free software Ivan Shmakov <ivan@siamics.netREMOVE.invalid> - 2025-09-04 18:25 +0000
                Re: simplicity / complexity antispam@fricas.org (Waldek Hebisch) - 2025-10-08 14:03 +0000
                Re: simplicity / complexity Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2025-10-08 16:21 +0200
                Re: simplicity / complexity John Ames <commodorejohn@gmail.com> - 2025-10-08 08:08 -0700
                Re: simplicity / complexity Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2025-10-08 21:18 +0000
                Re: simplicity / complexity John Ames <commodorejohn@gmail.com> - 2025-10-08 14:31 -0700
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                Re: simplicity / complexity John Ames <commodorejohn@gmail.com> - 2025-10-09 08:44 -0700
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                Re: simplicity / complexity John Ames <commodorejohn@gmail.com> - 2025-10-09 15:21 -0700
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                Re: simplicity / complexity ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de (Stefan Ram) - 2025-10-08 14:53 +0000
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                Re: simplicity / complexity antispam@fricas.org (Waldek Hebisch) - 2025-10-09 01:39 +0000
                Re: simplicity / complexity Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2025-10-09 04:00 +0200
                Re: simplicity / complexity antispam@fricas.org (Waldek Hebisch) - 2025-10-09 14:19 +0000
                Re: simplicity / complexity ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de (Stefan Ram) - 2025-10-09 14:48 +0000
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                Re: simplicity / complexity Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2025-10-10 12:09 +0200
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