Monday, January 11, 2021

Will disenfranchised Trump supporters boycotting big tech lead to the year of the Linux desktop?

There can't be much doubt in anybody's mind: The way to strike back and strike hard against big tech is through their pocket books - and there's no bigger door for opportunity than the myriad of easily downloadable open source technologies. But one of the biggest "bigs" of the big tech world has largely gone with less scrutiny than the rest: Microsoft. Here, look at the image:

Trump certainly noticed. Now it's not that Microsoft doesn't give huge amounts of money to progressive causes, because they do. It isn't that Microsoft really doesn't want conservative customers, because in reality, the people who work at Microsoft are exactly of the same mind as the people who work at Twitter and Amazon and Google and any other big tech company you would name. If you're a conservative, they do not want you nor your money. Let's get that straight right now. Twitter doesn't want it, Apple doesn't want it, none of them do. Do you see Microsoft out there telling the rest to slow things down a bit? Of course you don't. That's what it is.

However as luck would have it, Microsoft isn't in a position to visibly silence conservatives, as has been done by the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Apple, and many others. That's why they've missed the heat. They don't have a social platform nor the direct ability to strike a blow to a social platform, otherwise they'd be doing it too.

So it is that reality is a tough cookie. If Facebook needs to be dealt with, and they do. And if Google needs to be dealt with, and if Twitter, Amazon, Apple, and others, let's be real here. They do need to be dealt with. But leaving one out just extends the problem further down the road in terms of time and years. Microsoft needs to be brought down a few notches as well. Big tech needs to be made a little smaller. All conservatives now know this instinctively. The only question left, is how to strike the blow.

For every one of us, it's no more simple than taking a glance over there to the side - that's right, right over there at your computer tower. There are plenty of companies out there who contribute to an abundance of open source technologies, but let's be real. It's a platform that they can't really control. It's a platform that can't entirely be monetized because it was built from the ground up by developers who don't want to be under the thumb of a corporate entity. Any corporate entities who are writing small patches here and there, are only doing so in places that benefit their organizations personally. Anything that benefits you or I, its a matter of coincidence. That wasn't their intent to benefit you. They rely very heavily on you remaining on a controllable platform. It's time to force the issue, but that could only happen if there was a larger user base.

Now, I've never been one for boycotts myself. My past blog posts will ilustrate this. I never really thought they worked so why call for them. The continued march toward progressivism that corporate entities have taken over the last 5, 10, and 20 years would lend proof to the claim that they haven't really worked. I switched to Linux years ago for the fact that in many ways, it's simply easier to use Linux than Windows, due to the software being less bossy. So I can't be called a "boycott'er" in that sense. I switched out of practicality and ease of use. But hey why not jump on the bandwagon while it's hot and fast moving?

If you want to hurt big tech, by all means, cancel your Amazon subscription and never order from them again, cancel your Netflix account, shut down your Facebook and Twitter accounts, never ever buy an Apple product again, and any other ways you can find to shut your wallets. But don't forget, whatever you do, don't forget to also wipe your Windows drive and install an open source operating system on it. It's the consistent thing to do. The big stock and trade for the progressives at Microsoft really isn't that licence fee that's paid in the beginning, it's the ongoing market dominance that's promoted every single day by continued usage.

Every one of you has a weapon against big tech sitting right there at your desk. It's your choice whether or not you use it.

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