The tools I love are made by awful people

Linux vs macOS/Windows: Switching Costs and Usability

• Several commenters argue Linux itself is “easy” now; the hard part is switching mental models and giving up familiar workflows.
• Others report serious practical blockers: missing or broken drivers, poor suspend/sleep, significantly worse battery life, power management issues, and hardware quirks (e.g., webcams breaking between Ubuntu versions).
• Experience is highly hardware-dependent: ThinkPads, Dell Latitudes, and Framework laptops are often cited as working “perfectly,” while random consumer/gaming laptops can be painful.
• Some praise GNOME Shell and modern distros as “just works” and ergonomically superior; others insist macOS still wins on UI/UX and third‑party productivity tools, and that “it just works” applies more to Macs than to Linux.
• A recurring theme: if you want Linux to be smooth, you must choose hardware specifically known to support it—unlike the expectation that Windows “just works” on arbitrary machines.

Are You Morally Responsible for the Tools You Buy?

• One camp: you’re only morally responsible for your own direct actions; obsessing over the behavior of every vendor is paralyzing and irrational. Regulation and law enforcement, not consumer micro‑boycotts, should handle systemic harms.
• The opposing camp: purchasing is an action with foreseeable consequences; knowingly funding abusive or exploitative entities (from sweatshops to “verified Nazis”) carries moral weight.
• Some see targeted, collective boycotts (e.g., against specific companies or leaders) as historically effective; others dismiss today’s broad “don’t buy from X because they’re evil” as unfocused virtue signaling.
• There’s tension between consumer ethics and more direct engagement: several argue that volunteering, political action, and community work are far more impactful than agonizing over which phone or OS to buy.
• Mental health is raised: constantly moralizing every purchase can become overwhelming and counterproductive.

“Awful People,” Human Nature, and FOSS

• Views diverge between “we’re all awful/flawed” versus “most people are fundamentally good; pervasive cynicism is destructive.”
• Some reject the idea that switching to Linux solves the “awful people” problem, noting that the kernel is largely developed by big corporations and led by imperfect, sometimes abrasive personalities.
• A few suggest the healthier framing is not moral purity but using the limited agency of purchasing and contribution to nudge systems in better directions, without expecting perfection.