I don't think Microsoft (or Apple) want people to have personal computers anymore in the way that PCs have historically existed. That is to say, they don't want your computer capable of running arbitrary code of your choosing. They don't want your computer to have the potential to do everything, to run everything, to make anything.
They want to control and lock down all aspects of your machine and what it can do, retain ownership of hardware via software licenses, and monetize every click and keystroke.
Microsoft doesn't want you to have a functional computer anymore, they want you to have a dummy terminal that runs Office 365 and Copilot.
I think if it was up to them, and latency was low enough, they probably would have pushed some kind of "fully remote convertible laptop" where they literally own everything you do in a cloud, I don't even want to search if this is a thing that exist already
We've been most of the way their for a long while with thin clients. They have just enough computational capacity to connect to someone else infrastructure. Its also how schools use Chromebooks for the most part too
They want PCs that work like smartphones, with apps completely self contained and unmodifiable, where the OS is a black box that no one but them can see in to.
Smartphones are actually a good window into what computers in general would have been like had the IBM bios not been reverse engineered and survived a bunch of legal challenges.
Now that we don’t have to pay for any of the infrastructure, it turns out that mainframes and timesharing is awesome. Can we go back to that please? - Silicon Valley, 2024
They are dividing users into two groups. Unintelligent users who run Windows or MacOS in an extremely controlled limited way with AI assisting and monitoring everything remotely and reporting it back to the mothership...
Or people who are above an IQ of 85 and willing to learn to use Linux.
I've had LMDE on a USB stick for a few months now, waiting for the right time to boot it up on my wife's PC, and she finally agreed to try it tonight. Cross your fingers, boys; we may soon have another convert.
What's your review of LMDE over Debian? I recently took the Linux desktop jump recently and started with Linux Mint.
I really didn't like the Mint desktop as it seemed very dated, so I've switched to Debian/KDE. It was only much later that I realized how easy it would have been to just customize my window manager instead of getting a different distro. Having said that, I'm really digging Debian in spite of Nvidia issues being a headache, and Debian's glacial update pace making me look longingly at Arch.
I also didn't like the way Mint looked/felt, even though I'm aware of its popularity and good reputation.
I'm on Pop!_OS which is mostly a GNOME desktop, but they do add [remove] features and it's very smooth and clean. I guess this is one of the miracles of "linux" where we can all be using "linux" but with 1500 different varieties.
Funny enough, if you "need it to look like windows 7" Mint looks pretty close.
but yes, prior to October my house was 5 windows PCs. A couple weeks ago it was officially 5 Pop machines. No prior Linux experience, except for copy-paste setup of a pihole.
Or "here's what Win 10 would look like if Microsoft hadn't had the tablet-based stroke that was Win 8." Is how I'd describe Cinnamon.
The default themes are a little bit dated; I use a darker kind of black transparent theme I got from gnome-look.org with a blue/cyan kind of scheme and it looks pretty up to date.
I like Debian a lot, and Mint seems fine too, but I don't like the styling, or Cinnamon really. I use Fluxbox (WM only, no DE) with a bunch of tiny customizations.
The main reason I picked it is that I like to tinker and she doesn't, so I think that Cinnamon will be the easiest for her coming from Windows 10.
We both have AMD GPUs (and she has a AMD CPU too) so I haven't had to deal with Nvidia headaches.
I like the glacial updates so things don't break as easily. I don't want to spend hours fixing a system (hers or mine tbh) unless I have to. For anything that I need the latest features for, there's usually a repo I can add to Aptitude or a Flatpak.
Yeah, the rock-solid stability of Debian stable is definitely a huge plus. I thought I would be okay with less frequent updates, but I changed my mind when I realized cool updates like KDE 6 won't make it to stable probably until next year T__T. Even Nvidia 555 drivers probably won't even hit backports for a while. Clearly the responsible thing to do here is to add an Arch install alongside my Debian/W11 dual-boot 😛
Not using a DE sounds intriguing, I might give that a try once I find my feet on desktop Linux. I've been around *nix systems most of my career, but I haven't used a Linux desktop as a daily driver in like 15 years. It's funny how much has changed, and how much hasn't.
My wife struggles with tech, she had such a hard time with windows, and the slowness of it was making her wxperience worse. I put GNOME DE on her old laptop, she can be autonomous now
Linux has been ready for ARM for a long time, Android is linux and have been running for a long time. Also see the Raspberry Pi and PiOS, based on Debian.
I run a Pi and there are boat loads of things ARM ready
Android runs on the Linux kernel, so it's Linux. You could consider it a distribution with almost none of the normal packages a standard Linux distribution would include, but it's still Linux at the core.
Stallman has absolutely no say about what makes Linux. His tools, though important to the free software movement, are not necessary to create a Linux distribution.
There is NO GNU/Linux. Stallman doesn't get to name or claim ownership of someone else's baby. It's Linux, so named by its creator.
It may not be "GNU/Linux" (whatever that stupid name means) but it's still Linux. If it uses the Linux kernel, then it's Linux, simple as. No one said it has to be *nix to be considered Linux. And even then Android is *nix. You can actually run many Linux programs if you have root access or by using Termux. If Android isn't Linux to you, Alpine Linux shouldn't be either.
Beyond the article being ancient at this point (in terms of AOSP and Android development lifetime), Stallman's argument boils down to the same talking points of Free Software purism.
To the first real point being transformed here: Android is not GNU/Linux because it does not contain much of the GNU Project's software. While it's correct to claim it's not GNU/Linux, how does it not make it Linux still? Is Alpine Linux not considered "Linux" because it doesn't contain GNU? Please elaborate on this point of Linux being Linux because it has GNU.
To the second point of including proprietary drivers, firmware, and appplications: we once again meet the questionable argument of transforming an OS to something else. Points are made that Android doesn't fit the GNU ideals due to its usage and inclusion of proprietary kernel modules, firmware, and userland applications. These are valid points to be made in that these additions muddy the aspect of Android (as packaged by Google and major smartphone manufacturers) being truly free software. However the same can be said about traditional "GNU/Linux distributions". Any device running on x86 (Intel, AMD) will be subject to needing proprietary firmware in order to function with that firmware having a higher control level than the kernel itself, just as Android would. There is also the note that while it is less necessary now to have a functioning desktop, a good portion of hardware (NVidia, Broadcom, Intel, etc.) require proprietary kernel modules and/or userland drivers in order to have full functionality that the average user may want. Finally, there is proprietary applications as well. Some Linux desktops include proprietary applications like Spotify, Steam, Google Chrome by default. Are we really to also exclude an overwhelming majority of the biggest Linux distros as Linux as well being that they include proprietary software or rely on proprietary code in some fashion? GNU itself lists very few distros as GNU-approved.
To note, AOSP does have a different userland environment than your standard Linux distro running X11 or Wayland. That is by far the best reason I could think of to classify Android as a different category of 'Linux' from say Debian, Fedora, OpenSUSE, Arch, Gentoo, Slackware, and others. However, AOSP is still capable of running with no proprietary userland software and can even be made to still run cli applications as well as run an X11 server that is capable of launching familiar desktop Linux applications. I really think that the arbitrary exclusion of Android from being Linux by virtue that RMS doesn't think it fits with GNU ideals is silly. If there are better arguments to be said for why Android (especially AOSP) shouldn't be seen as Linux with a different userland ecosystem rather than not Linux entirely, I'd love to see them. However, I remain unconvinced so far.
You don't run application softwares on top of kernel. The kernel itself is not an operating system.
It needs certain libraries.
I'm talking about software availability on arm linux
How much of this is decline at the expense of Windows 11, due to Steam lowering barriers to entry, fatigue with Windows' hard selling, and/or extending the useful like of hardware that W11 abandoned.
I know it technically counts and all, but it bothers me that "mobile" is included in "video games". Mobile "games" are clickbaits and doomscrolls and it seems weird to compare them in the same graph as Nintendo/PC etc.
HOWEVER - in terms of REVENUE there is no denying how much money they make on mobile games! Probably due in part to the clickbait/doomscroll nature of them.
I know it technically counts and all, but it bothers me that “mobile” is included in “video games”. Mobile “games” are clickbaits and doomscrolls and it seems weird to compare them in the same graph as Nintendo/PC etc.
I didn't post this graphic for the mobile and console games. I posted it because of the claim that PC games are "an industry bigger than football and TV and film combined!" USD 45Bn is big but not bigger than football and TV and film combined. The combined PC games revenue is about half of Disney's yearly revenue.
Percentages are the easiest statistical figure to bullshit. Just like it happens with "Linux desktop is only 4%". We are then talking about over a hundred million PCs. PC gaming is 15% means that PC gamers are several hundred millions of devices. Sure, it is less than mobile gaming. But less doesn't mean irrelevant, and much less a rounding error. You don't call a fifth of the market that expends almost a quarter of the revenue a rounding error.
Copilot / Recall was the last straw for me. My only relationship with Microsoft for the last 10 years has been, "how much more of Microsoft's sh*t am I willing to put up with?"
The fuckery Microsoft has been doing with trying to outright trick people into signing in to the OS with a Microsoft account and using things like OneDrive combined with just how good Proton has gotten pushed me to make the switch full time a year or so ago for my personal usage.
Little bit of everything I think. I personally have been getting tired of Microsoft pulling their shit, but without Valve making compatibility so simple for their launcher it would make it a much harder sell.
I 100% put money on the fact that linuxes surge in popularity and usability is 100% because Valve, a multi-billion dollar company, stepped in and started dragging it forward in ways that the fractuous nature of the community never could.
Windows 11 being a spytastic invasive dogpile was just extra fuel on the fire.
My understanding is that no amount of anti-virus software replaces common sense. As long as you're not downloading sketchy programs and giving them permission to run, you're pretty well set.
Some people might tell you that there's no viruses on Linux, but that isn't exactly true. Linux has something like 2% of the desktop market, which makes it less attractive to develop malware for - but 2% of a few billion computers is still millions of potential targets. Not to mention that Linux dominates the server market, and arguably that's where malware is more valuable. To think that there's no malware targeting Linux is naive.
Many anti-virus suites are effectively malware though. If you decide you do need AV software make sure to do your research before installing any.
Anyway, long story, I don't personally use an anti-virus, and for your stated uses I'm not sure I'd recommend one.
If you're mostly using it as a web browser then I would definitely recommend a solid ad blocker. UBlock Origin is free, highly esteemed, and can be installed as an extension to whatever browser you're currently using.
This - but I’d take it a step further and use a small-ish USB 3.2 SSD with Ventoy instead. That way, your live Linux experience isn’t kneecapped by having to load programs off a slow USB stick. In a pinch you can use a SATA SSD with a USB-SATA adapter too, that way you can cram a ton of ISOs on there and go to town.
Need to launch DaVinci Resolve Studio from the CLI to figure out why it won’t launch from the GUI, and then launch it again with a list of libraries to exclude in order to get it working.
Really weird errors if you try to use a USB stick formatted with FAT after applying a kernel update but before rebooting.
Multiple password prompts when attempting to update Flatpak applications over ssh in its default configuration.
Basic applications included with commercial operating systems often missing (e.g. paint application missing from Pop!_OS).
Good luck figuring out emergency mode if you don’t know what fstab is. And changing kernel parameters on Rocky 9 must be handled via grubby, not by editing configs like in Debian, Arch, or Pop.
Can’t emulate SSD on VM qcow2 files on Debian unless you use the version in backports; can emulate SSD but can’t use anything involving spice in RHEL9+clones unless you add a copr repo because it’s been removed. This makes desktop virtualization annoying.
Can’t participate in Microsoft Teams calls if the input and output audio devices are the same device or the call disconnects/reconnects every few seconds. Microphone and speaker must be separate devices for optimal experience.
Can’t use OBS Virtual Camera in Teams on Firefox.
That’s the stuff I’ve dealt with in the past 3 weeks.
They sound made up to me and not at all indicative of my last 3 years daily driving Linux. The cherry on top is blaming Linux for multiple cases of teams being ass
Launching a program from cli is a basic first troubleshooting step, davinci resolve being such a big program means a bug will happen at some point.
Fat being a bitch to deal with is old news.
Flatpack password prompt problem was easily verified with google. So was popos missing a paint application by default. Same with rocky 9 kernal paremeters being changed in grub.
Ignoring the part of this where the context makes no sense for a satire post, why would you assume your experience, being a positive one, would be the same as everyone else?
Launching a program from cli is a basic first troubleshooting step, davinci resolve being such a big program means a bug will happen at some point.
So you're saying that using a desktop shortcut makes an app inherently less buggy? wtf
Fat being a bitch to deal with is old news.
Have rarely had any issues in the last 25 years but when I have it's been on MacOS.
Flatpack password prompt problem was easily verified with google.
So in your mind I'm going to google a list of 10 random weird issues?
So was popos missing a paint application by default.
That was a choice, an easily fixed one, and everyone's definition of "basic apps" will vary a bit so this was a stretch to list as a "problem".
why would you assume your experience, being a positive one, would be the same as everyone else?
Well firstly, I tend to have a lot more weird issues than others. Secondly, I've tried a few different distros on two different graphics cards. And thirdly, I've been dealing with hardware and software issues for 25 years so when someone comes in hot like that with a bunch of rare issues/non-issues/issues I've never heard of, I tend to think that at best they are exaggerating because they are mad about something. And no, I don't assume everyone has the same experience.
So you're saying that using a desktop shortcut makes an app inherently less buggy? wtf
Obviously not. Now i'm wondering if you're fucking with me. Running a program through the console lets you see the debug log it spits out when it fails to run.
So in your mind I'm going to google a list of 10 random weird issues?
No, but I was hoping you'd put in a little more effort before jumping straight to conclusions.
That was a choice, an easily fixed one, and everyone's definition of "basic apps" will vary a bit so this was a stretch to list as a "problem".
Can't say i disagree, but i'm not in the habit of invalidating other people's gripes because i think theyre kinda petty either.
Well firstly, I tend to have a lot more weird issues than others. Secondly, I've tried a few different distros on two different graphics cards. And thirdly, I've been dealing with hardware and software issues for 25 years so when someone comes in hot like that with a bunch of rare issues/non-issues/issues I've never heard of, I tend to think that at best they are exaggerating because they are mad about something. And no, I don't assume everyone has the same experience.
I've got less experience than that, having started 15 years ago instead of 25. Clearly that makes your opinion inherently better than mine. /s
This list of problems was a direct answer to someone asking for a list of problems. Sometimes, people just need to vent about their favorite thing. No need to get onto them for it.
I'm not fucking with you. I tend to stick up for "the underdog". Even on Lemmy I rarely see a list of 15 obscure windows issues, and imo that would be extremely fair to see.
There's an idea that just won't die that Linux is extremely difficult to use/maintain/troubleshoot. It's certainly often a lot easier than windows, so it just gets to me to see that idea propagated. It's friggin' annoying to see ideas spread that just aren't truly accurate, while the obvious issues in everyone's face (windows being 100 times worse than it ought to be) are ignored most of the time.
It especially annoyed me on a post trying to spread a positive message about a linux variant. You make some fair points, but yeah that was my psychology here, in case it matters.
It’s only easier than windows if you’re used to using and fixing Linux. Windows doesn’t require maintenance and troubleshooting for the most part. If something doesn’t work, you just restart and 99% of the time it does.
There's an idea that just won't die that Linux is extremely difficult to use/maintain/troubleshoot. It's certainly often a lot easier than windows, so it just gets to me to see that idea propagated.
Pretending it’s all sunshine and rainbows isn’t realistic, either. That said, I had a completely different takeaway - that the issues are mostly kinda random and obscure or nitpicky, and the sorts of things you would encounter in any mature OS.
The issue about PopOS not having a Paint application is actually the most mainstream of them - and it feels very similar to the complaints about iPadOS not including a Calculator app by default. But nobody is concluding that iPads aren’t usable as a result.
Teams having issues is believable and relevant to many users. It doesn’t matter whose fault an issue is if the user is impacted. TBH, I didn’t even know that Teams was available on Linux.
That said, the only people who should care about Teams issues on Linux are the ones who need to use them, and anyone who’s used Microsoft products understands that they’re buggy regardless of the platform. Teams has issues on MacOS, too. OneDrive has issues on MacOS. On Windows 10, you can’t even use a local account with Office 365.
I’m not running Resolve on a supported distro so I’m already taking matters into my own hands, but installing it on anything newer than Rocky Linux 8 is just asking for weird stuff to happen.
For the record the solution to that one is to launch by running this:
After reading the following thread:
If you don't have anything of value to add, why comment?
What one person views as a problem/inconvenience will vary from person to person. Just because you have 25 years of experience doesn't mean you get to dictate what constitutes as a problem or inconvenience for another.
I don't care to read a "defense" from you. We don't need gatekeeping, belittling, or general arrogance in any Linux community. This isn't an attack, this is simply a friendly reminder to do better.
Maybe you could also remind the person bending over backwards to shit on Linux in general that they can read a post about Linux without shitting on it?
No one is saying it's "free of issues". I just don't really take kindly to someone's opinion who lists multiple instances of MS teams being shit as reasons linux is unusable.
Stating issues with Teams on Linux isn't blaming Linux by default.
Can’t participate in Microsoft Teams calls if the input and output audio devices are the same device or the call disconnects/reconnects every few seconds. Microphone and speaker must be separate devices for optimal experience.
How is this laying blame on anyone? It wasn't blaming Linux, or blaming Microsoft, or blaming anyone. It was a statement of what issues they were having.
You are not taking too kindly based on inferences you have made. Are you sincerely this dense?
Why do online weirdos think they have a gotcha moment because sometimes "I don't care" coincides with a reply?
Let me make it clearer. In general, if you're going to come at me with criticism about a month old thread, I will have no positive feelings to express to you about it. I don't care enough to give you benefit of doubt. Replying doesn't mean "I'm very concerned with some stranger's opinion". It means "I have 5 seconds and I'm bored" typically.
Also, the phrasing "no one cares" really does include people besides myself.
Instead of being a knob end, you could have approached the conversation differently. You added nothing to the discussion. You lashed out to someone discussing their experiences because you got offended. Grow thicker skin, grow up, go touch grass. No need to take out your frustrations on folks having a civil discussion until your juvenile ass behavior stunk it all up.
Lightroom doesn’t work at all, needing either a reboot to launch windows or a VM that struggles with performance. OSS alternatives won’t really handle the size of libraries im working with from limited experience with them.
Multiple displays of different resolutions and refresh rates wouldn’t work properly (though I hear this one is becoming less of an issue with the new DE software)
Mint refused to put sound out through my sound card. It saw my card, knew the exact brand and card and driver version, could see when I plugged and unplugged things from each of the jacks, but would not output any audio. I eventually solved this by just using the DAC on my new speakers and tossing the sound card lol.
Text scaling with an nVidia card is broken and looks god awful. 1440p monitor scrolling the Mint website and the text is gray/yellow jaggy mess. Installing an experimental driver and scaling up a bit fixes it for the most part but is a sub-ideal solution as I don't like scaling.
There's no perfect replacement for the Snip tool. I want to just spr+shift+s, click/drag a box, and done. So far the closest I've gotten is shift+prntscrn, click/drag, enter, which is more annoying by far.
There's no dark theme for mint-Y. I love the look of the XP/7ish theme it's got going on but it's light mode only. Travesty.
Too many password prompts when updating flatpaks. I should have used a way shorter password for this OS.
Plugging in 2 monitors of different screen resolutions can cause some serious issues if I alt/tab. Fixed by unplugging and plugging in one of the monitors but it's fucking annoying.
There's no perfect replacement for the Snip tool. I want to just spr+shift+s, click/drag a box, and done. So far the closest I've gotten is shift+prntscrn, click/drag, enter, which is more annoying by far.
You can surely rebind that to just PRTSCR? That's the default for me. I much prefer being able to adjust the rectangle after an initial selection, not to mention that it remembers what it last was, so that you can to multiple grabs that are perfectly positioned to evaluate or illustrate some difference.
I could, but then whole-screen Printscreen is gone and I use that about as often
It's nice that these programs have all kinds of extraneous features, I'm sure people out there find use for them. I just want a quick and simple snip tool that doesn't take extra button presses to confirm that no, really, I don't want to use extra features
There's no perfect replacement for the Snip tool. I want to just spr+shift+s, click/drag a box, and done. So far the closest I've gotten is shift+prntscrn, click/drag, enter, which is more annoying by far.
It's the same number of keypresses (or in my case, one less), and you have additional functionality that doesn't get in the way. I'm curious how "more annoying by far" to click-drag-enter vs click-drag.
You can readjust the selection, you can record video instead... Etc. Only difference is one keypress.
Are conflicting statements within your own comment.
and you have additional functionality that doesn't get in the way
I couldn't care less about the additional functionality, that's not what I use snip for. And it does get in the way, that's my whole point. Needing to press enter to confirm that I'm "done editing" is an extra keypress that isn't needed and gets in the way.
I'm curious how "more annoying by far" to click-drag-enter vs click-drag.
As I stated I regularly snip at work on a Windows machine and pretty regularly at home which was until recently also windows. I'm very used to tapping a 3-key shortcut as 1keypress, click/dragging, and moving on with my life. That one extra keypress adds a second or two of confusion and annoyance every time I use it, and I can't even easily retrain myself as I still use it on Windows regularly.
You can readjust the selection
I would rather re-snip the 1/500 times this matters to me than press enter the other 499 times. I get others might like it, but why is it not an option for people like me?
you can record video instead
I have software for that already that does even more than the snip replacers, though I can't think of any time I've used a video when 3 screenshots would have worked too.
Basically it boils down to over design without option boxes for those who don't want to do things exactly as the software designers intended.
Which seem to me like the same number of keypresses. In my case, it's one less. The only main difference is the order of that one enter-key being afterwards. And, by using that key as a confirmation-step, you get a whole bunch of extra functionality that you say you don't use. Which, if you don't use it, will still give you the exact same functionality, and doesn't affect you.
Consider if you ever need to repeat the screen grab 10x times, the difference is:
Your preferred approach: 10 x (3 key press + click drag release). In total 30 keys, 10 mouse selections.
On my system: 1 key + click drag release + 1 key, 9 x 2 keypress. In total 20 keys, 1 mouse selection.
I find it fascinating to care so strongly for something that is objectively a worse approach in every single way, with the only difference being the ordering of one keypress. And to care so strongly about that one keypress, that the optional versatility that gives (toggle video recording, adjust rectangle, reuse rectangle, move rectangle with same dimensions) is all in all considered a worse alternative. To each their own, and UX design is arguably not yours.
And, by using that key as a confirmation-step, you get a whole bunch of extra functionality that you say you don't use
Yes, which is entirely useless to me and not something I want. Incredibly simple concept you're having trouble with.
Which, if you don't use it, will still give you the exact same functionality, and doesn't affect you.
Nope, you're really shit at reading comprehension. It does not function exactly the same, that's the problem.
Consider if you ever need to repeat the screen grab 10x times, the difference is:
I will not as I do not ever need to do that. Idk what weird world you live in where you'd ever need to take 10 screenshots of the same still screen but I can think of even easier ways to manage something like that then with a Printscreen manager.
I find it fascinating to care so strongly
You're the one typing out multi-paragraph replies to me simply stating that windows does this better and it's silly that Linux doesn't have something as simple as Snip. I don't really care at all as it's one keypress, it's just funny.
objectively a worse approach in every single way
Subjectively, you mean. I do not need or want hose extra features and it now takes time to tell my PC to not use those features. So no, it's a worse approach to me.
And to care so strongly about that one keypress, that the optional versatility that gives (toggle video recording, adjust rectangle, reuse rectangle, move rectangle with same dimensions) is all in all considered a worse alternative
You really have a hard time with other people valuing stuff differently then you, huh?
Those features are less than worthless to me. I do not ever need or want them. The fact that the software cannot handle that I don't is useless bloat, which Linux is usually all about removing.
To each their own, and UX design is arguably not yours.
Go fuck yourself you stuck up prick. Fucking Linux users I swear
I can't imagine why you wouldn't want something so it's stupid to not want it
Your lack of imagination doesn't mean you are correct. You have an opinion, learn to handle that it's not fact.
I pray you're not involved with anything UX related either as your attitude is the exact kind of dismissive garbage that's landed us in this world of horrid UI and UX
I am at around 3 weeks of using Mint as my daily driver, here are the issues I have had:
My Realtek sound card would not output 5.1 over S/PDIF. I worked on this quite a bit before finding a thread of someone with the same model having the same issue where even the guru over on the Mint forums couldn't make it work. Solution was to just use the analog 5.1 out instead.
NVIDIA drivers are not amazing, especially running multiple displays with different resolutions. I get poor performance on my secondary monitors when running even moderate GPU tasks on my main display. In Windows I could watch a stream while playing a game in a borderless window, but in Mint I will get choppy framerate on the secondary displays.
Further game performance is mostly good but I get occasional choppy performance in Proton games, even running via Lutris. None of this is a deal breaker, just mildly annoying.
This is less of an issue with Linux and more of me being a doofus, but I went to add my ntfs drives to fstab so they mount when I start up. I have done linux server admin professionally for 20 years, surely I can manage fstab - nope! A careless typo caused a startup failure. Fortunately it was easy to boot into maintenance mode and fix the issue.
The wonderful thing about living in a fully Linux world is that you can ditch NTFS. None of my computers or disks use it. It's all ext4 or btrfs, and then ZFS on my media server.
Stritcly speaking if you buy it and it comes with sources under the GPL then that is perfectly okay. The principle of freedom software isn't that everything is free of charge, but rather that when you obtain software you should be free to access its source and customize it for your needs and share those modifications with other people.
That does make it hard for people to really have to pay for it, but it's not like people don't pirate proprietary software anyway. The presumption is if you're honest and a good person you will pay the other for the software that you like and want to keep using.
It's also not violating the GPL by having proprietary apps alongside GPL ones bundled together. SteamOS for example, comes with Steam and other proprietary Valve stuff.
But I would definitely expect it to not be popular and for most of the open-source and Linux communities to want nothing of it (paying for a programming language, what is this, 1995 when we pay for Delphi?).
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