This is what happened when we allowed companies with a profit incentive to code our devices. Linux will always be free, and there will be companies that design computers for Linux, such as Fairphone, Framework, Furi, Fedora, and probably some that don’t start with F too
It will creep in slowly since most people dont touch any settings on their computer after the initial unboxing and setup.
Big box retailers will offer discounts on them, much like how you can buy a Chromebook for very little.
Enticed by cheap computers, people will buy not knowing that any limitations exist. They’ll be encouraged to use centralized app repositories but they can still install some other stuff.
A year or two later, some things won’t be permitted, computer will make scary warnings when installing, but with enough clicking, you can get past. Until the day you can’t.
It will be a progression, but it will happen eventually. I honestly am surprised that computers dont require some sort of registration. I’m sure that will happen eventually.
I wonder if PCs are getting fast enough to do everything that the opposite can happen. Older hardware and free software is as good or better than proprietary with new software. So, even with subsidy, they can’t turn the screw. The problem with mobile is the lack of a competitor, and the duopoly.
Even Microsoft could not break it. If Linux mobile can port over all android apps seamlessly or easily for devs, with lower fees, then it has a chance. Microsoft paid devs to put their apps on the windows mobile store but even that wasn’t enough.
Similar to windows, the more they turn the screws, the more people want to leave. There is a boiled frog effect but eventually lots of the frogs die in that analogy, turning off the cash spigot.
We already have “secure boot” BS. For now it’s easy to turn off but it’s only a matter of time before getting locked and forced everywhere.
And just like that I’m all about Ubuntu phones now
Microsoft is already starting to lay the groundwork with their CPU, SecureBoot, and TPM 2.0 requirements.
Apple has been doing this for a long time, though there are ways to get around it on MacOS, for now.
On PC, the answer is Linux. For mobile devices, things are looking more bleak.
The situation is actually quite awful. I remember when TPM was palladium and there were apocalyptic talks in tech conferences about it being the end of general purpose computers. The idea that your computer could veto what it was used for.
The backlash only set them back a few decades apparently. Everyone forgot and now it’s a literal requirement for the latest Windows and in two months they’ll stop supporting the old Windows…
Linux won’t be an option if the boot loader is locked. I think Linux is just about popular enough that options should remain but they might become reduced unless it becomes more popular than it currently is.
