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- Windows -

I think it is atrocious that running closed-source binary programs with administrator privileges is so nonchalantly incentivised in the windows ecosystem. This was always done in previous iterations of the operating system but think about it, you have code that you cannot observe unless you decompile the binary which would likely be a pain if they obfuscate the source and you run it with elevated privileges, what could go wrong?

I say fuck that.

During my time over the years using windows 7 and 10 as my daily operating systems I felt as if they were what was best available, this was due to me not having tried anything else & not weighing my options. I eventually found out about the existence of GNU/Linux & delved into the subject, combined with the philosophy and ideals of free software which I resonated with.

I would be lying if I said the process of learning GNU/Linux coming from windows was easy, the restriction point changing from being at the operating system level, to yourself being what restricts any mistakes lead to me breaking my operating system many times, however I think generally the change was worth it as it feels very refreshing being able to do things that would have been restricted by the OS under other circumstances. You will learn to not break things as time goes on & you grow familiar.

On GNU/Linux, what you are being exposed to is not annoying ads, pre-installed bloatware, silently installed binaries, automatic updates, ridiculous levels of data collection, but valuable information about the OS and its flexibility, plus, you can enhance your every-day computing tasks due to the open and modular structure of the OS. I fucking LOVE bash scripts.

At this point you may have noticed, if the brain is in thought mode, I have been talking a lot about GNU/Linux. That's because I think it is the way forward with computers in general as the flexibility is unrivaled.

I do think it will take a very long time for people to weigh their options whether to continue using the OS with the most market share whether it be for compatibility or familiarity reasons or to switch to an alternative which is free in a monetary sense, respects the user's privacy and finally, can run most windows programs through a translation layer.

If the latter interests you, take a look at WINE. There also exists Proton which is a fork of Wine by Valve which is focused on video games.

Do note that most GNU/Linux distributions nowadays are not fully free as in freedom, they may lack any of the four essential freedoms. This is due to the open-source nature of the operating system. I highly recommend exploring the GNU.org website which lists a lot of relevant information.