To be usable by the less savvy, the Linux desktop lacks stability. Not software stability, but organizational and human stability.
I want maintainers to have a stable income. I want apps to last a decade, instead of having to chase the next rewrite of an abandoned project.
The Linux desktop is a beautiful accident that only exists because people devote part of their lives to it, for better or worse. We ought to support it financially, as a public service.
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André Polykanine
in reply to Thib • • •Thib
in reply to André Polykanine • • •@menelion this is unfortunately true, and the solution is much more complex than "just pour money on people without any form of accountability."
The first question is "to whom" and the following one is "for what." I wrote a post earlier this year about the structural changes I think we need to go through so the Linux desktop can be considered of public interest.
I'd love to hear your thoughts about it if you have some time for it.
ergaster.org/posts/2025/02/28-…
Prosthetics that don't betray
ergaster.orgAndré Polykanine
in reply to Thib • • •1. Accessibility *is* a technical problem, not (only) a social one. To make something as huge as an OS accessible means, at least: A) To expose accessibility APIs on every plan of existence of the OS; B) Develop a decent screen reading solution (see JAWS or NVDA for Windows); C) Develop a decent screen magnifying and color altering solution (see ZoomText for Windows); D) Harden audio stability, so that a trivial update won't break your audio system; E) Develop a solution for people with motor disabilities that would allow decent voice control (see Dragon Naturally Speaking, for instance). That is an absolutely technical endeavor. You'd say Linux has Orca screen reader and you are right, but it's developed de facto by Joanmarie Diggs. Alone. No, of course, there are some people sending PRs, but do you see the difference between a paid solution like JAWS or even a community-driven solution like NVDA on the one side and a screen reader developed by one (brave and genius, but one!) person on the other? Again, I really admire Joanmarie, but she does need help, and I mean, lots of help.
2. Mobile. It's yet another challenge because tactile screens accessibility is something else than keyboard accessibility, be it terminal or GUI. Apple (no matter how I hate their policies) already solved many problems, hence the most common combo in the wealthier blind community is Windows + iPhone. Who would do the same for Linux? Up to you (in plural) to decide.
3. Toxicity of the community. I'm really sorry to admit, but open-source community is very often either toxic or indifferent. When I or one of my blind fellow folks open an issue about "X is not accessible at all, please fix it!" (where X is anything from a small web-based solution to the whole LibreOffice Calc), guess what we get? "Send a PR!". Heck no, putain de bordel de merde de… — excuse my language! I cannot spend my whole life to dig into undocumented code then send thousands upon thousands of PRs, then beg their supreme highness of developer to please merge it, then wait till it's released. I need to work, to eat and to feed my family, including cats. Hence… I use Microsoft because it just works, and if there is an accessibility bug, it gets fixed, — not always super mega fast (like in Visual Studio Code, kudos to them!), but it *is* fixed. Unlike with open-source, sorry.