The Masochistic Programmer

• Adversity overcome = experience & community bonds.

• Historically, programmers believed the challenge of even using software was significant.

• Everyone wants:
  • an invitation to the secret club.
  • to show they’ve overcome adversity & succeeded.

    ---

Real Programmers don’t comment their code. If it was hard to write, it should be hard to understand.

In My Day…

Write What You Know

• Early software authors wrote software for people like themselves.
  • Other scientists used the first computers.
  • It’s, in fact, why we call them “computers”.

User Culture

• This sign was on the wall in the processing department (main computer users on site) at my first job in 1991.

In Service of Users?

• The advent of the “user”:
  • What, like a drug user (abuser)?
  • Or a someone who manipulates you into action you didn’t want to do?

Real Programmers don’t write application programs, they program right down on the bare metal. Application programming is for [derogatory expletive] who can’t do system programming.

Users are People

• (Don Norman)[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgJcUHC3qJ8].

• Have confidence: they are people, not users.

Fear of Failure

• The most comfortable role in life is to create things that satisfy yourself.
  • & it makes it easiest to succeed.
• Developers that loved the first computer they used:
  • will spend their careers writing & using software much like that.

Why I Hate GUIs: Reason 0.

• I wrote exactly three GUI programs in my life.
  • all of them were for schoolwork.
  • I doubt I’ll try one again.

• If I’m honest, I hate GUIs because I haven’t the skill to write a good one.

• I’m in awe of those that can, because they write what “normal” people want.

Why I Hate GUIs: Reason 1.

• Everyone hates change, unless it’s their idea.

• Agents of change have both a burden & a power over others.

• The best agents of change are those that:
  • seek change that uses the power to relinquish that power.
  • convince others to see that over the horizon on the bumpy road ahead lies something better.

Meine Brille

• Hier ist der Bradley. Er trägt eine Brille.

Meine Brille

• Hier ist der Bradley. Er trägt eine Brille. Eine Brille von 2003.

Meine Brille

• Im 2010 (auf GUADEC 2010), die gleiche Brille.

Meine Brille

• Im 2016, (auf LCA 2010) die gleiche Brille.

Meine Brille

• Im 2016, (auf LCA 2010) die gleiche Brille, jetzt kaputt.

Meine Neue Brille

• The other side broke last week.

• After 13 years, I had to give in.
  • But the viewing area is better.
  • They’re actually lighter.

• OTOH, they hurt my nose, the back of my ears, etc.

Meine Neue Brille as GNOME 3

• On Tuesday, the optician put a lot of effort into adjusting them to my complaints.

• She was incredibly patient & kind — but firm.

• She finally said: “They will stop hurting as soon as you stop thinking about them.”

• We should have hired her to do Linus’ “fitting” for his GNOME 3 desktop.

• So, I changed glasses’ frames, but I’m still not going to change desktops:

My Desktop

My Desktop

• Yes, it works for me.

• I work faster at a computer than most people I know.

• But this is software designed for people like me.
  • when it comes to making use of a computer …
  • most people in the world are not like me!

My Wife’s Desktop

How I Use my Wife’s Desktop

• So, I don’t really need GNOME …
  • … there are faster ways to open a terminal …
  • & besides, I still prefer xterm, not gnome-terminal.

But We All Need It

Jonathan Blandford put it best to me circa 2003 (paraphrase from my memory):

I got involved with GNOME for one simple reason. I want to help make a Free Software desktop, because everyone needs it.

What About Software Freedom?

• Computing should be for everyone.
  • and everyone deserves software freedom.

• & it’s not to turn everyone into programmers.

• It’s to find the programmers, generationally.
  • The new developers are those users who are inspired to tinker.
  • They won’t be found if their software is proprietary.

• We cannot and should not assume that all potential software developers are heterogeneously like the current generation.

The (Former) Competition

Early Success was “Made of Easy”

• Microsoft, as an opponent, was never actually user-driven.
  • They, quite loudly, cared about “developers, developers, developers”.
• Matching & defeating Microsoft on the desktop was a relatively easy task — albeit time consuming.

The Rising Threat

• Two Months After GUADEC 4 (Dublin), I went to LinuxWorld Expo 2003.

• Overheard on the escalator:

• “I think I’m going to ditch my Linux laptop for Mac soon. I really like OS X.”

The Other Devices?

• 5 years ago, I had lunch with a major former GNOME community member & a major GNU/Linux server application developer.
  • Both said: “in five years, everyone will be using tablets and phones, the keyboard and desktop are on the way out.”
• & traditional computer sales trended downward from 2010 to 2015 (US data): 93 million to 71.25 million (source: Gartner)
  • but that’s still 71.25 million new computers sold.
• And Apple is taking that over.

Mac Laptops Might Win

• Mac laptop sales are trending to overtake all the non-Mac sales.

• That is the fight we need to chase, because:
  • Mac’s proprietariness makes traditional Microsoft look Free Software friendly.
  • non Free Software geeks like Macs.
  • Someone will dominate the laptop market; it should be Free Software.

Software Freedom In Our Lifetimes?

• Spoiler alert: Software freedom won’t win our lifetimes.

• But it’s not about winning.
  • We don’t need “Year of the Linux Desktop”.
  • We just need every year to be “Year that Free Software desktop usage grew slightly”.
• In other words, We’ve always thought about this all wrong.
  • we don’t have to win; we simply must keep playing to stalemate.

• It’s admittedly painful to pursue the morally right alternative when so many seems against you.

Wily Opponents

• Apple has smart people working there.

Prime Minister: “But you’re wizards! You can do magic! Surely you can sort out — well — anything!”
Minister for Magic: “The trouble is, the other side can do magic too, Prime Minister.”

We’re Wily Opposition

• But GNOME 3 did something special; just like the Mac.

• Don’t forget that, and let it sustain you: you’re all wizards too.

Why Andy Came To Us

• Andy Hertzfeld designed most of the original Mac operating system.

• But he came to our community & hung out for about five years.
  • We wouldn’t have Nautilus without Eazel.
• We’ve sometimes inspired the sharpest minds from the proprietary UX world.
  • & we’ll do it again if we keep doing good work.

Adversarial Life Is Challenging

• I give a lot of talks lately about Open Source cooption.

• There’s tremendous financial pressure to work on non-copyleft, non-user-facing code.
  • OpenStack, IaaS, PaaS, etc.
  • Watch my 2015 and 2016 LCA talks for more details.

• TL;DR for this audience: The incumbent power structure doesn’t care if software freedom on the desktop goes away.

• We’re in for a long fight.

• So, how do we keep going?

What Shakira & RMS have in common

• Besides the length of their hair.

My Plane Ride Here

• I promised I’d work on my talk.
  • But I decided to watch a movie.
• So, I usually pick the sappiest new release I can find.
  • And simply embrace the crying on planes thing.
  • So I watched Zootopia.

Shakira’s lyrics

I won’t give up, no I won’t give in
Till I reach the end, then I’ll start again
No I won’t leave, I wanna try everything
I wanna try even though I could fail
I won’t give up, no I won’t give in

RMS Writing in 1999

Yoda’s philosophy (There is no “try”) sounds neat, but it doesn’t work for me. I have done most of my work while anxious about whether I could do the job, and unsure that it would be enough to achieve the goal if I did. But I tried anyway, because there was no one but me between the enemy and my city. Surprising myself, I have sometimes succeeded.

Just Keep Going!

• I’d love to tell you everything is awesome.

• I’d love to say the struggle for software freedom will be made of easy.
  • (Yes, that’s my second “made of easy” joke; sorry.)

• It won’t be easy, but the future of software freedom needs an innovative GPL’d desktop.

• Please, keep making it better. Even though I’m not going to use it. I still need it.

• We still need it.

More Info / Talk License

• URLs / Social Networking / Email:
  • Pls. support Conservancy: sfconservancy.org/supporter/
  • The Guide is available & welcomes contributions at copyleft.org.
  • Conservancy: sfconservancy.org & @conservancy.
  • Me: faif.us & ebb.org/bkuhn
  • Slides: ebb.org/bkuhn/talks.

Ok, you really want me to play it?

• Here it is. (Try Everything)[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efsXt-H5t-0#t=11s]