It's been a while, now is the time

Coffee break
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Once we can get over the ideological component of it and welcome new users with open arms. The whole “free software” religion needs to go and the focus should be on the practical side of things.

The reason why “free(dom) software” as an ideology exists is for the very pragmatic reason that we should be able to do whatever we want with our machines. If the software’s source code is secret, then the only people who really have control over the software’s source code is the people that control you as the user. Windows (Microsoft) is ideologically aligned as proprietary software, and we’ve seen where that has gotten us. The only reason Linux is the way Linux is because of free software. OpenMandriva as an organization and community is passionate about free software because we believe in user freedom, ergo, we believe in free software.

A wonderful thing about free software is that it is as pragmatic as it is ideal. Anyone dealing with problems with proprietary software that’s been abandoned (“abandonware”) knows this well as a good example. When a proprietary, secret-source program becomes abandonware, users who had not previously secured a copy of the program cannot obtain a copy without risking civil or even criminal liability due to copyright restrictions. To further hinder users, even if they had obtained legal copies of the abandonware, they cannot freely adapt it to their needs and redistribute it without restrictions. This is an effective death sentence for a large proportion of abandonware since it cannot be maintained or shared. Freedom software doesn’t have this problem, and largely speaking, neither does OpenMandriva Lx.

A “free” (nothing is free) product is still a product. We should be welcoming new users by the droves due to the bad behavior of all the competition. More users means more resources to develop a better product. And yes, it is a competition, for resources and userbase.

It needs to change.

OpenMandriva and Linux isn’t a “product”; both are community-oriented, mass-collaborative efforts to make software that is actually useful to users. That’s what makes it awesome. A product is something that is meant to be sold (extract value from users/customers) to make shareholders rich. Products don’t think about the considerations of users like OpenMandriva Lx does. We’re a community that makes software that is useful for users, not a means to squeeze out money our of “customers” on the behalf shareholders like proprietary “products” like Microsoft Windows does. Asking for “products” to actually benefit users, especially in terms of software, has led to massive a phenomenon known as enshittification in which the overall quality of the product is reduced because ultimately it serves the “bottom-line” of the business to do so. Free software doesn’t have this problem, in fact, it’s the solution to the problem that proprietary software created in the first place.

Ergo, proprietary software is what is losing. To make the mistake of wishing death upon “free software” is to wish death on Linux. The two are inseparable. Everyone will lose if that were to ever happen. We can’t force people to embrace freedom, they have to choose it. That is what free as in freedom means in terms of “free software”.

The attitude of losers is the attitude that they are entitled to something without lifting a singular finger to actually contribute (i.e. actually doing measurable work/value) positively towards that something. I would rather have no company than bad company, and what is beneficial to a community is good company that is productive toward said community. If anyone wishes to put in the work to effect positive change and contribute to the software, then I welcome you to our community at OpenMandriva.

Speaking of, welcome to our community @alframe. I hope to see you around more. I feel like you have a lot of misconceptions about the “Linux community” (whatever that really means) that you are parroting. In terms of OpenMandriva, our community is welcoming to those who are aligned with our values. My advice is to open your ears and be willing to listen and learn new things. We don’t ask for you to know everything, but that also comes with the understanding that help vampirism is not helpful. To put it in understandable terms, we don’t expect you to know what a Shirako (obscure Japanese food dish) is, and we expect you to ask, HOWEVER we also expect for you to be able to TRY to grab the utensil and put it in your mouth by yourself and SEE if that method of eating works for the dish i.e. https://tryitands.ee/.

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I mostly agree and I thank you for taking the time to chime in. Also to all others that contributed to this thread. Really appreciate this!

I am coming form the 3D world and photography is my passion, which I went to school for to learn it. Well, I did an apprenticeship, as we call it here. From 1994 - 2010 I worked exclusively on research projects at LEGO in Denmark and later on in Switzerland and the US, where I worked at a research lab, as the liaison between the programmers (doctoral students) and the content creators.

I am only saying this because I think I do have my fair share of “try it - and it will work” under my belt.

That said, I am focused on the productivity of my hardware. I want it to work for me, and not the other way around. Now, my bar for that is quite low. The system needs to use all my hardware to the full extent.

Hence, that it works with my 4090 and three monitors is not only key, it’s the very very basic thing. Every other problem can be solved along the way.

Again, that said, I am not afraid of the commandline. I am not afraid to research a miniscule problem, for days on end. No problem. As said in another thread, I used to switch patch level on my sgi to be able to write to a DAT, while another level was needed to run Power Animator and Softimage.

But, if a Linux distro doesn’t support me booting in 3 x 1440p on a 4090, then that’s a show stopper. Don’t get me wrong, I will try it. But searching the web and this forum, does kinda tell me to forget it. I know it’s a driver issue. And I hate Nvidia for it. And I hope it will change.

About business and free software. Maybe, just maybe, if business is made in a way, where the dev’s get an income from the “product”, but the “product” per se is still free (cough cough … Blender), but the useres get a well documented and functioning OS, or app from, which they can influence by giving feedback, various other tasks, up to the level of contributing code. Which I an not. But I can put together a workhorse, get it production ready, if the engine is built well. Off course this “business” bares it’s own universe of problems. But I fell the frequencies change on this planet. And yeah, if we all would spend half of our time growing our own food, we would not need doubloons, issued by a corrupt government, raped by corrupt banks and killed by taxes…

As for attitude, I do have to say that “stay on Window$”, or “buy a Mac”, doesn’t help. It’s cool to talk about it. And I have read posts on here, in which I can feel, that there’s very sane and smart people in this corner of the internet. Believe me, I thought about it, to stay on Win, or buy a Mac. Actually, nope… I hate OSX. I lied. And I will keep Window$ 10, just did the 30 bucks ESU, but the OS is on a separate drive. But I did reduce my Adobe subscription to PS and Lightroom today.

All that said, thanks again for all the inputs and the interesting reads.

Cheers!

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I understand what you are saying @wolfdaemon and it makes sense from your point of view. You are looking at it from a hobbyist point of view. I am trying to get folks to think about it from a normal computer user’s point of view or that of a professional who happens to use Linux or OM.

I just happen to disagree and I think that the whole Free Software thing keeps normal people away because it is weird and spergy and vaguely communist if you read it. You can have the free software (lower case) with out the Free Software religious zealotry.

A lot of free software is indeed being enshittified right now if you pay closer attention.

Also, yes OM is a product in the software marketplace. It is competing with other products, both paid and free. That is a flaw in your thinking there.

The same way a “Free to Play” game is a product. Most users will not pay, but you will get your resources from that percentage that does pay.

To grow or even survive into the future, this attitude needs to change.

Linux in general will also get more proprietary software as it grows. That should be encouraged instead of shunned, it means you have become a big enough market for developers to target.

I cannot use free software for certain things in my business, because if something breaks I cannot go complain to someone and have them fix it quickly. They are going to tell me that they do not owe me anything, which is true and why I cannot use the software for important or specialized tasks

I actually use multiple pieces of proprietary software on my Linux system. That is likely because I am not a hobbyist. Hobbyists are not a big enough market for an entire operating system, you need professional users and normal users as well.

Losers lose and winners win, you cannot redefine these words. Sorry man, it just is.

There are individual proprietary software packages that beats any free software in its niche and there is free software that beats all proprietary software in its niche as well. I just see them as two different business models. The only thing that matters in the end is whether or not the software is good. Good software gets resources from grateful users.

Even for OM, if they don’t hit your resource target to pay the bills, they are done. No one can avoid this, resources are required. Passion counts for nothing if the bills are not paid in the end.

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Okay, so have you downloaded the ISO, flashed your USB, and tried to live boot from the USB on your system yet to see if it worked? If so, and if unsuccessful, have you make an appropriately titled/written forum thread dedicated to the issue to document and get assistance? Have you looked at the wiki for any articles on NVIDIA drivers?

About business and free software. Maybe, just maybe, if business is made in a way, where the dev’s get an income from the “product”, but the “product” per se is still free (cough cough … Blender)

Blender is also free software. Both Blender and Linux use the GNU General Public License, which is the free software license that allows/enforces the right for the source code to be freely distributed, modified, and enforces that right to continue perpetually. Both the Blender Foundation and Linux Foundation make money from donations, subscriptions, merchandise sales, annual conferences.

As for attitude, I do have to say that “stay on Window$”, or “buy a Mac”, doesn’t help.

I agree with this.

I will keep Window$ 10, just did the 30 bucks ESU, but the OS is on a separate drive. But I did reduce my Adobe subscription to PS and Lightroom today.

This is awesome! What is a great first step! I genuinely applaud you for doing this.

All that said, thanks again for all the inputs and the interesting reads.

I appreciate you as well.

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I am not a mere “hobbyist”, I am a person that does real work and contributes to wider society in a meaningful way. I have been using Linux distributions full time for years. I got my degree on it, I’ve created and published multiple multimedia projects on them. I do professional documentative work on them. My experience has gotten me jobs that I do work with on it that have increased my social class and quality of life. Every chore and fruitful work you can imagine someone does routinely on a personal computer on, with real deadlines and weight, I’ve done it on. It’s very possible as of today, and I have free software to thank. It’s not even that difficult to do. When I started using Linux distributions in 2018, I wasn’t a “power user” of computers by any stretch of the imagination. The sole and only reason I am as passionate and skilled and capable of anything “technical” past stereotypically “normal cattle” standards was because of the nature of freedom software. Linux quite literally changed my life and opened my eyes in terms of what computers can actually do for the good of humanity. Linux allowed me to actually understand how computers work. A lifetime with other kernels/OSs did none of that.

I just happen to disagree and I think that the whole Free Software thing keeps normal people away because it is weird and spergy and vaguely communist if you read it. You can have the free software (lower case) with out the Free Software religious zealotry.

Yeah, it’s called freeware. Plainly speaking, there’s a reason why Linux isn’t freeware. Freeware sucks! Freeware still chains you because freeware isn’t free as in freedom, it’s only free as in gratis (monetarily). Freeware suffers from enshittification because it doesn’t protect user freedom. Here, I think this highlights your current conflation/confusion between the two.

A lot of free software is indeed being enshittified right now if you pay closer attention.

Examples to back this up would be helpful, and with those examples, explain how.

Also, yes OM is a product in the software marketplace. It is competing with other products, both paid and free. That is a flaw in your thinking there.
…
To grow or even survive into the future, this attitude needs to change.

Not a flaw. Linux “marketshare” has dominated literally ever other field in computing besides personal computers, and even then, the marketshare for GNU/Linux distributions is growing exponentially as it stands. “Linux’s” desktop market share has demonstrated an exponential growth pattern in recent years. The transition from 1% to 2% market share took eight years, but the pace has significantly accelerated: moving from 2% to 3% took only 2.2 years, and the jump from 3% to 4% occurred in just 0.7 years. This trend continued into 2025, with Linux surpassing the 5% market share barrier in the United States, reaching 5.03% in June 2025. The report notes that this exponential growth suggests a promising upward trend, with the rapid acceleration from 4% to 5% occurring in a similar timeframe to previous milestones. This is precisely because of the fact that it’s software you can modify & distribute freely. As it stands currently, Linux will grow.

Linux in general will also get more proprietary software as it grows.

We don’t know what the future holds.

[Proprietary software] be encouraged instead of shunned, it means you have become a big enough market for developers to target.

The way something is legally licensed is not correlate to the size of a market. Walled gardens do not contribute positively to users/consumers. It only forces/locks them into a platform temporarily before they get abused enough to where eventually they get so tired of being absolutely beaten/taken advantage that abandon them running into an alternative, ideally one that doesn’t do that. Hence, “GNU/Linux’s” marketshare is growing. People don’t like to be controlled.

I actually use multiple pieces of proprietary software on my Linux system. That is likely because I am not a hobbyist. Hobbyists are not a big enough market for an entire operating system, you need professional users and normal users as well.

Losers lose and winners win, you cannot redefine these words. Sorry man, it just is.

This is so hilarious to me, because the actual evidence suggests otherwise, yet you act as if proprietary software is “winning”. This isn’t the 90’s, bro. Free software is inevitable. Freedom is a universal constant in the same way that darkness will always consume the light in the end.

There are individual proprietary software packages that beats any free software in its niche and there is free software that beats all proprietary software in its niche as well.

Very correct.

I just see them as two different business models.

Incorrect. Software freedom is about user/human rights, it’s not about a “business model”.

The only thing that matters in the end is whether or not the software is good. Good software gets resources from grateful users.

What makes software “good” is a vague statement, to say the least. If a piece of software restricts you and violates your rights, but is convenient, is it “good”? I would argue, no, it isn’t. This is a matter of values. Some software is convenient but is terrible for you. Windows 11 taking screenshots of the user’s screen every few seconds, creating a searchable timeline of activities using on-device AI and a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) isn’t “good”, despite the fact that Windows is oh-so supposedly convenient according to a certain set of people. People value not being exploited when they are aware of it, and given the chance, they’ll eventually take it. OpenMandriva is here to assist in raising said awareness of free software. A good thing is that as more people use/value programs that protect software freedom is that those same programs (or new programs being made for said userbase) will be likely of higher quality. An important thing for us as a community at OpenMandriva is to help new users understand why the programs are good (programs being “free” as in free speech), so that the programs can continue to be good.

Even for OM, if they don’t hit your resource target to pay the bills, they are done.

OpenMandriva doesn’t operate this way, haha. Have you seen the amount OM gets in donations? It’s on the front page. Obviously, donations help.

Passion counts for nothing if the bills are not paid in the end.

This is why OpenMandriva asks you :index_pointing_at_the_viewer: to contribute. The more people contribute, the more we can do.

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Point taken.

I’m not taking the kind of effort you are asking for, but just follow the news and you will get this this. Gnome desktop, Rust in the kernel, Wayland being shoved in place of X11. Ubuntu is being enshittified a lot. You can read the rest on your own time. I think you know about this better than me judging by what you say, so I’m going to ask you to not use bad faith arguments on me and just be honest and straightforward.

No guy, please learn to understand what you read, please. I said the business model is irrelevant, some proprietary software wins, some loses, and vise verse with free software. I have not noticed free software being spectacularly better with the exception of the operating system itself.

Just factually wrong. You are mixing up ideology with software. I understand many have a gap in their lives where religion should go that they are trying to fill, but this ain’t it. Software is a tool, like a hammer. A hammer has no ideology and neither does software. It is retarded to pretend you are engaging in human rights with software. No one has a “right” to software.

No, it is quite simple. The user decides if it is good or not.

It does though. You have to pay for a server and web hosting and legal fees and whatnot. It may not require much, but it does need to pay the bills. You don’t pay thgose bills, the lights go out. You can’t get around it, that is just reality. I understand that reality is not very popular in the Linux world, but we are all bound to it nonetheless.

It is not up to you to change the way users think. I actually can’t believe you even said that.

No, I’m not a developer, I am an end user. It is not up to me to develop this product. I am setting up a recurring payment sometime before the end of the month as a payment for this product that I am using. I pay for the software I use no matter which business model the developers choose. I suppose that is contributing in some people’s mind, but it is really just payment for services rendered. OM is great and I want it to survive.

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Perhaps I am wrong but as far as I understand things what people use on personal computers is mostly determined by marketing not whether Apple, Linux, or Micosoft have the best operating systems. With personal computers the majority of the potential market consists of people more in the category of “I don’t know how this thing works I just want it to work for me”. Apple and Microsoft are noted for their skills at exploiting this. A major, major, major factor in this marketing is what operating system is on a computer when said non-technical folks buy their computer. In other words OEM installation is arguably the biggest driver here.

Where with servers or supercomputers the people making the decisions are the opposite, they are generally very knowledgeable. And the market share flip flops.

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You are probably correct for the most part. That’s why I am trying to encourage bringing Linux to the masses who don’t care about anything in this thread at all.

They don’t want indoctrination, they want to get some tasks done.

I also sell refurbished PCs on eBay that have Linux Mint installed via the OEM installer method. While encouraging Linux use in new users, it is also a great way to put these machines back in service instead of tossing them and I make a profit doing it.

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One point I seem to remember from years ago with people talking about free software was that this is in part about the human right to access to knowledge.

The joke at the time:

The world changed forever in the 1990’s, we took 2 things that were free and readily available and wrapped them in plastic and charged a premium for them. Water and Knowledge.

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That is a great thing to do.

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I never thought I’d see someone actually favour proprietary BLOBs.

People have a right to own the computer they bought. If you run proprietary software on said computer ( that more often than not are a dire threat to one’s privacy), then you are eroding the ownership of said computer, in the sense that you are passing control of your hardware on to someone else, the people that own the software that you decide to run on it. People are, of course, free to do this, but more and more people are becoming aware of how bad Microsoft and Apple actually are, and opting for FOSS solutions.

The bottom line is that you can use proprietary software, and risk the owner of the software radically changing the terms of the licence (Adobe, anyone?), or going tits-up, or just abandoning it, or just deciding that they don’t want me to use it anymore, because, say, I committed wrongthink…or you can use FOSS software. FOSS software grants me rights (ie I can edit, change, re-compile, re-distribute, sell, etc) as I see fit, ie it is mine. The copy of OML that I am running on my pc belongs to me. I can start selling ISO CDs or media on ebay if I like. Try that with your proprietary software.

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@vannax Well, I’m gonna surprise you here and say that you are not wrong for the most part

However, I am not actually “for” or “against” either of these business models. they are both going to always exist. If some dude makes some super cool software for Linux, I see no reason why he should not charge for it. If want to give it away for free and hope for donations to cover his time and profit, then also I see no issue.

I am against specific companies and business practices, which is the actual issue.

It is when you assign ideology to it that it becomes ridiculous.

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When there is an issue with one of my small business programs, I can call those devs up on the phone and bitch them out and get a fix pretty much the same day usually. Of course I pay them around $100 USD monthly so they had better.

If I bitch at a free software developer, he is going to tell me to pound sand, even if his software just halted my entire business day.

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You could pay that FOSS developer for support too…..

It seems like you are conflating free as in freedom with cost free.

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I’m not taking the kind of effort you are asking for, but just follow the news and you will get this this. Gnome desktop, Rust in the kernel, Wayland being shoved in place of X11. Ubuntu is being enshittified a lot. You can read the rest on your own time. I think you know about this better than me judging by what you say, so I’m going to ask you to not use bad faith arguments on me and just be honest and straightforward.

Okay, but difference between something like a proprietary operating system/kernel suite enshittifying and a different separate & independent free software projects “enshittifying” is that you actually have the freedom to pick and choose what parts you want to use with your OS. On Windows/NT, you don’t have a choice to not use DWM, but on OpenMandriva you can choose either XLibre or Wayland, or if you don’t like OpenMandriva for whatever reason, you can use Ubuntu and still have the same general support for Linux-supported software because they’re both using the Linux kernel, which is legally able to be distributed by anyone because it’s free software. You can’t just pick up the proprietary NT kernel and use/distribute something else with it. So yes, some free(dom) programs might decrease in quality over time, or might not get support (abandoned), but it ultimately doesn’t matter because people can simply fork it and/or use/support something else, because they have the freedom to freely do so.

Don’t like Rust in the kernel? Create/use a fork of the Linux kernel or support a distribution that doesn’t have Rust in it. People actually have the ability do that if they really want to. If the NT (Windows kernel) decides to rewrite itself in Rust, you’re simply SOL. If you don’t like how DWM (Window’s window manager) works, you’re largely SOL. If you don’t like the default Windows/Mac desktop, you’re SOL. Yeah, you can break it (I use “GlazeWM” when I am forced to use Windows sometimes at work), but it’s someone’s shoddy darts thrown in the dark for a broken, continuously moving black box target. With free software, you have a choice: 100s of them, some cases even 1000s or millions.

No guy, please learn to understand what you read, please. I said the business model is irrelevant, some proprietary software wins, some loses, and vise verse with free software. I have not noticed free software being spectacularly better with the exception of the operating system itself.

No, you need to learn to understand what you read. You said, quote:

“There are individual proprietary software packages that beats any free software in its niche and there is free software that beats all proprietary software in its niche as well. I just see them as two different business models.”

So when I say:

"Incorrect. Software freedom is about user/human rights, it’s not about a “business model”.

…which is the quotation that was in response to that statement, it tells me you’re either:

  1. Not reading/understanding what I am saying
  2. Deliberately misrepresenting what I say. It’s either one or the other.

So I have to keep repeating it, because I’m assuming in good faith that you’re not getting what I’m putting down. That’s me trying to honor general community standards here.

Just factually wrong. You are mixing up ideology with software. I understand many have a gap in their lives where religion should go that they are trying to fill, but this ain’t it. Software is a tool, like a hammer. A hammer has no ideology and neither does software. It is retarded to pretend you are engaging in human rights with software. No one has a “right” to software.

All users have a right to read, write, and redistribute software for the hardware that they bought and paid for! Human rights are non-negotiable and unalienable: it’s not a matter of “religion”. It’s a matter of fact being humane, actually benefiting humankind, and having moral principals necessary for a world that depends on technology. Software is more nuanced and complex than a hammer, and even if it wasn’t:

  • There’s a “good” difference between buying a hammer that was built off of slave labor, and buying hammers that are not.
  • There’s a “good” difference between buying a toaster that needs to be connected to the internet 100% of the time in order to function the a data broker can pawn off your voice recordings, and buying a toaster that isn’t an unnecessarily IoT device.
  • There’s a “good” difference between buying a fridge from a company that retroactively decides to force you to watch ads on the screen even though you paid $1800 dollars for it when if worked perfectly fine before and not doing so because it is wrong.

To say that that assertion is “retarded” is genuinely embarrassing and sad to read to me. Just because you don’t understand something doesn’t mean it’s wrong.

No, it is quite simple. The user decides if it is good or not.

Refer to my statement above.

It is not up to you to change the way users think. I actually can’t believe you even said that.

It’s not just up to me, it’s up to all of us. That’s how advocacy works.

No, I’m not a developer, I am an end user. It is not up to me to develop this product. I am setting up a recurring payment sometime before the end of the month as a payment for this product that I am using. I pay for the software I use no matter which business model the developers choose. I suppose that is contributing in some people’s mind, but it is really just payment for services rendered. OM is great and I want it to survive.

You don’t have to be a software developer to contribute. You can contribute in several ways that helps our community, including but not limited to:

  1. Provide feedback forums, chat groups, or mailing lists, to voice your opinions and suggestions for the distribution going forward.
  2. Answer support questions on community forums (like this one), chat groups, or mailing lists, which can assist new users and reduce the burden on developers.
  3. Contribute to the wiki/documentation (like our wiki) is also crucial, as clear and comprehensive guides can significantly improve the user experience when a user is looking for info as to how to use or understand how the software works.
  4. Testing software on the bleeding edge by being on Cooker, helping to build packages, reporting bugs, etc for the stable release (ROCK).
  5. Donate (which I’m assuming you’re “planning to do” based on this statement)
  6. Contribute to translation efforts are also vital, as they make software accessible to non-English speakers
  7. Design work, including creating or updating icons, themes, or user interface elements, enhances the visual appeal and usability.
  8. “Marketing” and outreach efforts i.e. “spreading the word” is another significant area where non-developers can contribute. This includes creating social media content, producing video guides or walkthroughs for YouTube, helping craft messaging that highlights a distro’s strengths, or even designing merchandise. Simply advocating for Linux and open source software in conversations can also raise awareness and attract new users.

If you don’t know how, and want to contribute, make the effort to ask how you can. The website and this very forum is chalk full on content related to this. You just have to make the effort to ask/look for it, which you clearly have yet to do.

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I see what you mean, but I also see no reason that the software has to be open source. I am not confusing the 2, I just don’t have an ideological problem with either business model. Free as in free beer or free as in freedom.

I did not come to Linux for freedom, nor do I think Linux can provide it to me.

I am just getting away from Microsoft because they try to tell me how to think. Now Linux users are doing the same in a different way.

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@wolfdaemon Sorry man, I don’t agree with anything you just said.

I am not going to allow you to tell me how to think any more than I allowed Microsoft or Google to.

I am not interested in contributing, but I will pay for the product as is the right and fair thing to do. I am not a freeloader.

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It sounds like you switched your systems to Linux so that you could have the freedom to control the things that you already own.

Paying or donating to a FOSS project is contributing.

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Knowing you, I understand why you would say that. I am simply avoiding unethical business practices. if someone cheats me, lies to me or steals from me, I don’t do business with them anymore. Since I don’t believe in or care about freedom, that did not really enter into my mind.

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I’m not “telling you how to think”; I’m providing argumentation as to why freedom software is important, because you’re spreading the rhetoric that, somehow, software freedom is a hindrance to Linux: which factually isn’t the case. You’re doing harm spreading that false rhetoric, which is why I bother: because protecting software freedom is genuinely important, and part of doing is rebutting the bogus claim that is isn’t. It’s what allows the platform/software/ecosystem that you use to survive. As I said, Linux and software freedom is inseparable. It’s enforced legally, and our rights are only protected by our legal system so long as we take the necessary steps to consistently enforce those rights.

I am not interested in contributing, but I will pay for the product as is the right and fair thing to do. I am not a freeloader.

If you actually donate: you’re contributing. It’s one of the things I listed as to how to help OpenMandriva, which is a community project that supports & encourages freedom software.

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