“I use Linux as my operating system,” I state proudly to the unkempt, bearded man. He swivels around in his desk chair with a devilish gleam in his eyes, ready to mansplain with extreme precision. “Actually”, he says with a grin, "Linux is just the kernel. You use GNU+Linux!’ I don’t miss a beat and reply with a smirk, “I use Alpine, a distro that doesn’t include the GNU Coreutils, or any other GNU code. It’s Linux, but it’s not GNU+Linux.” The smile quickly drops from the man’s face. His body begins convulsing and he foams at the mouth and drops to the floor with a sickly thud. As he writhes around he screams “I-IT WAS COMPILED WITH GCC! THAT MEANS IT’S STILL GNU!” Coolly, I reply “If windows were compiled with GCC, would that make it GNU?” I interrupt his response with “-and work is being made on the kernel to make it more compiler-agnostic. Even if you were correct, you won’t be for long.” With a sickly wheeze, the last of the man’s life is ejected from his body. He lies on the floor, cold and limp. I’ve womansplained him to death. Here is a quick text about GNU/Linux:

"I’d just like to interject for a moment. What you’re refering to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I’ve recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.

Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called Linux, and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project.

There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use. Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine’s resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. Linux is normally used in combination with the GNU operating system: the whole system is basically GNU with Linux added, or GNU/Linux. All the so-called Linux distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux!"

Understood? No? Here then:

“I installed Linux and the feeling of freedom and privacy hit me so hard that I immediately began committing crimes, knowing that the FBI could never track me. Piracy, sexual assault, trademark infringement, petty larceny, tax fraud, you name it. I also own several fully automatic firearms even though I live in the state of California, but it doesn’t matter. Ever since I removed Windows 10 from my computer and replaced it with Arch Linux, and began using a PinePhone as my daily driver phone, police can’t even stop me in traffic. Windows may have a lot of video games, but the benefits of Linux should not be understated.”

I’d prefer not having people “sell” Linux to me each and every time someone says something about any software.

If you do that, you absolutely deserve this comment.

• How do you recognise a Linux user ?

• No need to do anything they will tell you immediately

I have a friend who’s kinda like that, he says he’s communist but also says that freelancers are bourgeois because “they don’t need to exploit the proletariat to be the dominant class” ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Why ?

Of course, if it isn’t available to people, my point falls apart completely and I was in an ideal situation that isn’t as accessible to most people. (I live close to a mental health center specialized in autism)

Still it helped me tremendously and I want to encourage people to seek a diagnosis.

For people who don’t/don’t yet know, support groups like this one or ND friends are invaluable

Just state your opinion, no need to be a dick about it

Because a diagnosis can tell you what you are, it’s not a supposition anymore, and you don’t have to convince yourself as it becomes an objective truth. I used to think I was autistic, and while I wasn’t that far, autism wasn’t the right diagnosis and that new information allowed me to act on the right things. I live a much better life now than when I was relying on my self-diagnosis

One time I tried to talk to someone about communism in general to get him to understand exactly what it stands for, I realised 15 min into the conversation that the guy was some kind of libertarian/fascist. I still tried to get my point across for another 15 min, but he wouldn’t hear any of it, always referring to the same shit over and over again. I left while I could still stay sane.

On the other hand, I successfully deprogrammed my coworker (I don’t know if that’s the correct term in English) and introduced him to marxist ideas and over time he went from borderline fascist to socialist. It took time and effort but I think it was worth it.

Some people are just lost, don’t know why they think what they think and it’s hard work to get our point across and for that point to be properly understood but its not lost on everyone, it’s tiring but it’s necessary. I guess the main thing is to know when you’re wasting your time and energy.

The implication that GN did bad journalism by not contacting them is a fair point though. It is considered good practice to give a chance to the accused party to defend themselves about the allegations presented by the journalist.

Does Velocipastor count ?