True, but it's still better than the US ever was. It seems the current empire skipped the entire 'play nice' part and went straight to bullying everybody. We'll see what the next one does.
The military is only strong on paper. Half of it is spread out all over the world. Realistically, it would take weeks if not months to mobilize it all in case of a major conflict.
Technology is one of the best, but even here China is taking more and more Ws. It's already moving towards mass producing 6th gen stealth fighters, while the United States' first prototype is scheduled for 2030. Mass production realistically never, because the country won't last till then.
For the better or worse, it is the Chinese century now. Let's just hope China doesn't stop being relatively nice towards its allies and partners once the US is gone.
The leaders of the companies are not stupid. If they started seeing a net loss from their sales strategy, they'd change strategies.
Unless money is not the goal. Not the sole goal at least. As you said, they're not stupid. It's entirely within reason to assume they may be aiming for more than just money.
Who knows what they're planning. Nothing good for us - that's for sure.
If we're comparing Linux to Windows, then it should be noted there's Plasma and Gnome that will auto-detect any USB stick in existence and show you its path in the GUI.
With Linux itself or with the broader realm of 'Linux software'?
By itself, Linux is a fantastic family of operating systems. Has never failed me and probably never will. At least not until I care enough about differences in userland handling in Linux vs FreeBSD, for instance. And even then, I might just switch out of preference, and not because one or the other disappointed me.
As for broader Linux software, or GNU software, or just FOSS in general - by far the biggest potential issue is probably systemd, and it's still meaningless for the vast majority of users. Other than that, my personal biggest issue was Hyprland breaking completely after updating. But it's not a super major issue, because I can just use Plasma instead.
Framework is great, but it's just so insanely expensive.
I was buying a new laptop about 2 years ago. A framework one cost more than twice the price of a regular ultrabook with comparable (but better) specs.
Sure, you pay more for a Framework, and you can upgrade it later instead of buying a new laptop. Makes sense, but even then - a Framework one is more expensive than 2 laptops with similar specs. It only gets cheaper on the third upgrade. Which for me may be 10 years away.
Personally I'm not thrilled about investing in a laptop that will pay off in a decade. Who knows what laptops will be like by that time. Hell, it's not unconceivable that devices like Framework will be outlawed. Or that Framework goes out of business.
It might make sense for people who upgrade often, but I don't. Or for people who don't, but are wealthy enough to pay the premium anyway. If anything, I feel like having a Framework would make me want to upgrade more often, which would be a waste of money.
The country that invented the internet... has the worst internet infrastructure in the developed world. Worse than some developing countries too. Astonishing.
Then lower them, bitch