You have two choices.

You can work with FOSS software that is sometimes clunky, but will improve over time.

OR

You can work with proprietary software that is openly hostile and will only get worse over time.

100%. I try to use open source wherever possible. If it does have to be closed/proprietary, I will only use software I can own, no subscriptions; and the only if I can get them working in Linux (wine has come SO far).

That said, I do still have a windows partition but only for job related stuff.

I’ve been daily driving linux for at least 10 years and I think I’m using close to 100% FOSS. Except for the stupid nvidia drivers and my steam games.

Yes, very much so. Everyday; I run a linux system and the majority of the apps on my phone are from f-droid.

We’re really asking this question on Lemmy? What kind of answers do you expect to get here?

I prefer that it is easy to use, and that it is stable. I don’t care if it’s open source or closed source. I’ll pay either way. Tips or donations or just straight pay for it.

a side note for those that do free open source and want donations or tips, … make it easy to donate. I ran into one piece of software that said please donate. I spent 20 minutes trying to figure out how. I gave up. And just use the software for free.

I make a pretty decent effort to use FOSS even when there is a much more polished closed source alternative (*ahem* FreeCAD) but for some things there really isn’t a choice.

You can’t VRChat without the official client, for example.

I prefer FOSS because it focuses on creating something good instead of something that focuses on extracting as much money possible.

Hmm, tough call. Generally speaking I guess I’d prefer freedom over eternally paying rent to the tech oligarchs but then I’d miss out on the benefits of Microsoft’s latest adjustments to the Windows 11 start menu.

As a recovering Apple user, I kinda straddle the two worlds. I’m still in a place where I like software to look tidy, with a decent GUI and workflows that make sense. With the best will in the world, a good amount of FOSS misses the mark on some of that.

But the more I use Linux, the more FOSS I use, and get used to.

Absolutely. Linux on the desktop, f-droid on my Android phone. The fact if something irritates me enough I can download the code and fix it.

I’m lucky I have a job working with FLOSS software. I don’t think I could go back to hacking on propriety code.

Anything that I want to last for a long time. Most proprietary software has only a few years worth of shelf life, before it either turns to shit or ceases to exist. And I most prefer foss for applications where I generate the data and want complete control over it, such as notes, images etc, both for security and privacy along with longevity and full control

Exclusively Linux desktop since 2003

Rebooted a total of 3 times

(Ok second one is hyperbole)

A lot of the time, FOSS is the only way to get what I want done because there is nothing else.

All day every day. I’m a linux user both at home and at work. The only closed source software I use is Bitwig, steam, and (most of) the games I play.

When I need software that does X, and I have multiple alternatives, my order of preference for exploring goes like this:

1. Anything that can be installed via apt-get
2. Same as above, but with added repos
3. Something found on github with a release ready for download
4. Same as above, but I build it myself
5. Closed source
6. Paid closed source

(Notice how snap isn’t in the list?)

Of course, quality of the software matters, which means the list isn’t 100% accurate in all cases. Bitwig is paid closed source, but I prefer that over Ardour, and it’s IMHO miles better.