Henry Lootgraab's Blog 
A Tale of Three Settlements
The following is a satire and it's heavily exaggerated, or is it... hmmm..
It's also offensive so if you're the easily offended type then skip this and watch some cat or dog videos on YouTube.
THE LINUX ISLAND
Linux Island is about personal freedom. Linux Island is about complete personal control. There are no corporations and no governments watching you and telling you what to do, there are no advertisements, no rules, no laws (other than the nature's), nobody is spying on you and no one is collecting your personal information. You can do whatever you want... like anything you want, really... anything...
But then... there isn't much there to begin with and there is a lot to learn if you're going to survive and it's not easy. You can forget everything you've learned so far in life. You have to build a shelter and it leaks badly every time it rains. Regular storms wipe out your entire camp several times per year and you have to start over again, but it just adds to your experience and improves your survival skills and your self confidence grows exponentially. You are so much better person than anyone outside, your skills are unmatched, your wisdom is infinite!
You wipe your ass with leaves but you don't know which ones may be toxic and nobody will tell you as opinions are divided and it always ends up with an argument, or you're just told that your ass needs to toughen up or that it's all a skill issue and you're just wiping wrong.
You're generally safe otherwise, your ass will eventually toughen up, your shelter will stop leaking (at least for some time) as long as you know wtf you're doing. Living far from everything and everyone means it's very unlikely that anyone will ever come to bother you or to threaten you. But if anyone ever does come to kick your ass then you will be woefully unprepared for it, no matter how tough your ass is by then, you may not even realize your ass is being kicked for several years, but you don't care, it's all fine... your infinite wisdom is your weapon against all the evils of this world!
You have to kill reptiles for food and rub wooden sticks to get some fire going (striking rocks might work too on some islands), but it's all great fun, you're amassing valuable experience, you look cool doing it and you have the freedom to... um, do... uh, you know, whatever you want.
Everything is free too, you can just grab any rock or any stick and never pay for it, those reptiles are all free too.
There are many desert islands and each one is different, offering a different take on freedom and control and different species of reptiles but the rocks and the sticks are pretty much the same on all islands and your first shelter always leaks anyway. Some people hop endlessly from island to island in futile attempt to find a nicer island that has better tasting reptiles and shelters that don't leak. On top of that, you often get yelled at by people from other islands that you are on the wrong island, that your island sucks so, tough living overall.
But whenever you actually meet any outsiders and they laugh at your islander way of living, you stubbornly and emphatically insist that the life on the island is absolutely amazing, totally worth it and that there are so many wonderful islands to chose from, and you have the freedom to... aaaand they should come and join you (but you're always careful not to ever mention the toxic foliage and the reptiles).
Sometimes you even get an uncontrollable urge to travel the world and preach your islander way of living, even if nobody asks you or cares or even knows that you exist. You get kicked out of city gates, but you get up, shake the dirt off and march on telling all these clueless people how good the life on the island is. Spreading the truth feels so good, you're so special!
THE MACOS VILLAGE
MacOS Village is a quiet, private, gated community. Stepping outside the walls is discouraged by the good looking management wearing handsome black turtlenecks. You can only buy stuffs, supplies and food from the local village store that is ran and curated by the good looking management... and very expensive... and shiny. So you need to have a good job to pay for it all but, while the selection is very limited, the quality is generally very good and you are more than happy to swipe your plastic at the shiny village store, frequently.
All appliances and furnishings are also supplied by the good looking management, outside tech will not work in your house, but they're generally stylish and, despite lacking in functionality, they're mostly comfortable... and shiny. Plenty of helpful and friendly [strike]advertising[/strike], advice is present everywhere to make sure you know what you need, so spending money has never been easier. [Happy Life Emoji Here]
You're pretty safe and secure too, all those diseased, stupid, nasty people from Windows City can't get inside your little slice of paradise and bother you, the good looking management is always protecting you. [I Heart Good Looking Management Emoji Here]
You watch approved movies and listen to approved music and life is easy and worry free as long as you don't mind the good looking management keeping an eye on everything you do. Though they constantly assure you that they never peek into your life, and they keep telling you that they are the good guys and that everything they do is for your own safety, comfort and your well-being. So you eventually stop worrying, learn to love the good looking management and believe them. [Sweet Smile Emoji Here] They seem really nice, they can't be possibly saying anything that isn't true, right? You live happily and everything works out well. Though that strange buzzing in your head... oh, never mind that.
If you ever complain about anything or start asking questions you're just told with a genuinely friendly smile that everything is all right, there is nothing to be worried about and to go back to your pretty, comfortable house, relax and watch a movie or do some yoga. Good vibes! [Ecstatic Face Emoji Here]
When the proprietary faucet in your kitchen breaks or a built-in, non-removable light bulb burns out you have to remodel the entire kitchen, or even better, buy a new house! Awesome! New houses are built every year and each time they're safer, more comfortable and more shiny. You wondered about the cameras in the bathroom for a moment, but the pretty lady from the management told you not to worry, whatever happens in your house, stays in your house, these cameras are not even connected to anything. With that assurance in mind you watched the latest episode of your fav approved show and life was good again. [Good Life Emoji Here]
Your old furniture and appliances can't be moved from the old house to the new one, but you really don't care. That year old house was so ugly! Yikes! You feel really good in the new one! You love your life! [Intense Joy Emoji Here][Heart Eyes Emoji Here]
THE WINDOWS CITY
Windows City is a big, crowded, bustling place, most of the world inhabitants live and die here. Life can be a struggle but you can buy pretty much anything, any kind of food from all over the world, any kind of gadget, all sorts of clothing, cars, literally anything from expensive, high-end, and esoteric stuff, through mainstream to cheap knockoffs.
Though the average quality of all goods is gradually declining and it's getting increasingly harder to find decent merchandise at reasonable prices. Some city folks look with envy at the shiny store in the nearby village but it's very expensive and, even if they let you in, stuff bought from the shiny village store usually doesn't function very well in the city and the people there are somewhat strange and look at you like you stink or something.
You can install any kind of faucet or light bulb in your place in the city though and it will work. But this has been getting tricky too as of late: some faucets and bulbs may require annual subscriptions now. City merchants heard that people in the village buy new stuff every year and it makes them very happy, so the merchants are trying the same strategy in the city now, after all who doesn't want to have happy customers?
However, you can also get robbed, scammed, conned and your place will be burglarized, your car will be broken into and your bike will be stolen at least once in your lifetime. You have to pay for everything too (rocks and sticks are still free though, but that may change). You can get a job, however, and earn money, though that means you have to work most of your life. And, at the rate prices are going up, one job may no longer be enough to afford all those faucet and light bulb subscriptions.
Your life is also being scrutinized and increasingly regulated by the city government, who is pathologically envious of the nearby village management for their absolute control over their happy, little community.
Then the corpos are openly and blatantly tracking your every move in the city too, they're not even trying to pretend any more, and they're filling your head with personalized advertising anywhere you turn your eyes and ears to. City merchants are often caught lying about their goods to their customers but there is not much you can do. But some people are finding ways to survive and deal with all that noise after all.
However, some city residents are getting anxious and tired and would love to get out of the city, they try to look beyond the city walls, but their only options are the desert island or the gated village community and most don't know what to make out of it.
There are strangely dressed, bearded people sometimes standing on street corners, yelling:
"The City living is garbage!!! Come to the desert island!!! We don't have any problems there!!! No problems at all!!!" (they never mention leaking shelters, toxic foliage and reptiles for breakfast).
Some people are curious and start asking questions, some make fun of them but most are annoyed by their yelling and just want them to leave, but they just move to another street corner. It's sometimes hard to have a conversation as these people will pop out of nowhere and start yelling about their wonderful desert islands.
Some city folks might even become curious enough to take the trip (take some toilet paper and food with you). Some may even stay, usually not for long, few even did stay for good though. Most left promptly, however, and ran back to the city and so will others as the desert island living is not an acceptable alternative for most city folk. Some city people stopped over at the village community on their way back and stayed there.
However, most city residents either don't care or don't know any better and so they go about their daily chores and the life in the city goes on entirely unaffected by anything that happens outside of its walls.
I grew up in the village, then moved to the city for a long while, spent most of my life there, though I went back to the village once or twice and every time came back to the city. I tried the island living too several times but it wasn't for me.
I still live in the city but I badly need a fourth settlement to move to:(
-- Henry Lootgraab