There is a common sentiment among writers that ‘Vanity Press’ publishers are scammers that prey on the uninformed and desperate because they require authors to pay for their services. The sentiment appears to be that there is no value in ‘being published’ in and of itself—that what really matters is the book gets attention from professional editors and meets sales targets, which is the service a traditional publisher offers. This article examines whether this sentiment is really accurate.

As a long-time user of Windows and macOS, I've long felt that these systems continually get in my way and slow me down. Windows has its own flaws, but I want to pick on macOS, because it's remarkably similar to GNOME without being nearly as usable, coherent, or efficient. Options are often taken away from you and hidden in obscure locations, or otherwise completely disabled. macOS is very opinionated, as all great desktops are, but I think you'll agree with me that at least some of the decisions are poorly thought-out or limiting for no good reason. Some, even, are relics of a different century that have never been rethought. While I have tried to do things the way Apple thinks I should, I don't think I'll ever be able to call it efficient or powerful—not in the same way I feel GNOME is. Some things simply can't be mended, even if they are seemingly trivial. There are certainly nice things about the desktop not present in Windows, but there are issues not present on GNOME that continue to eat away at me.