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I once stood in a hotel lobby in Amman, Jordan, listening quietly as a passionate GNU/Linux advocate tried to get Microsoft employees to agree that free software would be better for the Muslim world than proprietary software. His opponents were getting paid to boost Microsoft and proprietary software and couldn't change their beliefs -- at least in public -- without losing their jobs, so there was no way the Linux advocate could "win" this argument. I've witnessed similar scenes all over the world, and cringed at every one. Linux boosters shouldn't waste their (our) energy trying to convince unconvicable people. There are better uses for that passion.
It's just that your point in debate will not always be to convert the other person. If the only tool you have is a hammer, everything you face looks like a nail.
If instead of aiming for outright conversion on day one with the maximum possible confrontation, your labour might be more profitably spent on gently obtaining a few concessions or admissions in areas which your sparring partner doesn't regard as key to their strategy. With concessions in hand, the FOSS-bagger will now have to be more careful about what they say, and of course if they concede enough they'll wake up to find that they've been nibbled to death by ducks: they can't say anything bad about FOSS without contradicting themselves.
Think "I'm sorry, is this a five minute argument, or the full half-hour?" if you find yourself taking the situation too seriously.
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If instead of aiming for outright conversion on day one with the maximum possible confrontation, your labour might be more profitably spent on gently obtaining a few concessions or admissions in areas which your sparring partner doesn't regard as key to their strategy. With concessions in hand, the FOSS-bagger will now have to be more careful about what they say, and of course if they concede enough they'll wake up to find that they've been nibbled to death by ducks: they can't say anything bad about FOSS without contradicting themselves.
Think "I'm sorry, is this a five minute argument, or the full half-hour?" if you find yourself taking the situation too seriously.