shouldiuse.io

VERDICT

Should I use It's FOSS Community?

A place for desktop Linux users and It's FOSS readers - itsfoss.community

Depends. If you're a desktop Linux user or It's FOSS reader, join — it's free, active, and friendly. If you need team software, private workspaces, or official support SLAs, this is a forum, not a product.

Confidence

Medium. Based on ~14 public sources: forum threads, official It's FOSS pages, and third-party monitoring. Snippets were truncated, so some quotes are thread titles.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support quality
  • Security posture

Pricing

$0

Free

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes
PlusNot published in reviewed sources

Best for

  • It's FOSS newsletter readers
  • Desktop Linux beginners
  • Hobbyists comparing distros and hardware
  • Windows-to-Linux migrants

Not for

  • Teams needing private workspaces — everything here is public
  • Anyone needing official support SLAs — answers come from volunteers
  • Buyers shopping for software — this is a community, not a product

Gotchas - check before you buy

medium

Unified It's FOSS login migration locked some users out temporarily.

medium

Spam waves hit the forum; expect moderation noise in threads.

low

Paid 'Plus' membership exists; price not published in sources reviewed.

low

It's a public community resource — nothing private, no org controls.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Free to join; $0 membership tier
  • Roughly 49 posts per day keeps threads moving
  • Dedicated Linux/FOSS security category for CVE discussion
  • Backed by the established It's FOSS publication
  • Practical threads: hardware picks, dual-boot guides, troubleshooting

Cons

  • Forum repeatedly targeted by spammers
  • Login problems reported during account-system unification
  • Beginners complain content skews past basics
  • No public security page for the forum itself

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/25/2026 - 11 sources - No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

official x3review x5security x2news x1

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • $0

    Starting price

  • 11

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Free to join; $0 tier confirmed
  • Ease of use: 3/5. Login migration caused member access complaints
  • Feature depth: 3/5. Standard forum: categories, tags, threads
  • Support quality: 3/5. Guess: volunteer peer answers; speed varies
  • Security posture: 3/5. No known vulns; spam waves; no security page
  • ~49 posts/day Activity per Syften forum monitoring
  • $0 Starting price free membership tier
  • Yes Free tier paid 'Plus' tier also exists
  • 107+ pages Forum depth of latest topics indexed

Pricing

Free

$0

  • Community forum access
  • It's FOSS newsletter

Plus

Not published in reviewed sources

  • Mentioned by community members
  • Higher support tier for It's FOSS (Guess)

Security

No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

Companies that could

  • Linux Mint Uses Linux Mint Forums instead
  • Zorin OS Uses Zorin Forum instead
  • CachyOS Uses CachyOS Discourse instead
  • NixOS Uses NixOS Discourse instead
Full analysis

Based on ~14 public sources: forum threads, official It's FOSS pages, and third-party monitoring. Snippets were truncated, so some quotes are thread titles.

Free, active Linux community forum — great for hobbyist help; it's not software and offers no official support.

Methodology

Based on ~14 public sources: forum threads, official It's FOSS pages, and third-party monitoring. Snippets were truncated, so some quotes are thread titles.

Sources

  1. About It's FOSSitsfoss.com
    official
  2. It's FOSS Membershipitsfoss.com
    official
  3. Forum Keyword Alert Monitoring (Syften)syften.com
    news
  4. Forum being targeted by spammersitsfoss.community
    review
  5. It's FOSS forum login problemsitsfoss.community
    review
  6. Newsletter irrelevant for beginners threaditsfoss.community
    review
  7. Mini-PC recommendations threaditsfoss.community
    review
  8. Any Plus members here?itsfoss.community
    review
  9. Linux/FOSS Security categoryitsfoss.community
    security
  10. Security page (not found)itsfoss.community
    security
  11. Founder's Medium post on creating the forummedium.com
    official

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