Which belief? The belief that corporate spyware devices and software are infinitely superior to anything in the F/L/OSS world? I literally can't escape 'em. Especially in "gamer" circles, I get endlessly hassled by Windows users tryin'a convince me with decades old Steve Ballmer FUD that Linux is inferior junk and a cancer on the software industry, and that I should just switch to Windows.
> That feels like one of those stereotypes that people are sure exists but actually doesn’t.
Sadly, you name a stereotype, and I promise you there's people out there that'll do their best to prove that stereotype true. Cryin' shame, because they're just doin' harm to an entire group of folks who never asked for it, and harming an entire other group that believes false stereotypes are true by reinforcing their wrongness with "proof".
As to the bein' called "paranoid" from my earlier comment, it happens to me frequently when I try to talk to people about backups, network security practices, or passwords, and I'm not alone there. I've had more'n a few discussions with other IT folks who've met frequent resistance to security ideas until after there's been an issue, and then the "people in charge" still generally wanna seek the absolute minimum solution they can get that they think would cover their asses, even if it's nowhere close to enough of a solution for the problem at hand.
The point is that it takes more than just a few people to validate a stereotype; otherwise, I could make up any stereotype I want, and by your admission, it would be valid. But that isn't how sterotypes work.
The point wasn't to have a discussion of the semantic definitions of what makes something a stereotype, GP was merely asserting that such people might not actually exist and asking for an example. An example was provided.
If I cared to dig up actual examples I could link, I've numerous trolls that follow the word "Linux" around gaming forums spouting Ballmer-era anti-Linux FUD at every opportunity, just to begin the endless thread of examples, but the entire mentality sickens me and I'm actually trying to extricate myself from the Troll-pit that keeps wanting to drag me into pointless discussions of why A is better than B, when the true fact is that operating systems are tools to launch and run software. Use the one that lets you get your job or activity done in the way that works best for you and leave other people to their choice of tool if it's workin' to get their activities done for them.
That wasn't my point either, so we're all in agreement. We're talking about whether or not the stereotype is valid here, so it would be a good idea to use the term correctly instead of using a made up definition. "There's people out there" doesn't cut it.
Maybe the Baader Meinhof syndrome will kick in and you'll start noticing Proton mail/vpn users or anybody that took drank some Youtuber's VPN koolaid trying to bargain for impossibly damning evidence about their particular service instead of recognizing the flaw in the entire concept