Linux never ran on the Commodore 64 (1984). That was way before Linux was released by Linus Torvalds (1991).

I'd also like to point out that we do all rely on non-proprietary protocols. Examples you used today: TCP and HTTP.

If we didn't have free and open source protocols we'd all still be using Prodigy and AOL. "Smart" devices couldn't talk to each other, and the world of software would be 100-10,000x more expensive and we'd probably have about 1/1,000,000th of what we have available today.

Every little thing we rely on every day from computers to the Internet to cars to planes only works because they're not relying on exclusive, proprietary protocols. Weird shit like HDMI is the exception, not the rule.

History demonstrates that proprietary protocols and connectors like HDMI only stick around as long as they're convenient, easy, and cheap. As soon as they lose one of those properties a competitor will spring up and eventually it will replace the proprietary nonsense. It's only a matter of time. This news about HDMI being rejected is just another shove, moving the world away from that protocol.

There actually is a way for proprietary bullshit to persist even when it's the worst: When it's mandated by government.