The liberal aversion doesn't only stem from ignorance of the definition, but also and imo most importantly from their liberal dogma on power structures that makes them view the "commendable but deceptive" virtues of communism as eternally doomed to devolve into corruption when put to practice. AKA "Absolute power corrupts absolutely".
In order for liberals and leftcoms to understand our perspective we shouldn't deny the legitimate ethical objections to the practices of socialist states but rather explain that these practices and power structures are a necessary evil resulting from the transient anti-communist global society we live in today and not intrinsic nor exclusive to states without liberal democracy.
I don't know how, but we need propaganda that efficiently communicates that the ideological competition between capitalism and communism is not of the same nature as the competition between, say, the labor party and the liberal party. There is no mutual respect nor tolerance from either party to allow the other flourish.
This is a WAR. No, not figuratively speaking. An ACTUAL war. In fact the war of the greatest caliber and of the same nature as the 1939 war on European and Asian soil, the 2001 war on Afghan soil and the current war on Ukrainian soil. This is war on socialist soil and the socialists are heavily overpowered and outnumbered.
Therefore, yes, socialist countries are less 'free' than western countries but it's not this lack of freedom that compells capitalist aggression but rather capitalist aggression that necessitates the EMERGENCY power structure that restricts freedom.
Fascism is capitalism in its emergency state such that fascism and Leninism/Stalinism are NOT two sides of the same coin, but opposite forces resorting to the same resources to achieve opposite goals. This is no different from the way both parties in the Ukraine war use weaponry and politically regulate their media and has nothing to do with 'authoritarian' flaws of their respective ideologies.
So if you want to compare communism with capitalism in good faith, the real question becomes "Is Leninism/Stalinism better than Fascism?", or worded differently "Do communists operate better in warzones than capitalists?". I think everyone but the most hardline conservatives will agree the answer is a resounding yes.
If someone can formulate this more efficiently than me, that would be great.
I'm sorry am I missing something? How does being a programmer relate to political leaning?