Conversation

Notices

1. Free Software Foundation (fsf@status.fsf.org)'s status on Tuesday, 24-Oct-2017 15:04:01 EDT Free Software Foundation
   #TuesdayThoughts: why #freesoftware? Tell us why free software is important to you. https://u.fsf.org/2cj
   1. Mike Gerwitz (mikegerwitz@social.mikegerwitz.com)'s status on Tuesday, 24-Oct-2017 22:27:10 EDT Mike Gerwitz

      in reply to
      @fsf The phrase "Free as in Freedom" is more meaningful today than ever before. We often talk of users being "robbed" of their freedoms by non-free software, but many users aren't provided the opportunity to have something to be robbed of to begin with. Nearly everything users do is controlled and surveilled by corporations and governments as a feature, by default. Non-free software exposes and exfiltrates the most intimate aspects of our lives---it explores our thoughts, sits in our living rooms, and understands us better than we understand ourselves. Children are exposed to and taught to love and accept these software and devices before they can even crawl.
      
      I've never felt more liberated by #freesoftware. But I've also never felt more concerned and sympathetic for users who are caught up in all of this. Most users don't even know that there are things to be concerned _of_, let alone where to even begin, despite the best intentions and predictions of many within our community.
      
      And I've also never felt more compelled to do something about it.
      1. Ben Pfaff (blp@quitter.se)'s status on Tuesday, 24-Oct-2017 23:05:43 EDT Ben Pfaff

         in reply to
         @mikegerwitz What do you think we should do about it? Serious question.
         1. Bob Jonkman (bobjonkman@gs.jonkman.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 25-Oct-2017 01:50:02 EDT Bob Jonkman

            in reply to
            @blp @mikegerwitz @fsf We continue to lead by example. Show off our use of #FreeSoftware. Where possible, shun non-free software and services, and be vocal about why you do so. For those can afford to do so, give patronage to Free Software developers.
         2. Mike Gerwitz (mikegerwitz@social.mikegerwitz.com)'s status on Thursday, 26-Oct-2017 23:11:00 EDT Mike Gerwitz

            in reply to
            @blp I think that the current state of things gives us more of an opening to keep doing what we've been doing, being sure to adapt our message to the particular issues without sacrificing discussion of freedom. Our receptive audience has broadened depending on how the issue is approached and our stance conveyed.
            
            I think corporations and governments are shooting themselves in the foot: they want control, but it's being taken to such extremes, that it's becoming painfully obvious the type of control they actually are exerting and the freedoms that users really are sacrificing. But the biggest problem is still getting people to realize that these are issues they actually care about. It takes more than a group of technology experts fighting for/against legislation to invoke change---it takes an uprising.
            1. Ben Pfaff (blp@quitter.se)'s status on Friday, 27-Oct-2017 00:25:49 EDT Ben Pfaff

               in reply to
               @mikegerwitz I was happy years ago when I felt that just by writing free software I was making a difference. I no longer feel that way.