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diff --git a/content/why_free_software.rst b/content/why_free_software.rst index 16ca529..163b382 100644 --- a/content/why_free_software.rst +++ b/content/why_free_software.rst @@ -1,19 +1,19 @@ :title: Why I use free software and why it's important to me :date: 2016-08-14 20:20 -:modified: 2016-08-16 15:25 +:modified: 2016-08-22 23:15 :tags: free software, security, privacy, sustainability, education :category: General :author: Wolfgang Wiedmeyer :status: published :summary: I try to use as much `free software <https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html>`_ as possible. I don't only do this for moral or philosophical reasons, but also because there are numerous practical benefits. -I try to use as much `free software <https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html>`_ as possible. You may have heard the term "open source" for what I call free software. `Others <https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html>`_ and I don't use this term as it only puts the emphasis on one property of the software and not the part that is most important to me: freedom. Free software means that you can use the software for any purpose, modify it and share the software, either in unmodified or modified form. I don't only use free software for moral or philosophical reasons, but also because there are numerous practical benefits. I may have some disadvantages or inconveniences by trying to not use proprietary or nonfree software. It may even prevent me from using certain hardware if it's not possible at all to use that hardware with free software. But many of the problems turn out to be issues only at first sight or are way outweighed by the advantages of their free counterparts. You can check for yourself if the software you are using is free software. Check the license it was published under. It should be one of the `free licences <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.en.html#SoftwareLicenses>`_. +I try to use as much `free software <https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html>`_ as possible. You may have heard the term "open source" for what I call free software. `Others <https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html>`_ and I don't use that term as it only puts the emphasis on one property of the software and not the part that is most important to me: freedom. Free software means that you can use the software for any purpose, modify it and share the software, either in unmodified or modified form. I don't only use free software for moral or philosophical reasons, but also because there are numerous practical benefits. I may have some disadvantages or inconveniences by trying to not use proprietary or nonfree software. It may even prevent me from using certain hardware if it's not possible at all to use that hardware with free software. But many of the problems turn out to be issues only at first sight or are outweighed by the advantages of their free counterparts. You can check for yourself if the software you are using is free software. Check the license it was published under. It should be one of the `free licences <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.en.html#SoftwareLicenses>`_. Giants ###### -Free software is the future. There are thousands of free software developers around the world and you are really standing on the shoulders of giants when you are using free software. Companies or individuals that produce proprietary software cannot remotely compete in the long run with these development efforts of a sharing and cooperating community. I use `Debian <https://www.debian.org/>`_ as the operating system on my PC, laptop and servers. Debian has `around a thousand developers <https://www.debian.org/intro/about>`_. Nearly all of these developers don't actually develop the software they maintain, but they fix issues here and there and make sure that everything works together nicely. Debian does not only offer you the base system like Windows or Mac OS does, but it already includes nearly all the software you need, more than `43.000 individual software packages in total <https://www.debian.org/intro/about>`_. A common myth is that free software is only based on the efforts of hobbyists, but in fact a lot of free software developers are professionals that make a living from creating free software and there are quite some companies that make money from developing free software or providing support for it. For example, more than `eighty percent of the several thousand Linux kernel developers get paid for their work on the kernel <https://www.linuxfoundation.org/news-media/announcements/2015/02/linux-foundation-releases-linux-development-report>`_. The Linux kernel is the core of a GNU/Linux operating system like the one that is offered by Debian. +Free software is the future. There are thousands of free software developers around the world and you are really standing on the shoulders of giants when you are using free software. Companies or individuals that produce proprietary software cannot compete in the long run with these development efforts of a sharing and cooperating community. I use `Debian <https://www.debian.org/>`_ as the operating system on my PC, laptop and servers. Debian has `around a thousand developers <https://www.debian.org/intro/about>`_. Nearly all of these developers don't actually develop the software they maintain, but they fix issues here and there and make sure that everything works together nicely. Debian does not only offer you the base system like Windows or Mac OS does, but it already includes nearly all the software you need, more than `43.000 individual software packages in total <https://www.debian.org/intro/about>`_. A common myth is that free software is only based on the efforts of hobbyists, but in fact a lot of free software developers are professionals that make a living by creating free software and there are quite some companies that make money from developing free software or providing support for it. For example, more than `eighty percent of the several thousand Linux kernel developers get paid for their work on the kernel <https://www.linuxfoundation.org/news-media/announcements/2015/02/linux-foundation-releases-linux-development-report>`_. The Linux kernel is the core of a GNU/Linux operating system like the one that is offered by Debian. Security and privacy @@ -23,13 +23,13 @@ Real security and privacy is only possible with free software. Free software is You don't have to be a software developer or a security expert. Alongside the free software developer community comes a huge community of very nice people that will help you with numerous tutorials and documentation. You will most certainly also find someone who answers your questions directly. Even if you have no interest in any of the technical details, you will find plenty of support to use your computer securely and retain your privacy. -My understanding of privacy is that I can decide what information I share with whom. My goal is not to run around as a huge question mark, my goal is to be in control of my own data and in the greater sense of my own destiny. Only free software has the possibility to guarantee you this control in the digital age of computers. Even if you don't value your own security or privacy for whatever reason, you should acknowledge the need of others. If someone asks you for a private conversation, you will probably step aside, lower you voice and listen to what the other one has to say. The same goes for mail exchange, the chat software you use with your friends or the online service you use to exchange files with others. If some of your peers care for their privacy or security, then you should respect that. It won't hurt you to do something to increase the level of your privacy and security, at least for the sake of others. +My understanding of privacy is that I can decide what information I share with whom. My goal is not to run around as a huge question mark, my goal is to be in control of my own data and in the greater sense of my own destiny. Only free software has the possibility to guarantee this control in the digital age of computers. Even if you don't value your own security or privacy for whatever reason, you should acknowledge the need of others. If someone asks you for a private conversation, you will probably step aside, lower your voice and listen to what the other one has to say. The same goes for mail exchange, the chat software you use with your friends or the online service you use to exchange files with others. If some of your peers care for their privacy or security, then you should respect that. It won't hurt you to do something to increase the level of your privacy and security, at least for the sake of others. There is a technological area where I especially want to see the use of free software: medical devices. If my well-being depends on the well-functioning of a device like a pacemaker or a operational tool of a surgeon, then I want to have a look at the source code that runs on that device. I want to show the source code to experts and they should be able to tell me if the software works correctly. If there is a way to update the software on the device and if the software running on the device needs to be improved, then I should have the right to let someone do the update. Companies that produce medical devices should be held to the highest possible standards of quality assurance. Publishing the software for the medical devices as free software should be a prerequisite of the quality assurance. We can't solely trust the companies because the interests of the customers is not always aligned with the business interests of the companies. If source code is not published under a free software licence because certain persons in charge think that this may decrease their revenue, then the well-being of the patient is neglected for the sole possibility that someone gets more money. -Our devices are getting more and more powerful. And the need for security actually grows at an even faster rate. A few years back, we were wondering if someone could access our files and manipulate the software on our PC if we connect our PC to the internet. Then we feared that we were watched through our webcam. After that, smartphones became a thing and we started to carry wiretap devices around at all times that can also track our locations. As security is more and more lacking on these devices, the gap between increased abilities of these devices and the need to secure the devices is becoming bigger and bigger. Especially on mobile devices, the lack of security updates or of any effort to make them remotely trustworthy is sometimes outright horrifying. This is one reason why I try to contribute to the `Replicant project <http://www.replicant.us/>`_. +Our devices are getting more and more powerful. And the need for security actually grows at an even faster rate. A few years back, we were wondering if someone could access our files and manipulate the software on our PC if we connect our PC to the internet. Then we feared that we were watched through our webcam. After that, smartphones became a thing and we started to carry wiretap devices around at all times that can also track our locations. As security is more and more lacking on these devices, the gap between increased abilities of these devices and the need to secure the devices is becoming bigger and bigger. Especially on mobile devices, the lack of security updates or of any effort to make them trustworthy is sometimes outright horrifying. This is one reason why I try to contribute to the `Replicant project <http://www.replicant.us/>`_. -But smartphones are not the end. We are more and more entering the reality of the buzzword of nightmares: the internet of things. Why not connect everything to the internet? At some point in the future, almost every car will have some sort of remote control. There's a real possibility that you will buy a robot for your parents that will help them in the household when they get older. So the thread of being passively watched, listened to or tracked will be extended by the thread of being actively physically harmed. There are already numerous reports of the lack of software security in cars and security researchers were able to remotely control cars. I don't want to live in a world where some madman can sit on his bed, sip on a cup of coffee and occasionally crash my car or choke my parents to death with the robot I bought for them. With free software, we can be able so see what functionality the devices have, how its security can be improved or more simple: We would be able disable a certain functionality like remote control if it's just ridiculous to have that functionality in the first place. +But smartphones are not the end. We are more and more entering the reality of the buzzword of nightmares: the internet of things. Why not connect everything to the internet? At some point in the future, almost every car will have some sort of remote control. There's a real possibility that you will buy a robot for your parents that will help them in the household when they get older. So the thread of being passively watched, listened to or tracked will be extended by the thread of being actively physically harmed. There are already numerous reports of the lack of software security in cars and security researchers were able to remotely control cars. I don't want to live in a world where some madman can sit on his bed, sip on a cup of coffee and occasionally crash my car or choke my parents to death with the robot I bought for them. With free software, we can be able so see what functionality the devices have, how its security can be improved or more simple: We would be able to disable a certain functionality like remote control if it's just ridiculous to have that functionality in the first place. Our world and our society is not getting improved by people who say that everything is alright. People who call out the issues at hand and nag us about them are doing the first step to change something for the better. Actually doing something about our problems is the next step. Activists are doing all of this. Whistleblowers provide us with the information. Investigative journalists research the issues. All of these groups highly depend on free software as their daily tools. Free software makes it possible for them to evade surveillance of authoritarian or corrupt governments. For some of them, security or privacy issues in the software they use can cost them their lives. I see the striving for more transparency and the opposition to censorship as one of the biggest tasks of our generation. If we all use free software, then it would be really difficult for the evil organizations to even single out the activists or whistleblowers among us. But doctors and lawyers should demand free software, too. How should they be able to guarantee the privacy of their clients otherwise? |