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diff --git a/content/why_free_software.rst b/content/why_free_software.rst index 09d31b5..16ca529 100644 --- a/content/why_free_software.rst +++ b/content/why_free_software.rst @@ -1,5 +1,6 @@ :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 :tags: free software, security, privacy, sustainability, education :category: General :author: Wolfgang Wiedmeyer @@ -18,14 +19,11 @@ Free software is the future. There are thousands of free software developers aro Security and privacy #################### -Real security and privacy is only possible with free software. Free software is the prerequisite to have security and privacy in our computing. Only free software can be fully vetted by anybody. Security researchers can independently audit the software and share their results. Everybody can work on improving the software and make it more trustworthy. And the users can ensure themselves that the software they are running is actually doing what it's supposed to be doing. Features that harm the users won't survive in free software. Someone will get rid of them and the users will start to use the version of the software that has these antifeatures removed. +Real security and privacy is only possible with free software. Free software is the prerequisite to have security and privacy in our computing. Only free software can be fully vetted by anybody. Security researchers can independently audit the software and share their results. Everybody can work on improving the software and make it more trustworthy. And the users can ensure themselves that the software they are running is actually doing what it's supposed to be doing. Developers of nonfree software often solely rely on security by obscurity. They think that if they hide the source code to the software or in general information on the inner workings of the software, then nobody can find vulnerabilities or backdoors in the software. This behavior is comparable to children who cover their eyes and think they are invisible. People still have a lot of ways to identify security issues in the software and steal your data or listen in on your laptop's microphone. Features that harm the users won't survive in free software. Someone will get rid of them and the users will start to use the version of the software that has these antifeatures removed. 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. - -.. Developers of nonfree software often solely rely on security by obscurity. They think that if they hide the source code to the software or in general information on the inner workings of the software, then nobody can find vulnerabilities or backdoors in the software. This behavior is comparable to children who cover their eyes and think they are invisible. People still have a lot of ways to identify security issues in the software and steal your data or listen in on your laptop's microphone. Consider the following analogy: You want to buy a safe to keep your most valuable belongings secured. -.. analogy not very fitting 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. @@ -33,7 +31,7 @@ Our devices are getting more and more powerful. And the need for security actual 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. -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 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 lawyer should demand free software, too. How should they be able to guarantee the privacy of their clients otherwise? +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? Sustainability, education and research |