On Thu, 18 Jan 2024 22:33:11 -0500 Richard wrote:
> [[[ To any NSA and FBI agents reading my email: please consider ]]]
> [[[ whether defending the US Constitution against all enemies, ]]]
> [[[ foreign or domestic, requires you to follow Snowden's example. ]]]
>
> > vague - telemetry is not literally "malware" and is not necessarily
> "spyware" -
> > it is usually collected anonymously, for instance - we interpret the "no
> > malware" FSDG section as actually "no anti-features", an even less
> well-defined
> > concept - i think we should define it formally
>
> To proclaim a complete official list of anti-feature types is a hard
> project and it would take time to be confident that we have got the
> important ones. I think it is good to start worlking on one.
>
> What is feasible to do in the short term to state officially that
> certain kinds of malicious functionalities are unacceptable.
> https://gnu.org/malware/ and other things we have published
> could be a good start towards this.
>
> We can work on adding whatever we find to be missing.
even without precise definitions or a comprehensive list of examples, the main
reason why i raised this issue is because the FSDG does not mention
"anti-features" at all - for that reason alone, anti-features such as telemetry
are not forbidden; though probably most people believe that they should be
to be clear, i do not believe that telemetry is necessarily "mal" or spying - i
believe that it is an anti-feature (a feature that users generally want removed)
and that the FSDG does not forbid anti-features
this is the entirety of the "No Malware" section:
> No Malware
>
> The distro must contain no DRM, no back doors, and no spyware.
defining the terms is not difficult - i could define them clearly enough off
the top of my head
anti-feature: any feature which has no obvious value to users, but exists only
for the benefit of the authors or distributors
malware: software which damages your hardware, software, or data
spyware: hardware or software running on your computer, which collects
information about your computing habits and delivers it to someone
else's computer, if/when your computer is connected to a shared network
it would be good to clarify the terminology; but that was not my intention - i
want the FSF to confirm that anti-features such as telemetry are acceptable or
not - i suspect that the FSF would deem them to be acceptable, because they do
not impede software freedom; but most of its constituency believes otherwise -
i think that most want all anti-features removed, whether or not they are known
to be malicious
although anti-features do not impede software freedom, there is already
precedent for forbidding them in that "no malware" section - malware and spyware
are themselves the classic anti-features - neither impede software freedom; yet
those are forbidden - any network-active software has the potential to spy to
some degree - the spying actually happens on the remote side though - it
always has - the classic "spyware" of the 90s probably does not even exist
anymore - it has taken new, more elusive forms such as telemetry, website ads
and "like-me" buttons, etc
maybe that makes my intention more clear - i dont suppose that the FSF wants to
make such controversial statements, even where they are due - the difficulty is
in provoking the FSF to take a stance on issues within the community which are
contentious or misunderstood
