Hi, my name's Andrew, and I'm a Junior in high school. I predominantly use an Ubuntu computer. Before that, it was Debian, but before that it was Mac OS X. I now use my Mac extremely rarely, if at all. On my Ubuntu computer, I refuse to use proprietary drivers, I refuse to install the Adobe Flash Player, and I simply refuse to have any software but free software. I bring a dynebolic CD with me to school and boot it when I want to use a computer there because I refuse to use the entirely non-free software. It's a tough lifestyle to keep up, only using Free Software, but it's becoming increasingly easier in 2007 and on.
It's difficult to be "hip" online with my friends without the ability to fully use YouTube or complicated flash programs integrated into Facebook, the social networking site. I can't play the games they want me to play, I can't "tag" their "wall" in certain ways. I simply refuse to participate, and it set me in a poor position in their eyes, as if this is a fault it's cool to attack. I can't play their Windows games, and I publicly boycott pretty much everything the average teen does on his computer, including downloading music and video illegally. I just don't roll that way, and I make it clear to people that I don't. If they say, "you can just get it off of Limewire," or "I'll burn you a copy," I respond and say, "That's illegal. I don't need to hear the song that badly." As I've stated before, the result of this behavior is that I become a social outcast standing up for what I believe. I know that many do not agree, but I see this as the right thing to do and I don't see another logical way of living my life. The Free Software Lifestyle, though, sets me in a position that is difficult to deal with not in a life- long sense (because that's the easy part), but in a day-to-day sense in dealing with others. I'm making this post to ask the people of the Internet about their experiences and their thoughts on this, what is to me, amazing lifestyle. How has it touched your life? --Andrew _______________________________________________ gnu-misc-discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnu-misc-discuss
