Your Freedom needs Free/Libre Software
by Richard Stallman
June 26, 2007
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=43&ItemID=13157
Many of us know that governments can threaten the human rights of
software users through censorship and surveillance of the Internet. Many
do not realize that the software they run on their home or work
computers can be an even worse threat. Thinking of software as "just a
tool", they suppose that it obeys them, when in fact it often obeys
others instead.
The software running in most computers is non-free, proprietary
software: controlled by software companies, not by its users. Users
can't check what these programs do, nor prevent them from doing what
they don't want. Most people accept this because they have seen no
other way, but it is simply wrong to give developers power over the
users' computer.
This unjust power, as usual, tempts its wielders to further misdeeds. If
a computer talks to a network, and you don't control the software in it,
it can easily spy on you. Microsoft Windows spies on users; for
instance, it reports what words a user searches for in her own files,
and what other programs are installed. RealPlayer spies too; it reports
what the user plays. Cell phones are full of non-free software, which
spies. Cell phones send out localizing signals even when "off", many
can send out your precise GPS location whether you wish or not, and some
models can be switched on remotely as listening devices. Users can't
fix these malicious features because they don't have control.
Some proprietary software is designed to restrict and attack its users.
Windows Vista is a big advance in this field; the reason it requires
replacement of old hardware is that the new models are designed to
support unbreakable restrictions. Microsoft thus requires users to pay
for shiny new shackles. It is also designed to permit forced updating
by corporate authority. Hence the BadVista.org campaign, which urges
Windows users not to "upgrade" to Vista. MacOS also contains features
designed to restrict its users.
Microsoft has installed back doors for the US government's use in the
past (reported on heise.de). We cannot check whether they have
successors today. Other proprietary programs may or may not have back
doors, but since we cannot check them, we cannot trust them.
The only way to assure that your software is working for you is to
insist on Free/Libre software. This means users get the source code,
are free to study and change it, and are free to redistribute it with or
without changes. The GNU/Linux system, developed specifically for
users' freedom, includes office applications, multimedia, games, and
everything you really need to run a computer. See gNewSense.org for a
totally Free/Libre version of GNU/Linux.
A special problem occurs when activists for social change use
proprietary software, because its developers, who control it, may be
companies they wish to protest--or that work hand in glove with the
states whose policies they oppose. Control of our software by a
proprietary software company, whether it be Microsoft, Apple, Adobe or
Skype, means control of what we can say, and to whom. This threatens
our freedom in all areas of life.
There is also danger in using a company's server to do your word
processing or email--and not just if you are in China, as US lawyer
Michael Springmann discovered. In 2003, AOL not only handed over to the
police his confidential discussions with clients, it also made his email
and his address list disappear, and didn't admit this was intentional
until one of its staff made a slip. Springmann gave up on getting his
data back.
The US is not the only state that doesn't respect human rights, so keep
your data on your own computer, and your backups under your own
custody--and run your computer with Free/Libre software.
Copyright 2007 Richard Stallman Verbatim copying and distribution of
this entire article are permitted worldwide without royalty in any
medium provided this notice is preserved.
You can hear more from Richard Stallman at www.amnesty.org.uk/irrepressible
--
Anivar Aravind
moving Republic
Peringavu.P.O
Thrissur-18
Kerala
http://anivar.movingrepublic.org/about
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