Re: [Trisquel-users] What do you think about calling free systems as "GNU" systems (even if there is no GNU or Linux-libre)?

[dguthrie]

I don't really understand your point here. You say governments are the  
problem, but surely private power is worse, in that it has even less  
accountability to the population? It is contradictory to talk about liberty  
yet make these points.
I'm not really sure how people's physical appearance in relation to their  
political ideology is relevant either to political movements and discussion,  
or even accurate at all. If they are scared then in all honesty, I don't  
particularly blame them. Left-wing political movements have had a long  
history of political suppression and censorship, especially in totalitarian  
states such as the Soviet Union. The fact that the environment is just being  
destroyed is utterly scary too.
Regarding limiting your life to be free, certainly many people have to make  
compromise. You can make personal choices about this. Many people here reject  
things like Facebook because they feel it limits freedoms, albeit not being  
able to use it with other people who are on it. But some people would argue  
real human contact is infinitely better than a spyware messaging service.
Seriously, what are you running from? In free society, political persecution  
is rare; freedom of speech is a tangible thing. Free software is for  
everyone, is accessible, reliable, and easy to use. You should not need to be  
a dissident, or political reporter to run it. If you are, then of course you  
benefit from things like Tor, as do we all.
Regarding proprietary applications, we are not saying you should ever be  
prevented from running some proprietary program. It is your computer, and as  
long as you do not make other people use it, it is your problem. You are only  
hurting yourself. Rather, we believe that nobody should be forced to run  
proprietary software. That is just morally wrong; you are exerting unjust  
authority over another human being.
> But what is coming with Social Security going bust 2017 in US, EU and Euro  
is going to collapse
No. This is an unsubstantiated claim. There is no evidence supporting this  
statement. It could happen, but war and climate disaster would have reached  
us already if this were to happen suddenly. There are other issues regarding  
global economy, but you are missing the fact that the governments have deep  
pockets. There would be too much of an outcry to make it collapse suddenly as  
you suggest.
Really, I think we are going off on a tangent here. I will make a new thread  
in the "Troll Hole".