Bonum Certa Men Certa

Environmentalism and Free Software Can be Viewed as Closely Connected and Help One Another



"Someday we'll all be free"

Waiting tables



Summary: Modest lifestyles are an overlapping pattern in the Free software community and green activists; there's room for alliances and collaboration, bettering society by reducing consumption and discouraging voyeurism

"Environmentalism" is a broad label or a generic term that typically alludes to well-being of nature, including but not limited to flora and fauna (air and water too may count). There are many branches to it and words like "sustainability" or "green" get thrown around quite a lot. The recurrent theme is non-intervention (or reduction in intervention with respect to one's natural surroundings).



"I met rms several times in the past and we always get along very well; the people whom he doesn't like and cannot get along with, in my experience, are probably not very pleasant people. He doesn't have much patience for them."Free software may sound like it's about price, but it is not "freeware" (or "shareware", which isn't really about proper sharing; see the licensing). Free software in the traditional and old sense is code one can freely share (not only binaries) and modify; this is reducing waste and replication of effort, but that's not the main goal as the principal objective is to obstruct subjugation of software users. Richard Stallman (rms) put it very well in his manifesto, which he wrote when I was a little baby. Stallman still lives a very modest life; when he travels to give speeches he flies "coach" (if flights are the only option), he doesn't own a car, and as far as we're aware he's still renting a place to live in. I met rms several times in the past and we always get along very well; the people whom he doesn't like and cannot get along with, in my experience, are probably not very pleasant people. He doesn't have much patience for them. If they can't stand him either, fine. They can go back to their Netflix (DRM) on some iPhone with a golden case. Vanity items don't always speak as favourably as those who have them would like to think. Frugality is nothing to be ashamed of.

The carbon footprint of rms is very small (excepting/annulling the flights, which I suppose are the sole option for physical presence that greatly assists his advocacy and raises funds). His dietary preferences/options aren't too demanding and he rarely eats out (no need to). When we met in someone's dormitory/flat in Oxford (a young couple who had helped facilitate his talk there) he insisted on very simple snacks, nothing too fancy. He came there by rail (train from London) and met me at the station. He's still living and acting like a student, except the partying and fashionable consumerism. He's backpacking in an urban setting/context. Nothing wrong with that; it's a form of exercise, too.

To a lot of geeks in the software freedom 'circles' the concept of Free software extends somewhat to a lifestyle. It's a life of moderate means, no unbridled greed (we don't judge one another based on wealth), limited spendings, and deep consideration for other people's endeavours/feelings (no need to bother people or reduce them to 'slave' status, e.g. people whose job is waiting tables -- a dignified, difficult and respectable job by the way, often more stressful that that of a "big shot" suit in some office).

"To a lot of geeks in the software freedom 'circles' the concept of Free software extends somewhat to a lifestyle."Many Free software users and developers are vegetarians and as figosdev noted several times in the past (in his long essays), FSFE had compared Free software to veganism or took advantage of veganism to promote software freedom at events (and vice versa). It sort of makes sense because the driver or motivator behind Free software is typically if not always ethics; and people who are attentive to other people's needs and feelings extend such sentiments of compassion to animals as well.

The "greens" or the "green movement" would be wise to openly (freely?) embrace or to liaise with the Free software community; we're natural allies in a lot of ways. People tend to base their lives and their expectations based on their peers' (or colleagues'). If more people thought like rms and lived like rms (he has no children by the way, by his own choosing), the planet would be better off and sentimental values cherished, solidarity improved, racism reduced, and nationalism blur away (Free software is almost always developed internationally once it becomes widespread; there tend to be no centralised 'headquarters').

Recent Techrights' Posts

Oracle's Debt Grew by Over 50 Billion Dollars in 6 Months
Larry Ellison spent a lot of money buying a lot of the corporate media
What Linus (Torvalds, the Linux Dude) Meant by "Show Me the Code"
"Show Me the Code" is a common cultural reference
XBox Will Not Last Much Longer, XBox Chief Admits Problems
Microsoft's latest "results"
What May 1 Means to Us (and to Many Others)
To me, May 1 means something
Microsoft Lunduke is 'Pulling a Garrett' by Turning Technical and Legal Debate Over Rust Into a 'Trans Debate'
Don't fall for the demagogue
Microsoft "Buyout" Offer is Less Than One Year's Salary
So our assumption about this was correct
In New Letter Sent to Chair and Heads of Delegation of the Administrative Council of the European Patent Organisation the Staff Union Explains How to End European Patent Office Strikes
If Campinos continues to behave as he does right now, the Council can show him the door
Microsoft Debt Rose Almost $50 Billion Since We Moved to Debian
GAFAM has a new name for debt
 
Links 01/05/2026: Microsoft 'Headcount' Decreasing, Apple Quietly Killing Vision Pro
Links for the day
In Praise of Debian
30 hours ago we began an upgrade
Yes, GNU/Linux Can Run on Playstation 5, But Don't Buy It, Learn From Sony's Past of Rootkit and PS3 Betrayal
Millions of Playstation 3 owners will never forget what Sony did to them
Dealing With Demagogue in Free Software
Don't spread their ideology and never participate in any of their projects
Links 01/05/2026: Regulatory Trouble for Apple, Now Even Mozilla Pushes Back Against Google
Links for the day
The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part X - European Patent Office Managers Have Crossed Red Lines, According to Themselves
The girlfriend of the President of the European Patent Office (EPO) is trying to muzzle EPO critics
Techrights is Still Growing, Attacking Techrights Does Not Weaken the Community
Bullying us for 2+ years does not result in fear, it results in us feeling more emboldened and motivated
SLAPP Censorship - Part 63 Out of 200: Graveley as a Stripped-Down Version of Garrett in the Particulars of Claim (5RB Barrister Could Do This in One Minute)
Lazily and sloppily, it looks like the barrister took Garrett's claims and tweaked them a little (shortened) for Graveley
Lots of People Leave IBM, Today IBM Has About 1,000 Workers Fewer Than Yesterday
Confluent "last day" for 800+ people
Been a Very Busy Week
Next week, as we have no upgrades to prepare for, we should be able to publish at the usual pace of 20+ pages per day
Links 01/05/2026: Poems and Continuous Privacy Policy
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, April 30, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, April 30, 2026
Google News Sloppy Again
Today was disappointing
European Patent Office Management Mocked for Trying to 'Bribe' Staff With a Little Food
The Office is having a crisis; a little breakfast treat won't solve it
SLAPP Censorship - Part 62 Out of 200: Garrett and Graveley Issue Astounding Copy-Paste Masterpiece Asserting Publicly-Accessible Embarrassing Facts Must Remain Hidden
Are Garrett and Graveley twins separated at birth but joined by GNOME and Microsoft?
Links 30/04/2026: Barrage of Lawsuits Against Slop, Microsoft's Stock Crashes
Links for the day
Microsoft Says Mass Layoffs Are Coming and Puts a Price on Them
Microsoft will shrink
The Corporate Media Intentionally Overlooks How Google's Debt Trebles in Just Over a Year
We'll soon see how much more money Microsoft has borrowed
(Trigger Warning) Jeremy Bicha & Debian-Edu, TecKids, Ubuntu incest scandal at DebConf25
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Upgrade Successful
we had a downtime of only 1-2 minutes overall (for two reboots)
Links 30/04/2026: Slop Industry Cannot Keep Up With Bills, "The World Is Getting Too Hot to Feed Itself"
Links for the day
Then Come the DDoS Attacks
Is someone trying to 'kill' Techrights?
The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part X - Deliberately Violate European Patent Convention (EPC), Tolerate Cocaine Use in Management, Hide That From Staff and Stakeholders
The "Alicante Mafia" (as staff calls it) is a disgrace to Europe
The Register MS Running Spam Pieces for Huawei, a Banned Company
Money does not excuse bad behaviour
Apparently Last Day for Nearly 1,000 Confluent Workers IBM Laid Off Last Month
IBM is a dying company pretending to be strong because of its age
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, April 29, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, April 29, 2026
Gemini Links 30/04/2026: Outdoor Time, Old Computers, and Joining Geminispace
Links for the day
In Past 6 Months IBM Lost About 100 Billion Dollars in 'Value' While Debt Ballooned to 70 Billion Dollars
Welcome to a universe of fake finances and phony accounting based on fictional assets with made-up 'worth'
Dr. Andy Farnell on Weaponising Morality Against Technofascism and Slop
It's longer than a "tweet", so social control media addicts are likely mentally unfit to read it
Six Months
Techrights will be around (and active) for a very long time to come
If We Move Everything to Devuan...
IRC, Git, Apache and so on
Why We Publish "The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt"
We intend to report the facts, fearlessly, until real and lasting solutions are reached
SLAPP Censorship - Part 61 Out of 200: Garrett and Graveley Must Understand That Reporting Women's Issues in the United States of America (“the US”) is Not Impermissible
when you cover Microsoft corruption and have real effect
Weeks After Mass Layoffs of Red Hat Engineers We Learn of European "Buyouts" and Layoffs at IBM
At Microsoft, they tell us there are merely "buyouts", but they don't tell us what happens if you say "no!"
OS Upgrade Tentatively Scheduled for Tomorrow
We have some contingencies in case the upgrade goes wrong
Campinos is a Lame Duck President This Year at the European Patent Office (EPO)
The strikes are not ending. If anything, they intensify further.
Links 29/04/2026: LLM Chatbot Usage Goes Down Sharply (as Do Stocks Associated With Them), Microsoft's Circular Financing Accounting Fraud at Risk
Links for the day
Gemini Links 29/04/2026: Returning to an Exodus and Farewell APU
Links for the day
Slop Has a Long Way to Go Before It Gets Basic Facts Right
Please do not rely on slop for anything
The Corrupt Lecture the Non-Corrupt - Part IX - European Patents That Are Illegal (But Serve Non-European Monopolists in Exchange for 'Quick Cash')
People who shamelessly violate the European Patent Convention (EPC) have the audacity to lecture workers on "ethics"
Canonical is Selling You, Ubuntu is a Data-Collecting Platform
Canonical is looking for money in the wrong places
Links 29/04/2026: "Snowden Affair 13 Years Later" and "Landmark Data Center Pause"
Links for the day
Seems Like Only Techrights Covered IBM Laying Off About 33% of Confluent Staff
How can such a large round of layoffs evade today's media?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, April 28, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, April 28, 2026
Gemini Links 29/04/2026: Bad Diet, New Middle Ages, and Temperature Model
Links for the day