Bonum Certa Men Certa

Reasons Why You (and Everybody Else) Should Join the Fight for Software Freedom

The term "Software Freedom" refers to a lot more than just a software licence

Wikipedia on Nineteen Eighty-Four
Wikipedia on Nineteen Eighty-Four



Summary: Society is being closely watched and controlled (more so during/after the latest pandemic) and people must carefully consider the true importance of resisting proprietary technology (controlled remotely by state actors)

TECHNOLOGY is taking over (almost) everything. Our rights are being gradually eroded in the process. I wasn't always an activist and as an early adopter of GNU/Linux I wasn't always an activist for "Software Freedom" or "Free Software" or whatever. When I was first introduced to it (as a teenager) I didn't even know about GNU or the GPL. Apparently the same is true for most people, even geeks...



"Remember that back then Linux was just some lousy new project almost nobody knew about, unlike GNU..."GNU predates Linux of course, BSD or UNIX predates GNU (even if not by the name "BSD"), and UNIX isn't the epoch of computing. Computers in general go a very long way back. Here in Manchester we like to pretend to be the home of the world's first computer, albeit the caveat is "programmable". We're almost certainly the home of the first GNU/Linux distro (known as "MCC", same name as my employer for about 3-4 years; my colleague was the first to combine GNU and Linux). Remember that back then Linux was just some lousy new project almost nobody knew about, unlike GNU...

Manchester BabyIn the years that followed, perhaps motivated by corporate interests, GNU philosophy was buried/ignored by the media and 6 years later they also rebranded the whole thing, using the term "Open Source" to distract from the vastly more meaningful concept, "Software Freedom" or "Free Software" (the latter has an inherently problematic ambiguity in English, as many interpret that as low-priced or gratis).

The saying "Stallman was right" (or "RMS was right," to use his initials) is being proved more and more correct, or increasingly accurate, over time. Foresight or accurate predictions can be enumerated each year as the list grows. Nowadays many kitchens come with microphones in them -- spying devices (or bugs) that are remotely connected to datacenteres of the world's richest person. Did anyone foresee this in '1984' (Nineteen Eighty-Four) or even in 1983 when RMS announced the GNU Project?

"The saying "Stallman was right" (or "RMS was right," to use his initials) is being proved more and more correct, or increasingly accurate, over time."When it comes to technology, it's fundamentally clear (and a simple concept to grasp) that unless the user is in complete control of that technology, somebody else will be, either 'online' (in real-time) or 'offline' (pre-programming the technology to do potentially malicious things). Surveillance and DRM are just two examples of that. As time goes by we see billions of people being turned into 'digital slaves' of a smaller number of increasingly-powerful 'technology masters' (connected to governments, typically autocratic regimes with imperialistic objectives/ambitions). Some are literally being sponsored by the military and their behaviour is consistent with that of 'nanny states', striving for complete social control (including prediction of citizens' behaviour, based on perceived thoughts/intents).

Dwight Eisenhower once said:

“Though force can protect in emergency, only justice, fairness, consideration and cooperation can finally lead men to the dawn of eternal peace.”


Technology beholden to the military's interests is a recipe for disaster (war as a goal). A more famous saying from Mr. Eisenhower:

"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex."


This poses a threat to both US citizens and non-US citizens. It's not about nationality but about class, about power, about wealth...

"Many of these companies would not be profitable without subsidies."And sure, it's likely even worse when someone in France or in China is coming to depend on some American companies, whose business model revolves around sucking up government/VC cash to spy on the world. Many of these companies would not be profitable without subsidies. So the business model is perhaps the subjugation itself (inverting the relationship between people and states). Taxpayers often foot the bill for their very own subjugation and these wrongs are made possible by terrible politicians who are only accountable to corporations and oligarchs ("campaign contributors").

For people who want more control over their lives, over their politics, over elected officials and even military commanders (who must never become unaccountable), removal from the monopolistic grid and greed of proprietary software will become imperative. It's not enough to only change one's own habits; peers, friends, family and colleagues need to follow, partly because of network effects (e.g. being able to call someone or send a personal message without centralised platforms which harvest and mine communications).

"Information begets action."Free software pioneers laid the ground or planted the seeds early enough for a reactionary force to grow roots; we now have reasonably potent alternatives to back-doored (by government instructions) technology that spies, censors and sometimes assassinates people. What's needed is widespread adoption. For adoption to gain momentum we need to better inform people. Information begets action.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Links 26/10/2025: Microsoft Spies on Gamers, Open Transport Community Conference
Links for the day
Links 26/10/2025: LLM Slop / Plagiarism Programs Continue to Disappoint, CISA Layoffs Threaten Systems
Links for the day
Gemini Links 26/10/2025: Gemsync and Joining the Small Web
Links for the day
India.com a Click-baiting, SEO-Spamming, Slopfarming Heap
They do this almost every day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, October 25, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, October 25, 2025
Without XBox Consoles, XBox is No More, It's Just a Brand (More Rumours of Microsoft Ending XBox, Then Laying Off Lots of Staff)
All signs indicate that Microsoft wants to "exit" the XBox business (not brand), but it does not want to publicly admit this as it would alarm staff and shareholders
Gemini Links 25/10/2025: Portugal, Midnightpub, and "Tech Right Admins"
Links for the day
Almost 2026 Already (When We Turn Twenty)
In just over a year the site will turn 20
When "Sponsored Feature" in The Register MS Means Ponzi Scheme Promotion From the Communist Party of China (CPC)
the promotion of a financial scam
Week of EPO Leaks: Workers of the EPO Are Getting a Pay Cut While Prices Rise Fast
More to come in the next few days
Microsoft is Finally Giving Up on XBox, The Chief Says the Grapes Are Sour Anyway
Microsoft loses hundreds of dollars on each XBox that it sells
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, UbuntuPIT, and Various Slopfarms Propped up by Google News
Why can't Google News do better than this?
Links 25/10/2025: Two New Smokescreens for Scam Altman and ‘TikTok USA’ Remains in Limbo
Links for the day
Bad faith: can't change Debian Social Contract (DSC) without unanimous consent of every joint author
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Confirmed: Very Close Friend of Bill Gates and Microsoft's Biggest Patent Troll Nathan Myhrvold Flew the Lolita Express (a Gateway to Pedophilia), According to Bill Gates-Sponsored Seattle Times
There is no speculation or any "conspiracy theories" here;' those are verified facts
Gemini Links 25/10/2025: "The Highest Leader of The Global Civil Society Community", SSL Certificates Causing Bitrot
Links for the day
Links 25/10/2025: Target Layoffs and "Shutdown Sparks 85% Increase in US Government Cyberattacks"
Links for the day
"Big Data" Was a Big Lie
Remember "Big Data"? Remember "Data Scientists"...?
statCounter Has Been Broken for a Long Time
Considering the huge proportion of Web requests that come from LLM bots (more so this past year or two), statCounter may struggle to justify the operating costs
Techrights Anniversary Party on November 7th
Let us know if you need any accommodation-related arrangements
Trends That Must Alarm Microsoft and Mozilla
Expect Firefox to no longer be supported by various sites in the US
Why Microsoft Became the Layoffs Leader
The corporate media is projecting or signalling its own dishonesty when it tells us that Microsoft is a very "valuable" company while the data shows Microsoft is also a "market leader" in layoffs
Speaking for Ourselves and Letting the Facts Speak for Themselves
we've already published over 50,000 pages
For Second Time in a Day The Register MS Takes Money From Private Companies to Sell a Ponzi Scheme
Do not have empathy for those who have zero empathy towards you
IBM is Misleading IBM Shareholders
IBM is still all about vapourware and buzzwords
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 24, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, October 24, 2025
The Serial Slopper Starts Up - or Restarts - His Plagiarism Machine (LLMs)
Serial Sloppers like these don't belong in news sites. That's why he got sacked by BetaNews.
Links 24/10/2025: Esperanto Music History, Anxiety, and New Portals
Links for the day
[Video] Richard Stallman's Talk in Sweden, Attended by Nearly 700 People, is Now Online
The Web page is in Swedish, but the talk is in English
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity.com, Linux Journal, and Pet Slopfarms of Google News
Why does Google News still advance these fake sites to the top of search results?
Links 24/10/2025: Inequality Grows, Billion-Dollar Scam Center Industry
Links for the day
Links 24/10/2025: "Independent Media in Cambodia is Collapsing" and Serious F5 Breach
Links for the day
Coping With the Site Going More Mainstream
Fame is no laughing matter
They Never 'Put Down' Corporations
There are "pests" that are traded in Wall Street
21 Pages in Less Than 7 Hours is No Joking Matter
We've become a lot more effective and efficient
Correct Information is a Valued Asset in the Age of Slopfarms and Public Relations (PR) or Spin
Publishing suppressed facts is never easy
The Register MS Continues to Bag Money to Promote a Ponzi Scheme, Even Money From China
Today in the front page
analytics.usa.gov: The Only Supported Version of Windows (This Past Week) is Only Used by About 13.9% of People in the US, the Home Base of Windows
Even Vista 7 is still used more
Rust is Very Secure
If only Rust itself is secure
Who Will be Held Accountable for Breaking Ubuntu by Imposing Rust on Otherwise-Functional Programs, in Effect Replacing GNU With Proprietary Microsoft (GitHub)?
they're practical people who merely point out that a bunch of buffoons not only ruin Ubuntu but also every future distro based on Ubuntu
Generation Chaff - Phase VIII: In Summary
Like "Science" with a capital "S", what we see here commercial interests usurping everything
Generation Chaff - Phase VII: Curtailing Alternative Media
There was always an obligation - a collective duty of sorts - to uphold independent journalism
Generation Chaff - Phase VI: Centralisation of Information (X, Cheetok/Fentanylware)
Would you trust information when controlled by such people?
Generation Chaff - Phase V: Censorship of Dissent (Painted as Harassment or Terrorism)
Censorship is all around us now
Generation Chaff - Phase IV: Apps Only Few Companies Decide On
Tools are being collectively confiscated, under the premise or false prospect of "security"
Generation Chaff - Phase III: Slop and Plagiarism
A lot of the current so-called 'economy' is built upon false valuations
Generation Chaff - Phase II: "Cloud", Blockchains and Other Hype
For those of us who turned down those propositions there was a struggle; we needed to justify not having skinnerboxes or "social" accounts in some site run by a private company
Generation Chaff - Phase I: Social Control Media
IRC predates the Web
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, October 23, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, October 23, 2025
More Clues Shed on Collapse of Microsoft XBox
XBox is basically circling down the drain as Microsoft implements 2-3 waves of layoffs each month
'Vibe Coding' Doesn't Work
In a lot of ways, so-called 'Vibe Coding' is already considered vapourware or a passing fad promoted in the media by managers who try to justify mass layoffs, especially ridding companies of "very expensive" software engineers
Links 24/10/2025: Microsoft's Killing of XBox Connected to Revenue/Profit Problems, "How Elon Musk Ruined Twitter"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 24/10/2025: 86,400 Seconds and "Society's Task"
Links for the day