Bonum Certa Men Certa

Richard Stallman's Talk About New/er Risks to Free Software (Free as in Freedom-Respecting, Libre)

Video download link



Summary: Richard M. Stallman (RMS) gave the above talk not too long before the attacks on him intensified greatly, serving to silence him for nearly 2 years

THE video above relates to something covered here last week. In it, RMS explains the issues associated with personal privacy. He explains why so-called 'phones' (mobile, cell) are problematic.



"Lately, as in the past few years, some people and groups entertained the use of blockchains for such a decentralisation, but it never quite happened or fully materialised at a government level."Schools, according to him, are becoming "monsters for imposing proprietary software" and spying on children. "If a schools tells a company even a student's name, then that school violates this student's privacy," he argues, and "when schools create an E-mail account in some company" they also violate privacy. He mentions Google, Microsoft, and Apple among the culprits and asks people in the audience to tackle this problem. He wants to organise a "campaign about this" (that was months before an angry mob sought to deplatform and oust him).

He mentions the EU or a Schengen Web site that's required for US citizens to visit Europe. He notes the presence of proprietary JavaScript code in the site, which that site requires users to run. Well, Gemini protocol tackles some of these issues, but will Europe adopt Gemini as an alternative/second option? Maybe one day... as Gemini is very popular in Europe.

BodyIf we don't want a total surveillance society, RMS argues, we need to stop them collecting data, but "it's reasonable to check the passports of people who enter your country" though it needs to be "kept in a very decentralised way" as that reduces the risk of a mass surveillance society. He warns that China is the ultimate nightmare when it comes to state surveillance.

Lately, as in the past few years, some people and groups entertained the use of blockchains for such a decentralisation, but it never quite happened or fully materialised at a government level. We're doing our best to enhance decentralisation. Our 'seed' IPFS node at home is doing about 80 GB per month. It's impossible to know how much other people's nodes contribute to traffic.

RMS explains what the "Internet of spies" (IoT) or "Internet of stings" should be seen as; "spying is the horrible thing," he says, as "anything they do they report". He mentions Google's requirement for "personal assistant" stuff to send everything to Google, even when you ask for the light to be turn on and off. "We are seeing a development of a large conspiracy" of large companies looking to spy on people together, he warns. He warns about Google quite a lot, even more than he mentions Microsoft. He complains about the data collection by Google, including JavaScript of Google. He asserts there's a "massive conspiracy to pressure people to be spied on" and "listening devices" (that's what he too calls them) are the "nastiest of all..."

When he speaks of "personal assistants" (the media calls them "smart") he calls them "listening devices" -- something we've done for many years. He says that we need to use peer pressure to undermine those things; he knows someone who has such a device and notes: "I no longer speak when I'm there..."

He asks people to keep objecting to such things, saying "they should not be imposing these things on their friends". "Friends don't let companies spy on their friends," he says. Security guru Bruce Schneier is cited about the issues associated with security and risk from crackers. "Free software helps solve that problem," RMS argues, or at least "gives us a hope of solving that problem," but "we need the strength to resist".

It's a modest video of a talk, about 15 minutes in length, and not too meticulously memorised (he doesn't do that). He then gives an award to a person who would soon attack him, and not for the first time. At one point he notes that he has a turntable.

Curiously enough, the video shows RMS surrounded by some of the same hyenas who would very soon attack him, possibly to unwittingly distract from the real scandals, such as the brewing collapse of the Gates marriage in the wake of revelations from MIT (illuminating the close relationship between Mr. Epstein and Bill Gates). Maybe media manipulation played the most considerable role in inciting associates of his. The short speech about OpenStreetMap is worth noting too; it's all about community and sharing.

"An open letter in support of Richard Matthew Stallman being reinstated by the Free Software Foundation," we might as well note, is currently 14 signatures short of 6,700. Some time this week it'll get there. No activity in the hate letter for 18 days now. The person being sort of cancelled right now (belatedly, 2 years late) is Bill Gates.

Detractors of RMS love to portray him as not keeping up with new threats or blast him for rejecting "progress". But RMS clearly understands what's going on and merely rejecting really bad things (which he foresees as viable threats to human rights) is a strength, not a weakness. Accusing RMS or mocking the FSF for not adopting the latest "shiny things" is just about as dumb as accusing vegans/vegetarians of having no clue what they talk about, for they never bother tasting meat. "They don't know what they're missing out on..."

Licence of video: CC BY-ND 4.0

Video Switcher

Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft-Sponsored Xenophobia and Nationalism
IBM is very similar in this regard
Tentative Summary of Things to Publish in Project 2030
I'll still be in my forties by then
 
Links 21/09/2025: "Hey Hi" (Hype) Under Fire, Fakes Identified; Tesla Burns Family
Links for the day
Google's Software is Malware and Malware in Mobile Devices
Originally posted by Rob Musial
Links 20/09/2025: Hegemony Coming to a Close, Luigi Mangione Ruled Not Terrorist
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/09/2025: "Charlie Kirk Was a Hateful Piece of Shit" and Slop Code Attempted by Microsofter
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, September 20, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, September 20, 2025
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Snowy Photos and utism is a Spectrum
Links for the day
Vintage is Sometimes Better
Why can't we get back to "simple" if (or where) "simple" means better?
Climate Breakdown Means We'll be Publishing More, Not Less
Press freedom will be a common, recurring theme
Our 5-Year Geminispace Anniversary is Coming Up
I still remember when Gemini Protocol was quite new
It's Right to Point Out Violence From the Right
Violence is a recurring theme
Web Browsers That "Do Hey Hi" (AI)
State-of-the-art plagiarism or "autocomplete on steroids" (not coined by us, nevertheless a nice description) don't have much/any prospect
Links 20/09/2025: Hardware Projects in View, Some Independent Publishers About Russia Prosper After Cheeto Cuts Funding
Links for the day
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Options and TV Time Machine
Links for the day
Links 20/09/2025: Retrocomputer, Antique Phone Experience, and More
Links for the day
Links 20/09/2025: Internet Shutdowns, Media Censorship, and Climate Worries
Links for the day
About 700 New Gemini Capsules in 13 Months (or 54 Per Month)
4.8K would represent a 20% increase
Rust People: Drain the Swap, You're Holding It Wrong
Does Rust make sense?
Techrights the Name Turns 15
About 6 weeks from now we turn 19
Microsoft is Running Out of Time and Floating Fake Figures, Fake Projects, Fake Narratives, Fake Excuses
Also, a lot of Microsoft's "revenue" claims are circular financing (i.e. Microsoft buying from itself, which means Ponzi-like fraud)
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, linuxconfig.org, and Plagiarised Phoronix
Many articles out there are nowadays fake
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, September 19, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, September 19, 2025
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Navigating the Pressures of Modern Life and SpellBinding Accidentally Wrote Another Gemini Server
Links for the day
Links 19/09/2025: Press Freedom Dying in US, Anti-Austerity Strikes in France, and Alan Rusbridger to Leave 'Prospect'
Links for the day
European Patent Office Illegally Gutting and Outsourcing Its Functions, Acting Like an Above-the-Law Commercial Business (It Won't Stop at Formalities Officers (FOs) and Classification Slop at the EPO)
breaking/violating laws and conventions
Offloading to the Sister Site
In the interest of not overwhelming readers
Links 19/09/2025: Coffee Club and "SpellBinding is Now Absurdly Fast"
Links for the day
Links 19/09/2025: Lobbyist of American GAFAM Becomes Data Protection Commissioner in Europe
Links for the day
Links 19/09/2025: Media Freedom Ceases to Exist in US, "Consider Dropping Twitter/X"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 19/09/2025: Thinking and Insect Bites
Links for the day
Microsoft E.E.E.: Git Will Now (or Very Soon) Fully Depend on Rust, Which is Controlled by Microsoft
Microsoft now makes Git dependent on Rust, or making Git dependent on GitHub, which is proprietary
The Right to Punch People (Apparently)
At Brett Wilson, Brett's job title is "Head of Crime" and Wilson normalises calls for violence
Slop or Fake Articles Have Turned Linux Journal From a Pioneering/Trailblazing "Linux" Magazine Into a Nuisance
some sites with former reputation - good reputation - turn into cesspools
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, September 18, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, September 18, 2025