The Free Software Movement Must Not Assume That Truth and Science Always Win
The world is - generally and broadly speaking - still governed by superstition and dogma. The "Enlightenment" era was temporary and very selective in geography/demography. 8+ billion people aren't enjoying democracy; some do, but most do not. Many lack access to a system of justice and are instead bearing arms to fight for immediate (daily) survival. The world is a cruel place and many who govern poorer countries are in power owing to their cruelty rather than a system of legitimate meritocracy. Even supposedly developed nations ("first world") are increasingly willing to vote for a bible-bearing fascist, as many struggle to find their next meal and compete for basic resources such as food.
Tough? Sure. But quite an accurate description - and it gets more and more so over time!
The Free software movement (FSM) ought to set the scene and set the tone for opposing those who antagonise facts, attack reality itself, demonise science (e.g. cryptography/mathematics), and vilify if not defame those who do what's right.
FSM is a bit of a nebulous concept because some people are passive proponents (e.g. mere users, not prominent) of Freedom-respecting software.
This coming year we'll deal with some tough topics and shed light on what we consider imperative for the success not only of Free software but also of science.
Thankfully for us we've established a very robust and resilient platform that can cope with most DDOS attacks and can serve pages outside the Web too (yesterday we served 22,680 requests over Gemini).
Yesterday we received a huge number of E-mails expressing support for us. I've not even finished reading all of them. We're encouraged to know that our work is appreciated and our publication and disseminated to relevant (tech-savvy) people. Now is a very important time to convince people to do what's right, e.g. abandon social control media that's controlled by oligarchs, dictators, and brutal assassins.
Having said that, people must generally recognise that the FSM faces a threat not only from proprietary software giants but also political hacks, sociopaths, mental cases (totally insane people), and people who reject science itself and believe utterly crazy stuff. To expect a technical debate on these matters or to expect technology to be selected based on technical merit (or sound legal requirements) would be to ignore Microsoft moles seizing positions of authority.
This isn't just a war for Software Freedom but also for integrity, truth, science, and lawfulness, i.e. the same as the one we cover in relation to the EPO (examiners, i.e. scientists, versus corrupt officials who manage/boss/threaten them).
In academic institutions we're taught that the law prevails, the truth always holds etc. Sometimes the bad people and the liars get ahead, however, more so in society gone profoundly dysfunctional with regulation gone awry. Do we have regulation anymore? It doesn't feel like it. The regulatory bodies have been thoroughly infiltrated (or "captured" to use the polite term) by those they were meant to regulate, even in the West. █