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

Proprietary Software is Bad for Your Health, Not Just Your Finances, Privacy and So On
It would be interesting to see some charts, based on some long-term study, comparing the general health (blood pressure, BMI etc.) of people who use proprietary stuff and people who do not
Microsoft Admits Business Perils as Windows Continues to Fall
‘Microsoft missed the biggest business model…’
Technical Specifications at Times of Tyrannies
Specifications (specs) must evolve with the times
In Case Rust Censors It (Rust Has Long Been All About Censorship), Here's a Critical Look at Rust's Goals
In the case of Rust, instead of "the liberation of the digital society" we have empowerment of Microsoft GitHub and of GAFAM in general. Guess who funds this...
Gemini Links 23/02/2025: Respectful Platforms Manifesto and Internet Archive
Links for the day
The Significance of the Timing of the Ridiculous Letters From Brett Wilson LLP, Acting on Behalf of People From Microsoft
A preliminary look at the timeline and what it tells us
Politicians Ought to Invite Dr. Richard Stallman and Prof. Eben Moglen to Speak About Policies, Licensing, Digital Sovereignty
Is there something in Europe other than RMS' talk this coming Monday (that we're not yet aware of)?
The So-called 'IT' Industry Became Somewhat of a Fraud Where People Equate Usage and Power Wasted With "Value" or "Success"
When did 'IT' become a weapon rather than technology/science?
Things to Like About London
Many important or "powerful" people leave near there
 
[Meme] It's Over, Microsoft
an obligatory meme
Even Worse Than LLM Slop and Linkspam From UNIXMen
UNIXMen is basically a defunct spamfarm at this point (the author is "sarwarSEO")
Gemini Links 24/02/2025: Osiris 0.1.0 Release (File Sharing in Gemini Protocol), NetBSD 10.1 on the Pi
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, February 23, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, February 23, 2025
Links 23/02/2025: Democracy Backsliding and German Election
Links for the day
Joining APRIL(.org), AGM weekend, Paris, 15-16 March 2025
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 23/02/2025: Zuckerberg Despised, US Government Does Not Obey Judges, France Grapples With Terrorism
Links for the day
Links 23/02/2025: Apple Back Doors, Ukraine Updates, and Gemini Leftovers
Links for the day
Recent Improvements in Techrights
minimalism works fine when the main goal is to relay information
Slopwatch: Brian Fagioli, Brittany Day (linuxsecurity.com), and Microsoft Misinformation, False Marketing
Serial Sloppers
Censored: Debian Zizian transgender vigilante comparisons in open source Linux communities
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, February 22, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, February 22, 2025
Links 22/02/2025: OpenAI Plans to Possibly Abandon Microsoft, Facebook Doubles Execs' Bonuses While Sacking Thousands
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/02/2025: Weekend Chill and Programming Thoughts
Links for the day
Good Explanation of Why IBM Has Chosen to Conceal Mass Layoffs (of 'Expensive' Staff) as "R.T.O." (Even For People Who Never Worked at the Office to Which They're Ordered to "Return")
Many remaining IBM (or Red Hat) workers in Europe are in "cheaper" places such as Brno
Microsoft's Serial Strangler and Matthew J. Garrett Join Forces in Trying to Gag Techrights (for Exposing Microsoft Corruption and Crimes Against Women)
Whose terrible idea was it?
Links 22/02/2025: Labour Department Investigates Microsoft Infosys Amid Mass Layoffs, Large Law Firms Caught Red Handed With LLM Slop (Defrauding Clients and Courts)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 22/02/2025: Analog Stuff, Sigil, and SSGs
Links for the day
Microsoft's Market Share in Cameroon Falls to New Lows
This means a lot of Android users (iOS is about 4 times smaller), but Android does not mean freedom
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, February 21, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, February 21, 2025
The Streisand Effect is Real
So don't be evil. Also, don't strangle women.