Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Second Wave (of Free/Libre Software)

Looking from afar at the more distant future, we need to recognise newer perils (not fully foreseen when GNU's manifesto was published 3.5 decades ago)

Wave and kids



Summary: Despite some major setbacks and new threats to digital freedom (autonomy is perhaps a more suitable term), progress is being made and activism must adapt to tackle newer trends

THE somewhat belated ascent of Free/Libre/Livre software is real. Many would say "we" have "won" the battle. Who is "we"? What does "winning" mean? Leave that aside; it's all in the details. It's both a technical and a philosophical inquiry...



"We ought not ask Microsoft for 'permission' and be spied on by Microsoft while developing and retrieving software."GNU is everywhere, yet freedom is almost nowhere to be found 'out there' (clown computing means surveillance and oppression). Linux is by far the most widely used and deployed operating system kernel -- so ubiquitous in small devices that there may already be tens of billions of "Linux computers" out there (about 10 times as much/many as Windows instances). Mission accomplished? Maybe. Depends whose...

The fight for software freedom will likely never end (and no, don't think that a Microsoft bankruptcy or something similar means "the end"). No "fin" just because some certain Finn put his kernel in almost every computer, from large (HPC) to small/tiny ("edge" computing, increasingly a surveillance beacon of some sort).

Techrights is about software freedom, sure, but it's also about human rights (e.g. privacy) and programmers' rights, which means no software patents (these patents harm proprietary software development as much as Free software craftsmanship and distribution).

Wave at seaThe "Second Wave" nowadays commonly alludes to the return of a certain problem many have naively (ignorantly too strong a term?) chosen to dismiss as "revolved" or a "thing of the past"; it won't be resolved until COVID-19 is eradicated, likely by mass vaccination. Vaccines can take 5-15 years to develop, test and make then make prevalent. If it's fast-tracked, maybe 5 years. Maybe. Don't fall for promises and hype from pharmaceutical giants and vaccine profiteers including but not limited to Bill Gates. It's revealing when the corporate media treats this college drop-out like a vaccine expert; he's meanwhile pushing his "war on cash" (India is his fertile ground for such experimentation, as he did with GMO and other vaccines -- to the point where people died in his 'clinical/criminal trials'). At the moment we're put on the highway towards something very grim; oligarchs have fast-tracked their "war on cash" (associating physical currency with "dirty" people and criminals*) and mass surveillance (as if people who don't carry around with them a so-called 'phone' are a public health hazard).

This whole "Second Wave" thing -- namely the implication for personal freedoms (not only software) -- is a subject we hope to discuss with Richard Stallman some time soon. We also have some Microsoft leaks on the way.

Free software may have "won" (already) in some sense, but activism must carry on. Having lots of projects in proprietary Microsoft GitHub isn't freedom but the opposite of that. We ought not ask Microsoft for 'permission' and be spied on by Microsoft while developing and retrieving software.

"Copying all or parts of a program is as natural to a programmer as breathing, and as productive. It ought to be as free."

--Richard Stallman



_____ * Lately there has been a British media-led smear campaign against people who insist on paying with cash, associating them with theft, COVID denial, and various conspiracy theories. It has gotten rather bad during summer. The stigma is a growing problem.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Cybercrimes and Online Abuse From Extremists and Militants on a VPN/Tor
A straitjacket or lobotomy won't solve this issue
Links 02/12/2023: Pfizer Sued for Lies About Efficacy, Censorship of Scientific Dissent, More Pfizer Layoffs
Links for the day
Selling Free Software
by Richard Stallman
 
Links 02/12/2023: ChatGPT Drowns in Bad Press, Censorship Worldwide Increases Some More
Links for the day
[Meme] Screenshots of Web Pages (Relevant to One's Article) Are Not Copyright Infringing Anywhere in the World
bullying and hate crimes
IRC Proceedings: Friday, December 01, 2023
IRC logs for Friday, December 01, 2023
A Year of Doing Techrights 'Full Time'
been a year!
Microsoft and Its Boosters Worsen Linux Security
The circus goes on and on
Links 01/12/2023: Facebook Infested With Malicious Campaigns by Imposters, ACLU Gives Advice on Doxxing and Online Harassment
Links for the day
Just Like Its Budget Allocation, the Linux Foundation Devotes About 3% Of Its Latest Newsletter to Linux, Devotes More to Linux's Rivals
It's just exploiting the brand
Links 01/12/2023: Google Invokes Antitrust Against Microsoft
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news
UK Government Allowing Microsoft to Take Over Activision Blizzard Will Destroy Jobs
Over 30,000 fired this year? More?
It's Cheaper to Pay Bribes (and Produce Press Releases) Than to Pay Fines (After Lots of Negative Publicity)
Does the UK still have real sovereignty or do corporations from overseas purchase decisions and outcomes?
November 2023 Over With GNU/Linux at All-Time Highs According to statCounter
ChromeOS+GNU/Linux combined are about 7% of the "market"
New Report Provides Numerical Evidence That Google Hired Too Many People From Microsoft (and Became Malicious, Evil, Sociopathic)
"Some 12,018 former Microsoft employees currently work for the search and data giant"
Google: Keep Out, Don't Save Your Files, and Also Let Us Spy on Everything You Do
Do you still trust "clown" storage?
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, November 30, 2023
IRC logs for Thursday, November 30, 2023
Links 01/12/2023: Many Suppressions in Hong Kong and Attempts to Legitimise Illegal and Unconstitutional Fake Patent 'Court' in EU (UPC)
Links for the day
Gemini Not Deflated Yet (Soon Turning 5!)
Gemini numbers still moving up, the protocol will turn five next summer
Links 30/11/2023: Belated End of Henry Kissinger and 'Popular Science' Shuts Online Magazine
Links for the day
Site Priorities and Upcoming Improvements
pages are served very fast
[Meme] One Person, Singular Pronoun
Abusing people into abusing the English language is very poor diplomacy
Ending Software Patents in Recent Years (Software Freedom Fighters MIA)
not a resolved issue
New Article From Richard Stallman Explains Why He Says He and She for Unknown Person (Not 'They')
"Nowadays I use gender-neutral singular pronouns for a person whose gender I don't know"
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, November 29, 2023
IRC logs for Wednesday, November 29, 2023
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news
Links 30/11/2023: Rushing Patent Cases With Shorter Trial Scheme (STS), Sanctions Not Working
Links for the day
Links 30/11/2023: Google Purging Many Accounts and Content (to Save Money), Finland Fully Seals Border With Russia
Links for the day