Bonum Certa Men Certa

Software Freedom Matters More Than Ever and We Need to Grasp the Misconceptions About It



Video download link



Summary: A long ramble about the situation we're currently in and why the fight for Software Freedom must go on; we're winning on many fronts (GNU/Linux already dominates a lot of sectors), losing on some, and that's why software monopolies (current and past digital/tech "masters") are increasingly frightened and resort to irrational and self-harming attacks; they're failing to imprison every citizen on this planet (too many dissenters and objectors), collectively rendering us digital "slaves" (a term they'd rather ban so as to limit the conversation's remit)

THE Software Freedom Movement or the Free Software Movement (capitalised) will soon turn 40, i.e. older than me. The term "Software Freedom Movement" helps emphasise that it's about freedom, not price (otherwise ambiguous in the English language). It was created or at least pioneered/defined by an MIT scientist who was about 30 at the time. He'll turn 70 just over a year from now. He's under attack by a bunch of bullies backed by a corporate mob and defamatory corporate media (owned by those same corporations or partly funded by them).



"People are easily being carried away by hype and buzzwords ("clown computing", "smart" etc.) and some are easily bamboozled or even incited against those who speak about the threats."In this video I attempt to explain some recent events, how I personally got introduced to the Software Freedom Movement (or Free Software Movement, sometimes abbreviated FSM, led by the FSF). To examine the issues we're nowadays dealing with I turn to the "Critic's Free Software Dictionary" of figosdev, who wrote many articles for us.

People are easily being carried away by hype and buzzwords ("clown computing", "smart" etc.) and some are easily bamboozled or even incited against those who speak about the threats. The real threat isn't that "guy with a beard" but those who vilify him. As Dave Lane put it recently: "the real existential threat to Free Software isn't the make-up of the FSF governance board. It's US multinational corporations funding legal reports encouraging companies to shun Copyleft licensed software, calling it "too risky" for business use. (of course, if you want to see a real legal minefield, take a gander at any proprietary EULA... if you can find one - they tend to be completely hidden). Also: the shade thrown by Github and MSFT on Copyleft at every opportunity."

We've always been under attack by Microsoft (the video mentions the Halloween Documents), but those attacks are becoming more visible in recent years, even if they disguise the attacks with words like "love".

Recent Techrights' Posts

Thankfully We've Made Copies of More Interesting Data From statCounter
If statCounter (the Web site or the 'webapp') vanished overnight, we'd still have something left of it
More Silent Layoffs at IBM/Red Hat
when the media counts such layoffs or presents tallies the numbers are very incomplete
 
The Cocaine Patent Office - Part I: António Campinos Brought Corruption and Nepotism to the EPO, Then Came the Cocaine
High-level manager at the European Patent Office (EPO) caught in public with cocaine, the Office has some answering to do
Purchasing/Possessing Computers Isn't the Same as Controlling Computers
Let's strive to put computers back under the control of their users, no matter who purchased these (usually the users)
Gemini Links 27/10/2025: Alhena 5.4.3 and Fixing Bash
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, October 26, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, October 26, 2025
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