Greener Pastures for Free Software Users
THE term "Free Software" can seem a little misleading. To most people it just means something "you get for free", but in order to understand "Free Software" one must understand the condition of not having Software Freedom. To a lot of people the experience of losing their music collections (to streaming swindles and DRM) demonstrates the effect of losing one's data that one paid for. In the case of programs spying on people, it's the kind of thing people cannot just "turn off" when it's some proprietary "app" with secret behaviour on a hostile operating system with system calls that can facilitate "phone home" functionality.
To better understand Software Freedom we need to explain to people the problem at hand and then present the solution, which typically boils down to rejection of some software, some companies, even some very toxic people. Relying on government regulations usually won't be sufficient; many governments actively participate in and benefit from rogue behaviour of proprietary things. In some countries, governments are beholden to the richest businessmen and companies.
Greener, fertile ground for computer users' emancipation would start with strong safeguard for human rights. Here in the UK (that's Peak District above) rights online are eroding as new laws get passed in the name of "protecting kids" (that has nothing to do with kids at all).
This coming week we'll publish many articles about GNU/Linux and technical means of/for user empowerment. Later this week Richard Stallman will deliver two talks in Germany. The first is entitled "Free Software and Your Freedom" and residents of the Frankfurt area can attend in person (as far as we can tell, there will be no livestreaming). █