Why I Continue to Believe That at the End Software Freedom Will Win
Today is my birthday - an atypically mild day* - and I am very encouraged by the words of Witty Andy (he's one of several readers/authors/editors who wrote me E-mail or came to IRC - some for the first time - just to greet me). We are - in some sense - the "resistance". Many of us are united or at least federated online, converging our collective and overlapping efforts (activism, advocacy, authorship). We actually do something about the injustice in tech. We put our money where our mouth is. What's more, judging by the growing pace of FSF donations (or memberships that bring money), some time this week the campaign will be halfway through (at 200,000 dollars):
The above progress (bar) is happening in spite of many nefarious attacks on the FSF, which intentionally coincide with efforts to raise money (phony scandals, efforts to scandalise something where no real scandal exists!). Senior FSF insiders told me they had noticed social control media is the main if not sole culprit in that respect... or the lack of respect. We've assembled some of that as evidence we shall present to the court if needed [1, 2] (against the serial defamer and serial harasser).
Here's a short and incomplete list of factors which I believe contribute to the sentiment that we can - and will - win the battles over hearts and minds in the "Tech" realm**:
- Many folks - both young and old - get fed up with the status quo and look for explanations of it, e.g. health harms associated with skinnerboxes and social control media
- Some social control media being restricted, banned etc. (starting with Chinese one/s)
- More people "disconnecting"
- Mass layoffs and office shutdowns at companies like Microsoft's GitHub, effectively an online prison and a GPL violations factory
- Microsoft resorting to actual threats against Free software advocates, as smears alone weren't enough (they still try to libel FSF staff, though it seems to backfire and make "martyrs" out of their so-called "targets" whom they stalk and harass for years, 24/7)
- The market share of GNU/Linux worldwide grew this year, based on statCounter (other metrics ceased to be updated after more than 2 decades). GNU/Linux on desktops/laptops is up from 3.77% in January to 4.31% right now
"It is very important to always note," an associate said, that the reference in a prior article about market share is in the context of the desktop and "Microsoft is a no-show in most other areas" except the server market "where they are a bit [sic] player".
Of course when it comes to servers, GNU/Linux is the de facto platform and in mobile - as in phones and tablets - Android (which has Linux) commands like 80% of the market (the lion's share).
The way things are going, more gains for Free software are possible, even if Android (or AOSP) isn't really free/libre. We're still in a better position than we were in 20 or even 10 years ago. █
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* Spring is here already. 7 nights away from Xmas Day, as in tonight, it's 13 degrees at night in northern England.
** Over time this realm grows and becomes more crowded because almost everything goes "digital", with or without buzzwords and fanfare.