Freedom Generally Wins at the End, History Shows (But It's Constantly Attacked, Too)
First published in The Guardian 14 years ago by Dr. Richard Stallman:
They say that history sort of goes "in cycles". To understand what this means consider US Independence, the French Revolution, and various other key events. Even Russia will have some sort of revolution sooner or later. It is inevitable. The Soviet Union too collapsed, albeit many years (about half a century) after the Bolsheviks raising their fists.
The harder you push people or the longer you keep them down, the easier they will find it to form a broad resistance, even if undercover or "in the fringe". There will be widespread support or popularity for systemic change. No more, "well, it's not that bad..."
Putting aside politics for a moment, Apple rose (again) about 20 years ago not because of 'iPod' or 'i' anything. Apple rose as a perceived alternative to a world (in IT at least) dominated by Microsoft. Sure, GNU/Linux grew also, but more as a response to issues other than, "I don't like this brand, I want that other brand..."
At the moment people realise "Linux" (e.g. Android) isn't enough to guarantee any freedoms. Android, to quote Richard Stallman, "is an operating system primarily for mobile phones and other devices, which consists of Linux (Torvalds' kernel), some libraries, a Java platform and some applications. Linux aside, the software of Android versions 1 and 2 was mostly developed by Google; Google released it under the Apache 2.0 license, which is a lax free software license without copyleft."
Notice the versions he was referring to. That was a long time. He said: "Android is very different from the GNU/Linux operating system because it contains very little of GNU. Indeed, just about the only component in common between Android and GNU/Linux is Linux, the kernel. People who erroneously think “Linux” refers to the entire GNU/Linux combination get tied in knots by these facts, and make paradoxical statements such as “Android contains Linux, but it isn't Linux.”(1) Absent this confusion, the situation is simple: Android contains Linux, but not GNU; thus, Android and GNU/Linux are mostly different, because all they have in common is Linux."
About a decade and a half passed and Android is now a spying monster (it's also 2-3 times bigger than Windows), tracking not only locations but also enabling the microphone and streaming your surroundings at unexpected times. Android is a spy's dream.
As a response to what Android became many 'countercurrents' became visible, some based on Android (or AOSP) and some totally unrelated to it. In China, they do their own thing. They cannot trust GAFAM; that includes Google (or Alphabet).
The harder Google pushes to disempower users of Android (a process of gradual enshittification), the stronger or more popular the reaction/response to it will be.
Android is truly ubiquitous, but it is not the solution.
If Microsoft commits suicide with Vista 11, GNU/Linux will grow even faster.
People generally gravitate towards their own interests. One might call that "freedom" (controlling one's computing and one's destiny).
Does that give reasons for optimism? Yes.
But we need to explain to people that they lack freedoms and what that means in practical terms (with real-world examples). They are then more likely to "rebel" against GAFAM et al. █