Credit: Will Hill, 2 days ago

Summary: Linux development is guided by the wrong interests -- general interests which are themselves motivated by domination over the users rather than empowerment and emancipation of computer users

MANY things are crumbling around us: the Web, digital freedom, and more pertinent issues like privacy and control over one's computing (these issues are closely related and inherently connected).

To say that Linux "won" is easy; but did GNU? Or the vision put forth by its manifesto? The only thing being manifested these days, both on the Web and in Linux, is DRM (and similar). Restrictions grow in number and complexity. Microsoft, together with Intel, push UEFI 'secure boot', which is all about corporations controlling users' choice of what to boot on a machine they supposedly own. These are the sorts of interests that dominate and always steer Linux Foundation decisions (look where their technical chiefs come from!).

Techrights does not expect that this will be easy to change; Techrights barely believes it can be changed, but one has to try, one has to start somewhere. If people give up without even trying (not fighting back), then defeat is assured. As we noted yesterday, there's an effort here to make the Web more accessible or rather to make information from the Web more accessible, using Fair Use doctrine and some clever hacking (coding). At the same time we work to eliminate software patents and constantly strive to expose those who perturb the direction of GNU/Linux. A decade ago we battled against Trojan horses such as Mono, but nowadays we need to challenge much more widespread things such as listening devices (so-called 'smart' 'assistants'). Don't give up. Never let go. Once you do it's all over. It's not hard to see who would gain from defeatism. It's also not hard to envision society that surrenders to such 24/7 surveillance (video/audio), universal back doors, and everything as "rental" with the concept of real ownership (control) altogether eliminated. ⬆