The Free Software movement is Barking up the wrong tree

19^th December 2017

The free software movement, founded in the 80s by Richard Stallman and supported by the Free Software Foundations 1, 2, 3, 4, preaches that we need software that gives us access to the code and the copyright permissions to study, modify and redistribute. While I feel this is entirely true, I think it’s not the best way to explain Free Software to people.

I think the problem we have is better explained more like this:

“Computer technology is complicated and new. Education about computers is extremely poor among all age groups. Technology companies have taken advantage of this lack of education to brainwash people into accepting absurd abuses of their rights.”

Simple and basic qualities that everyone should demand from their computers are absent. Let’s look at some examples:

• Freedom to modify and extend. Most software is distributed as immutable blobs, that cannot be modified or extended by anyone except the company that made it. This is very strange and goes against the very nature of software. Why do people put up with this? Because they are so poorly educated about computers that they cannot imagine anything different.
• The right to not upgrade. The most popular software platforms conflate essential security updates with unnecessary and poorly-tested feature updates. This means people will suddenly find themselves using an entirely new piece of software without warning or choice. Why do people put up with this? Because they are so poorly educated about computers that they cannot imagine anything different.
• Freedom to choose. Most hardware is provided with no choice of what operating system will be installed on it. Furthermore the hardware is often designed to stop people changing the operating system or other software. Why do people put up with this? Because they are so poorly educated about computers that they cannot imagine anything different.
• Transparency. The majority of software that most people use is developed in an intentionally secretive way to frustrate attempts to audit it. Why do people put up with this? Because they are so poorly educated about computers that they cannot imagine anything different.
• Right to format. Most web-browsers and email-clients are engineered to give the media creator control over your font and colors, and provide no option to override them. Why do people put up with this? Because they are so poorly educated about computers that they cannot imagine anything different.
• Right to know where your data is. Software platforms in use today often store the user’s data on remote servers. Rather than providing disclosure about where the data is and how it’s protected, software companies try to confuse people by saying your files are in “the cloud”. Why do people put up with this? Because they are so poorly educated about computers that they cannot imagine anything different.
• Right to program. Most popular software is extremely unaccommodating to anyone who wants to do something not anticipated by the software’s creator. For a funny example read here. Why do people put up with this? Because they are so poorly educated about computers that they cannot imagine anything different.
• Right to work. There is such a massive global shortage of programmers that most software development is done by a small handful of companies, mostly American. This deprives other countries of the economic benefits of this technology and creates great wealth inequality. Why do people put up with this? Because they are so poorly educated about computers that they cannot imagine anything different.
• Quality assurance. The most commonly used software repositories such as the Google Play and Apple App store provide no guarantee that the software they are distributing is secure, fit for purpose or even maintained. Why do people put up with this? Because they are so poorly educated about computers that they cannot imagine anything different.

OK that’s enough examples I think.

What I’m trying to say

I entirely agree with the FSF and Free Software movement that the freedoms to study, modify and redistribute software are key to our rights as tech users. However, it’s a part of a much broader problem. Trying to preach the FSF’s four freedoms to people who know almost nothing about computers comes across as elitist and irrelevant.

The real way to sort out this horrible technology situation is to educate people about computers, to the point that they can make their own decisions about what type of software they want to use. Computers are very interesting so it should be worth their while.