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---
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title: "Why you should use libre software"
|
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tags: [
|
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"open-source",
|
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"philosophy"
|
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]
|
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date: 2022-11-26T18:42:53+02:00
|
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---
|
||||
|
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Let me ask you a question: **do you control your software or does it control you?**
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This should be an obvious one, you would think. *Of course, I own my software...
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After all, I decide when I open what app, for how long I use it and how I use.*
|
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|
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Is that right? Do you really decide how much time you spend on each app and
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how you use it?
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{{< image src="/images/pepe-computer-addicted.jpg" position="center" style="width: 80%" >}}
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# The problem with modern day software
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Modern day software is **closed-source**. This not only means that the source
|
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code is not available to the public to audit, but no one can contribute to the
|
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project either. This affects you even if you don't know how to code, because
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closed-source projects have total control over their users through their
|
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**terms of service**.
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Let us analyze an example of said control:
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[{{< image src="/images/discord-tos-1.png" position="center" style="width: 80%" >}}](https://discord.com/terms#5)
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{{< center "(extracted from Discord TOS)" >}}
|
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|
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As we can see, you offer Discord the permission to almost do anything with your content, which includes:
|
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|
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* **Messages**
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* **Images** (may include your memes, personal photos, profile picture etc.)
|
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* **Voice calls**
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|
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This is especially dangerous in a hivemind like environment such as Discord,
|
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where you don't give too much thought to what you post and say. What's more is
|
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that your discord messages **are not encrypted in any way**, which is a **VERY
|
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BIG** red flag, considering that one of Discord's [biggest investors is
|
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Tencent](https://globalventuring.com/corporate/tencent-fuels-discord-for-20m-round/),
|
||||
a Chinese company. Thus, all of your data on Discord now belongs to the CCP as
|
||||
well, because all Chinese companies are required to report back the data they
|
||||
collect to the government.
|
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|
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[{{< image src="/images/discord-privacy-2.png" position="center" style="width: 80%" >}}](https://discord.com/privacy#6)
|
||||
{{< center "(your data is not yours and we 'may' keep it for as long as we want)" >}}
|
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|
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Examples of abuses of privacy and control over users can be seen in **all** closed-source projects, without exception.
|
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|
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## Why care about data collection?
|
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|
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*I have nothing to hide! So why would I care about my online privacy?*
|
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|
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This statement is so common, that I figured people don't even think about what
|
||||
it means before mentioning it. Obviously, saying that you don't care about
|
||||
privacy is a lie and I will prove it to you:
|
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|
||||
* You wouldn't show your teacher your phone's content.
|
||||
* You have some kind of password protection on your phone.
|
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* You wouldn't show **your own parents** your phone's content.
|
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* You wouldn't let a random person on the street look into your laptop.
|
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* You wouldn't show your gallery to your employer.
|
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* You wouldn't want an anonymous person know where you live.
|
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|
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However, when it comes to online privacy, we let **every big tech company**
|
||||
know us better than we know ourselves. **YouTube** knows exactly the topics you are
|
||||
interested in and what kind of entertainment content you enjoy. **Instagram** knows
|
||||
what type of people you would be friends with. **Tinder** knows what type of people
|
||||
you would date. **TikTok** has **hundreds** of data-points about you, knowing
|
||||
anything from your favourite color to your deepest concerns about real life.
|
||||
|
||||
Why is it dangerous? These companies' profit model is to keep you on their
|
||||
platform for as much as possible: that's how they maximize their profits. So,
|
||||
they will do anything in their power to have a monopoly on your attention span.
|
||||
It's not unusual to see people glued to their phone's screen for 8 hours a day.
|
||||
|
||||
{{< image src="/images/wojak-phone-bed.png" position="center" style="width: 80%" >}}
|
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|
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Everything you do online is influenced by these companies, in one way or
|
||||
another. They control what's *cool*, trends, ideas, mentalities, and the worst
|
||||
part is: **you don't even know you are being manipulated**. The best way to
|
||||
control a population is to hijack their decisions, making them think they are
|
||||
choosing for themselves, when in fact, you are the one choosing for them.
|
||||
|
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## Subscription models
|
||||
|
||||
Another *nice feature* of proprietary software is that you don't actually own
|
||||
it, but instead are *allowed* to use it. Companies realised that charging for
|
||||
software once is a bad business model, so they had the brilliant idea to charge
|
||||
you monthly. In theory, it sounds like a win-win situation: you pay less and
|
||||
companies get more money, but over time you end up paying more than a 1 time
|
||||
purchase, and when you finally decide to end your subscription, you lose
|
||||
everything you paid for up to that point.
|
||||
|
||||
{{< image src="/images/own-nothing.jpg" position="center" style="width: 80%" >}}
|
||||
|
||||
Everything is subscription based nowadays, but one notorious actor is
|
||||
**Adobe**. It used to be that you could pay once for Photoshop, but now you can
|
||||
only use it if you pay a monthly fee. This creates an endless loop where the
|
||||
user always comes back for another month, in order to continue working on their
|
||||
projects. Thus, Adobe has a monopoly over digital media creation software, and
|
||||
most users are stuck with it.
|
||||
|
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## Closed-source creating walled gardens
|
||||
|
||||
The reasons we, as humanity managed to advance so much is because we worked
|
||||
together to achieve certain goals. We live in a day where technology is our
|
||||
most powerful tool. However, having closed-source software rule our ecosystems
|
||||
means we are limited to what the developer wants us to do with their software.
|
||||
|
||||
We've come to a point where we are forced to use some software because everyone
|
||||
else uses it. Whether we talk about Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office,
|
||||
Whatsapp, Instagram or iMessage, we can observe how society adopted these
|
||||
programs as an *open standard*, when in fact they are far from it.
|
||||
|
||||
It used to be that software was built on standards, not the other way around.
|
||||
For example, chat protocols like XMPP, IRC, Matrix do not have their own
|
||||
messaging applications, but other developers created software integrating these
|
||||
programs. Web protocols, programming languages, server protocols are all
|
||||
open-source, because you cannot have a standard be governed by one single
|
||||
entity. Decentralisation is key to a better internet and better technology.
|
||||
|
||||
Big tech companies want us to relocate ourselves inside their own walled
|
||||
garden, so they can get as much profit off of us as they can. This is why there
|
||||
exists such a thing as the *trend of iPhones being cool and Androids being for
|
||||
poor people*, even though [Samsungs can be more expensive than
|
||||
iPhones](https://www.phonearena.com/news/galaxy-S22-vs-iphone-14-apple-isnt-the-expensive-brand-anymore_id137106).
|
||||
|
||||
# The solution: free and open-source software
|
||||
|
||||
{{< image src="/images/solution-pepe.png" position="center" style="width: 80%" >}}
|
||||
|
||||
## What is free software?
|
||||
|
||||
Free software is not only free of cost, but also open to the public. This means
|
||||
that anyone can audit, modify or redistribute the source code. FOSS solves the
|
||||
problems mentioned above because no tracking and manipulation technology can be
|
||||
implemented in this software, **because anyone would be able to see what the
|
||||
developers were up to**. Free software evolved a lot, to the point where today
|
||||
you can replace 100% of your computational activities with programs that
|
||||
respect your freedoms.
|
||||
|
||||
## Examples of free and open source software:
|
||||
|
||||
These programs are immediate replacements to the proprietary software you are
|
||||
currently using. Integrating as many of the programs listed below as possible
|
||||
will give you a better computer experience, better privacy and as a result, a
|
||||
better lifestyle.
|
||||
|
||||
### Linux
|
||||
|
||||
[{{< image src="/images/tux.png" position="left" style="width: 20%; margin-right: 20px" >}}](https://www.kernel.org/)
|
||||
|
||||
[Linux](https://www.kernel.org/) is the most popular open-source project. It is
|
||||
a kernel written entirely in C, and it is widely used on servers, but also on
|
||||
desktops and phones (under Android).
|
||||
You should definitely [replace your current operating system](https://linuxmint.com/) on your desktop /
|
||||
laptop with Linux. A post about Linux will come by soon.
|
||||
|
||||
##
|
||||
|
||||
### Firefox
|
||||
|
||||
[{{< image src="/images/firefox.png" position="left" style="width: 20%; margin-right: 20px" >}}](https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/)
|
||||
|
||||
[Firefox](https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/) is the go-to browser for
|
||||
better privacy, while keeping a good user experience. For the average user,
|
||||
the experience is **exactly the same as Chrome**, without all the spyware and
|
||||
ads. It even allows you to import all of your bookmakers when installed. Note
|
||||
that for maximum privacy you need **to configure** Firefox.
|
||||
|
||||
This is inconvenient, so people have created [some forks](https://librewolf.net/) in order to solve this problem.
|
||||
|
||||
###
|
||||
|
||||
### Element
|
||||
|
||||
[{{< image src="/logos/element.svg" position="left" style="width: 24%; margin-right: 20px" >}}](https://element.io/)
|
||||
|
||||
[Element](https://element.io/) is a messenger application using the decentralised, federated chat
|
||||
protocol [Matrix](https://matrix.org/). You get to choose the server your data is stored on
|
||||
(encrypted) and you can interact with any other user, regardless of their
|
||||
server or client. In simpler words, multiple chat applications can communicate
|
||||
with each other through multiple servers. With the power of decentralisation,
|
||||
your data is safe and, in case of a server being compromised, you can always
|
||||
switch to another.
|
||||
|
||||
###
|
||||
|
||||
### Signal
|
||||
|
||||
[{{< image src="/logos/signal.svg" position="left" style="width: 22%; margin-right: 20px" >}}](https://signal.org/)
|
||||
|
||||
[Signal](https://signal.org/) is a centralised messenger application. It
|
||||
requires a phone number, but is easy to use and similar to other proprietary
|
||||
messenger apps. Messages are encrypted by default (verifiable through
|
||||
open-source). If you are not willing to set up a Matrix account, you should use
|
||||
Signal instead of WhatsApp.
|
||||
|
||||
###
|
||||
|
||||
###
|
||||
|
||||
###
|
||||
|
||||
# Not convinced yet?
|
||||
|
||||
Here is a YouTube video that should cover anything that I missed out on. **You should definitely only use libre
|
||||
software**.
|
||||
{{< youtube lNsjlvwHR-0 >}}
|
@ -1,10 +0,0 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Why you should use libre software"
|
||||
tags: [
|
||||
"open-source",
|
||||
"philosophy"
|
||||
]
|
||||
draft: true
|
||||
date: 2022-11-26T18:42:53+02:00
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
@ -0,0 +1 @@
|
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<p style="text-align: center"> {{- ( .Get 0 ) -}} </p>
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