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The LibreJS browser add-on blocks javascript that is above a certain size/complexity and doesn't have a programatically declared (or manually whitelisted) FOSS
by daveloyall 10y ago
The LibreJS browser add-on blocks javascript that is above a certain size/complexity and doesn't have a programatically declared (or manually whitelisted) FOSS license.
The FSF uses LibreJS on the computers in their office. Which makes it excruciating to buy airline tickets, for example.
I was flabbergasted when I found this out. I thought something along the lines of "I've been giving these mad martyrs money!?". :)
...It took a while to sink in, but... They are right.
The reasoning goes like this:
A script embedded in a website is a tiny program that runs on your computer. It is software.
Some software is morally wrong. Some software is morally neutral or good. Software can/has/will change the world, and it's important that it be a force of good, not evil.
You can tell the difference between good and bad software by applying the following metrics. The software is "free" (as in William Wallace) if it provides the user with the following freedoms:
* The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any
purpose (freedom 0).
* The freedom to study how the program works, and change
it so it does your computing as you wish (freedom 1).
Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
* The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your
neighbor (freedom 2).
* The freedom to distribute copies of your modified
versions to others (freedom 3). By doing this you can
give the whole community a chance to benefit from your
changes. Access to the source code is a precondition
for this.
The javascript on government websites (even non-USA) should have those freedoms. Why not?
Another comment here said that the FSF needs to "pick its battles". Actually, don't you think this is a great one to pick? There's no good excuse for a government web-dev to avoid meeting those requirements. And there's no good argument against users demanding them. It's just javascript!
[Edit: wrap "excruciating" in * instead of ".]
- krapp 10y ago> There's no good excuse for a government web-dev to avoid meeting those requirements. Arguably, there is a perfectly valid excuse - the four freedoms aren't actually laws, so governments have no reason (or right) to enforce them.
- daveloyall 10y agoYet! ;)
- fixermark 10y ago> The javascript on government websites (even non-USA) should have those freedoms. Why not? Among other reasons: because they impose restrictions on the subcontractors the government can employ to do the job that increase the overall cost, therefore perhaps failing to do their fiduciary duty to the taxpayer. It's still an open question which side this issue should fall on for most people who don't see Four Freedoms as a necessary tenet.
- blowski 10y agoExactly. Agencies will be licking their lips at the exorbitant fees they can charge to meet 'freedom level 4' standard.
- mjevans 10y agoHow about making it possible to communicate with government offices without JavaScript/ECMAScript at /all/? What if it worked properly for those with ADA abilities, like say the blind on a text mode TTY with a text-only browser? Those still support basic web forms and the server side is where all data-validation should occur anyway. Alternatively, as the EFF notes, allowing alternate communications protocols (such as the freely open standard of shudder email) is also a viable secondary channel.
- bertiewhykovich 10y agoHow do these four freedoms constitute a border between "morally wrong" and "morally neutral or good" software? That seems dubious to me.
- daveloyall 10y agoI think the general idea is that software will certainly be in the history books, but it is so flexible that we don't know yet if it will be described as plague or panacea. I recommend reading or re-reading https://www.gnu.org/gnu/manifesto.html https://www.gnu.org/gnu/manifesto.html (...remember the part about asteroid mining? It's near this part: "In the long run, making programs free is a step toward the postscarcity world [...]") And there are in fact a lot of documents on this topic available here: https://www.gnu.org/server/sitemap.html#directory-philosophy https://www.gnu.org/server/sitemap.html#directory-philosophy
- Retra 10y agoThere're already laws about publicly funded research that basically are the same sort of thing.