Fellow Gen Z-er here. I recall reading Stallman's writings some time during high school (a few years ago), at first taking them seriously, using free software a

Fellow Gen Z-er here. I recall reading Stallman's writings some time during high school (a few years ago), at first taking them seriously, using free software as a much as possible (even installed and used Trisquel at one point) but then gradually due to peer/environment, even school-related pressure I became more complicit in using non-free software. I began to dismiss Stallman's predictions as unrealistic or overreactive, but as the years passed, as many have noted, these predictions have been realized on a massive scale. Opting out of this stuff is hard, and in many causes would involve changes at educational institutions and companies. IMO it's the normalization and following-by-example of adults that lead children to sacrifice their freedom and privacy. Things such as - creating G-Suite accounts for users joining an institution - school-provided MacBook Pros/Chromebooks - making use of a proprietary program (when free alternative exist) mandatory in a course - strong one here, peer pressure from the network effect of services such as iMessage, social networks, or even AirDrop If anyone is in a position of influence for the next generation of society, please think about these points and at the very least make it possible to use FOSS alternatives and make users aware of the issues surrounding digital privacy and freedom.