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If we lose the war on general-purpose computing, authoritarianism and corporatism are likely to rule the world. Winning that war is prerequisite to everything

If we lose the war on general-purpose computing, authoritarianism and corporatism are likely to rule the world. Winning that war is prerequisite to everything else. If you're worried about climate change, remember that authoritarian regimes don't care about climate change. If you're worried about injustices, remember that authoritarian regimes don't care about them and actually manufacture them. If you're worried about any particular political thing, remember that authoritarian regimes don't even let you speak your dissent. If you're worried about economics and making a living, remember that authoritarian regimes don't care if you have enough food. Authoritarian regimes only care about themselves and their power. They'll make sure they're insulated from climate change. They'll make sure the law doesn't apply to them. They'll make sure they have megaphones for their propaganda. They'll make sure they always have food and shelter. So what can you do? Write Free Software. Get people to use Firefox and Ladybird (once it's ready). Refuse to work for companies that are locking down computers. Shift the culture until it is shameful to even do so. Reject remote attestation. Accept inconvenience in the software you use. Preach to everyday people about using Free Software. Teach them about privacy and control issues. Help them install Linux on their laptops. Root their phones for them. Be their tech support when things go wrong. Most of all, learn UX and make your Free Software more usable and convenient than the freedom-snuffing software. Until Free Software is more convenient, there is very little way we can win this war. This is something Free Software enthusiasts are really blind about: we can't just make software how nerds want it; we need to make software that will be useful and convenient for everyday people.

Const-me 3y ago
Authoritarian regimes are actually correlated with the popularity of free software. Russia and China both have government-mandated forks of Linux. Chinese companies like Linaro, Huawei and Alibaba contribute to Linux kernel very actively. When the war against Ukraine escalated 1.5 years ago, proprietary software companies like Microsoft, Adobe and Apple quit Russia due to international sanctions and reputational risks. Since then, pretty sure free software became even more popular over there.
- gavinhoward 3y ago
  Remember that while authoritarian regimes may use Free Software themselves, that doesn't mean they'll freely let their citizens use it.
  - Const-me 3y ago
    Russia and China let their citizens use whatever software they please, be it commercial, pirated, or free. By itself, software is harmless to these autocrats. These regimes care about telecom, not software. Both Russia and China restrict usage of the internet with a combination of technical, legal, and repressive methods.
- prepend 3y ago
  Hitler liked dogs too. Just because dictators are correlated to dogs, that doesn’t mean dogs bear any blame for dictators.
  - Const-me 3y ago
    Yes, indeed. And it doesn’t mean promoting or discouraging dogs helps removing dictators from power.
    - prepend 3y ago
      It does if dogs are causal to having thriving, independent family units, individuals, and communities.
      - Const-me 3y ago
        As soon as dogs will start causing noticeable changes to the society, they will be banned and dog ownership criminalized. By the way, last week Russians signed a new law which makes collaboration with an unregistered foreign non-profit organization a crime, punishable by 2 years in jail: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-unregstered-ngos-putin-decree/32534674.html https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-unregstered-ngos-putin-decree... Pretty sure a contribution to an open-source project can be viewed as such collaboration. It seems unlike using software, Russian government views any international collaboration as a potential treat.
Loquebantur 3y ago
Humans look for "strong leadership" whenever they feel threatened, respectively have an uncertain outlook onto the future. Authoritarian states are the result of a societal phase-change, occurring when a majorty feels this way. Those presumably "strong leaders" usually lack any sense for democratic ideas of relinquishing their position. And manufacturing further "threats" down the line is easy to do. Which is why authoritarian regimes behave the way they do. If you want to counter authoritarianism, you have to help people feel save about their future.
- gavinhoward 3y ago
  Okay, I guess I worded things poorly. I believe that without general-purpose computing in the hands of regular folk, getting out of authoritarianism is impossible. Why? Because authoritarians will still have access to general-purpose computing, and that gives them an even greater amount of power that is even harder to overcome.
- tracker1 3y ago
  +! on the above... I think a lot of this comes down to more positive messaging. The past 20+ years has seen a progression in USA sucks (as a US citizen) and that has eroded confidence, along with a lot of other issues. Saying the US is a great nation is absolutely frowned upon. There are plenty of things wrong, and the past is anything but perfect. That said, societal breakdown leads to that level of insecurity which means more chances for a loss of freedom. Share at least one positive interest story a day on social media with friends... more people do that, more people see more good in the world. Make an effort. Sometimes it's harder to seek out though. I'm not immune from the negativity even if I don't always agree with it. Make an effort not to confuse people with their views, and don't talk down to people with differing political perspectives. Most people are mostly good most of the time... stop making assertions that tear people down.
syntheweave 3y ago
I suggest instead cutting to the heart of it: * Ensure that men with guns cannot be paid. If you do that, every empire falls. It is not necessarily a technically sophisticated problem - it happens naturally through economic constraints. Technology can have a role in how rapidly that develops, though. The "this software shall be used for Good, not Evil" clause may be enough to tip a balance.
flir 3y ago
Lawrence Lessig was at the least a fellow traveller of the people who care about general purpose computing (Creative Commons, FSF, EFF, etc etc). He pivoted to campaign finance reform, because he thought that was even more fundamental. Get corporate money out of politics, and much of the pressure on software/hardware freedom disappears. Me, I'd go one step further and say electoral reform is what's needed (in the UK and US, at least). At least then, if we vote for crooks I'll be confident we deserve what we get.
deterministic 3y ago
Believing that Free software will save the world from authoritarian regimes is … how can I put it diplomatically … wishful thinking not matching real world realities. It would be great if it was true of course, but a fist in your face by an authoritarian regime will quickly teach you otherwise.
- insomagent 3y ago
  Yeah, this mindset reeks of the same kind of mentality that tech-bro SV startups... "I'm the main character, with this technology (I found an open source GitHub repo with 50k stars) I will save the world!" but with an open-source Stallman-esque twist. Open source software is a great thing for humanity, but as software engineers, we should keep the big picture in mind. Software is software. The sky has been blue and the grass has been green since long before software existed, and the sky will be blue and the grass will be green long after software ceases to exist.
solsane 3y ago
I support all your action items but based on your preamble I was expecting something more along the lines of political engagement/activism.
7Z0nE 3y ago
Authoritarian regimes can care about climate change and they can be even more effective. Chinas transition to carbon neutral energy is progressing at a much higher rate than the US and most countries in the EU.

Const-me 3y ago

Authoritarian regimes are actually correlated with the popularity of free software. Russia and China both have government-mandated forks of Linux. Chinese companies like Linaro, Huawei and Alibaba contribute to Linux kernel very actively. When the war against Ukraine escalated 1.5 years ago, proprietary software companies like Microsoft, Adobe and Apple quit Russia due to international sanctions and reputational risks. Since then, pretty sure free software became even more popular over there.

gavinhoward 3y ago
Remember that while authoritarian regimes may use Free Software themselves, that doesn't mean they'll freely let their citizens use it.
- Const-me 3y ago
  Russia and China let their citizens use whatever software they please, be it commercial, pirated, or free. By itself, software is harmless to these autocrats. These regimes care about telecom, not software. Both Russia and China restrict usage of the internet with a combination of technical, legal, and repressive methods.
prepend 3y ago
Hitler liked dogs too. Just because dictators are correlated to dogs, that doesn’t mean dogs bear any blame for dictators.
- Const-me 3y ago
  Yes, indeed. And it doesn’t mean promoting or discouraging dogs helps removing dictators from power.
  - prepend 3y ago
    It does if dogs are causal to having thriving, independent family units, individuals, and communities.
    - Const-me 3y ago
      As soon as dogs will start causing noticeable changes to the society, they will be banned and dog ownership criminalized. By the way, last week Russians signed a new law which makes collaboration with an unregistered foreign non-profit organization a crime, punishable by 2 years in jail: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-unregstered-ngos-putin-decree/32534674.html https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-unregstered-ngos-putin-decree... Pretty sure a contribution to an open-source project can be viewed as such collaboration. It seems unlike using software, Russian government views any international collaboration as a potential treat.

Loquebantur 3y ago

Humans look for "strong leadership" whenever they feel threatened, respectively have an uncertain outlook onto the future. Authoritarian states are the result of a societal phase-change, occurring when a majorty feels this way. Those presumably "strong leaders" usually lack any sense for democratic ideas of relinquishing their position. And manufacturing further "threats" down the line is easy to do. Which is why authoritarian regimes behave the way they do. If you want to counter authoritarianism, you have to help people feel save about their future.

gavinhoward 3y ago
Okay, I guess I worded things poorly. I believe that without general-purpose computing in the hands of regular folk, getting out of authoritarianism is impossible. Why? Because authoritarians will still have access to general-purpose computing, and that gives them an even greater amount of power that is even harder to overcome.
tracker1 3y ago
+! on the above... I think a lot of this comes down to more positive messaging. The past 20+ years has seen a progression in USA sucks (as a US citizen) and that has eroded confidence, along with a lot of other issues. Saying the US is a great nation is absolutely frowned upon. There are plenty of things wrong, and the past is anything but perfect. That said, societal breakdown leads to that level of insecurity which means more chances for a loss of freedom. Share at least one positive interest story a day on social media with friends... more people do that, more people see more good in the world. Make an effort. Sometimes it's harder to seek out though. I'm not immune from the negativity even if I don't always agree with it. Make an effort not to confuse people with their views, and don't talk down to people with differing political perspectives. Most people are mostly good most of the time... stop making assertions that tear people down.

syntheweave 3y ago

I suggest instead cutting to the heart of it: * Ensure that men with guns cannot be paid. If you do that, every empire falls. It is not necessarily a technically sophisticated problem - it happens naturally through economic constraints. Technology can have a role in how rapidly that develops, though. The "this software shall be used for Good, not Evil" clause may be enough to tip a balance.

flir 3y ago

Lawrence Lessig was at the least a fellow traveller of the people who care about general purpose computing (Creative Commons, FSF, EFF, etc etc). He pivoted to campaign finance reform, because he thought that was even more fundamental. Get corporate money out of politics, and much of the pressure on software/hardware freedom disappears. Me, I'd go one step further and say electoral reform is what's needed (in the UK and US, at least). At least then, if we vote for crooks I'll be confident we deserve what we get.

deterministic 3y ago

Believing that Free software will save the world from authoritarian regimes is … how can I put it diplomatically … wishful thinking not matching real world realities. It would be great if it was true of course, but a fist in your face by an authoritarian regime will quickly teach you otherwise.

insomagent 3y ago
Yeah, this mindset reeks of the same kind of mentality that tech-bro SV startups... "I'm the main character, with this technology (I found an open source GitHub repo with 50k stars) I will save the world!" but with an open-source Stallman-esque twist. Open source software is a great thing for humanity, but as software engineers, we should keep the big picture in mind. Software is software. The sky has been blue and the grass has been green since long before software existed, and the sky will be blue and the grass will be green long after software ceases to exist.

solsane 3y ago

I support all your action items but based on your preamble I was expecting something more along the lines of political engagement/activism.

7Z0nE 3y ago

Authoritarian regimes can care about climate change and they can be even more effective. Chinas transition to carbon neutral energy is progressing at a much higher rate than the US and most countries in the EU.