Revelations about the PRISM project involve US tech companies that have been compelled to provide special assistance to US intelligence agencies. Will secret arrangements between tech companies and US intelligence affect how independent security researchers disclose vulnerabilities?
Read more »Has the NSA "poisoned the well" for responsible disclosure?
Category: Philosophy Tags:
- Login to post comments
GNU and Linux: It's Not Just About Attribution But Also Philosophy
What the argument over the names often boils down to is philosophy, not just attribution or credit. GNU was created with software freedom in mind. Linux, in its genesis, was proprietary until it adopted the GNU GPL licence and then became mainstream.
Read more »Category: Philosophy Tags:
- Login to post comments
Ubuntu Spyware: What to Do?
RMS writes on Canonical's controversial decision to forward local Ubuntu searches to third parties. One way or another there are big privacy implications.
Read more »Category: Philosophy Tags:
- Login to post comments
Network Services Aren't Free or Nonfree; They Raise Other Issues
Programs and services are different kinds of entities. A program is a work that you can execute; a service is an activity that you might interact with. For programs, we make a distinction between free and nonfree (proprietary). More precisely, this distinction applies to a program that you have a copy of: either you have the four freedoms for your copy or you don't.
Read more »Category: Philosophy Tags:
TLWIR 31: Using GNU/Linux and Free Software to Bring Back American Innovation
Free Software is mainly about innovation. Free Software engineers find radical new ways of solving old problems. In doing so, they teach those whose minds have ossified how to think outside of the box. The U.S. manufacturing sector is in trouble, partially because we have been outperformed by our neighbors in the East.
Read more »Category: Philosophy Tags:
- Login to post comments
The silver lining of the MegaUpload shutdown
It's been big news online lately that MegaUpload was shut down. Along with it, many of the other annoying, wait-60-seconds-and-fill-in-this-captcha-or-upgrade-to-premium file sharing services have stopped offering public downloads. A lot of people are understandably upset about this, since in the case of MegaUpload, they don't even have access to their own files anymore.
Read more »Category: Philosophy Tags:
- Login to post comments
American Corporate Software Can No Longer Be Trusted For Anything
The discussions around SOPA have shown a very unfortunate side of United States policymaking — that its policymakers are not the slightest afraid of legislatively ordering American-run corporations to sabotage their customers in order to further United States foreign policy.
Read more »Category: Philosophy Tags:
A Wise User Judges Each Internet Usage Scenario Carefully
If the term “Cloud Computing” has any meaning, it can only be a certain attitude towards computing: an attitude of not thinking carefully about what a proposed scenario entails or what risks it implies.
Read more »- Login to post comments
A cyborg lawyer running on proprietary software
Video: Karen Sandler talks about her pacemaker and the software running on it.
Read more »- Login to post comments
What's Needed for Freedom in the “cloud”?
Georg Greve from Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) has often been asked to explain what he considers necessary prerequisites for an open, free, sustainable approach towards what is often called “The Cloud” or also “Software as a Service” (SaaS).
Read more »Category: Philosophy Tags:
- Login to post comments
The Same Old Microsoft at OSCON
Microsoft bought a seat at OSCON. There are problems with both what they are telling us and what others might not be able to tell us because of this. A small retrospective is in order.
Read more »Category: Philosophy Tags:
- Login to post comments
Resist the Temptations of the Cloud!
In the age of cloud computing, technology companies decide which programs users can load on to their smart phones, while Facebook sells personal data to other companies to use. Internet users need to swim against the stream if they want to protect their privacy.
Read more »Category: Philosophy Tags:
- Login to post comments
Darwin does Free Software Or Why Free Software Will Evolve Faster Than Proprietary Software
Charles Robert Darwin is famous for his theory of evolution by a process which he termed natural selection. Today we are going to attempt to stretch Darwin’s theories to cover software as well.
Read more »Category: Philosophy Tags:
Wikipedia Founder: Free Knowledge requires Free Software and Free File Formats
What is free knowledge? What is a free encyclopedia? The essence is something that anyone who understands free software can immediately grasp. A free encyclopedia, or any other free knowledge, can be freely read, without getting permission from anyone. Free knowledge can be freely shared with others. Free knowledge can be adapted to your own needs.
Read more »Category: Philosophy Tags:
Free Software: Candle in the Dark
We live in turbulent times, that’s for sure and the financial crisis is the one to blame. There is a very difficult situation in my country these days and lately there is much anger and discord among people. The Free Software Community is a part of the society, so it is affected by these phenomena. Many people don’t realize one thing.
Read more »Category: Philosophy Tags: