SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
El Reg published a story that quotes GNU evangelist and free-software advocate saying just about what we would expect him to say today about the current state of technology:
LinuxGNU firebrand Richard Stallman says Windows and Mac OS are malware, Amazon is Orwellian, and anyone who trusts the internet-of-things is an ass. In a column for The Guardian, Stallman preaches to the non-technical masses about the evils of proprietary software and vendor lock-in, and how closed-door coding facilitates clandestine deals with nation state spy agencies."What kinds of programs constitute malware? Operating systems, first of all," Stallman testifies.
"Apple systems are malware too: MacOS snoops and shackles; iOS snoops, shackles, censors apps and has a backdoor.
"Even Android contains malware in a non-free component: a back door for remote forcible installation or de-installation of any app."
Stallman references a a Bloomberg report in saying Microsoft "sabotages" Windows users by disclosing vulnerabilities to the NSA before patches are released. It isn't just Windows and MacOS that Stallman brands malware: Barbie dolls, smart TVs, and cars also earn his ire thanks to the potential for marketers to secretly pry on a child's worst fears or listen in to lounge room conversations.
I'm not sure that I'm going to worry about Barbie dolls listening on conversations, but I understand his concerns. I have often wondered about the expansion of sophisticated computer technology into all aspects of life, such as in HDTVs and cars. The possibilities for abuse are many, and we have learned over recent years governments are not immune from exploiting vulnerabilities to commit serious crimes and violations of our civil liberties.
[Editor's Comment: Original Submission]
(Score: 3, Insightful) by PizzaRollPlinkett on Tuesday May 26 2015, @11:06AM
I'm amazed by how RMS got so many things right, and yet he never seemed to anticipate companies exploiting free software by using it to build walled gardens. The not-free universe took everything RMS stands for and spent his life building, and used it to create walled gardens, the ultimate not-free platform for locking up software and content. Apple and Google have ruthlessly exploited open source to make billions in profit. Facebook and others are wrappers on top of open source. These companies give back a little, but not much, and recently we've had a slate of badly-funded but critical open source projects with show-stopping bugs. Love them or hate them, Microsoft has built out its own platform and not just expoited free software. (Except for that TCP/IP thing a while back.) But company after company has taken free software and built something that is completely opposed to the philosophy of free software. I don't think the utopian world of RMS is possible. Someone like him can occasionally opt out of the system, but everyone else has to make a living doing something. We can't all opt out of making a living. But it is ironic and sad that everything RMS spent decades advocating and sacrificing for has been taken by corporations to build walled gardens.
(E-mail me if you want a pizza roll!)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 26 2015, @12:20PM
He did, and that's what GPLv3 sought to correct. Unfortunately, it came too late.
I always wondered though: are companies that refuse to release the source of their Android forks violating the GPL?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 26 2015, @07:18PM
I think there is little he could've done to prevent walled gardens. It's not something overseen but the lesser of two evils. https://gnu.org/philosophy/programs-must-not-limit-freedom-to-run.html [gnu.org]
Looks like Android is Apache 2.0 (not copyleft) for the other parts and GPL (copyleft) for Linux so it depends: If they modified the kernel, they must share their changes (when they distribute) however if they only changed the other parts, then they are not required by law to do so.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Tuesday May 26 2015, @04:49PM
Well but a walled garden implies some form of DRM which means closed source and or hardware locks, and Stallman is likely advocating none of them. In fact when I attended one of his conferences he had an XO laptop with a bolted on replacement keyboard (the XO looked like the sinclair spectrum, keyboard wise), which at the time was likely the most open laptop hardware out there.
Account abandoned.