What is Free/Libre Software, and Why You Should Care
It is August 24, 2095 and communities around the world tune in to news broadcasts on their implanted smart devices. The dimly-lit OLED display, powered by it’s bio-rechargeable battery, shows a litany news actors reciting the call to pay homage on this most auspicious of days to the software that started us down the road to the world of tomorrow, today.
With that, a colorful banner flashing Microsoft Windows 95 Turns 100! emblazoned the screen, flanked by ads for the newest pharmaceuticals, the latest metaverse craze, and newest self-driving car from Google. You wish you could just shut the thing off, but short of removing the implant, you can’t. Besides, you need that ad credit revenue to pay your rent this month.
Win95 was simple by the standards of the the late 21st century, but without it, it’s possible that personal computing would have remained largely a technical affair; relegated to the professional and academic spheres. The baby steps we took that day brought us to the world we know today where our screen is literally always on us. Our movements, conversations, and daily routines all monitored by companies and governments to ensure we have everything we need when we need it. There’s no longer a need to worry about how to get from here to there. By simply mentioning the desire to go to the theater or the club, my wrist pings my attention with a course plotted, and a coupon offer if I only watch a one minute ad.
Okay, okay. Story time is finished. It wasn’t great, I know. Give me a break, I came up with it on the spot in about 2 minutes.
For some, that sounds like a reasonable and convenient future. For others, it sounds like a cyberpunk dystopian nightmare. Either way, the future described there is one rooted in a world dominated and controlled by authorities with a vested interest in closed and restricted proprietary software. So for now, let’s consider the topic of Free Software.
What is Free Software?
The term free software doesn’t simply refer to software that doesn’t cost anything — that’s freeware. While, free software can be (and usually is) free of charge, it refers to the idea of software freedom.
According to the Free Software Foundation, “To use free software is to make a political and ethical choice asserting the right to learn, and share what we learn with others. Free software has become the foundation of a learning society where we share our knowledge in a way that others can build upon and enjoy.”1 Additionally, “As our society grows more dependent on computers, the software we run is of critical importance to securing the future of a free society. Free software is about having control over the technology we use in our homes, schools and businesses, where computers work for our individual and communal benefit, not for proprietary software companies or governments who might seek to restrict and monitor us.”2
In the free software community, and the larger tech world, you may hear the term FOSS (Free, Open Source Software) or FLOSS (Free/Libre Open Source Software) thrown around. I think FLOSS sounds weird, so I just say FOSS.
Other jargon you might hear thrown around is Free as in Beer and Free as in Speech. These simply mean price (as in the former) and liberty (as in the latter). Free Software can be free as in speech. It can be free of charge monetarily speaking, or it can be sold for profit, but either way it still has to maintain the liberty of the user according to the four freedoms. Speaking of the four freedoms, the GNU project describes them as follows3:
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 others (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.
These freedoms aren’t perfect but they do establish a idealistic framework from which we can start to think about how we use our computers, phones, tablets, etc. Another key element to free software, the ability to view, audit, and edit the source code — also known as being open source.
What’s wrong with proprietary software?
I would define proprietary software as a program binary, application, firmware, driver, operating system, or other type of software that is written and distributed as a free or paid product that maintains it’s source code out of the view of the public. Most companies who develop software utilize this closed source, proprietary method. This includes some of the biggest tech companies and government agencies around:
Microsoft
Apple
Google
Amazon
Facebook/Meta
Twitter
Tesla
All government agencies
Voting machine manufacturers
etc.
Is proprietary software inherently bad? Well, I suppose that depends on your views and philosophy on software licensing and distribution — and this may very well have been the most boring sentence I’ve written here to date.
In my humble opinion, proprietary software isn’t necessarily bad; it’s just not great either. A lot of closed software runs really well, and is able to integrate with other closed software in a way that I’ve found open source software struggles with. I’d assume this has to do with license agreements and NDA’s and such whereas FOSS requires the release of the source code along with any changes that are made.
The biggest problem I have with it is the lack of transparency. We have no idea of what the program is doing beyond its primary function. We use Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS with an understanding that it is collecting and transmitting telemetry data, but what kind of data and how much of it? We just don’t know. How do social media companies gather our cross-site data to develop shadow profiles for users and non-users alike? Who knows? We just have to trust them to not be evil4.
Some Benefits of FOSS
I got my start in the world of FOSS back in 2010 when I discovered Linux. Well, really it was years earlier when I was using programs like Audacity for doing audio editing. As a broke college student at the time, the number one benefit to free software was the price, and on a philosophical level that still holds.
Being free takes away the cost-prohibative nature of a lot of proprietary software. Want to run Windows? Fork out $160 USD or however much it costs at the time for a license key. Need Microsoft Office? That’s another $120 unless you want to pay $20 monthly for their subscription service. Want to run Garageband on a Mac to start your podcast or fledgling music career? I hope you have $1,000 or more at your disposal. These proprietary fees and costs can prohibit lower income individuals from getting access to it.
On the other hand, using a FOSS operating system like Linux with FOSS software can open the door to more people. Can’t afford a new laptop to replace your aging one? Grab a free copy of Linux and install it to give that relic a new lease on life and keep it from the landfill. Need an office suite? Take your pick: LibreOffice, FreeOffice, OpenOffice, OnlyOffice, etc. Need to do audio work? Try Audacity or Ardour. Doing video work? Try Kdenlive, Cinelerra, OpenShot, or Avidemux. Can’t afford Photoshop? Try Gimp or Darktable.
And perhaps one the greatest benefits of free software is the ability to audit the code itself. While some would say that this open visibility would lead to security vulnerabilities, it also allows for more people to lay eyes on it and to check for bugs and malicious changes. That doesn’t mean that every open source project is more secure than something closed, only that there’s more chance of someone catching any problems out there. And for those of us who aren’t programmers and who don’t know how to code, this can offer a good deal of solace when selecting which programs to use.
But Developers Need to Get Paid Too!
Yes they do. That is why it is important for us to support projects that give us value. Be willing to pay for software, at least with a donation here and there. Also, this is why some open source projects — like Red Hat Enterprise Linux for example — charge for their software, support, and services.
Beyond the long standing finance models of donations and paywalls, we now have news ways and means to be able to support people we like. Elementary OS integrated their app store with the Stripe payment service allowing users to pay what they wanted (including $0) for the software they were using, and there’s always sites like Patreon, Subscribe Star, Locals, and Substack. The point here, is that developers deserve to get paid for their work, but their software doesn’t have to be hidden from their users in order for them to make a living, but that’s really up to people like us to do our part.
Why Not be Okay with Sharing Your Data?
A better question might be, why be okay with sharing your data? Is there a direct benefit to sharing that data aside from actually being allowed to use the software? Do you trust the company or individual behind it’s development? I’m not saying we shouldn’t share our data in this way, but I am saying that we out to have access to knowledge of every way that data is and will be used, and it should only be transmitted with our explicit consent.
But I’ve Got Nothing to Hide, So…
I’ve heard this so many times from people, whether talking about software applications, internet services, or government surveillance. “Well I’ve got nothing to hide, so I’m not worried about it.” To which I retort that I don’t have anything to hide either, I just don’t have personal things that I want to put out there. I firmly believe that we all have a human right to privacy and that a lot of companies that make proprietary software utilize methods of collecting telemetry and other data for their own gain — usually by selling that data to online marketing firms, and sometimes worse.
So then why are you still using proprietary software?
Well, because I'm a weak-willed hypocrite. I would love to go full Stallman, but unfortunately too much of my computing life is invested in proprietary systems and software. I could change that. I probably should change that. If I were in the same place I was 5 years ago, I would have changed that, but today I’m less of a Free Software zealot, and more of an incrementalist.
How to get started? An incrementalist approach.
Getting started with free software is easy. You don’t have to ditch your entire computing life, just start by replacing some of the programs you regularly use with a FOSS alternative.
Windows or Mac? Try Linux or FreeBSD
Photoshop and Audition? Try Gimp and Audacity
Microsoft Office? Try LibreOffice or FreeOffice
Google Chrome? Try Chromium or Firefox
The list goes on, and there are plenty of options out there. I won’t bore you with the licensing details right now, but if you want to go full FOSS look for programs with some version of the GNU Public License (GPL). Other Free licenses that are a little more restrictive but still permissive include the Mozilla Public License and the MIT License, and the BSD Licenses. There are tons of options out there, especially on GitHub and GitLab so go give them a spin!