Stallman coined the term "free software" to emphasize user freedom rather than price. According to him, "free" refers to freedom, not zero cost. Free software grants users the freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change, and improve the software.
“Free Software, Free Society” lecture by Richard Stallman.
Before the Snowden revelations, Richard Stallman speculated that smartphones are spy devices that can have their microphones and cameras turned on by a remote hack that is not under control of the owner. He was right. Many people considered him paranoid for having these suspicions—they turned out to be the wrong ones. In fact, Stallman didn’t go far enough, because the level of mass surveillance and spying being done by the NSA and Five Eyes is far more extensive than anyone had ever guessed. Between backdoors in major tech companies, taps on undersea cables, man-in-the middle attacks, these are just the tip of the iceberg.
Then came the Wikileaks Vault 7 revelations, the hacking tools of the CIA. This was even more shocking, with the ability of the CIA hackers to leave digital breadcrumbs that make it appear Russia or Iran had hacked a computer while the US did it, the ability to hack your Samsung Smart TV to turn on the microphone to spy on you, etc.
Stallman’s message has proven prophetic. He was one of the first to recognize that as society becomes more dependent upon digital technology, the more power and control those who control tech tech wield over the public. Never has this been more so with the smartphone, which is a tracking device.
Free and open source software enables people to view its code. This means any backdoors or malicious code can be spotted by the users. Proprietary software like Microsoft Windows or Adobe products have code that is not viewable. So you don’t know what code is running. Now we know major corporations also have agreements with the US government to install backdoors in many platforms. And these corporations are unable to speak of it because they are under gag order. Some email providers are forbidden from shutting down instead of complying with the law. Microsoft admits to Windows 10 having a universal backdoor, nearly all portable phones, and the Amazon Kindle. Although slightly different and not quite a backdoor, Android has the ability to force updates to you, even ones maliciously designed for you.
DRM or “digital rights management” is malware that prevents the user from playing music, videos, or reading books they already paid for. It is an attack on the freedom of the user.
Users should surf the Internet while protecting their privacy. This means not using Google, which is weaponized against users and is certainly not neutral, according to the researcher Robert Epstein, who testified before Congress about this issue. Google also saves your search history and the feds can see these searches via PRISM. In a few instances, people who watched a particular Youtube video were placed on the Domestic Terrorist Watch List by the FBI. Even searching for the TOR Project can get you placed on the TSDB (Domestic Terrorist Watch List). Chrome Browser tracks you as you surf the Internet.
Strong encryption, such as AES-256, is still invulnerable to bruteforce and dictionary based password cracking attempts, even by future quantum computers, assuming a strong password is used. Most people use weak passwords, however. That’s part of the problem. As a matter of course you should encrypt everything, irrespective of whether it is private or sensitive material or not. It’s a matter of principle—you respect your freedom and your right to privacy and you aren’t okay with strangers reading your data. “Having nothing to hide” is irrelevant. What do you have to hide when going to the bathroom? Do you keep the bathroom door open? The issue is privacy. It is about reserving some matters to just ourselves. Further, just because you aren’t doing anything wrong doesn’t mean the government won’t target you. It need only have the desire to target you and then it draws its own conclusions. They can also plant fake data, and backdate data. Don’t help them. You should also work without having to trust any human. That means trusting math. Such is cryptography. Given their track record and the laws in place, there is no reason to trust any tech company, even those like Tutanota or Proton, because these can be hacked. Or they might secretly be honeypots. This is demonstrated in the comparison between traditional banking and Bitcoin. Bitcoin’s security relies upon cryptography and mathematics. Traditional banking relies upon trust in human institutions. Ask Venezuela and Russia how that worked for them leaving their money in Western banks. Venezuela’s gold was stolen and Russia lost $325 billion in hard currency reserves. Encryption like HTTPS, VPN’s, and end-to-end encrypted messaging systems are vital, as is Veracrypt.
Do not use SAAS, or “software as a service.” This is essentially a scam. Instead of being able to buy a permanent license to use a software program, you rely upon the software being run “in the cloud,” which means someone else’s computer. It means being a permanent renter of software services. This software can be changed against your will at the discretion of the software company and there’s nothing you can do about it. And they can lock you out if they desire as well. Nevermind the security implications of this, considering the backdoors previously discussed. Microsoft 365 logs everything you do, and is a spy tool if there ever was one. When control of the software is held in someone else’s server, that means you can never have control and can never regain it.
Stallman recommends using free file formats which are not encumbered and controlled by others. You should use freedom respecting file free formats like Ogg for audio, WebM for video, and OpenDocument Format (ODF) for documents.
Stallman is opposed to mobile phones because they are spy devices that constantly track you. If you do use them, consider using one that is degoogled and not an Apple product. Google uses Android to collect data on you, and Apple also collects a huge amount of private data. Operating systems like GrapheneOS are freedom respecting. They don’t track you. Turn off Bluetooth, GPS, and other means that can be used to track you. Also, turn off location services, the microphones, NFC, and the cameras. Use a VPN. This will also help protect you at public WI-FI locations. Only use apps that require the minimum permissions to work. You don’t need a clock app that turns on the microphone and cameras, for example.
Keep control of your data. Don’t use cloud computing solutions unless you first self-encrypt your files before uploading them so the provider cannot see your data. If their server is hacked, it keeps your data safe as well. Another option is to encrypt a hard drive and save your data on that. Don’t use proprietary software vaults like Google Play Store. Instead, use F-Droid or Aurora. These are repositories for free and open source software for your phone. In the US, there was a big fight over encryption, and the cipherpunks were pushing for digital freedom. The US government wanted it illegal to export encryption software and considered it a “munition.” To get around this, the founder of PGP software, Phil Zimmermann, published the code in text format in a book, thus making it protected by freedom of speech. Once encryption software is known, the cat is “out-of-the bag” and there’s no getting it back.
People should value their freedom. They should care for this over convenience, because our democracy is at stake. If you don’t have freedom and privacy, then you cannot have democracy. The Ghouls-Based Order uses mass surveillance to spy on people and leverage this data against people. It is a fundamental attack on democracy, a violation of privacy rights, and an affront to the rule of law. The fear of scrutiny and punishment has a chilling effect on all areas of life, including the ability just to have open and meaningful conversations with your friends and family, let alone making public speeches. Creativity, diversity of thought, and dissent are vital to an open and free society. Mass surveillance crushes all of these. There are many instances where the feds even plant fake evidence on people to frame them for crimes so they can excuse a deadly SWAT raid on them, or falsely imprison them for political reasons. This is also done to intimidate journalists.
Mass surveillance has what is called a “Panopticon Effect,” kind of like the Eye of Sauron, where there is a power imbalance because those in power can see all, but it isn’t the other way around. This leads to abuses of power, such as when NSA employees were using mass surveillance to spy on their former wives and girlfriends, and sometimes to gain leverage in divorce proceedings. The normalizing of mass surveillance is just one step in the “boil the frog” phenomenon of tyranny.
The Eye of Sauron, by J.R. Tolkien
Mass surveillance undermines democracy by discouraging people from exercising their right to peacefully assemble and protest. For example, anti-genocide protesters have had their photos taken by facial recognition cameras. Canary Mission, a Zionist organization, then uses this data to profile people and blacklist them so they will lose their jobs and also prevents them from getting jobs. Facial recognition cameras can be used to target those who are likely to vote at a specific place or time if those same people are considered political enemies of those in power. This can be a safety risk, and if their faces are identified, then this makes it worse. Mass surveillance reduces feelings of solidarity and group cohesion. It alienates people and divides them. It also destroys the needed trust between the people and their government. It changes the dynamic to “us” to “them vs us.” Mass surveillance is inherently dehumanizing. Instead of focusing on individuals who have done wrong, it focuses on violating the privacy rights of everyone “just in case” someone does something wrong. It’s also a waste because there are no instances of mass surveillance having stopped even one mass shooting or terrorist attack.
Stallman was one of the first to meaningfully apply the concepts of freedom, democracy, and privacy to the digital age. He was able to see these trends ahead of many others. He started as an enthusiastic hacker who enjoyed learning how things work, and when confronted with proprietary software he witnessed how it threatened the hacker community and divided it. From this foundation he develop his ideas. He has spent decades sharing them, and it wasn’t until the Ghouls-Based Order began smearing him and attacking him because he threatened their power and control that he faced many heartaches. Since that time he has bounced back. He also suffered from cancer. I pray he is on the mend.
I liked! This is the article I mentioned in the message I sent you.
One other thing: Alex, if you continue to use Windows 11, you won't lose anything by installing ClamWin. I am convinced that this antivirus will detect anything in your software.
One note: you have to program it and it is a little slower than other antiviruses. For its type of antivirus, it is probably one of the best, if not the best.