We always can...; For 20th Software Freedom Day

Four decades ago, Richard Stallman might have abandoned the idea of building a free (as in freedom) operating system known as GNU, given the plethora of proprietary ones available. Three decades ago, Linus Torvalds might have opted to mock the GNU project, forsaking his attempt to develop a kernel (ultimately for the GNU project) and instead selecting an option readily available in the market. Twenty years ago… Ten years ago… Now…

A brief look at the history of the Free Software Movement reveals a long list of projects that emerged and developed in the presence of strong proprietary “competitors”. I’m not referring to those using permissive licenses intended to exploit the free labor of volunteer developers. Rather, I’m highlighting many projects released under strong CopyLeft licenses (to protect the user’s freedom); and their numbers are still growing. Among those with AGPL (the strongest CopyLeft license), we have NextCloud, a project for running cloud services, developed amidst a plethora of proprietary cloud solutions. Mastodon, PeerTube, and several other software for creating a network of free and decentralized social media were developed when everyone seemed trapped in centralized and proprietary solutions. The list can be expanded further, but I believe this is sufficient to convey the message.

We can always choose to be the catalyst for change. And we can always choose to make excuses for capitulating to the status quo. The Free Software Movement is one of the best examples of the possibility of change and control over our digital lives when others see no hope. We can always wait and watch for opportunities like a hunter to seize a good moment for contribution, to find the right people to collaborate with, to work in a company for building free/open source software, and more. Maybe it comes late, but we can always take a step forward while others campaign to spread despair.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the GNU project, the 32nd for the Linux kernel, the 30th for Debian, the 20th for WordPress, and so forth. On the 20th anniversary of Software Freedom Day, we can reflect on our involvement in this movement and reconsider what it means to be part of such a movement.