original
Dr. Andy Farnell on Pulling the Plug
Who does your technology serve? Or, another question to ask is, what does the technology you use actually do to you? Andy has this excellent new article this afternoon. To quote a portion of it: "The European Commission is all set on "digital sovereignty" and Britain needs to be too. But ve aware that "digital sovereignty" also means state control over technology. We think that tech should be properly governed but we must also ensure that reflects true democratic will, not parochial power. Hint: nobody votes for mass surveillance or mandatory ID. [...] Most importantly there's a Software Freedom Movement that has been around to 40 years! It's based on a simple, examinable set of principles that have stood the test of time and created the foundations of modern software. Most of the code that runs the world, and code that enabled companies like Google and Apple to even exist, is Free Open Source Software (FOSS). FOSS is software built by the people for the people. It's created mostly by unpaid volunteers and academics long before commercial organisations come to "invest" in it. Both Apple iOS and Google Android phones are based on free Unix variants like Linux and BSD, but repackaged for big-brand names." █
Image source: wire