Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2018 10:41:10 +1030 Subject: added freedom pages --- freedom/index.html | 95 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ freedom/schools.html | 89 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ freedom/start.html | 112 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ freedom/why.html | 108 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 4 files changed, 404 insertions(+) create mode 100644 freedom/index.html create mode 100644 freedom/schools.html create mode 100644 freedom/start.html create mode 100644 freedom/why.html (limited to 'freedom') diff --git a/freedom/index.html b/freedom/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..27aff82 --- /dev/null +++ b/freedom/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,95 @@ + + + + + + + + + + + GNU plus Linux + + + +

Free Software

+ + + +

What is free software

free software is any program that is distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change and distribute it and any modified versions.

+ Free software is about liberty, not price. You are given the right to sell free software you receive legally for any price regardless of the cost that may have been associated with obtaining it. Similarly, you are free to offer services relating to free software at a price. This may include software support or further development.

+ A program is free software when the terms of the license give users the following four freedoms:

+ Freedom 0: The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose.

+ Freedom 1: The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does your computing as you wish. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

+ Freedom 2: The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help others.

+ Freedom 3: The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others. 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. +

+
User Liberation by GNU +

+ Made by Daniel Jones +

+ + + diff --git a/freedom/schools.html b/freedom/schools.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a863e57 --- /dev/null +++ b/freedom/schools.html @@ -0,0 +1,89 @@ + + + + + + + + + + + GNU plus Linux + + + +

Free Software

+ + + +

Free software in schools

+ Since the early days of computing in the education system a strong reliance on proprietary software has existed. Schools are relied upon by parents across the world to both give their children the education they need and deserve and to become strong, capable, independent and cooperating members of the free society they live in. This however is not the case when it comes to the software they use in their ever-growing digital life. Schools are implanting their students with reliance on proprietary software by teaching and providing them with only proprietary software. Many large software companies such as Microsoft offer schools gratis (free of charge) copies of their software, they do this because they want to promote dependence on their software, this is no different to tobacco companies providing children with free cigarettes. When a student graduates the education system they only know proprietary software and are then forced to pay for the software they were once provided free of charge by the school. Many may see these tactics as supporting the education system and a good thing, however it is motivated by profits.

+ + Many free software alternatives to the proprietary programs used in schools (Windows, Microsoft Office the alternatives being GNU/Linux, LibreOffice) exist and are often of equal quality. Support for these free software alternatives are lacking compared to what would be available through for example Microsoft, however this opens a new opportunity for businesses to support users of free software. Using free software in the education system provides students interested in programming and computer science the opportunity to explore how the software they use every day is made and modify the program to work how they wish. Proprietary software rejects their thirst for knowledge by saying “the knowledge you want is secret, learning is forbidden!” + +

+ Made by Daniel Jones +

+ + + diff --git a/freedom/start.html b/freedom/start.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fc4161c --- /dev/null +++ b/freedom/start.html @@ -0,0 +1,112 @@ + + + + + + + + + + + GNU plus Linux + + + +

Free Software

+ + + +

Getting started with free software

Free alternatives to proprietary software

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Proprietary	Free Software
Microsoft Windows, Apple MacOS	Trisquel, Parabola, Debian, Ubuntu
Microsoft Office	LibreOffice
Google Chrome/Microsoft Edge	FireFox
Adobe Photoshop	GIMP

+ A much more complete and comprehensive list of free software is available online. +

+ Made by Daniel Jones +

+ + + diff --git a/freedom/why.html b/freedom/why.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6448b1e --- /dev/null +++ b/freedom/why.html @@ -0,0 +1,108 @@ + + + + + + + + + + + GNU plus Linux + + + +

Free Software

+ + + +

What is proprietary software

+ Proprietary software is a program that is owned by an individual or company that hold exclusive rights to the use and distribution of the program and its code. The GNU project/Free Software Foundation further defines a program as proprietary if it does not provide the user with their four essential freedoms. The use of proprietary software is often restricted by an end user license agreement (EULA) or other similar agreement which is legally binding. These agreements usually put in writing how you may use the software imposing many restrictions including not redistributing the software, modifying or decompiling it along with the threat of legal repercussions for performing an action deemed not allowed. The user of the software will often agree to these terms by downloading the software or pressing an “I agree” or similar button prior to the program installing. Unfortunately however, most users of proprietary software do not read these agreements and have no understanding of the obligations imposed upon them. This is further deemed worrying by existing court rulings in favor of the copyright holder in legal disputes about software agreements. +

Why use free software

+ + Using free software is to make a political and ethical decision asserting the right to learn and share what we learn with others. Users of free software are denied these freedoms and benefits. If they make a copy of a proprietary program and give it to a friend, if they try to figure out how a program works or if they put more than one copy on computers in their house they could be caught, fined or put in jail. These are things often stated in the agreement you accept when using proprietary software.

+ + The corporations and individuals behind proprietary software have been found to perform various nefarious activities such as spying on users who install their programs, malicious activity such as restricting what you can or cannot install on your device and selling your data to third party companies. This represents an unacceptable risk in our ever-growing digital lives and is a danger to our free society.

+ + Free software is strongly related to the use of open standards, Standards are considered open when they are freely open and created by a not-for-profit organisation on the basis of an open decision making procedure available to all interested parties and reusable without any restrictions. The use of open standards makes your data free of any constraints to a particular program and makes it easy to migrate and exchange your data between applications, computers or operating systems. This is often impossible with many popular existing proprietary program data files.

+ + Provides complete freedom
+ Originally computer manufactures considered only hardware innovation and did not focus on software never considering it a business asset. This was because most computer users were scientists and technicians who would write and modify their own software and it was distributed freely. Later, higher-level programming languages were introduced that worked across multiple hardware types and allowed programmers to further refine their software to run better on older hardware. This led to a decrease of profit margins for hardware manufacturers, this led to them treating software as a business asset bringing with it proprietary software. Today, free software gives the users the ability to study how the programs they use work and allows them to modify and further improve the program and distribute it help others, the way it was originally intended. This is impossible with proprietary software.

+ + No imposed upgrades
+ Free software never disappears like proprietary software. If proprietary software vendors cease supporting a program the users generally have two options: continue using the unsupported software or perform the unwanted upgrade. Sometimes the user does not have a choice and an upgrade is forced. Imposed upgrades cannot happen with free software. For example, when RedHat (a producer of a popular GNU/Linux operating system) stopped supporting versions 7, 8 and 9 of their operating system various other companies came forward and supported these systems. This is possible because the source code is available without restriction to its users. A user of free software may choose to keep using an outdated and unsupported version of a program or they may choose to continue development themselves or pay someone else to do it.

+ + No spying or malicious activity, auditable
+ If a user has no control over the software they are using, it can easily spy on their activities and perform various malicious acts which are sometimes agreed to in the agreement the user signed yet probably did not read and understand. The use of free software provides the user and community to audit the software’s source code in order to detect any malicious spying or activities. Free software is of course not free of malicious code, however through the efforts of many capable users and companies that are paid to audit free software anything malicious is found and removed. This is impossible with proprietary software, you are forced to trust the programs owner. This is also true for bug and security fixes – they cannot be verified in proprietary software, this is dangerous.

+ + No monopolies
+ Using free software you are free to switch to various different version of free software maintained by various people and companies. Most major pieces of free software have various versions maintained by other companies and users, with free software you are free to switch between then without restriction or difficulty compared to the likes of proprietary software. + + +

+ Made by Daniel Jones +

+ + + -- cgit v1.2.3