FSFE open letter: "The universal right to install any software on any device"
The Lunduke Journal has signed this letter and enthusiastically supports it.
The FSFE (Free Software Foundation Europe) has published an open letter to “Legislators in the European Union” entitled “The universal right to install any software on any device”.
The open letter contains four key requests:
Users have the right to freely choose operating systems and software running on their devices
Users have the right to freely choose between service providers to connect their devices with
Devices are interoperable and compatible with open standards
Source code of drivers, tools, and interfaces are published under a free license
The key one, to me, is number 1.
That users have the right to freely choose operating systems and software running on their devices.
Many companies are actively engaged in a campaign to vilify and forbid users from being able to install and use the software of their choice… on the computer hardware they own.
Apple, for example, is working hard to vilify the concept of “installing software outside of a closed marketplace” by referring to such a simple act as “sideloading” and working to demonize the concept.
Google has taken a similar approach. And has, as of this last year, taken significant steps to limit the ability of users to “sideload” software.
These actions — by Apple, Google, and others — need to be fought against. It runs contrary to everything we, as computer enthusiasts, are for. Apple and Google seek to severely limit tinkering, experimentation, hardware longevity, and the basic freedom of how we use the hardware we, personally, own.
As such, The Lunduke Journal has proudly signed this open letter from the FSFE.
The Lunduke Journal joins other freedom loving organizations (such as Nextcloud, Software Freedom Conservancy, KDE, Purism, openSUSE, Haiku, /e/, Nitrokey, and many others) in support of the idea that people should be free to install software, of their choosing, on their own hardware.
Companies will eventually begin renting hardware so users don't own hardware.
Make it as hard as possible to "protect" your users, I will go through 50 "Are you sure" prompts, I don't care. But there has to be some way to run whatever software you want on your hardware...
We; in a general sense and a community; focus alot on open source software and not hardware. Apple gets away with alot because they control their software and hardware. Seems like a cool problem we can tackle