rms computing diff

How I do my computing

I use a [-Lemote machine-] {+Thinkpad X60 computer, in+} which [-has-] {+the FSF installed+} a free
initialization program {+(libreboot)+} and a free operating [-system. One other advantage of this machine-] {+system (Trisquel
GNU/Linux.) This+} is {+the first computer model ever to be sold commercially
with a free initialization program and a free operating system, and thus
the first computer product the FSF could endorse. (It was not sold+} that [-Windows has-] {+way
by Lenovo, however.)

Before that, I used the Lemote Yeeloong for several years. At the time, it
was the only laptop one could buy that could run a free initialization
program and a free operating system. But it was+} never [-supported-] {+sold with a free
operating system.

Before that, I used an OLPC for some weeks. I stopped because the OLPC
project decided to make their machine support Windows, so I did not want to
appear to endorse+} it. {+The OLPC uses a nonfree firmware blob for the WiFi,
so I could not use the internal WiFi device. No big problem, I used an
external one.

The results I worried about, millions of children running Windows on the
OLPC, have not occurred. Instead we see millions of children running
Windows on the Intel Classmate.

Before that I used machines that ran completely free GNU/Linux systems but
had nonfree BIOSes. I tried for about 8 years to find a way to avoid the
nonfree BIOS.+}
I do not have a preferred GNU/Linux distro. I recommend all the ethical
distros — namely, those that are 100% free software.

I've chosen not to have any preferences among those ethical distros. But I
am not in a position to judge them on other criteria: even to try them all
would be a lot work that I have no need to do.
{+Mostly+} I [-formerly used an OLPC. I stopped because the OLPC project made their
machine act as-] {+use+} a [-platform-] {+text console,+} for [-running Windows, so I did not want to appear
to endorse it. However, it seems that the results I worried about, millions-] {+convenience's sake. Most+} of [-children running Windows-] {+my work is
editing text and that is more efficient+} on {+a text console. On+} the [-OLPC, have not occurred.-] {+text
console, the touchpad can't cause me any trouble if+} I [-occasionally-] {+touch it by accident.

I do+} use X11 for tasks that need [-graphics, but mostly I use-] a
[-text console. I find that the text console is more efficient for the bulk
of the work-] {+graphical interface.+} I [-do, which-] {+have no preferred
graphical environment or window manager. Since my interest in using
graphical environments+} is [-editing text.-] {+small,+} I [-spend most-] {+don't want to spend time comparing them.

This is not an ethical issue, just my own personal preference. On the
ethical level, I think it is important for free software to provide free
graphical user interface software, which is why the GNU Project arranged to
launch three projects to develop that. The third, GNOME, was successful, so
we never needed a fourth one.
I spend most+} of my time editing in Emacs. I read and send mail with Emacs
using M-x rmail and C-x m. I {+have no experience with any other email client
programs. In principle I would be glad to know about other free email
clients, but learning about them is not a priority for me and I don't have
time.

I+} edit the pages on this site with Emacs also, although volunteer helpers
install the political notes and urgent notes. {+I have no experience with
other ways of maintaining web sites. In principle I would be glad to know
about other ways, but learning about them is low priority for me and I have
other things to do.+}

This site is [-maitained-] {+maintained+} in a very simple way. I edit the pages such as this
one manually as HTML. I only know simple HTML; others who know more wrote
the parts at the top and bottom of pages, and the more complex formatting
on the home page. Volunteer helpers install the political notes every day
after receiving the text from me by email. A cron job "rolls over" the
political notes page every two months. {+The photo galleries are generated
with this perl script. The search feature on the site is done with this
code.

An explanation of the concept of designing a "user experience" which also
shows why I find it loathesome. This is why I want stallman.org to remain
simple: not a "user experience" but rather a place where I present certain
information, views and action opportunities to you.+}

I never used Unix (not even for a minute) until after I decided to develop
a free replacement for it (the GNU system). I chose that design to follow
because it was portable and seemed fairly clean. I was never a fan of Unix;
I had some criticisms of it too. But it was ok overall as a model.

{+In the mid 90s I had bad hand pain, so bad that most of the day I could
only type with one finger. The FSF hired typists for me part of the day,
and part of the day I tolerated the pain. After a few years I found out
that this was due to the hard keys of my keyboard. I switched to a keyboard
with lighter key pressure and the problem mostly went away.

My problem was not carpal tunnel syndrome: I avoid that by keeping my
wrists pretty straight as I type. There are several kinds of hand pain that
can be caused by repetitive stress; don't assume you have the one you heard
of.+}

Why I coined the name POSIX.

I have [-several free web browsers on my laptop, but-] {+used the Internet since it first existed. I never used UUCP, though
occasionally I sent emails to addresses that involved transmission via
UUCP.

I am careful in how I use the Internet.+}

I generally do not [-look
at-] {+connect to+} web sites from my own machine, aside from a
few sites [-operated for or by
the GNU Project, FSF or me.-] {+I have some special relationship with.+} I fetch web pages from
other sites by sending mail to a program {+(see git://git.gnu.org/womb/
hacks.git)+} that fetches them, much like wget, and then mails them back to
me.

[-The most powerful programming language is Lisp. If you-] {+Then I look at them using a web browser, unless it is easy to see the
text in the HTML page directly. I usually try lynx first, then a graphical
browser if the page needs it (but I make sure I have no net connection, so
that it won't fetch anything else).

I also browse from other people's computers, with their permission. Since I
don't identify myself to the sites I visit, this browsing can't be
connected with me.

One consequence of this method is that most of the survellance methods used
on the Internet can't see me.

Another consequence is that I never pay for anything on the Web. Anything
on the net that requires payment, I don't do. (I made an exception for the
fees for the stallman.org domain, since that is connected with me anyway.)

I would not mind paying for a copy of an e-book or music recording on the
Internet if I could do so anonymously, and it were ethical in other ways
(no DRM or EULA). But that option almost never exists. I keep looking for
ways to make it happen.

The most powerful programming language is Lisp. If you+} don't know Lisp (or
its variant, Scheme), you don't [-appreciate-] {+know+} what {+it means for+} a [-powerful-] {+programming+}
language [-is.-] {+to be powerful and elegant.+} Once you learn [-Lisp-] {+Lisp,+} you will [-see-]
{+understand+} what is [-missing-] {+lacking+} in most other languages.

{+Unlike most languages today, which require defining specialized data types,
Lisp provides a few data types which are general. Instead of defining
types, you build structures from these types. Thus, rather than offering a
way to define a list-of-this type and a list-of-that type, Lisp has one
type of lists which can hold any sort of data.

Where other languages allow you to define a function to search a
list-of-this, and sometimes a way to define a generic list-search function
that you can instantiate for list-of-this, Lisp makes it easy to write a
function that will search any list — and provides a range of such
functions.

In addition, functions and expressions in Lisp are represented as data in a
way that makes it easy to operate on them.+}

When you start a Lisp system, it enters a read-eval-print loop. Most other
languages have nothing comparable to [-read,-] {+`read',+} nothing comparable to [-eval,-] {+`eval',+}
and nothing comparable to [-print.-] {+`print'.+} What gaping deficiencies!

Lisp is no harder to understand than other languages. So if you have never
learned to program, and you want to start, start with Lisp. If you learn to
edit with Emacs, you can learn Lisp by writing editing commands for Emacs.
You can use the Introduction to Programming in Emacs Lisp to learn with: it
is free as in freedom, and you can order printed copies from the FSF.

Please don't buy [-this-] {+books+} (or [-any) book-] {+anything)+} from Amazon!

[-The-]

{+My favorite+} programming languages [-I use-] are Lisp and C. [-They are also my favorite
languages.-] However, since around
1992 I have worked mainly on free software activism, which means I am too
busy to do much programming. {+Around 2008 I stopped doing programming
projects.+} As a result, I have not had time or occasion to learn newer
languages such as Perl, Python, PHP or Ruby.

I read a book about Java, and found it an elegant further development from
C. But I have never used it. I did write some code in Java once, but [-that
was-] the [-island-]
{+code was+} in [-Indonesia.

By contrast, I find C++-] {+C and Lisp (I simply happened to be in Java at the time).

By contrast, I find C+++} quite ugly.

I skimmed documentation of Python after people told me it was [-fundametally-] {+fundamentally+}
similar to Lisp. My conclusion is that that is not so. [-When you start Lisp,
it does-] `read', `eval', and [-`print', all of which-]
{+`print'+} are {+all+} missing in Python.

I firmly refuse to install non-free software or tolerate its installed
presence on my computer or on computers set up for me.

However, if I am visiting somewhere and the machines available nearby
happen to contain non-free software, through no doing of mine, I don't
refuse to touch them. I will use them briefly for tasks such as browsing.
This limited usage doesn't give my assent to the software's license, or
make me responsible its being present in the computer, or make me the
possessor of a copy of it, so I don't see an ethical obligation to refrain
from this. Of course, I explain {+to the local people+} why they should migrate
the machines to free software, but I don't push them hard, because [-that would be
counterproductive.-] {+annoying
them is not the way to convince them.+}

Likewise, I don't need to worry about what software is in a kiosk, pay
phone, or ATM that I am using. I hope their owners migrate them to free
software, for their sake, but there's no need for me to refuse to touch
them until then. (I do consider what those machines and their owners might
do with my personal data, but that's a different [-issue.-] {+issue, which would arise
just the same even if they did use free software.+} My response to that issue
is to minimize those activities which give them any data about me.)

[-That reasoning is based on the fact that-]

{+That's my policy about using a machine once in a while. If+} I [-was not responsible for setting
up those machines, or-] {+were to use it+}
for [-how-] {+an hour every day,+} that [-was done. By contrast,-] {+would no longer be "once in a while" — it would
be regular use. At that point, I would start to feel the heavy hand of any
nonfree software in that computer, and feel the duty to arrange to use a
liberated computer instead.

Likewise,+} if I were to ask or lead someone to set up a computer for me to
use, that would make me ethically responsible for its software load. In
such a case I insist on free software, just as if the machine were mine.

[-Skype-]

{+As for microwave ovens and other appliances, if updating software+} is [-another kind-] {+not a
normal part of use+} of [-exception.-] {+the device, then it is not a computer. In that case,
I think the user need not take cognizance of whether the device contains a
processor and software, or is built some other way. However, if it has an
"update firmware" button, that means installing different software is a
normal part of use, so it is a computer.

Skype (or any nonfree noninteroperable communication program) is a special
case.+} Using Skype to talk with someone else who is using Skype is
encouraging the other to use nonfree software. So I won't use it under any
circumstances. {+(See more information.)

Streaming media dis-services such as Netflix and Spotify require nonfree
client programs that impose digital restrictions mechanisms (DRM) intended
to stop the user from saving a copy of the data being streamed through her
own computer. You should never use DRM that you can't break, so you should
not use these dis-services unless you can break their DRM.

A friend once asked me to watch a video with her that she was going to
display on her computer using Netflix.+} I [-sometimes-] {+declined, saying that Netflix was
such an affront to freedom that I could not be party to its+} use [-Google's search engine, and-] {+under any
circumstances whatsoever.

These streaming dis-services are malicious technology designed to make
people antisocial. (If you don't have a copy, you can't share copies.)
Rejecting them is of the highest ethical priority.

Out, out, damned Spotify! Flick off, Netflix!

For searching, I have mostly used DuckDuckGo for the past couple of years.
It does work with JS disabled, but you have to follow a link before you
search.+}

I {+also+} sometimes use [-DuckDuckGo.
When-] {+ixquick.com.+}

I [-use-] {+have never had+} a [-search engine, it-] {+Facebook account, or a Google+ account. I reject those
services on principle. Some impostor created a Facebook account using my
name. The page+} is [-always-] {+not mine. The Google+ account using my name is also not
mine.

I reject Facebook and Google+ because they require people to have just one
account, which means that all the person's activities are grouped together.
They also insist on knowing the person's usual name. I am proud to identify
myself when stating my views; I can afford to do that because I am in a
fairly safe position. There are people who rationally fear reprisals (from
employers, gangsters, bullies, or the state) if they sign their name to
their views. For their sake, let's reject any social networking site which
insists on connecting an account to a person's real identity.

Google+ offers to hide the user's real name, but demands people prove an
"established identity" or provide ID. I am suspicious of this requirement,
since it can't hide the user's real name+} from {+the US government, which has
a policy of prosecuting journalists as "spies". In fact, Google+ regularly
"outs" vulnerable people.

That article exaggerates the difficulty of living without+} a [-machine-] {+Google+
account. You don't need to do the activities+} that [-isn't mine-] {+require one,+} and
[-that other people also use. I never identify myself-] {+they
require running nonfree Javascript code which is in itself good reason not+}
to [-the site,-] {+do them.

The requirement to run nonfree Javascript code to post a message is another
fatal flaw+} of [-course.-] {+Google+ itself.

Of course, Facebook is bad for many other reasons as well.+}

I do not use {+other+} social networking [-sites. They-] {+sites because they+} are inherently
inconvenient for me. That doesn't mean I think they are all unethical. Some
are, some are not. Social networking sites raise their own set of ethical
issues, completely different from the ethical issues of distributing
software (free vs proprietary).

I have a Twitter account called rmspostcomments, [-but I never post on
Twitter.-] {+which+} I use [-it-] to log in on
other sites to post comments on articles. {+I never post on Twitter. Someone
made an account stallman_feed which I'm told posts something about my
political notes.+} Any other Twitter account that claims to be mine is an
impostor.

The rms account on identi.ca repeats the political notes from this site,
but I do not post on it directly.

Aside from those two, any account on a social networking site that says it
is mine is an impostor.

I do not post on 4chan. [-Occasionally-] I have {+nothing against it, and I have occasionally+}
answered questions for interviews for 4chan, but any [-account-] {+posting+} there that
says it is {+by+} me is {+by+} an impostor.

[-As for Facebook and Google+, I reject them on principle because they
require people to give their "real names". I am proud to identify myself
when stating my views; I can afford to do that because I am in a fairly
safe position. There are people who rationally fear reprisals (from
employers, gangsters, bullies, or the state) if they state their views. For
their sake, let's reject any social networking site which insists on being
told a user's real name.

Google+ says it will offer to hide the user's real name, but demands people
prove an "established identity" or provide ID. I am suspicious of this
requirement, but not sure what it will mean in practice.

Of course, Facebook is bad for many other reasons as well.-]

People sometimes ask me to recommend an email service. The two ethical
issues for an email service are (1) whether you can use it without running
any nonfree software (including nonfree Javascript code from the site), and
(2) whether it respects your privacy.

[-Last I heard, Gmail was satisfactory on-]

{+For+} issue 1, [-and probably so are many
others.-] {+see the FSF's page.+} On issue 2, I have no way to verify that
any email service is satisfactory. Therefore, I have no recommendation to
offer.

However, I can suggest that it may be wise to use an email service that is
not connected with your search engine. That way you can be almost sure that
your email contents don't influence your search results. You shouldn't
identify yourself to your search engine in any case.

Every product with Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) is an attack on
your freedom.

Therefore, one should not buy or tolerate any product with DRM handcuffs
unless one personally possesses the means to break the handcuffs. For
instance, don't use encrypted DVDs unless you [-play them using-] {+have+} DeCSS or another
comparable free program. And never use a Bluray disk unless you find a way
to break its handcuffs. {+Don't use the Amazon Swindle or other e-book
readers that trample readers' freedoms. Don't use music or video streaming
"services" that impose DRM. (If they require a nonfree client program, it
is probably for DRM or some sort of surveillance of users.)+}