Nowadays the ecological part of our lives is more important every day that passes.
Young people like Greta Thunberg are fed up of talks without actions.
Free software guarantees to the users four essential freedoms [1], but
the aspect
that sometimes it is not fully appreciated is the ecological aspect of these
essential freedoms.
Free software means users are free to change, share and run the program, individually and in groups.
Free software it is thought and developed for the community, not corporations,
it is
humanity heritage, not an heritage of a single developer or corporation.
In free software
planned obsolescence is not an option, just ethic software that
respect the users and developers is created. Free software respect also the
hardware it runs on.
You can use a GNU [2] plus Linux operating system on computers that are twenty
years old without any problems, you can use an editing video software like
Kdenlive[3] on laptops with more then 10 years of activity
without having to worry
about
expensive license fees.
Smartphones have became an "use and dispose" object, like computers. Searching on
the internet you can find lots of info on how this technology is being "recycled"
[4]; it exists also a fully libre operating system for smartphones and tablets:
Replicant [5].
The carbon footprint of an object is something that is not always considered when buying a product, but it is important for our fragile planet. Every time we buy a product, especially a new one, we add indirectly CO2 in the atmosphere. Recycling and using
our electronics products,
like smartphones and computers, for as long as possible it is essential for our planet.
The laptop where I am writing this article has been bought used, not refurbished,
for less then 100 euro, it was a top of the line when it came out more then 10
years ago, now it runs only on free software, it has graphical and video editing
software too. It is always free software like Krita, Gimp and Kdenlive. Just
ethical, ecological and free, as in freedom of speech, software, this is what we
all need.
The carbon footprint of this laptop has remained pretty much the same, but at least
it has been saved by the disgrace of non free software, a great laptop have been
saved from the planned obsolescence.
Liberate a laptop too!
Install a free, as in freedom of speech, operating system today!
https://www.gnu.org/distros/free-distros.html
It surely
costs less CO2 a liberated laptop compared to a new one, or to an used
one destined to planned obsolescence.
As it was written above it is also possible to liberate even tablets and
smartphones
thanks to Replicant, you can learn more about this free operating
system here:
www.replicant.us
Free software means users are free to change, share and run the
program, individually and in groups. With these freedoms, the users
control what the program does. When a device's software is free,
the manufacturer can't use its power over the software to force
the device into obsolescene, or hurt users in other ways.
This is why we reject the products of Apple, Google and Microsoft.
Even an
extensive use of centralized social networks like Facebook, Instagram and
others one
puts our planet in danger. These social networks resides in many
servers, that often, if not always, run at full capacity even if not needed, just
to be ready to comply to the user demands as soon as possible.
Decentralized social networks exist,
Mastodon [6] is just one example,
Mobilizon [7] another one.
Federated social
network are not centralized, but the network resides in many computer usually
hosted by the community. In this way no one has access to all the data on the
network, and the workload is distributed making it a more ecological choice.
Other examples of federated networks, but for media content are
MediaGoblin [8] and
PeerTube [9].
Most of the people ignore that there are licenses that give you the four (4) essential freedoms:
- The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose (freedom 0).
- The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does your computing as you wish (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
- The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help others (freedom 2).
- The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others (freedom 3). 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.
[1]
The Free Software Definition
[2]
What is GNU?
[3]
Kdenlive
[4]
Computer recycling West Africa style
[5]
Replicant
[6]
Mastodon
[7]
Mobilizon
[8]
MediaGoblin
[9]
PeerTube