Jon Hall is a legend of free software. Executive director of Linux and consultant to several technology companies, “Maddog”, as he likes to be called, is a figure confirmed in every edition of the International Free Software Forum ( FISL ), whose 16th edition takes place 8-11 July in Porto Alegre. “There are many Jons around,” he says. None, however, is as controversial as.
How to watch the lectures of FISL 16 online
staunch activist of digital freedom, the software guru free talked to TechTudo about their reasons to be suspicious of proprietary technologies, he explained the concept of “slavery of software” and quoted Edward Snowden, George Bush, Cuba and national sovereignty. Check out how was the chat:
TechTudo : What is the difference of a free software for a private software code
?
Jon Maddog : Having free software means that you have access to the source code of the program. When it comes to a private software, you do not have to recreate the code. Who is code owner is a company. You relinquished control to that company
TT:.? And why this is bad
Maddog: I have multiple computers at home, and I can no longer use some of them as companies retired Products. This is the case of Windows XP. If you have a computer with Windows XP and needs an update, it’s a shame, but it will not happen. What Microsoft will say is, “Well, upgrade to Windows 10″. But your old computer can not run on Windows 10. If you run, maybe some of the installed products do not work in Windows 10.
TT: So I’ll have to renew all
Live free or die
Jon Maddog Hall
Maddog: If you are a business owner with dozens of computers, you’ll have to stop everything in order to update their machines, even in the middle of a big sale. Imagine a company having to stop everything amid the Christmas sales to upgrade software. You will have to spend time and resources and may not be willing to do that
TT:.? And free software is a solution to this
Maddog: People do not buy software. People buy solutions to problems. The problem may be playing a game. The software bring these solutions, but sometimes the solution to your problem is a non-open source software, or your problem requires a machine and software that do not work together. If you complain to the companies responsible for the products, one will blame the other. Now, if the code is open, you do not depend on manufacturers to seek their solutions.
There was a company in Rio de Janeiro that needed a specific software to solve a problem, but the software was all in English, and the company’s staff only spoke Portuguese. What did they do? Changed code prompt to run the program in Portuguese. . Worked
TT: Can you explain the concept of “software slavery”
Maddog: For years I talked about free software. Now I speak of software slavery. Few people understand what is “freedom.” Former President George Bush, he certainly did not understand. “Freedom” is when you can go where you want, provided they do not harm others. Now “slavery” everyone understands: it is being forced to do so, to buy here is someone saying where you should go. Software slavery is when they decide what you should buy, where to buy, when to change when retiring … You become a slave software.
As for the companies … they hate freedom as much as They like her. They hate because a free account can change service at any time, and they need to please him to keep loyal customer. At the same time, companies hate to withdraw them control
TT:.? You can tell that we are at the mercy of private software
Maddog: Imagine if all disappeared software in a snap of fingers. Airplanes fall, the world banking system would collapse. This nowadays. Before the age of computers, these things worked without software. We have become dependent on them. If you accept the software, you should have control over it.
There are serious problems that can happen when you do not know the software we use. Edward Snowden alerted the world that the US government changed something in the code of the operating systems of computers that allowed to obtain private data. This without people knowing. If you do not see the code, you do not see it
TT:. What is the importance of free software for the autonomy of a country
Maddog : There is an island called Cuba who is living an embargo for fifty years. No American company can market with the Cubans. Now imagine if the United States decide to do a so embargo with Brazil. I hope they do not, but let’s say so. Bill Gates could no longer sell Windows to Brazil.
But Brazil is a great country. There are small countries in the world, which have populations of less than 150,000 people and can not produce themselves all that its population needs. Now, a country with over 190 million inhabitants has the capacity to produce their own software for problem solving. Brazil is a country that has people capable of that.
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