Free Software - A political project

A political project is a collective action with well defined revendications brought forward by civil society and the state aimed at fighting injustices and oppression, rectifying power imbalances or maintaining previously acquired freedoms.

Before defining what Free Software is, let's clear some misconceptions and see what it is not. The qualifier free is a misnomer with multiple meanings in English. In this context it can be understood has referring to a lack of monetary value (i.e free as in beer) or to freedom (i.e free as in speech). The latter being the correct interpretation.

The terms free and open source software are often used interchangeably, most programs belonging to one category belongs de facto to the other. The difference lies in their vision; contrary to the Free Software movement and its commitment to freedom; Open Source movement guided by the Open Source Initiative (OSI) mainly emphasize the practical benefits (i.e "higher quality, better reliability, greater flexibility, lower cost, and an end to predatory vendor lock-in.".)

The schism between the Free Software and Open Source movement is one of idealism versus pragmatism. One values freedom while the other is interested in the by-products afforded by the first one. When freedom is at stake prioritizing the practical benefits in order to "provide economic and strategic advantages" completely misses the mark.

Focusing on the utilitarian value at the expense of freedom doesn't address the core issue and incur the risk of finding a sub-optimal solution or worse, solving the wrong problem.

In practice there is enough overlap between the two movements, people and projects to enable fruitful collaborations. Let's just remember that the moral imperative should take precedence.

In 1983 the GNU was born to create a free operating system. This project and its ideals resonated with others who joined to bring it to reality.

To support GNU and advocate for its principle the Free Software Foundation was created in 1985.

To formalize these freedoms the GNU Public License was created in 1989 (GPLv1), modified in 1991 (GPLv2) and 2007 (GPLv3). As the first copyleft license its importance cannot not be overstated, not only does it grant users' rights but preserve it in derivative works. Derivative works must then use the same or compatible license, preventing bad actors from restricting users freedom.

In 1992 Linux created the year prior switched to the GPL, becoming the missing piece of what is now known as GNU/Linux.

Since then many people and organizations around the world have taken ownership of the issue stirring the movement forward; resulting in a decentralized yet very intertwine ecosystem.

Despite its success, one can not ignore the discrepancy between the omnipresence of free software in the digital infrastructure and the realization of those freedoms.

Corporations have co-opted it to build their empire, with most users interacting with technology through their products. Only those who have deliberately chosen the alternative have their freedoms respected.

Much work remains to be done to bridge this gap, through advocacy and policy changes.

Any project needs to be managed. Small projects with few organizational moving parts tend to have a trivial governance model. Bigger projects especially those with a community need to ensure technical vision and group cohesion within or between contributors and users. Theses mechanisms can be informal related to the project culture or formal with some legal structure.

The fight for freedom cannot be isolated from other current societal issues, hence care is taken to include underrepresented people who face any form of systemic discrimination, establish a democratic process to ensure their voice are heard. The environmental impact, unintended consequences or potential misuses of technology are also considered.

Campaigning for free software legislation and related issues is indispensable for democracy to prevail.