The Coming Civil War over General Purpose Computing (2012)

We are so far away from companies creating and embedding computers everywhere for this to be an issue. Let alone for sophisticated means of interaction.

And lets say we somehow exceed all expectations and companies start creating marvelous products that are all on par with the iphone. It's still going to be difficult for them. There are people out there that are afraid of 5g because they think it causes coronavirus. We've avoided capitalizing on nuclear energy because of NIMBY. These nutjobs combined with perpetually on the fence observers will be a big enough stumbling block for a lot of this overreaching behavior. Remember how places banned google glasses?

Have faith in human stupidity and disorder - it's a tried and true system.

This is bullshit. It's for profit and control.

The general purpose computer is hands down the most amazing, equalizing piece of technology humanity has ever created.

It's one of the few things that gives the average person the same abilities as the wealthy or elite. Whoever you are, where ever you are, if you have a general purpose computer and some knowledge, you can do just about anything.

Rather than teach people about this amazing, near magical piece of technology enabling anyone to do amazing things, the whole attitude, at least since i've been around using computers going back fairly far is, 'users can't be trusted with this power and need to be protected from themselves at their own expense by some other benevolent entity'.

Instead of being taught as something that's now just a part of life, the way something like driving is, despite being nearly as, if not more important than, driving is in society these days, general computing is still pushed as this mysterious arcane art the average person needs to be protected from through the use of everything mentioned in my first paragraph by someone who can lock everything up and provide security for them.

How else could they convince people to own three, four, five a dozen of what is essentially the same thing? Just locked down in functionality in different ways.

I lay responsibility on the early generation of tech people that got rich quick in the late 90's early 2000's. They seen the potential computers had to bring, they took advantage early and made money, they got greedy and have done nothing since but try and keep the average person out through whatever means necessary.

Those people are the ones running the tech giants today, pushing locked down hardware, and trying to crush general computing as a thing.

ETA: I changed my original wording from blame to lay responsibility on. My intention wasn't to blame anyone in particular but to bring awareness to the let down by those original people that benefited from the openness of general computing only to be at the forefront of trying to lock it down now.

You aren't using the Stallman Trick here. The fact some organisation or person seems good today is totally meaningless compared to what it is legally allowed to do, and what they have incentive to do.

It is a bit cynical, but assume people are going to do what the incentives push them to do and the world becomes a very simple and predictable place. The time to panic isn't when someone threatens you, it is when they have the means & incentive to threaten you. Run or fight then, not later on.

If the FSF gains power, it will abuse that power. Sooner or later. They will react to money just as much as the rest of us. Look at what happened to Mozilla.

Regardless of the initiative (could have been rural broadband) by expanding into these areas Mozilla's parent company said..

We have enough money for operations. This extra money will go to this good cause.

As someone who might donate I would hold off because they have more than enough. I could use my money directly to support a cause.

Not sure how a charity starts giving to another charity (unless that is what they specialize in). That strikes me as greedy. If you have enough don't ask for more. There are local charities who could use the money.