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Comment by Proleps | Hacker News Reader

I sometimes feel like the world is moving away from the FSF principals more then it is moving towards it. Nobody seems to be in control of their own devices, software and data anymore.

Data is stored in the cloud, applications are remotely removed from you're IPhone, you have to log in to play offline games, phones send all sorts off personal data to third parties.

This is all happening in a time where free software is easy to get and hard drives are cheap enough to store all the data you want :(.

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What is even sadder is that most of the systems that are taking away from the users the control of their data and applications have been built (at least in part) thanks to free software.

AGPL is fighting that war.

The sort of technology you're talking about is in its very, very early infancy. We've no idea how the landscape is going to look 20 years from now. I don't think there's any reason to be pessimistic about the future. We have rapidly improving, free, desktop, tablet and phone operating systems and an open web.

I can't wait to see the impact that Mozillas new mobile OS they're releasing in the first quarter of next year has. It sounds like it is going to be "more free" than Android, and much easier to develop for. The Linux desktop is "not there" yet, but it is becoming more user friendly every year, and rapidly. Ubuntu is a god send.

The reason for not being optimistic is that lots of people are touting UEFI locked bootloaders as a step in the right direction (under the excuse of security) while most of the rest will look at those crippled subsidized Win8 ARM tablets and say "look! shiny!".

Sadly, "Idiocracy" is a prophetic movie...

I see idiocracy only in failure to understand, that "common people" have different priorities form you, nerds. And for them security is priority. "UEFI locked bootloaders" for them is just meaningless phrase and they couldn't care less about that. How stupid is to think, that if you are computer nerd the whole world should be to? Have you seen doctors moaning about world becoming idiocracy just because not everyone knows latin names for every part of their body?

I see idiocracy only in failure to understand, that "common people" have different priorities form you, nerds. And for them security is priority.

When your argument rests on the premise that "common people care more about security than nerds", maybe you should reconsider it.

Doctors don't create.

Locked down devices will always exist in some form. Once you accept that fact, the next best thing would be for there to be plenty of open alternatives. I'm optimistic that the number and quality of free alternatives is improving and will continue to improve.

  > Nobody seems to be in control of their own devices,
  > software and data anymore.

Because not many want this kind of control? Many just want to have stuff that they can just take and use instead of controlling every aspect of it.

Until they can't use it anymore, because the provider suddenly decided you lost the rights[1].

[1]: http://boingboing.net/2009/07/17/amazon-zaps-purchase.html

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