[FSF] An appeal from Benjamin Mako Hill, technologist and author.

[Benjamin Mako Hill]

An appeal from Benjamin Mako Hill, technologist and author.

** Read the complete appeal online: http://www.fsf.org/appeal/2009/mako/

Free software is not really about software in this fundamental sense;
it's about bringing freedom to users through software.

In free software's incredible success over the last two decades, many
people have lost sight of this simple fact.

We have created an incredible array of applications, vibrant
communities and powerful licenses -- but these are all how we give
users freedom. They are not freedom itself. They are not what we were
trying to achieve.

They are our instruments, not our goal.

As more and more users' primary computers become mobile phones and new
types of network services make up most of many users' interaction with
computers, the free software movement's goal of bringing freedom to
computer users will need to involve new software and new forms of
advocacy.

A strong free software movement focused on the principled issues of
software freedom -- and a strong FSF in particular -- will determine
what freedoms the next generation of computer users enjoy.

At stake is no less than the next generation's autonomy.

If you are not an FSF associate member, now is the time to become one
with a $10 monthly contribution ($5 students).

   * http://my.fsf.org/join