About that "Free" in Free Software
Is "FLOSS" capitalism-friendly?
"About that "Free" in Free Software" on https://aligot-death.space, available at https://aligot-death.space/txt/logiciel-libre-de-quoi-en
This is a translation of a french article. In french the word "Libertaire" translates as "Libertarian", but should be understood as "left-wing libertarian". This article was written following some drama around an event I helped organizing, called "Journées du Logiciel Libre" (literally, "Free Software's days"). There was a tempest in a teacup regarding the addition of anti-capitalist values in the presentation of this year's event.
Some time ago, as submissions for the Journées du Logiciel Libre opened, a regular of the event thought it would be fun to create a storm in a teacup by saying he won't submit his talk this year because of the inclusion of anticapitalist values in the event. What followed was a pointless fight about what "Free Software" is supposed to mean.
Fact is, the Free Software world has always been a weird patchwork of different groups, ranging from die-hard anarchists to left-leaning liberals.
The Free Software movement is, like any other movement, filled with contradictions. But the main, and rather consensual thesis is that everyone should be able to freely use their devices and data. Not just technically, but free from any influence from any actors who might want to abuse one or the other. As a result, Free Software thourghout its history stood against GAFAMs, anti-freedom laws, and all these machines which try to convince us that, in the end, privacy is overated. "Free Software" Culture has, like any other culture, foundational and structuring myths. Aaron Swartz losing his life for freedom of knowledge, the role of social media in the arab spring, Telecomix actions in Syria, international movements against anti-freedom laws like SOPA & PIPA, and of course, Edward Snowden. Free Software is inherently political. If you're a "free software activist" but think of yourself as "apolitical", you missed something [1].
| [1] | Or you might mean "non partisan", which might make sense. But that's not what we're talking about here. |
Furthermore, Free Software, even if it's not "anarchist" per se, is (left-wing) libertarian. Not, liberal, libertarian. It's not about "free market", and freedom of exploiting others. We are talking about freedom to dispose of your digital self and its value, kind of like Workers' movements in the 19th and 20th centuries fought for their rights. Much like within environmental movements, the word "capitalism" isn't really used (at least not without a prefix). But the core concept is there, in the background. That restraint, combined with a confusing political lingo, created a confusion. Free Software, for some people, only fights surveillance capitalism, not capitalism itself. See, there's good capitalism, and bad capitalism. The bad one exploits the people, and the good one only exploits their only personas. Just take a look at the infamous four essential freedoms. It's not just about "freedom to know what's going on inside", it's about negating mercantilism. Not that it's impossible to make a business around Free Software, simply that this "Freedom" removes any economic value. Only services around it can be monetized.
So, I'm bitter and confused. People are actively fighting to make Free Software compatible with capitalism. Let's be honest: we live in a capitalist world. We're told every fucking day that to exist is to exist economically. It's not that surprising that people would turn into advocates for that system. But more than that, we can't really blame projects for trying to make a living through donations, campaigning, and even paid services. You gotta do what you gotta do. But Why this need to twist the (left-wing) libertarian ideals to try to seduce the machine? The community has been trying to explain to the general public the difference between Free Software and its Business School's cousin open-source Software. If you're so offended by inclusion and anticapitalism, you can flock to greener pastures.
Ironically, the people pushing that discourse paint themselves as Big political theorists. Meanwhile, they claim capitalism is the freest system, and that an anticapitalist stance is a sign of collusion with La France Insoumise (t/n: a soc-dem party), and finally that capitalisme is defined by "money".
Ok so, Free Software is anticapitalist. But more than that, we need to work towards making Free Software as hostile as possible to mercantilism (aside from the aformentioned need to fill your plate). History is full of movements and projects which tried to soften their teeth to seduce the general public (= the status quo) and ended up leaving their heart behind. For instance, look at the most capitalist projects roaming around in the Free Software World: cryptocurrencies. At first, the idea might seem interesting: banks and companies are abusing the system, let's get rid of them. What started as an experiment meant to build a decentralized network to exhange money freely ended up as as centralized mess with big players mining everything and speculation making it useless. Oopsie [2].
| [2] | Not withstanding the growing anxiety around its electrical consumption, and its lack of problem it's actually solving. |
Free Software is (left-wing) libertarian, not liberal. Free Software is about freedom from influence from big actors on your devices and data. Free Software is not free market.