What is Freedom? Posted by Claudius , Wednesday 7 October 2009 at 13:38, in Labels: DRM, random musings

I follow a fair few people on Twitter including a number of well-known developers, one of which drew my attention to the current reported animosity between Richard Stallman and Miguel de Icaza. When I say between, it's largely Richard having animosity toward Miguel, albeit carefully muted.

I read a post on Miguel's blog that had resulted in a flame-war with supporter defending him and the antagonists trotting out the same old tired rhetoric about *their* freedoms and how they are infringed by everyone else. I'd like to think that this isn't the kind of thing that Richard wanted to incite (I don't know him personally so I'm erring on the side of positivity), nor Miguel (again, I don't know the man but his immense patience with the flamers doesn't imply a desire to incite argument).

It just caused me to notice that the first casualty in this war over freedom, is freedom itself?

Let me explain myself. I have freedom, the freedom of choice in most things. I even have freedom in the Law, I know the rules (or most of them) and I can choose to break them or not. I know the consequences. However, the 'freedom protagonists' want to remove my freedom of choice for their view of the way it should be. While I'm more than happy to allow them the opportunity to follow their own beliefs and to live their lives through alternative products that meet their stringent requirements, apparently I can't be allowed to continue to do the same as by doing so I'm infringing on their freedoms. My freedoms do not enter into the conversation.

I currently have the freedom to choose not to buy DRM protected music, I also have the freedom to buy DRM protected music knowing full well what that entails. I have the right to buy a computer and install Linux on it, I can buy a copy of Windows for it as well. I can even dual boot the system, best of both worlds. I can install a virtual machine app and run one within the other. All my choice. And that's my point, I'm not sure either side is right or wrong. They are just different views and I understand that, I'm not about to attack everyone who believes one way or the other. I may put my viewpoint forward but I accept that yours is different. The big difference is that I'm not telling you that you are wrong for what you believe just that you are wrong in trying to berate me until I believe what you do.

Trust me, if your argument was that compelling I'd probably be on your side to begin with.

You'll never get rid of DRM by leaping on every person who buys a DRM protected product, yes they may be supporting the 'machine' fiscally but you can equally not support it. Listen to a different band, watch a different movie, listen to the songs you like on the radio, record your own song. You have that freedom, embrace it.

I'm not a religious man but I do love this quote from Douglas Adams' book, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy... "And then, one Thursday, nearly two thousand years after one man had been nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice to people for a change..."

If my beliefs were proved wrong and there were a second coming, he'd be in for a hell of a time. Come on people, use your freedom to be nice to people for a change.