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Read and share online: https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/the-journey-begins-with-a-single-step-climb-the-freedom-ladder
Dear Free Software
Supporter,
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is the most uncompromising
nonprofit leader working for software freedom. For years, people have
described the FSF's community of staff, volunteers, and contributors
as being the "lighthouse" others use to find their way to
software freedom, and we take that responsibility seriously. Swapping
out one set of programs you use for another set may not seem like that
much of a challenge, but those who bend over backwards to avoid
nonfree software even in the form of nonfree JavaScript can tell
you how many roadblocks there are along the way to software freedom; a
cursory examination of the programs the average person depends on can
show how deeply nonfree software has seeped into daily life.
We will never stop aiming to be that "lighthouse." At the same time,
we recognize that a stance like ours can sometimes be a deterrent to
people making important incremental improvements in their practices.
For years, we've been holding the principled finish line, and we'll
continue to do so. Now, we're developing an actionable set of
steps to help support individuals in making the step-by-step
improvements that they can. By supporting them in taking a step at a
time, we're confident that we can help bring more people to a fully
free setup than ever before. We're calling this campaign the "freedom
ladder," and we need your support to help others begin climbing
it.
In the free software community, we sometimes use the term "throwing
over the wall" to describe when a person or group releases a program
as free software, but doesn't provide any insight into its
development. While this is absolutely better than releasing the
software as proprietary, it forgoes opportunities for engagement and
collaboration. We don't want our advocacy to be this way, and want to
involve you as much as we can. From the first day that we began
formulating the concept, we knew that we were going to need the help
of the community in getting it right. Each of the fourteen members on
the FSF staff came to free software in a different way, and we are all
still at different places on the freedom ladder. While comparing our
experiences has been instructive, we know that it's nowhere near
exhaustive. Maybe you've already "arrived" at the combination of a
fully free operating system and BIOS, or maybe you're still on Windows
but have started to use LibreOffice. Either way, we need your participation.
Each step someone takes to freedom is an important one. The first free
program someone uses or installs, even on a proprietary operating
system, can put them on a lifelong journey, and our new campaign
should be a tool to guide that journey.
We're asking for your participation in defining the steps on the
freedom ladder we've formulated so far on the LibrePlanet wiki,
and could use your participation and suggestions in getting the
structure right. Striking the balance between our rigorous standards
for freedom and the steps people are able to take amidst all the other
pressures of their lives can be difficult, which is why we need you to
help weigh in: suggesting ways we can help make this process easier
for users while at the same time encouraging them to insist on full
freedom, and challenging themselves to keep moving forward.
Making sure that each of these steps is in the right sequence, advises the right
actions, and encourages further freedom is vital. That's why we're
hosting a series of community meetings on our Internet Relay Chat
(IRC) channel to focus on each of these steps, and gather feedback from
our supporters on how we can effectively advocate for them.
These meetings will be at our new IRC home, the #fsf channel of the
Libera.chat network:
We're very excited about it, but the freedom ladder is just one way
the FSF campaigns team "fights for the users." Just in the last few
weeks, we've seen some further encroachments on user freedom on the
part of Microsoft, which will soon culminate in the release of
Windows 11. At the same time, the threat of Digital Restrictions
Management (DRM) only continues to grow as streaming services maintain
their dominance, and unjust laws like the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act (DMCA) remain in effect.
We're very close to reaching our summer fundraising
goal of USD 50,000 before July 16. Any financial
contribution you can make goes to help the campaigns team spread
the message of free software. For only $10 a month ($5
if you are a student), you can join us as an FSF associate
member. Bringing new members to the community is a core part of the fight for
software freedom, and helps us build a foundation of committed
activists for years to come.
Spreading the word is just as important: please take a moment to
publicly bring attention to the need for free software! Use
the hashtag #UserFreedom, and share this message and others to
help us build even further support.
The campaigns team may be small, but our focus is wide. The team works
full-time (and often beyond!) to combat every threat to user freedom
that we can. We know there are many we haven't been able to take on as
yet, which is why we need your support to be able to continue this
valuable work. It's our body of supporters that keeps the team's
message strong. We look forward to working with supporters like you to
design a system that everyone can follow with confidence, steadily
improving their lives, and climbing towards the goal of full software
freedom without compromising principles.
Thank you for providing your share of the dedication and enthusiasm
that keeps our movement going forward.
Happy hacking,
Greg Farough
Campaigns Manager
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