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Read and share online: https://www.fsf.org/news/lifes-better-together-when-you-avoid-windows-11
Dear Free Software Supporter,
October 5 marks the official release of Windows 11, a new version of
the operating system that doesn't do anything at all to counteract
Windows' long history of depriving users of freedom and digital
autonomy. While we might have been encouraged by Microsoft's vague,
aspirational slogans about community and togetherness, Windows 11
takes important steps in the wrong direction when it comes to user
freedom.
Microsoft claims that "life's better together" in their advertising
for this latest Windows version, but when it comes to technology,
there is no surer way of keeping users divided and powerless than
nonfree software. Developing nonfree software is an inherently
antisocial act, for it is intentionally choosing to create an unjust
power structure, in which a developer knowingly keeps users powerless
and dependent by withholding information. Increasingly, this involves
not only withholding the source code itself, but even basic
information on how the software works: what it's really doing, what
it's collecting, and how often it's snitching on users. "Snitching"
may sound dramatic, but Windows 11 will now require a Microsoft
account to be connected to every user account, granting them the
ability to correlate user behavior with one's personal identity. Even
those who think they have nothing to hide should be wary of sharing
potentially all of their computing activity with any company, much
less one with a track record of abuse like Microsoft.
You may have heard that thousands of machines currently running
Windows will not be allowed to upgrade to Windows 11 due to a
hardware incompatibility. At first glance this seems like plain old
forced obsolescence, but the reality is much more sinister. Windows 11
now requires the use of a small dedicated chip attached to a
computer motherboard called a TPM, something which their advertising
copy and the mainstream press call a "Trusted Platform Module." This
is slightly misleading, as when it's deployed by a proprietary
software company, its relationship to the user isn't one based on
trust, but based on treachery. When fully controlled by the
user, TPM can be a useful way to strengthen encryption and user
privacy, but when it's in the hands of Microsoft, we're not
optimistic.
We expect Microsoft to use its tighter control on cryptography that
happens in Windows as a way to impose more severe Digital
Restrictions Management (DRM) onto media and applications, and as
a way to ensure that no application can run in Windows without
Microsoft's approval. In cases like these, it's no longer appropriate
to call a machine running Windows a "personal" computer, as it obeys
Microsoft more than it does its user. Indeed, it's bitterly ironic
that Microsoft is calling the program that verifies a system's
compatibility with Windows 11 a "PC Health Check." We counter that a
healthy PC is one that respects its user's wishes, runs free
software, and doesn't purposefully restrict them through treacherous
computing. It would also never send the user's encryption keys
back to its corporate overlords. Intrepid users will likely find a way
around this requirement, yet it doesn't change the fact that the
majority of Windows users will be forced into a treacherous computing
scheme.
Microsoft knows that its "Teams" videoconferencing program isn't the
most beloved app in the world, as even users on Windows typically opt
for a more popular (though deeply problematic) alternative like
Zoom. Now it seems that no Windows user can avoid it any longer, as
it's been given an irritatingly central place in the user interface,
and is more closely integrated into how Windows manages one's personal
contacts. Many videoconferencing programs of this type have gained
popularity due to the pandemic, yet we hope Teams' unpopularity and
its newfound, unwanted place in Windows will encourage users to seek
out conferencing programs that they themselves can control.
Sometimes, Microsoft realizes that it can't be quite so overtly
antisocial. We've commented many times before on the hypocrisy
involved in saying that Microsoft "loves open source" and "loves
Linux," two ways of mentioning free software without reference to
freedom. At the same time, Microsoft employees do make contributions
to free software, contributions which benefit many others. Yet they do
not extend this philosophy to their operating system, and in the last
few years, they've made an attempt to impair the ways free software
makes "life better together" further by making critical functions of
Microsoft GitHub rely on nonfree JavaScript and directing users
toward Service as a Software Substitute (SaaSS) platforms. By
attacking user freedom through Windows, and the free software
community directly by means of nonfree JavaScript, Microsoft proves
that it has no plans to loosen its grip on users.
No program that you're forbidden to copy, modify, or share can truly
bring people "together" in the way that Microsoft claims. Thankfully,
and right outside the window, there's a true community of users you
and your loved ones can join:
What you can do
Sign (or renew!) your pledge not to use Windows and help a
friend install GNU/Linux, sending Microsoft the strong message that
software that subjugates its users has no place in Windows. You can choose to replace Windows with an operating system made up
of free software, such as Trisquel or other
distributions of the GNU/Linux operating system. If you don't feel ready to take the plunge and switch entirely, you
can use our resources like the Free Software Directory to find
programs you can use as starting points for your free software
journey. If you're having difficulties switching to free software, or have
advice for how to help others do the same, we hope that you'll take
the time to provide us with feedback on the public draft of our
freedom ladder campaign.
We hope that you'll take the opportunity to make a major change
yourself, by choosing to use and advocate for software that fosters
community and cooperation rather than restriction. Let's stop falling
for the trap of chasing short-term, superficial improvements in
proprietary software that may seem to make life better, and instead
opt for free software, the only software that can support the best
versions of ourselves.
In freedom,
Greg Farough
Campaigns Manager
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