saying-no-even-once.html (7511B)
1 <!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" --> 2 <!-- Parent-Version: 1.96 --> 3 <!-- This page is derived from /server/standards/boilerplate.html --> 4 <!--#set var="TAGS" value="essays upholding action" --> 5 <!--#set var="DISABLE_TOP_ADDENDUM" value="yes" --> 6 <title>Saying No to unjust computing even once is help 7 - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title> 8 <!--#include virtual="/philosophy/po/saying-no-even-once.translist" --> 9 <!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" --> 10 <!--#include virtual="/philosophy/ph-breadcrumb.html" --> 11 <!--GNUN: OUT-OF-DATE NOTICE--> 12 <!--#include virtual="/server/top-addendum.html" --> 13 <div class="article reduced-width"> 14 15 <h2>Saying No to unjust computing even once is help</h2> 16 17 <address class="byline">by Richard Stallman</address> 18 19 <p>A misunderstanding is circulating that the GNU 20 Project demands you run 100% <a href="/philosophy/free-sw.html">free 21 software</a>, all the time. Anything less (90%?), and we will tell 22 you to get lost—they say. Nothing could be further from the 23 truth.</p> 24 25 <p>Our ultimate goal is <a 26 href="/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html">digital 27 freedom for all</a>, a world without nonfree software. Some of us, who 28 have made campaigning for digital freedom our goal, reject all nonfree 29 programs. However, as a practical matter, even a little step towards 30 that goal is good. A walk of a thousand miles consists of lots of 31 steps. Each time you don't install some nonfree program, or decide not 32 to run it that day, that is a step towards your own freedom. Each time 33 you decline to run a nonfree program with others, you show them a wise 34 example of long-term thinking. That is a step towards freedom for the 35 world.</p> 36 37 <p>If you're caught in a web of nonfree programs, you're surely looking 38 for a chance to pull a few strands off of your body. Each one 39 pulled off is an advance.</p> 40 41 <p>Each time you tell the people in some activity, “I'd rather 42 use Zoom less—please count me out today,” you help the free 43 software movement. “I'd like to do this with you, but with Zoom on 44 the other side of the scale, I've decided to decline.” If you 45 accepted the nonfree software before, you could say this: “I'd 46 like to participate, but the software we are using is not good for us. 47 I've decided I should cut down.” Once in a while, you may convince 48 them to use free software instead. At least they will learn that some 49 people care about freedom enough to decline participation for 50 freedom's sake.</p> 51 52 <p>If you say no, on one occasion, to conversing with someone or some 53 group via Skype, you have helped. If you say no, on one occasion, 54 to conversing via WhatsApp, Facebook, or Slack, you have helped. If 55 you say no, on one occasion, to editing something via Google Docs, 56 you have helped. If you say no to registering for one meeting in 57 eventbrite.com or meetup.com, you have helped. If you tell one 58 organization you won't use its “portal” or app, so you will 59 deal with it by phone, that helps. Of course, you help more if you stick 60 to your refusal (with kind firmness, of course) and don't let the 61 others change your mind.</p> 62 63 <p>Steps add up. If on another day you decline the nonfree program 64 again, you will have helped again. If you say no a few times a 65 week, that adds up over time. When people see you say no, even 66 once, you may inspire them to follow your example.</p> 67 68 <p>To give help consistently, you can make this refusal a firm 69 practice, but refusing occasionally is still help. You will help more 70 if you reject several of the nonfree programs that communities have 71 blindly swallowed. Would you ever want to reject them all? There is 72 no need to decide that now.</p> 73 74 <p>So tell someone, “Thanks for inviting me, but 75 Zoom/Skype/WhatsApp/whichever is a freedom-denying program, and 76 almost surely snoops on its users; please count me out. I want a 77 different kind of world, and by declining to use it today I am 78 taking a step towards that world.”</p> 79 80 <p>The FSF recommends <a 81 href="https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/better-than-zoom-try-these-free-software-tools-for-staying-in-touch"> 82 freedom-respecting methods</a> for the sorts of communication that 83 unjust systems do. If 84 one of them would be usable, you could add, “If we use XYZ 85 for this 86 conversation, or some other libre software, I could 87 participate.”</p> 88 89 <p>You can take one step. And once you've done it, sooner or later you 90 can do it again. Eventually you may find you have changed your 91 practices; if you get used to saying no to some nonfree program, you 92 could do it most of the time, maybe even every time. Not only will 93 you have gained an increment of freedom; you will have helped your 94 whole community by spreading awareness of the issue.</p> 95 </div> 96 97 </div><!-- for id="content", starts in the include above --> 98 <!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" --> 99 <div id="footer" role="contentinfo"> 100 <div class="unprintable"> 101 102 <p>Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to 103 <a href="mailto:gnu@gnu.org"><gnu@gnu.org></a>. 104 There are also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a> 105 the FSF. Broken links and other corrections or suggestions can be sent 106 to <a href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org"><webmasters@gnu.org></a>.</p> 107 108 <p><!-- TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph, 109 replace it with the translation of these two: 110 111 We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality 112 translations. However, we are not exempt from imperfection. 113 Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard 114 to <a href="mailto:web-translators@gnu.org"> 115 <web-translators@gnu.org></a>.</p> 116 117 <p>For information on coordinating and contributing translations of 118 our web pages, see <a 119 href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations 120 README</a>. --> 121 Please see the <a 122 href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations 123 README</a> for information on coordinating and contributing translations 124 of this article.</p> 125 </div> 126 127 <!-- Regarding copyright, in general, standalone pages (as opposed to 128 files generated as part of manuals) on the GNU web server should 129 be under CC BY-ND 4.0. Please do NOT change or remove this 130 without talking with the webmasters or licensing team first. 131 Please make sure the copyright date is consistent with the 132 document. For web pages, it is ok to list just the latest year the 133 document was modified, or published. 134 135 If you wish to list earlier years, that is ok too. 136 Either "2001, 2002, 2003" or "2001-2003" are ok for specifying 137 years, as long as each year in the range is in fact a copyrightable 138 year, i.e., a year in which the document was published (including 139 being publicly visible on the web or in a revision control system). 140 141 There is more detail about copyright years in the GNU Maintainers 142 Information document, www.gnu.org/prep/maintain. --> 143 144 <p>Copyright © 2020, 2021 Richard Stallman</p> 145 146 <p>This page is licensed under a <a rel="license" 147 href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">Creative 148 Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.</p> 149 150 <!--#include virtual="/server/bottom-notes.html" --> 151 152 <p class="unprintable">Updated: 153 <!-- timestamp start --> 154 $Date: 2021/09/05 10:10:09 $ 155 <!-- timestamp end --> 156 </p> 157 </div> 158 </div><!-- for class="inner", starts in the banner include --> 159 </body> 160 </html>