Re: <nettime> Richard Stallman: Eradicate Facebook!

[David Mandl <david.mandl@gmail.com>]

> On Mar 20, 2016, at 6:43 AM, Patrice Riemens <patrice@xs4all.nl> wrote:
> 
> For Stallman, proprietary software is a fundamental obstacle to
> freedom since the editor is able to decide the content, functionality,
> impose censorship or deploy at will update.

I realize that this is a short interview, but I almost wish Stallman
hadn't mentioned free software (his particular obsession, obviously, and
a reasonable one), which could overshadow some much more basic concerns
with FB. Using proprietary software is one thing--maybe it's inherently
evil, maybe not--and collecting data on people's every movement is
another. It's conceivable, just slightly, that Facebook could
open-source all their software and not change their behavior a bit. If
someone really wants to smother you, they can probably smother you with
a cute photo of a kitten.

   --Dave.

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