Why I'm a free and open source software advocate and user...

As an free and open source software advocate, that actually uses it on my personal laptop on daily basis, I find most arguments for and against it a bit exaggerated.

I do recommend free and open source software to be used by all, it's just a matter of finding the right software for the needs of the user. For most users, I'd recommend Ubuntu or Linux Mint since I've first hand experience with both of this distros and they cover the needs of most users with not that much of a learning curve.

Most importantly, these two distros have all the software that most people normally uses on daily basis. As such, they wont miss their proprietary software all that much since they can do all what they are used too without a problem.

With Ubuntu and Linux Mint they can still have access to software like Firefox, Chrome, Spotify and Skype. For other software, there are options available that work at least as well as their counterparts in Windows or Mac OS X while being user friendly.

I've to deal with proprietary software at work, and I simply see the benefits of free and open source software when I compare both head to head. While I concede that free and open source software is far from perfect, it does perform a lot better than proprietary software in every way.

Free and open source software needs to become the norm, since it goes beyond doing the job it's task with. It's about our freedoms as individuals and communities being respected, and being able to task and build communities around the software we use freely without a centralized entity telling us how we should do things.

At the end, free and open source software is not about monetary cost. Is about our freedoms as individuals and communities to be able to put software at our service and not being at the service of the companies who supply the software.

FLOSS: power to the user and therefore the people...

There are many arguments on how modern technology is dehumanizing people, yet I think that modern technology is changing what it means to be human. There has been several technologies that have changed the curse of humanity through out history, yet it's hard to pick a time in history in which technology has changed humanity as much, and as deeply, so many aspects of humanity in such a relatively short time.

It's impressive how much technology has permeated to every day life, and how much we have come to expect it to just work. It has allowed us to do so much more, that it has augmented our experiences in ways that would be unimaginable just a few decades ago.

Not just what we can physically has been enhanced, but our minds and senses have been enhanced in ways that we can really understand yet.

In more than one way, this could mean a chance to make humanity better as a whole. Yet, it seems that how good this new chance is not yet certain because the signs are still somewhat mixed.

There are signs of a collective awakening of societies at large, and that there are connecting with each other. Which is good, because we need that so that the technologies we have can really be used and developed for the greater good.

Yet, I see corporations and governments trying to repress such a thing to happen with various degrees of success. They need the status quo to remain in power, and they are doing all they can to do so.

This is why we need to make FLOSS the norm, since its the best way we have to keep corporations and governments in check. FLOSS is not just technical choice, but an ethical one as well since it empowers the people rather than corporations or governments. It gives people the control over not only over their things, but over how they work and what they do.

Lets face it, those who want keep the people out of being able to control those things they own aren't doing it to benefit the people. The truth is that, they do so to keep control themselves and protect their interests. They are all about their own good, not the good of all.

We can still make things go our way, but we need to act together now.