Surveillance is just a tool...

As this post at wired.com, saying that you don't have nothing to hide is not the right way to make a case for or against surveillance. Surveillance in itself is not something good or bad, it's a tool that can be helpful in many ways from keeping us safe to learning new things.

The post makes a good point about how anything we do can be illegal somewhere. Not only that, laws evolve as society does. As such, things become legal or illegal with time as society views changes overtime or to accommodate technological changes. To add complexity to something that is already hard to follow, the law books reflect the way the views of the society that codify them.

As such, we all have done something that it's illegal somewhere at some point in time. Not because we are bad, or criminals, but because the laws are different at different places. Even within a same country, laws may differ between different states and counties. So, if we let law enforcement agencies know everything we do, can get us into problems we don't imagine or need if those agencies decide to act even if out actions are legal where we made them.

Yet, the case against surveillances is not just a legal one. Some of the things we want to keep private have nothing to do with law. Rather, they have to do with things that we want to keep private, or simply we don't want to share because we would feel embarrassed if other people knew of what we do.

Privacy should be a right of everyone, and one that we could take for granted. Each individual needs to be able what he, or she, wants to share and with whom, and what will remain private. No person, government, company, or agency should be able to have unrestricted access to what we do or say freely. Yes, there are public and private places, and the level of privacy we can expect of each is not the same. But even at the public space, we should be able to assume that we won't be subjected to surveillance the whole time we spend on it. And on the private sphere, surveillance should only be conducted if there is a reasonable expectation that something illegal is being done.

At the end, we all have something to hide for whatever reason.

Encryption is not the enemy...

I find it amusing, ironic and a bit sad that Blackberry blasts Apple for its use of encryption to protect their user's privacy. In more than one way, I didn't see coming something like this from Blackberry, who's encryption software is one of the best and the reason many of its costumers use it to begin with.

But most importantly, while it's true that criminals and terrorists make use of encryption, using as that an argument against encryption is a fallacy. Encryption isn't the most important tool than enables criminal or terrorist actions, or makes it impossible to conduct or collect data to prevent or punish those actions. Most importantly, that encryption can be used to do bad doesn't take away that most uses are legit and it protects the privacy of good people.

Saying that it was because of encryption, that law enforcement and intelligence agencies are not able to prevent crime and terrorism is shortsighted and at the verge of being a lie.

To be honest, intelligence gathering is not confined to what it gathers on our electronic communications or devices like smart phones or computers. To say that whole investigations depend on being able to access these things is insulting and speaks poorly on how those investigations are conducted. Crimes, and terrorism, are also planed on the real world. Most importantly, some of those crimes happen in the real world. As such, they leave evidence in other forms.

As such, there is a need for law enforcement, intelligence agencies and politicians to stop blasting encryption as the enemy of good people and the friend of those who do evil. It's a tool that can be used for good or ill, and there is making it better for the the people who want to protect their privacy. On the other hand, those who used for bad need to be punished for their actions not for their use of encryption.

At the end, bad people will do their needs with or without encryption.

Embrace open source...

I find it ironic that most of the biggest software and hardware companies are using open source to build their own systems, they keep telling their costumers that they should put their trust on proprietary systems.

It seems that foolish that those companies that use open source to build their system, don't embrace open source on the costumer side. In a way, they are losing on the most important side of open source software and hardware. After all, who would be more interested in making their software and hardware even better than the costumers who use it.

Costumers invest more than money on the systems they use, they also invest time and build expertise on those systems they use. With this in mind, it makes sense to let the costumers that use your system to actually be able to freely contribute to make the system as a whole better.

After all, they are more likely to find things to improve or bugs to fix since they come to scenarios that are hard to replicate in other way than the day to day use on the field. So, just listening to your costumers needs is not enough since you might not have the time or interest to make the changes some of them ask for. This is why letting your costumers modify, and more importantly, contribute back the changes they need vital to the long term success of any company.

By allowing your costumers to freely study, modify, and exchange those modifications among themselves can win more loyalty than any other thing a company can do on itself. In a way, all companies should strive make the hackers of their product an important part of their community. They can help them to build a better product, and bring more people aboard by showing them what your software or hardware can do.

Open source is not the enemy, but a powerful ally to build a better product and a strong community around it.

Encryption is not the enemy...

After the terrorist attacks in Paris last week, many have called encryption as something that we need to give up in the name of safety. Many of those voices say that encryption enabled the terrorists to carry out their attack, because it made it's movements to pass undetected.

The truth is far more complex, and encryption was not an major factor in the terrorist ability to carry out the attacks. The whole intelligence gathering apparatus failed, since there are many other ways to gather information about people.

Focusing on the communications made via smart phones, or the information stored on a hard drive, is to narrow. People moves no only on a virtual world, but they also need to contact other people on the real world. As such, saying that people who use encryption on their electronic devices must be doing something bad are evil is not only shortsighted, but dangerous. Most people who use encryption, myself included, just want to keep something private.

The obsessive talk about how evil encryption is borders on the obscene, and it only takes our liberties away. We have the right to keep whats on computers and smart phones private, and the government needs to understand that they have no business asking for back doors on any encryption. If they want in on any of that data, they better have a good reason that convinces a judge to give a warrant to access it.

Most importantly, the focus on electronic intelligence gathering is not healthy. There are more ways to gather intelligence, so there is a need to actually work on those areas as well as the electronic one.

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.

Quite the interesting proposition...

Blackberry has been somewhat of a dilemma for me, since I like the security and the quality of its smart phones. Yet, that its OS is closed source OS is something that I don't really endorse as an open source advocate.

Now that Blackberry has made official it's Priv smart phone launch, all changes. Since it's powered by Android, and it comes with Blackberry's security features baked into it from the start, it makes quite an interesting proposition. This combination makes it quite an interesting proposition for people who support FLOSS and those are mindful of their privacy.

Now, we'll have to wait until the device hits the market to know how good Priv actually is. Yet, one can be hopeful that it will be quite a good handset, since Blackberry's hardware is quite solid and Android is quite the solid OS as well.

The plus for me, is the fact that the Priv comes with a physical keyboard. Call me old fashioned, but I still prefer having a physical keyboard at hand. Especially since I don't want to have a device that's over 6". So, Priv hits the sweet spot with its size.

It has been a while since I've been interested on an Blackberry device, so the Priv is welcomed news for me. If it lives up to the expectations, Blackberry might just become relevant at the premium side of Android for those who, like me, are looking for a good quality device and are conscious about their privacy.

1,500 good news from Steam...

The news that Steam just crossed the 1,500 games natively available on Linux is great news not only for Steam itself, but the whole Linux ecosystem.

While it still lags far behind the number of games available for Windows and OS X, that the mark is significant in itself. It means that Steam is viewed as a viable gaming platform by developers, since it has been adding about a 100 new games a month for a while now.

And while Steam still has some pains due to the lack of driver support for some graphic cards, the fact that there people developing and buying games for Linux helps the ecosystem as a whole. Since it gives a reason to GPU manufactures to start supporting their cards on Linux, they are going to have to make available their drivers on the OS if they want to have a piece of the market for themselves.

With this, all the Linux ecosystem wins as a whole. The game developers working to make their games on Steam, and the people buying those games, are a driving force to make AMD and NVIDIA to take Linux seriously and make drivers that run as well as they do on Windows and OS X.

While some people using Steam aren't conscious about it being a FLOSS system, or being FLOSS in itself, that they use it is something that helps all the FLOSS community. While it would be far better for people actually choose Steam fully knowing the reasons why they should, the first step is making Steam a viable option for all gamers.

So that Steam passed the 1,500 games mark, is something that should make us happy and hopeful that the counter will continue to grow.

Inexcusable over reaction...

The irony of a 9th grader being arrested because he took a clock he made to school is not only big, but quite disheartening as well.

One should think that schools would a place a student should be able to bring something like that without fear, specially of being arrested and suspended because of it. As a matter of fact, the reaction one would expect from the teachers and other staff would be the opposite. I mean, they should be quite interested in fostering that kind of skills and mentality on their students for the better.

This issue is made even worse, when one takes into account that the US is starting to lag behind other developed countries on that skill set. Not only that, many of the teenagers and kids are loosing interest on perusing and engineering or science degree stuff like this will only push them further away from those fields.

Schools should be one of those places where their students could safely share and practice building things like that. Specially, since schools are one of those places where they can be guided by people who have the knowhow to put them on the right track to be able to safely do those things.

Also, they can form groups with their peers who have the same interest so they can achieve more than they could do on their own.

That the reaction on this matter by this school was this, is something that should be frown upon and that shouldn't be repeated. There should be an official apology, by both the school officials and the police because of this incident.

Munich, an example to follow...

The news that the city of Munich is contributing upstream are good, really good, news.

They mean two important things for open source software, and both can't be understated. To begin with, it comes to show that open source software can be successfully deployed even in places as important and complex and city governments.

The argument that open source software can't compete with proprietary software has been rendered muted, and in such a way that its hard to dispute. There are a few other places where software could effectiveness could be tested more throughly than a government, even if it is at a city level.

Secondly, it comes to show that contribute upstream is not something that just a few can do. The only requirement is to have an IT department that has the technical knowhow to implement the changes needed to the needs of the particular entity to then share does changes upstream. When there is that aspect, then it makes it more of a matter of will to contribute back.

Most importantly, Munich now stands as an example that implementing open source software is something not only something other governments and private companies can at least successfully implement. Yet, it show that other can contribute for the greater good, and the interest of the public at large.

Let's hope that Munich lead the way to others to follow.

A sad farewell...

To hear that the Ada Initiative is closing down, is not something an open source advocate wants to hear. Specially when it's an initiative that brings women to the open source community, by empowering them and giving them the skills needed to be a part of the community.

Though not all is lost, since their resources are going to be left behind so they can keep benefiting others, the ideal would be that the Ada Initiative to be able to keep on their work.

In many ways, there is a need for women to have place like Ada Initiative as support. Though I'd love to see these kind of initiatives moving away from helping women against harassment and those kind of issues, to being being able focus on other kind of support to women who want to move and work on open source software.

When we lose an initiative like this, not only women lose. We all lose, since it could mean that many talented women could choose to move away from working on open source software, and deprive the community as a whole from what they could bring to the table to benefit everyone in one way or another.

Software development isn't something that only men can do, we need women to be able to work as equals. And, to be able to recognize the ones that deserve to move forward to better posts for their merits. We can't call open source a meritocracy until we gender blind, and focus on each individuals merits.

I crave to see someone picking up where Ada Initiative leaves, it's something that the open source community as a whole needs.