A free, and leveled, virtual world...

One of the areas where FLOSS can have a big impact, is on support on social causes by giving people a tool that isn't dependent on the interests of a single private vendor.

When there is a way that allows the creation of software directly by those interested, without having to depend on someone or a company to act, more opportunities can be acted upon rapidly. Not only that, people can choose how and when is best for them to act upon any given situation. Or even if they want to engage it at all.

People are empowered to really act, and do, as they thing is best for them. We could actually have a say on what information we want, and with who we want to share it with. We would be in control of what goes on not only with out real life, but also of our virtual one.

All the freedoms we enjoy on the outside world, should be carried into the virtual world. There shouldn't be any question about it, it should be a given.

As it happens on the outside world, people should have the same freedoms on the virtual world. All the rules that apply on the virtual world, are to be put in by the people, and should be enforced by the people or by those we all agree that should have the power to do so.

The people should have the tools that allow them to freely interact with each other as they see fit for their interests, and to exchange ideas, informations or anything they feel is on their best interest to do so. What should be narrow, is the what can't be exchanged freely and this should be defined so by the people. Any, and all restrictions, should be the ones that the people agree upon, not the ones imposed to them by a third party.

We need to make sure that we keep all software free and open for us to work on without restrictions that limit what we can do with it. If there should be some limit, it should be on how to give credit to the originator of the idea and those who made any relevant contribution. Any other limitation, or restriction, should have no place and must be avoided.

After all, software is something that should completely at our service and out control.

FLOSS gives alternatives that fit better...

One of the great things of FLOSS, is that the end users gets a choose from several options what's the best for what they do. On top of that, the users get to customize even more if they think it would better for them by doing so.

At the end of the day, the users are the ones who have the final say on what software to run and how it'll run on their systems. They have the freedom to study and modify the software they use, and share those modifications with others. It creates an ecosystem where all are equal, and people can truly come together to work on what's important to them.

By working like this, the end product becomes greater than the sum of it's parts. People actually have a chance to enter something that brings them together to work on something that can has the potential to be far reaching, and be an agent of change bigger than any of them could be individually.

FLOSS can give everyone a gate to discover about everything and anything there is an interest, as it should be. We all should have free and unrestricted access to knowledge, to use and share with other that what is our passion.

People gives it best when they are allowed to do so freely, and encouraged to share with others. It becomes a way of life if its made the norm from a young age.

By letting people to share knowledge, it becomes easier for them to do things for themselves. They become less dependent on the abilities of others, and are able to contribute back to their communities more valuable things. By give them alternatives that work better for them, that work will be even more valuable to all.

The user should choose what works for him, not being forced to use a solution that doesn't fit his needs.

Free access to information...

If we want to keep the world moving forward, while closing the disparity among the people, we need the people to have free access to it and be able to redistribute what's relevant to them.

Closing access to information to anyone does more harm than good, since it limits the options any given person or group to find a solution to whatever problem they might be facing. After all, if there is any way to get solutions is to know what is going on.

To get a clear picture of what is being faced, people need to be able to find information about it and to learn what others did whenever possible. If not, there can be disastrous consequences that could be avoided by simply allowing informations to be freely shared among people and communities.

Information is a common good, and is not something that can be owned by any person or entity. By allowing information to be owned, it's values decreases exponentially. Mainly because the information stops being useful because it can't be put in use in the benefit of the people. Almost all the value of any piece of information relies on being put into work by the people who needs it at any given moment in time.

If we want to make a fairer world to live in, where people can truly hope for a better future, knowledge most spread far wide. And knowledge depends on information, accurate information to be precise, which need to flow freely to those who need it.

So, let's support systems that promote easy and free access to information to the people.

People is smarter than some want us to believe...

For me it's sad and annoying when companies see that others start implementing their own version of something they pioneered, and instead of keep ahead by making their implementation better by adding new features they go the litigation way.

In my mind, trying to get others out of the market by litigating against them is a waste of time and resources. Specially when they have already proven that they can actually come with products that are better and more innovative than the competition. If they keep working on ways to keep ahead of the rest by actually making better products, the odds is that people would keep choosing them.

And let's face it, most of the time people choose they competition devices not because they are confused. Most often the choice is motivated by the fact that the implementation offered by the others is more appealing to that individual.

It seems that some companies do believe that people are stupid, and can't seem to recognize one product from another. They don't seem to want to take into account that when people wants something, specially something that means a substantial investment, they shop around before making the buy. So, they get to know the differences of the products that are interesting for them.

So, let's make sure that all companies understand that we should be the ones deciding what product are successful, and how they are implemented.

Crack bad behavior, not the software...

While I agree that OS vendors have the right to implement a code of conduct for developers. Yet, I don't think that also limiting what they can develop and how it can be developed on the OS.

A great OS, is one that is open for all to develop whatever software developers thing there is a need of and for the user to be able to use the software that better fits his needs. Users should be who decide what software they want to use, and from which developer.

The vendor should limit itself to checking that developers behave themselves according to the code of conduct that was set by the vendor. Otherwise, the vendor should be neutral on what runs on the OS.

Without this level of openness, users can suffer from lack of choice and innovation. The vendor holds a virtual monopoly on what, and how, any piece of software can be implemented. Meaning that they can shut down any developer that does anything that competes on an area they don't want anyone to do so. In essence, the vendor has the power to lock down the user to state that it chooses.

The best way to keep the user safe is not by limiting what the developer can do, and how he can do it. The best way to do so is by educating the users on best practices, and keeping an eye on developer behavior. By doing so, the OS can be as safe as it can be, but let's keep in mind that all have vulnerabilities and bad guys will try to exploit them.

So, if we enlist the both users and developers to make use of best practices the OS software ecosystem will be as safe as it can be. There should be clear behavior guidelines and what will happen if they are breached, with clear penalties depending on the severity of the breach.

Being as open as possible about the software that runs on an OS, is the best option for everyone involved.

Users must have the control...

Software would always be at the control of the user, who should have the final say on what the software does at all times.

Not only that, the users should be able to study and modify their software as much as they please. All the components should be accessible to the user to be studied, or modified, as much as the user chooses to do. Once the the user has the software in his hands, there should be mechanisms that allow the user to do so without having to fear reprisals from the original developers.

Being able to do study and modify the software run on their computers, the users become less dependent on a single single vendor to meet their needs. And if anything should happen to the vendor they relied on, it's a lot easier to find an alternate vendor that fills their needs without much pain.

In some cases, the users themselves can take the software and work on it themselves. Which can give the user an extra layer of protection, and reduce dependence on outside influences, to make their software a better fit to their needs.

Not only that, improvements could be shared by the whole community of users of any given software. Allowing the development to be a lot faster, and giving it a high level of security since you have several people looking at the code.

Since the user can see the source code, and compare it to the original, it becomes harder for people with bad intentions to add malicious segments to the code without being detected. Even if they could add some of that code, the odds of being discovered and corrected quickly is a lot higher. More often than not, any bug or security vulnerability is discovered and patched quickly.

By being open, software can be a mayor tool for users to be able to do a lot with in a safe manner.

Empowering people using FLOSS...

As computers and OS become more advanced, many are left behind mainly because they don't have the money to make the upgrade. It can be because the new OS is just to expensive, and sometimes it's because they have to buy a new computer to run the latest version.

Sadly, for those not being able to run a modern OS on they computer are at a distinct disadvantage. With time, most of the software needed to interact and work with others stops being supported for their OS and they can't upgrade to the most current version because it won't run on their OS. Meaning that they won't be able to access much of the resources needed to remain current, lessening their chances to land new jobs or better their position.

On this area, FLOSS can help leveling the playing field significantly. Having little to no cost to the user, it empowers users to run modern OS's and all the software that comes with it. Not only that, since there are several distros out there than are targeted to computers with low resources, it means that the cost of entry becomes even lower.

Not only FLOSS can give access to more people to computers, it can also give them the chance to start learning to code, or other computer related abilities, from an earlier age. And also, it would help them to learn about other cultures and people that otherwise would be closed to them. By doing so, we could really start seeing the world becoming a global village.

FLOSS can be the perfect tool to truly empower people, and bring the world together. By giving them the chance not only to learn about the world, but actually engaging it, can make the difference to make it a better place to live in.

The power belongs to the people, and FLOSS can be a great way for the people to grab it.