Mothobi Mokhethi* introduces the free (computer) software movement, and argues that it can make a contribution to building social justice movements
The last decade and a half has seen a major revolution in technology, especially in the use of computers. Spread of the use of computers and associated information technology (IT) applications has led to the widening of the “power-gap”: there has occurred a widening gap between those with access to power, and those who don’t. In its turn, this power gap has reinforced an already existing, and widening gap between the rich and the poor. Both these processes – the widening wealth-gap and the widening power-gap revolutions in technology have in many instances reinforced their lack of access to resources, and have thus been a factor contributing to the growing poverty the world over. On the other hand, however, the widening wealth and power gap has been met with resistance from many communities and movements from all over the world. In the course of the growth of these movements the new technologies have been used, not to disempower communities and movements, but as levers in the struggles for social justice. The new technologies have been useful as media of communication between communities and movements, as research tools, as tools to communicate between (collective) communities and those in power, and as tools to communicate between the movements and the public at large.
In the course of the use of these technologies for socially progressive purposes, it has become clear that a whole set of power relationships are embedded in the very nature of the technologies. In particular, it has become clear that the assumptions that lie at the base of the design of these technologies reinforce the wealth and power gaps. At a basic level, the new technologies assume access to particular kinds of technical infrastructure (e.g. electricity), access to certain levels of income, and to specific discourses (computer literacy). Moreover, these assumptions and others like them are embedded in the nature of ICT applications developed by and for the rich and the powerful in society today.
Within Southern and South Africa the impact of these technologies is made worse by the legacy of apartheid. At all three levels – access to certain kinds of infrastructure, the levels of income, and the computer literacy – apartheid has produced a distribution of power that is unfavourable to the overwhelming majority of the population. As the use of the new technologies has become increasingly widespread within the emerging social movement, this legacy and its effect has become increasingly evident.
As part of the response to the growing power of multinational corporations, and in particular their control of the new technologies, a movement to counter this development has emerged among computer engineers and programmers. This movement, which we will call the open source/free software movement, is an important component of our fight for social justice. In this article I will try to provide an introduction to open source / free have proved to be mutually reinforcing.
The free software movement
In the 1970’s Richard Stallman, a hacker and programmer, founded the free software movement in response and in opposition to privately owned computer software, what is also known as proprietary software. An example of proprietary software is all the Microsoft software packages. Therefore, the discussions about OSS/FS would be inadequate without mentioning the GNU Project that was conceived in 1983 by Richard Stallman and other programmers. Stallman’s initial document on the GNU Project is called the GNU Manifesto. In the 1980s almost all software was proprietary, and the GNU Project was established as a means of challenging proprietary software. Stallman wanted to develop free software, but also wanted it to be compatible with some of the existing software like the Unix system. He therefore called his project GNU, which stands for Gnu’s Not Unix!
In order to understand the discussion around the free software movement, we need a basic understanding of the computer. For a computer to be useful four things must come together. First there is the user (the person), secondly, the machine itself (called ‘hardware’), thirdly, there must be a code or set of instructions that allows the person to instruct the machine to perform certain basic (or what are called ‘generic’) functions. For example, you might want to store information in a particular place, or to print it, and so on. This part of the computer system is called the operating system. Fourthly, we have software applications. These are packages that do specific kinds of functions, like word-processing (Word), or calculations (Excel), or slides (PowerPoint). The operating system forms an important part of the computer system, because it allows all the other elements of the system to communicate with each other.
Thus an operating system is a priority on the free software movement agenda. By the 1990s, the GNU Project had written all the major components of an operating system except one, the kernel, which is like the brain of the operating system. OSS/FS is computer software (operating system and software applications) that has been built by a global community of volunteer programmers who make the blue print of how it was written or developed (this blue print is called the source code) freely available. For software (OSS/FS) debates and discussions. The journal will run a series of articles dealing with different aspects of OSS/FS the following conditions must be met:
Free software
Free software is a matter of the users’ freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. More precisely, it refers to four kinds of freedom, for the users of the software:
- The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
- The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this
- The freedom to redistribute copies. (freedom 2).
- The freedoms to modify the program, improve it, and release your improvements to the public (freedom 3). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
A program is said to be free software if these four freedoms are met. Thus, you should be free to modify the original copy, redistribute copies, either with or without modifications, either free or charging a fee for distribution, to anyone anywhere. But regardless of how you got your copies, what is fundamental is to always have the freedom to copy and change the software, even to sell copies without being questioned. You should not be required to notify anyone in particular, or in any particular way.
The freedom to redistribute copies must include the entire program, as well as source code, for both modified and unmodified versions. This makes it possible for another user to track down all the changes you made to the program and it would allow that particular user to choose to use the original program or to use the modified one.
Changes cannot be made to the program unless the user has access to the source code to the program. This brings us to the conclusion that accessibility of source code is a necessary condition for free software. According to the GNU project, certain kinds of rules about the manner of distributing free software are acceptable, when they don’t conflict with the central freedoms. For example, copyleft is the rule that when redistributing the program, you cannot add restrictions to deny other people the central freedoms. This rule does not conflict with the central freedoms; rather it protects them.
OSS/OF and the social justice movement
The free software movement is not necessarily an anti-capitalist movement. Therefore “Free software’’ does not mean “non-commercial’’. Many big corporations have used OSS/FS for many years to make huge profits through the exploitation of the work done by volunteer programmers. However, some proponents of OSS/FS contend that the movement should be anti-capitalist. As a result, there are ideological differences between the proponents of the terms “Free Software” and “Open Source”. In latter articles we will return to this debate.
The formation of the OSS/FS movement was the first important step in the struggle against all the restrictions to access to the new technology that is imposed by proprietary software. As Stallman said in his GNU Manifesto, “software sellers want to divide users and to conquer them, making each user agree not to share with others. I refuse to break solidarity with other users in this way”. In subsequent articles to this one we will deal with many other aspects of the OSS/FS movement, and how this movement can contribute to the work of the social movements.
*Mothobi Mokhethi is a computer programmer and works at Khanya College
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