Activist blasts tech giants

CHENNAI: "Don't stand for me. Stand for freedom," said Richard Stallman as he received a standing ovation when he stepped on the stage at IIT-Madrason Monday.

The celebrated American software freedom activist, in the city to deliver a lecture, 'Free Software, Freedom and Education', tore into computer and Internet giants Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook. "Facebookis a surveillanceengine. It gathers data, asks you to name peoplein photographs with the user (or the subject of the picture) having no control over how this d

ata is used. I don't think you should use it," Stallman said.

Asked about the Indian government's reported move to censor online content, he said, "Censorship is tyranny. The state must also promote 'good habits' and not encourage people to use something that is not ethical. Schools ask me about choosing between Windows and GNU/Linux. I think it is like choosing between whiskey andwater."

Stallman's mission can be better understood in ideological terms than technical. He was a prominent figure in the hacker culture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the 70s. Free software refers to the word freedom rather than free in the monetary sense. Stallman says free software "respects your freedom and your community" andthatthedistinction between free and proprietary isof "ethical,social and political nature".

In the lecture, Stallman attacked Microsoft and Apple for having operating systems (OSs) which violate user freedom at various levels. "All these are malware.These'iThings' (referring to Apple's products) have made things worse. They have spy features," he said. Referring to the term 'jailbreaking', or removing administrator controls in devices installed by a company, hesaiditclearly showsthetrue natureof the product- a jail.

His dislike for Steve Job's love for controlling user experience is wellknown. When SteveJobsdied, Stallman wrote on his personal blog: "I'm not glad he's dead, but I'm glad he's gone... We all deserve theendof Jobs' malign influenceon computing."

Stallman said the Android operating system has a free source code but that is not how it is implemented on devices. "Manufacturers insert their own non-free programswhichcannotbeuninstalled.Even if theuser is ableto modify them to suithisown needs,hecannotusehisown version by installing in proprietary versions. So Android is not completely free," he said.