Are We In Control Of Our Machines? Part 1

Thom Holwerda over at OSnews published a very enlightening article recently entitled "Richard Stallman Was Right All Along".  It expresses a viewpoint which I've had for quite some time.  I believe that if a person has purchased a computer, s/he should be in complete control of it and should have the ability to do with it as s/he sees fit.  Proprietary software is an impediment to that ideal.

That said, I don't have that kind of control over all of my hardware or software.  I use almost no proprietary software on my computers, but my non-x86-derivative machines such as my Nintendo Wii and my cell phone are mostly opaque to me.  I allow this because one cannot truly take part in society without such things as a cell phone or Adobe Flash.

But how close could one come to the ideal, what would one have to live without if one came as close as possible, what could be done to fill in gaps in functionality for those unwilling to use proprietary software, and how much work would be involved?

How Close Are We?

Very close, actually.  The bits which we can't do without proprietary software are minutia as opposed to foundational.  This certainly was not the case when the GNU project was young.  One may reasonably use their computers without much proprietary software.  People who use mostly proprietary software largely do so because they have developed a dependence on proprietary software and are unwilling -- not unable -- to move to mostly Free Software setups.

The exceptions I can think of are:

• Reasonable 3D acceleration for some graphics card vendors
• Adobe Flash
• Firmware and BIOS

The first of these may be mitigated by purchasing graphics cards for which there are drivers which support 3D acceleration (such as Intel).  Even the second can be largely mitigated with (incomplete) Free Software Flash implementations such as Gnash.  For YouTube in particular, there are some video players such as Minitube.

What Would We Have to Live Without?

The first answer to this question which rings in my head (and that of many of my readers, I'm sure) is "gaming," of which I myself do a fair amount.  Many of the games I play are Free Software.  I've spent a good deal of time playing Crossfire MMORPG, Nexuiz (which is now proprietary, but there is a community fork of the latest Free Software version called Xonotic), OpenTTD, and even Frets on Fire.  However, many of the games I play are proprietary.  Right now, I'm nearing the end of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

Many of the really popular games don't have a Free Software alternative.  There are strong efforts to correct this, but there is still quite a way to go.  One major deficiency I've noticed is that Free Software gaming seems to be lacking when it comes to the "plot-driven" genre.

How Can We Improve This?

As mentioned, much work is already being put toward efforts to resolve these issues.  The nouveau project aims to make a fully functional replacement for the official Nvidia drivers for the Nvidia graphics card chipset.  Please do consider putting some of your effort into such projects if you can.

Gaming is an interesting challenge, however.  You can't exactly make an open-source Legend of Zelda game.  And you certainly can't write the same Legend of Zelda game as has been released by Nintendo.  To do so without risking litigation from Nintendo would require developers to write the engine, artists to produce models and textures (but they couldn't be *too* similar or they would infringe on Nintendo's copyright), and lawyers to make sure the legal aspects were taken into account properly.

Obviously, one option would be for those interested in Free Software gaming to write the kind of games they most like without infringing in any way and make them as high quality as the proprietary alternatives.

There might be an interesting loophole which could be taken advantage of to produce Free Software versions of proprietary games, however.

The game Frets on Fire is a clone of the popular game series "Guitar Hero."  It supports importing the playable songs in Guitar Hero I and II directly from the official game disks.  This allows gamers in practice to have largely the same game experience without using proprietary software as they would playing Guitar Hero I or II on the Playstation 2.

Why couldn't this be done for many other games?

Suppose one were to write a clone of (for instance) the Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword game engine without any art or plot elements from the original game and include a feature which would fetch said game elements from an official game disk inserted into the DVD-Rom drive.  The 3D Legend of Zelda game engines are in fact similar enough that one could most likely create one game engine which would support importing its content from any or all of the 3D Legend of Zelda games.

Unfortunately, even this is not exactly legal (at least in the U.S.).  Wii games, and games of many previous game systems as well employ DRM to prevent users from using the content on the disk.  The Digital Millenium Copyright Act (a U.S. federal law enacted in 1998) makes circumvention of DRM criminalized the act of circumventing DRM.  Hence, even if one circumvented DRM in this way but did not in any way infringe on Nintendo's copyright, this scheme would require U.S. users to commit a felony.  However, for those governed by laws which do not make circumvention of DRM illegal, this would be an excellent way to allow gamers to have the experience of playing such games without using proprietary software.

This still feels like the right direction to move, however.  Perhaps with enough support, an exemption in the DMCA could be made a reality for this kind of use.

Stay tuned for Part 2 where I plan to speak about how we can be in control of consumer electronics products which are not x86-derivative.

Technology to Empower the Users

Technology can assist governments and corporations in their ends, often to detrimental and oppressive ends.  Some countries monitor and censor communications using firewalls and deep packet inspection.  Some companies produce software laced with DRM and antifeatures for their own benefit.

But there is another side to technology.  More individuals are using technology to put power back into their own hands.

These efforts are overwhelmingly grassroots and community driven projects.  In fact, it's questionable whether a technology imposed in a top down manner can give power to the users in any meaningful way.

This blog post is meant to give a quick introduction to just a few of the specific projects and technologies out there for giving power to individuals previously retained by those with power.

The RepRap Project

The RepRap Project is an active and so far extremely successful effort to bring the ability to manufacture consumer goods to individuals everywhere.  "RepRap" is short for "Replicating Rapid Prototyper."  At this point, the project is less than seven years old and has already designed from scratch four official RepRap devices.  With the proper software (all of which is free and open source), users can design a 3D model on a computer and "print" the three dimensional object using the RepRap in various types of plastic in only a few hours.

The 3D models that one person designs may be easily shared via the Internet.  At this point, the most popular place for sharing these 3D model files seems to be Thingaverse.  Not all of the models on that site may be printed using a RepRap, but the majority are, and all are able to be rapid prototyped in some manner.

Perhaps the most interesting feature of the RepRap is that it is designed to be able to print many of its own parts.  3D model files of these parts are freely available on the RepRap project's wiki.  This has some amazing benefits.  The user has the ability to print backup parts for themselves, print the parts for a friend to ease the process of getting into desktop manufacturing, and modify the 3D model files and print the new parts so that s/he may improve and/or customize the device.

An assembled, functional RepRap may be purchased for under $1,400 at Botmill, among many other places.

GNU Radio

GNU Radio is a project to allow users to detect and analyze radio signals in their current area.  Almost any radio signal may be analyzed from ham radio bands to Wifi and television bands.  The project allows users even to decode digital television signals for audio/visual playback.

Whereas other means of detecting signals require a crystal to be tuned to each frequency individually in order to get a signal, GNU Radio allows for "listening on all channels at once."  This does require some specialized hardware which can be a bit expensive, but the payoffs are great.

Tor

Tor (The Onion Router) is a project for protecting users' anonymity online.  One of the greatest benefits the Internet has given us is the ability to speak and be heard without experiencing negative repercussions.  This anonymity allows Internet citizens to be truly honest about their opinions, which they may not be willing to express in "real life."

Tor is software which establishes peer-to-peer connections between computers, allowing them to use each other as proxies.  This allows users to engage in internet communication without a significant risk that somebody (such as and ISP, government, or other third party) will be able to trace the communication back to them.  This can be done both for clients and servers, allowing for freer expression than should be conducted without such protections.

Tor can be and has been used by political dissidents attempting to spread their messages as well as those attempting to publish and view unpopular information.

These projects should be the subject of several later posts.  They have the ability to change the world in positive ways by giving more power to accomplish useful things to individuals interested in making a difference.