Re: climate change, libre software, FSF mgt.

[Thomas Lord <lord@basiscraft.com>]

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To what I wrote earlier, and considering the standpoint of designers of
"complete systems", their capacities, and their UX:

It would be an error to try to continue to try to "keep up" with the
craptastic 2019 WWW, social media, etc.  For example, an overly fancy
web browser is not likely all that important a priority, though sure
Firefox is nice to have around.   And a distributed decentralized
replacement for twitter or facebook or whatever the hell seems
incredibly unimportant.    Simple things might plausibly include a
return to distributed and decentralized email, "net news" (of one form
or another), and very basic website-type-things.  And good tools for
doing math, maintaining simple databases etc -- but again, not trying to
replicate and keep up with craptastic commercial offerings.  Just some
basics.  Easy to hack.  Easy to deploy and teach.  Well documented. etc.
  An alternative imaginary of the role of software in society.

-t 

On 2019-09-21 19:17, Thomas Lord wrote:

> For the purpose of envelope calculations about the climate emergency, the world is emitting the equivalent of about 40 billion metric tons of CO₂ per year. 
> 
> According to the 2018 U.N. IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C (aka IPCC SR15), the global carbon budget remaining to have a paltry 2 in 3 chance of keeping long term warming not higher than 1.5°C over pre-industrial levels, assuming some natural carbon-emitting feedbacks such as wildfires, is perhaps a mere equivalent of 240 billion metrics tons of CO₂ as of 1 / 1 / 2020. 
> 
> Therefore, that means that at the present rate of emissions, we will exhaust the emissions budget in about 6 years.  We don't have "12 years to save the planet" and a "green new deal" is nowhere near the kind of effort needed. 
> 
> Drastic reductions of emissions appear logistically possible, but require huge change in our social systems of production and distribution -- a real struggle both practically and "politically". 
> 
> Libre software, it seems to me, is an invaluable tool to help people globally communicate in spite of social media companies, and globally coordinate and cooperate around the kinds of fast, drastic reforms needed to reduce emissions. 
> 
> To me, this suggests the Free Software Movement's highest priority ought to be simple, well documented, easily forked and hacked (even if minimalist) complete systems -- successfully deployed into the hands of  many millions of people who not only get software freedom, but who understand it and usefully exercise it.  We need to leverage the adaptability of software to help our global adaptation to the climate emergency and the need to shut down emissions very quickly.
> 
> The movement is nowhere near that level of individual use or that level of exercise of the freedom to hack and share.  
> 
> Little else matters, in the short and medium term than to fix this.
> 
> I don't presume to know what this implies for the future of RMS, any particular software project, etc.
> 
> But I think it is where focus belongs -- including that, ideally, the FSF would be swiftly and radically reformed into an org that actually centered deploying useful software freedom as an urgent task -- a focus that is palpably, painfully absent from the current efforts of its all too "professional" executive staff. 
> 
> -t

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   To what I wrote earlier, and considering the standpoint of designers of
   "complete systems", their capacities, and their UX:
   It would be an error to try to continue to try to "keep up" with the
   craptastic 2019 WWW, social media, etc.  For example, an overly fancy
   web browser is not likely all that important a priority, though sure
   Firefox is nice to have around.   And a distributed decentralized
   replacement for twitter or facebook or whatever the hell seems
   incredibly unimportant.    Simple things might plausibly include a
   return to distributed and decentralized email, "net news" (of one form
   or another), and very basic website-type-things.  And good tools for
   doing math, maintaining simple databases etc -- but again, not trying
   to replicate and keep up with craptastic commercial offerings.  Just
   some basics.  Easy to hack.  Easy to deploy and teach.  Well
   documented. etc.   An alternative imaginary of the role of software in
   society.
   -t



   On 2019-09-21 19:17, Thomas Lord wrote:

     For the purpose of envelope calculations about the climate
     emergency, the world is emitting the equivalent of about 40 billion
     metric tons of CO₂ per year.

     According to the 2018 U.N. IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of
     1.5°C (aka IPCC SR15), the global carbon budget remaining to have a
     paltry 2 in 3 chance of keeping long term warming not higher than
     1.5°C over pre-industrial levels, assuming some natural
     carbon-emitting feedbacks such as wildfires, is perhaps a mere
     equivalent of 240 billion metrics tons of CO₂ as of 1 / 1 / 2020.

     Therefore, that means that at the present rate of emissions, we will
     exhaust the emissions budget in about 6 years.  We don't have "12
     years to save the planet" and a "green new deal" is nowhere near the
     kind of effort needed.

     Drastic reductions of emissions appear logistically possible, but
     require huge change in our social systems of production and
     distribution -- a real struggle both practically and "politically".

     Libre software, it seems to me, is an invaluable tool to help people
     globally communicate in spite of social media companies, and
     globally coordinate and cooperate around the kinds of fast, drastic
     reforms needed to reduce emissions.

     To me, this suggests the Free Software Movement's highest priority
     ought to be simple, well documented, easily forked and hacked (even
     if minimalist) complete systems -- successfully deployed into the
     hands of  many millions of people who not only get software freedom,
     but who understand it and usefully exercise it.  We need to leverage
     the adaptability of software to help our global adaptation to the
     climate emergency and the need to shut down emissions very quickly.
     The movement is nowhere near that level of individual use or that
     level of exercise of the freedom to hack and share.

     Little else matters, in the short and medium term than to fix this.
     I don't presume to know what this implies for the future of RMS, any
     particular software project, etc.
     But I think it is where focus belongs -- including that, ideally,
     the FSF would be swiftly and radically reformed into an org that
     actually centered deploying useful software freedom as an urgent
     task -- a focus that is palpably, painfully absent from the current
     efforts of its all too "professional" executive staff.

     -t

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