climate change, libre software, FSF mgt.

[Thomas Lord <lord@basiscraft.com>]

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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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   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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