Hello, 2012! (and RMS was right)

Posted at 2:51pm on Tuesday January 3rd 2012

It's our first day back at the office after a well deserved, and much enjoyed, Christmas break, so we thought we'd wish all our readers and listeners a happy new year - so, happy new year! We're looking forward to another year of great comments on TuxRadar and interesting discussions on the forums. We're also looking forward to putting out our first issue of 2012, where we teach you how to hack, on the 5th January (that's only two days away!).

Also, there was a good article on OSNews today that's worth reading. It argues that 'Richard Stallman was right all along', given SOPA and Cory Doctorow's recent presentation on the war against general purpose computing. Bit of a downer given all the merriment that has just taken place over the last few weeks, but perhaps it will provide a bit of context and drive to all the free software using and hacking you do over the coming year.

From the article:

"The crux of the matter here is that unlike the days of yore, where repressive regimes needed elaborate networks of secret police and informants to monitor communication, all they need now is control over the software and hardware we use. Our desktops, laptops, tablets, smartphones, and all manner of devices play a role in virtually all of our communication. Think you're in the clear when communicating face-to-face? Think again. How did you arrange the meet-up? Over the phone? The web? And what do you have in your pocket or bag, always connected to the network?

This is what Stallman has been warning us about all these years - and most of us, including myself, never really took him seriously. However, as the world changes, the importance of the ability to check what the code in your devices is doing - by someone else in case you lack the skills - becomes increasingly apparent. If we lose the ability to check what our own computers are doing, we're boned."

There's much more goodness in the article itself, so do give it a read.

If you have any great projects planned for the new year (coding, user group events etc.) or anything you'd like to see in the magazine or on the blog, why not let us know in the comments?

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Your comments

The eternal struggle

John Hudson (not verified) - January 3, 2012 @ 7:58pm

It's a bit like the eternal stuggle between predator and prey - the predator creates a defence - the prey finds a way to get round it - the predator creates a better defence.

RMS was right in seeing the problem not as technological but as cultural - the predators have succeeded, like the slavers in the 16th century or the Nazis in the 20th century, in creating a culture in which what they do appears 'reasonable.' We need to create a culture which makes just as clear as the opponents of slavery and Nazism did that what the predatos consider 'reasonable' is totally unreasonable.

Get some good excuse

Torwag (not verified) - January 4, 2012 @ 3:18am

How does it come that we all was swimming in Christmas and New Years Greetings from every single page we ever visited in the past +5 Years but there was nothing on TuxRadar.

Ohhh man, how often did I press the reload button waiting for a little Christmas decoration on the website or some video of you guys wishing all your loyal listeners a great time....

You should think how to compensate for this in the next podcast.

Well said

DNA (not verified) - January 4, 2012 @ 6:45am

Wow, dang. Second the first post.

Happy new year!

Huw - January 4, 2012 @ 7:45am

I was wondering whether this would get posted on TuxRadar! Happy new year to you all. When's the next podcast? :D

Happy new year

Anonymous Penguin - January 4, 2012 @ 9:31am

Christmas decoration

jon - January 4, 2012 @ 3:42pm

@Torwag: Lol, well, things do get pretty busy here (as with most people, I imagine) over the Christmas period, but maybe next year we'll sneak a little tinsel onto the blog :-) Graham did wish a happy christmas to all on the Linux Format blog, however...

The world needs free software now more than ever.

Martin Houston (not verified) - January 9, 2012 @ 11:50am

How are we going to be able to robustly oppose things like SOPA that will destroy the Intrernet as we know it without the FSF '4 Freedoms'?

I know this probably does not come as any surprise given his writings but RMS is a supporter of the Occupy movement that is growing in numbers by the hour all across the world.

At my invitation he came to speak at the Tented University at Occupy LSX back on 5th Nov.

As our fraudulent, unsustainable economy finally hits the buffers a lot of the things that he was warning about are now becoming very real dangers. Just look at the NDAA in America.

I know that many hacker types like to not bother about real world issues if there is some nice juicy technical problem to deal with. However the situation is so dire you cannot afford to just do the ostrich act. Find you local Occupy and join it. With luck they will be able to use your skills and give you nice technical problems to solve.

How to find Occupy? Try Twitter, Facebook, just googling for it. More directly there is an Occupy specific social network you can join - http://occupii.org - That started New Years eve and already has over 3k members!