[UK] Information about the think tank Doteveryone

[Andres Muniz Piniella]

So they have had an open page open for comments and they are going over
the first draft. Hopefully we are not late to the party this time. 
They have an open document where they accept input. I have done my bit,
but I really don't have a completely full understanding of free
software as many of you here. 
So please comment: 
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bAScKd1eIKgPX3T8nXOkwbB2h8GC01SUP_d
u3O7H7oU/edit#heading=h.exstkxcrxuof
Sorry that they are currently using googledocs, but I guess that is
something we can address later down the line. 
On Wed, 2017-10-04 at 17:41 +0200, Paul Boddie wrote:
> On Wednesday 4. October 2017 15.56.46 Adonay Felipe Nogueira wrote:
> > 
> > I think there also needs to be more work on their part on how to
> > define
> > "ethical tech choices", see:
> > 
> > ces-try-
> > check-your-tech-3c05bcb28faf>.
> > 
> > Of course, this is not to say that this is a severe problem, it
> > just
> > means that it needs to be worked over time --- and hope for them to
> > understand the reasons for our view of "ethical tech choices".
> It is nice that they are trying to address the problems associated
> with choice 
> and technology, but I fear that the "consumer-focused" perspective
> will result 
> in the same kind of attitude shown by organisations like the
> Consumers' 
> Association (also known as "Which?"), where every last problem in
> society can 
> supposedly be remedied by having everyone constantly monitoring every
> little 
> aspect of their lives so that they might "switch providers" at a
> moment's 
> notice (where this is even appropriate) and deliver some kind of
> consumer 
> justice to bad companies.
> 
> Unfortunately, people don't always have the time to constantly check 
> everything in their lives, adjust their habits by swiping left or
> right, or 
> whatever, and tune their lifestyles to be completely optimal.
> Millions of 
> people remain in bad customer-business relationships not because they
> are lazy 
> or ignorant (which is the tone often used by the "empowered
> consumer" 
> organisations), but because switching banks, phone companies, and
> other 
> providers can be a lot of work for which such people don't have the
> time or 
> energy, certainly not on a regular basis.
> 
> There is also the matter of addressing "popular" concerns while
> ignoring 
> systemic flaws in products and services. So, to take an example,
> while 
> Fairphone pursued the worthy goals of using materials from ethical
> sources and 
> making sure that the employees of the manufacturer were well-treated, 
> the 
> matter of sustainable and durable software technology was
> marginalised. That 
> has left the first phone unsupported and probably threatens the
> second one, 
> despite the problems of industry-wide licence violation being known
> about for 
> years.
> 
> Free Software is an essential part of making technology that lasts
> and is fair 
> to its users, but it can be argued that many people regard it as some
> kind of 
> peripheral lifestyle choice, like the tedious and superficial "Mac or
> PC" 
> choice that you can still see mentioned in various places online, or
> which 
> sports team you happen to support. Such marginalisation results in
> flawed 
> products and services that could have been viable had people
> understood the 
> role of software instead of having a simple-minded "it's all ones and
> zeros" 
> mentality.
> 
> Until these organisations properly recognise the value of Free
> Software and 
> the importance of related matters such as interoperability and
> transparency, 
> many of their activities and recommendations will be ineffective.
> 
> Paul
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-- 
Andres (he/him/his)

HUG Director

RML Founding Member 
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