New Hampshire (USA) may soon enshrine Software Freedom into law. YOUR HELP IS NEEDED!
Hello everyone
I published an article about this on libreboot.org:
https://libreboot.org/news/usa-libre.html
There is a proposed bill going on in New Hampshire that will, if
passed, require state agencies to more or less use free software
exclusively, when they can, and facilitate its use by members of the
public.
If passed, I think many other states will pass similar legislation in
the US, and other countries outside the US may also follow. It could
have a huge positive effect on the Free Software movement as a whole.
The reading of the bill is taking place on 11 January 2022 in Concord,
New Hampshire. It is extremely important for everyone to show up, if
they live near New Hampshire!
The bill is proposed by @cooljeanius (Eric Gallager) on Twitter, and
the direct link to the bill is this:
https://gencourt.state.nh.us/bill_status/legacy/bs2016/billText.aspx?sy=2022&id=1363&txtFormat=html
Eric has instructions on his Twitter, for how to attend the reading and
take part, and my article on libreboot.org links to Eric's instructions.
It's critical that as many pro-freedom activists show up as humanly
possible, because our *enemies* (such as Microsoft) will likely be
there aswell, but they would be opposing it.
If passed, this legislation could result in *schools* standardizing on
Free Software. It could be a total revolution that puts Free Software
into more people's hands.
I think the FSF should write a post about it, and promote it heavily.
I'd go myself, but I'm in the UK. I urge anyone who can attend, to
please attend!
I am a member!
Thanks for sharing this. I can't attend, but have written to one sponsoring representative in support of this legislation. Your article is very informative and should also be shared with New Hampshire citizens.
I believe in less laws and not more. At the end if the day you have to ask how many people you're willing to have die enforcing any law, even something minor. I'm not against the spirit of the laws on that bill but don't believe that I would want my taxpayer money enforcing anything like it nor do I believe it is worth anyone dying over.
I think it's probably best if actual New Hampshirites get involved with this effort. NH politics is very local and they probably don't care very much about what outsiders have to say. (I'm not from New Hampshire but I've been there many times. It's kind of a weird state politically)
I am a member!
Activism from afar is apparently appreciated...
I received a reply from one representative sponsoring the bill and they welcome our support (I made it clear that I was from out of state):
"Even if you can't testify in person, it turns out that we still have a remote sign-in sheet this year:
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/house/committees/remotetestimony/default.aspx
They removed the testimony part from the form, but you should still be able to use it to register your basic support/opposition. Note that you must select the date from the calendar before the other menu items on the page become active."
It's the House Executive Departments and Administration Committee
HB1273
Read the bill:
https://legiscan.com/NH/bill/HB1273/2022
I will be sending the bill information to my state (NJ) representatives and pester them until they get the ball rolling.
OK, good to know. My state, which neighbors yours, is pretty backwards as far as state government is concerned but I guess it's worth trying.
I am a member!
We may have the market on backwards cornered...
If NH is successful it can only help those of us seeking similar legislation in other states and localities.
This could be really, really good, or it could be a double-edged sword...
This idea has happened before if I recall...
I hope it works out this time though.
Hard to say, so far.
I am a member!
From FSF:
https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/new-hampshire-residents-make-your-voice-heard-on-january-11th
with a link to Leah's article.
I am a member!
Lots of recycled arguments when the legislature debates open source software (Concord, NH Monitor):
https://www.concordmonitor.com/open-software-nh-new-hampshire-44505163
So, any *more* details on how the reading actually went? It was just reading, with no voting yet? Will there be voting?
I would follow this page to see what happens. *disclaimer* I am not familiar with New Hampshire.
It could turn out good, but I think the first step should be to get people in government to even use something like debian even...
Sad to say, but most hardware I bet in these agencies, requires crappy blobs, or non-free software...
That being said, even getting rid of microsoft's insecure OS in general, should be considered a giant leap, as long as they don't switch to a google or apple device, all of them in my opinion are unspeakably bad.
If you want a toilet operating system, pick ubuntu, if you want a sewer level operating system, pick microsoft or google or apple but if you want an actual good operating system, debian or better.
;)
I say this about ubuntu, because their ideas of snap packaging connects to a non-free net, also, its a commercial distro, with a bad history of doing shady stuff more than any other, such as their amazon marketing project, spying by default, etc..
My point being, some of this has changed, but the fact it even happened in the first place is well... unreal, makes me think of the closest to microsoft that gnu/linux can get.
Main point though, no one who wants to have a secure setup and protect confidental info, should ever use proprietary operating systems, ever.
But yeah, if this law is to succeed, I really hope they don't go too far with this, or they may backslide back to microsoft again...
Aka, one of the three sewer king operating systems. ;)
Although facebook also has an OS too I hear now... but I really hope people know its as bad as the worst of the three.
I also hope not enough people took them seriously. meh...
EDIT: just a note, when I said ubuntu has this history more than any other, I meant gnu/linux distros. Although, ubuntu doesn't act like they care about GNU at all... so meh.
> Although, ubuntu doesn't act like they care about GNU at all... so meh.
While I don't want to claim Ubuntu is an ethical distro, there are some things that could be worse:
* It facilitates disabling nonfree software repositories (I even recall it prompting the user asking whether nonfree repos should be enabled, somewhere ~5 years ago). Some distros (e.g. Arch) don't.
* Although it uses the bad term "open-source", it doesn't do so exclusively (like, I think, RedHat does). You can see the phrase "free and open-source software" in some places.
* AFAIK releases its own code under GNU licenses. Some distros don't. Some even attempt to replace GNU parts with premissively-licensed counterparts (e.g. Void?)
Very good point, its a mixed bag...
Either way, its better than the big 3.
Not including that portal trash, which is probably also as bad.
typo
Any news on this? When will the bill be voted? Anything foreigners can do to help?
So, it failed. Over 2 months ago and nobody seems to have noticed
I am a member!
That's a shame. The U.S. is in freefall, freedom-wise (software, expression, voting, healthcare, reproductive rights, organized labor... oh, and democracy), so this is not unexpected. I don't expect to live in anything resembling a 'free' country in my lifetime. Not that it was ever really free for everyone... or anyone...