[CS-FSLUG] Biblical anti-MS, pro Free Software arguments
Ruth Marlene Friesen
Bouquet at ruthes-secretroses.com
Tue Dec 7 17:48:10 CST 2004
Excellent, Norbert!
And wonderfully enlightening!
Thank you and Blessings!
I don't normally do "forwards" but this is one to be shared with
others.
Ruth
On 26 Nov 2004 at 13:49, Norbert Bollow wrote:
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> Don Parris has (in private email) expressed interest in how I
> would formulate my arguments for Free Software from a Christian
> perspective. Hence here is my write-up of what has motivated
> me to start the DotGNU project, and what still motivates me to
> be active in the Free Software movement. By the way, I have
> prayed to God, asking Him that the brothers and sisters whom
> the Lord wants to call to start a Christian Free Software
> business together with me would feel particularly moved by the
> Holy Spirit when reading this article.
>
> May the peace of Christ be with you all,
> Norbert.
>
>
>
>
> Arguments against Microsoft software, in favor of Free Software
and
> IETF-style Open Standards, from a Christian, Biblical
perspective.
>
> According to Dan 2:36-45, the age of human empires is coming to
an end
> through a sovereign action of God. This will be the end of all kinds
> of human empires, including business empires. Here the term
"business
> empires" refers to companies which use anti-competitive tactics,
> oppression or manipulation, to extend their realm of influence, or to
> make people work for them under unjust conditions. These tactics
are
> in direct violation of the command of Jesus to love your neighbor
as
> yourself.
>
> It is reasonable to expect that when God crushes all the wicked
human
> empires, they will try to strike back in some way. Since they
cannot
> do anything directly against God, they will instead take action
> against the saints. The Bible speaks openly about this. Dan 7:25
and
> Rev 13:7-8 speak about a time of particularly strong persecution
> shortly before the end of the age, while Rev 18:24 makes this
general
> statement about "Babylon the Great" (which symbolizes the
political
> and economic empires of the world): "In her was found the blood
of
> prophets and of the saints, and of all who have been killed on the
> earth."
>
> It is therefore important for Christians, and especially for Christian
> businesses and ministries, to understand what is going on, so that
> God's people can obey the command to "come out of her"
(Babylon, which
> symbolizes the worldly system of human empires) "so that you will
not
> share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues"
> (Rev 18:4).
>
> A lot of internet technology, including the domain name system
(DNS)
> and the email system, has been developed and standardized in a
> righteous manner, i.e. in a manner which is completely outside the
> control of all human empires.
>
> The software which runs on most mailservers to transport email
over
> the internet, as well as the software which implements the domain
name
> system, are distributed with full source code and licensed under
terms
> which allow anyone to modify the programs, and to redistribute the
> programs in original or modified form. The means that the
fundamental
> software which makes the internet useful for communicating by
email is
> not part of any human empire, it's not part of the "Babylon" system
> about which God says "come out of her". In general, computer
software
> with this nice property is referred to as "Free Software" or "Open
> Source Software". (The two terms "Free Software" and "Open
Source
> Software" have practically identical meaning; from the Christian
> perspective it is preferable to say "Free Software" because this
term
> emphasizes the aspect of freedom from the control of all wicked
human
> empires.)
>
> The fundamental protocols of the internet, including the protocols
for
> the domain name system and the email system, have been
standardized
> through a collaborative process based on "rough consensus" in
"IETF
> Working Groups". Here "IETF" stands for "Internet Engineering
Task
> Force". This is not an organization under anyone's control, but
> rather an international community of network designers, operators,
> vendors, and researchers which is open to any interested
individual.
> There has never been any act of an industry consortium or a
government
> of this world or any international treaty which would have given the
> IETF the authority to determine the future of the internet. The
> influence of the IETF comes solely through voluntary decisions of
the
> authors of computer programs to follow the standards published by
the
> IETF. This situation is not a shortcoming of the IETF, but rather it
> is what ensures that the results of the "internet standards" process
> are acceptable from the Christian "Kingdom-of-God" perspective.
> Interestingly, the IETF standards are usually referred to as "RFCs",
> where "RFC" is an abbreviation for "Request For Comments". In
the
> IETF standards process, all knowledgeable people are invited to
join
> in and comment.
>
> The first important internet standard where one of the wicked
> corporate empires of this world has managed to achieve
dominating
> influence is the standard for the HTML (HyperText Markup
Language)
> format which specifies the format of webpages so that they can be
> displayed in a browser such as Firefox or "Internet Explorer".
While
> HTTP, the HyperText Transfer Protocol, which is used to transport
> webpages over the internet, has been standardized through the
IETF
> process, the HTML format for webpages has been standardized
only by
> the "World Wide Web Consortium", an industry consortium in
which
> Microsoft Corporation has a strong influence. In addition,
> Microsoft's "Internet Explorer" has such dominant market share
that
> web designers are effectively forced to design pages so that they
look
> good in "Internet Explorer" and competing web browsers such as
Firefox
> (which should be preferred not only because it's better and more
> secure, but also because it's Free Software) must be programmed
to
> mimic the behavior of "Internet Explorer" instead of just
implementing
> the standard. In this context it is important to keep in mind that it
> has been found in court (both by the district court and by the
appeals
> court) that Microsoft Corporation has achieved this monopoly
position
> in an illegal manner, i.e. through illegal anti-competitive actions to
> drive competitors such as Netscape out of the market. The end
result
> of this lawsuit (in which the U.S. "Department of Justice" sued
> Microsoft Corporation) has been to establish as a fact that
Microsoft
> has committed a grave injustice; however the lawsuit hasn't had
any
> significant success in the area of putting things right, through
> taking away from Microsoft the influence over the internet which
they
> have illegally gained. In this area the U.S. "Department of Justice"
> and the courts seem to be powerless. It's up to every individual
> computer user to decide whether they want to continue to be part
of
> Microsoft's software empire, or whether they want to come out of it
> and use Free Software such as the Firefox web browser and the
> GNU/Linux operating system.
>
> Microsoft's .NET initiative can also be seen as an attempt to bring
> more of the internet under Microsoft's control. For example the
New
> York Times reported on July 25, 2002 in the article "Microsoft Tries
> to Explain What Its .Net Plans Are About" that "Microsoft also
warned
> today that the era of 'open computing,' the free exchange of digital
> information that has defined the personal computer industry, is
> ending." Fortunately, at least so far, this aspect of Microsoft's
> plans for extending the reach of their empire appears to have been
> unsuccessful.
>
> Looking forward, the next main battlefield where Microsoft
Corporation
> is likely to attack the realm of Free Software and IETF-style open
> standards is the email system. Clearly the email system needs to
be
> changed in some way to solve the problem of unsolicited bulk
email
> (spam). Microsoft has recently attempted to get changes to the
email
> system approved through the IETF working-group process,
changes which
> would have introduced the "Sender-ID" sender authentication
system. A
> major problem of this proposal is that it would have required a
> (non-sublicensable) patent license from Microsoft, which is
> incompatible with the idea of Free Software. Not surprisingly, it
has
> been impossible to achieve "rough consensus" for this Microsoft
> proposal, as required by IETF procedures. That however has not
> stopped Microsoft from still trying to push their ideas through, for
> example through political lobbying and through sheer market
power.
> Besides this "Sender-ID" system, Microsoft is also pushing for the
> introduction of some kind of central authority for the internet which
> would enforce a kind of postage for email.
>
> Of course Microsoft would like to replace the current internet email
> system which is based on IETF standards ("RFCs") and Free
Software
> with a proprietary system under their control. It is important for
> Christian businesses and ministries to resist that. If we allow that
> to happen, we will be in a situation like that described in 1 Sam
> 16:19-23, where only two people in the whole army of Israel had
proper
> weapons, because the Philistines had made sure that there were
no
> smiths among the people of Israel. With Microsoft's proprietary
> software, only one company (Microsoft) is able to change the
software.
> With Free Software and open standards ("RFCs"), everyone has
the
> right to make needed changes, which includes many Christians
who have
> the necessary skills.
>
> As mentioned in the beginning, shortly before the end of the age
and
> the return of our Lord Jesus, circumstances will change so that
> Christian ministry and legitimate, God-fearing business activities
> become more difficult. However also during this difficult time, our
> calling remains unchanged: We must continue to witness to a
dying
> world about the eternal salvation which can be found in Jesus
Christ.
>
> - From the perspective of the Kingdom of God, the most important
> aspect of the internet is the ability to communicate by email. If we
> manage to retain our ability to communicate quickly and reliably
> though securely encrypted email messages, it will be much easier
to
> effectively coordinate ministry activities even when there is some
> persecution. The persecution will eventually become so heavy that
no
> form of ministry is possible anymore, but if we prepare properly, we
> will be able to minister effectively and save a lot of souls during
> the early stages of persecution when many people start to realize
that
> they're part of a wicked human empire.
>
>
> Written by Norbert Bollow, 2004-11-26.
> This document is in the Public Domain.
> No Rights Reserved.
>
>
>
>
> - --
> Founder & Steering Committee member of DotGNU, see
http://dotgnu.org/
> Free Software Business Strategy Guide --->
http://FreeStrategy.info
> Norbert Bollow, Weidlistr.18, CH-8624 Gruet (near Zurich,
Switzerland)
>
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Blessings & Thanks,
Ruth
http://Ruthes-SecretRoses.com
An intentional and mentoring friend like "Ruthe"!
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