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Systems thinking > Marginalization and underrepresentation

Ode to free software: Free software is a mean to an end, not an end in and of itself

I credit the community built around it for introducing me to important, complex, and sometimes difficult discussions about the intersections of technology and politics, workers' rights, colonization, white supremacy, eugenics, genocide; all technologists I met in my 7 years as a tech worker in free and open source software shook my world in ways I couldn't even imagine.

In a moment of deep introspection this year, I realized I rarely talk about why — despite it all — I believe the software freedom cause is worth my time, and maybe yours. I think it's time we have that conversation.

I don't and I won't claim I fully understand the history and the evolution of free software as a concept and as a movement; I'm still very young, and as much as I've interacted with people from generations of leaders and contributors who came before me, there will always be something new to learn. What I can confidently report to you are my observations, perceptions, internal conflicts, and aspirations.

Free software as a guiding principle #

I see software freedom as one of the guiding principles to enable global and universal collaboration; as a philosophy, it inspires us to work more openly and transparently. It also introduced me to what I see as a very radical notion: I can be more than a passive user of technology; I can be a creator, a maintainer. I can have an influence in the design of the things I — alongside the rest of society at large — use. I can be an agent of change.

That may seem obvious to someone who was born or has lived in countries in the Global North, or who has had close family members, friends, or role models who were already tech workers. The truth is, my perspective comes from a place of almost complete "technological subjugation": I have always been fed narratives centralized in idea of the Global North as the source of "creation" and "innovation"; the Global South, on the other hand, is portrayed as a source of "cheap labor" or people to be, once more, colonized.

That's why I find the idea of being someone so involved with the conception, implementation, and maintenance of critical free and open source technology to be subversive: I'm in places "I wasn't supposed to be"; I have the chance of creating a platform for the unheard, to amplify the voices of the ignored. I can fight to empower deeply diverse and community-centric ways of helping each other. I believe that our presence, our perspective, our influence can be a powerful tool to provoke a paradigm shift in the very foundation of technology.

Free software as an accessory fight #

The concept of software freedom alone sometimes feels unsophisticated as a response to a chaotic, but deeply organized and oppressive system of technologies and its ramifications. Additionally, free and open source software isn't necessarily ethically made or ethically used software. There are plenty of examples of the usage of free software within the military-industry complex, and/or in initiatives that increase and further surveillance, exploitation, oppression, genocide. Some free software activists seem extremely attached to the idea of having and keeping a moral high ground, but I often see that premise fall apart when it comes to subjects pertaining to white supremacy, international relations, the perpetuation of U.S. imperialism, or the idea of European “superiority”. Free software is still a part of a reality that fails, harms, excludes, oppresses and kills marginalized people every single day. It inherits and perpetuates its models, concepts, and power structures.

Gerald Bracey once said — in the context of the intersection between technology and education —, there are technologies "that permits us now to do in nanoseconds things that we shouldn't be doing at all". While I see so much potential for transformation in the agency technologists are given with access to entire codebases that bridge influential tools and with our needs — we hold the power and the knowledge to revolutionize lives —, I see a lot more value in having a profoundly critical perspective of the technologies we create. If oppressive systems make use of technology to further our oppression, we must understand it and subvert it in the same or in greater measure.

So while the concept of software freedom doesn't resonate with me as much and as deeply as the concept of liberation — my ultimate goal is to liberate people, not technology — in the acceleration of a deep integration of technology into every single aspect of our lives, the fight for software freedom still often intersects with the fight for human rights. Free software is a mean to an end, not an end in and of itself. And I credit the community built around it for introducing me to important, complex, and sometimes difficult discussions about the intersections of technology and politics, workers' rights, colonization, white supremacy, eugenics, genocide; all technologists I met in my 7 years as a tech worker in free and open source software shook my world in ways I couldn't even imagine.

We have a pivotal opportunity of using our ability of understanding complex technological systems — its inner and outer workings — to promote deep transformations in our society without even leaving our homes. That isn't something we can achieve by ourselves; that requires collective action.

My pledge to the software freedom movement #

My mission organizing Outreachy is to create a safe environment for minoritized persons like me to connect with generations of free and open source leaders and contributors that came before them, to engage with issues they may have never thought about before, and to empower them to join us in that collective action to change the technology landscape and society at large. That safe environment doesn't just involve offering a safe space for failure and success, but the safety of an internship stipend that was capable of providing significant financial means to many of our alums — enough to provide them financial independence, to help them escape abusive situations, to fund their studies, and so much more.

Now we need your help to ensure the Outreachy program can continue. In August, we shared that Outreachy is facing financial challenges. We are working hard to improve Outreachy's finances, but the financial climate for programs like ours is really tough, and we can't do it alone. Help us:

With your help, I pledge to keep making free and open source make room.