105 lines
4.1 KiB
HTML
105 lines
4.1 KiB
HTML
<h3 class="menuhead">
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The Importance of JavaScript that Respects Your Freedoms
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</h3>
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<blockquote class="quote">
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It occurred to me that when we announce ease.js it would be a good occasion to
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post something about the importance of making JavaScript code free.
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—Richard Stallman
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</blockquote>
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<p>
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GNU ease.js provides a set of unmatched and desirable features under a
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copyleft license, which encourages developers to release their own code under
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a compatible free software license. But not everyone may understand why this
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decision—and the urging of free (as in freedom) JavaScript—are so
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fundamentally vital to the future of a free and cooperative Internet that is
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accessible to <em>everyone</em>, regardless of whether they exclusively use
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free software.
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</p>
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<p>
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<strong>We need your help to protect the fundamental freedoms of Internet
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users.</strong> This brief essay is an appeal to developers to develop free
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software for the Web; it is heavily influenced by Richard Stallman's article
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<a href="https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/javascript-trap.html">The JavaScript
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Trap</a>—which you should also read—and has been written with his
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input. If you already write free JavaScript, then thank you.
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</p>
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<div class="essay">
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<p>
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<span class="firsts">Web pages increasingly include JavaScript code, which
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raises the same ethical concerns as software written in any other
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language:</span> Non-free JavaScript can rob you of your right to study,
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modify, and share the software that you are running. Unlike traditional
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software, JavaScript usually enters your machine without prompting and often
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without your knowledge---the simple act of visiting a web page may install
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and execute a non-free program within your web browser.
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</p>
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<p>
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JavaScript provides an often frictionless cross-platform distribution
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mechanism that can be exploited without your permission; this amplifies
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the effects of some of the most insidious anti-features, such as spying
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on your activities and tracking your movements. If a web page executes
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non-free code, how are you able to audit it (or have someone else do so
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on your behalf) to ensure that it is not malicious? Further, how are
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you or others able to modify the software to remove the malicious code?
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(Unfortunately, the latter can be complicated even with free JavaScript,
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but it can be done.)
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</p>
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<p>
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But non-malicious programs sometimes need changes too. You deserve
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control over all software that runs on your computer; why should you
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sacrifice this freedom simply because JavaScript creates the illusion
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of remote execution?
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</p>
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<p>
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How many web sites have you visited today that download JavaScript
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onto your computer? How many of them respect your freedoms? I chose
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to license ease.js under the GPLv3+ because I believe that non-free
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JavaScript should be eliminated, not enabled. Please help to spread
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the word and join me in writing free JavaScript; without it, we will
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have an Internet that is locked away from free software users; this is
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not the spirit in which the Internet was created.
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</p>
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<p class="sign">
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<a href="http://mikegerwitz.com/">Mike Gerwitz</a>
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<br />
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Author of GNU ease.js
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</p>
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<dl class="links">
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<dt class="imp">To join in on the FSF's Free JavaScript campaign:</dt>
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<dd>
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<a href="https://fsf.org/campaigns/freejs">
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https://fsf.org/campaigns/freejs
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</a>
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</dd>
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<dt>More information on the JavaScript trap is available here:</dt>
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<dd>
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<a href="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/javascript-trap.html">
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http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/javascript-trap.html
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</a>
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</dd>
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<dt>More information on free software and its freedoms:</dt>
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<dd>
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<a href="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html">
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http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
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</a>
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</dd>
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</dl>
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<p class="imgattr">
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<a href="http://www.gnu.org/graphics/anothertypinggnu.html">
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Another Typing GNU Hacker
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</a>
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</p>
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</div>
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