Who controls your computer? Do you use or are used by your devices? What freedoms do you give up when you choose non-free software? These were some of the questions raised by Richard Stallman who filled auditorium 31 of Basic Cycle 6 at Unicamp on Wednesday afternoon (1). Considered the father of the Free Software Movement, Stallman founded the Free Software Foundation (FSF) and developed the GNU operating system, entirely composed of free software. Today, he is dedicated to traveling the world warning about the vulnerability we place ourselves in when we submit ourselves, individually and socially, to non-free software.
“The recent hacker attack highlights the need to assert our autonomy. We use systems that we know are sending information all the time”, highlighted Alexandre Oliva, responsible for the Fundação Software Livre América Latina (FSFLA) which organized the series of lectures at universities in Brazil and Argentina, of which the event at Unicamp was part of it. According to him, it is essential that we guarantee software freedom to make any other freedom possible. “The only possibility to guarantee the sovereignty of a country is to have control over the strategic computing that the government does. Without free software there is no national sovereignty”, emphasized Kretcheu, professor and activist who attended the event.
During Richard Stallman's third visit to Unicamp, promoted by professor Islene Calciolari Garcia, from the Computing Institute (IC), the effervescence inside and outside the auditorium proved that the topic of free software is still on the agenda. The auditorium, with capacity for 180 people, had stairs and corridors occupied by students and left many outside. Activists or curious people, everyone wanted to see and hear the charismatic figure who talks about ethics and freedom in such arid terrain as computer studies.
