The Context of Software Freedom

Earlier today I learned the dismaying news that one of my friends in Free software was shot by police with a less-than-lethal round and assaulted with chemical weapons. While recovering at home, they warned me to be careful. Another friend in our group chat asked: is this group also about defunding and eliminating the police?

I see software freedom as a necessary part of a larger human freedom project, which is incomplete without abolition of prisons, jails, police, and the system of oppression they exist to uphold. Not every hacker or software project or social group needs to be focused on that, but this reiterates the difference between open source and Free software: open source is a technical and economic project with a vision of better software and fewer restrictions on programmers, while Free software is a political project with a vision of freedom for humankind.

Free software is hollow if it isn't also about defunding and eliminating the police.