# LANGUAGE translation of https://www.gnu.org/education/how-i-fought-to-graduate-without-using-non-free-software.html # Copyright (C) YEAR Free Software Foundation, Inc. # This file is distributed under the same license as the original article. # FIRST AUTHOR , YEAR. # #, fuzzy msgid "" msgstr "" "Project-Id-Version: how-i-fought-to-graduate-without-using-non-free-software.html\n" "POT-Creation-Date: 2024-07-01 13:55+0000\n" "PO-Revision-Date: YEAR-MO-DA HO:MI+ZONE\n" "Last-Translator: FULL NAME \n" "Language-Team: LANGUAGE \n" "Language: \n" "MIME-Version: 1.0\n" "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8\n" "Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit\n" #. type: Content of: msgid "" "How I Fought To Graduate Without Using Nonfree Software - GNU Project - Free " "Software Foundation" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><a> msgid "<a id=\"side-menu-button\" class=\"switch\" href=\"#navlinks\">" msgstr "" #. type: Attribute 'title' of: <div><a><img> msgid "Education Contents" msgstr "" #. type: Attribute 'alt' of: <div><a><img> msgid " [Education Contents] " msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div> msgid "</a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p><a> msgid "<a href=\"/\">" msgstr "" #. type: Attribute 'title' of: <div><p><a><img> msgid "GNU Home" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "</a> / <a href=\"/education/education.html\">Education</a> / <a " "href=\"/education/resisting-proprietary-software.html\">Resistance</a> / " "<a " "href=\"/education/successful-resistance-against-nonfree-software.html\">Successful " "resistance</a> /" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h2> msgid "How I Fought To Graduate Without Using Nonfree Software" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><address> msgid "by Wojciech Kosior <a href=\"#thanks\" id=\"thanks-rev\"><sup>[1]</sup></a>" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "As a university student, I have struggled during the pandemic like everyone " "else. Many have experienced deaths in their families, or have lost their " "jobs. While studying informatics at the AGH University of Science and " "Technology in Kraków, Poland, I have been fighting another, seemingly less " "important battle, but one I passionately feel is vital to our future " "freedoms. I describe my fight below, so as to encourage and inspire others." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Unethical platforms" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Software freedom is a huge but hidden issue in our time. Digital " "communications technologies such as videoconferencing have taken center " "stage in our lives, and for many the use of these has been a savior. They " "do not notice the danger concealed in the way it works: whoever controls " "this technology controls our lives. Recently we have seen the power of Big " "Tech to subvert democracy, control speech, exclude groups, and invade our " "privacy." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Software freedom is a fight to return control to people. It is a fight " "against “nonfree” software, also called <em>proprietary " "software</em>, which imposes unjust and invasive harms on its users. In " "pursuit of our liberating mission, advocates of software freedom like myself " "insist on using <em>libre</em> software." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "It is especially important to spread these ideals to new generations. " "Unfortunately, we often see the opposite trend. The default operating system " "found in most computer classrooms of my country is proprietary Microsoft " "Windows, with some universities even providing students licenses for it. At " "some point I came to realize this practice really only benefits the " "proprietary operating system vendor. Similarly terrifying is the level of " "dependence of course organization on nonfree Google Sheets and Google Forms." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "During the pandemic we saw educational facilities hastily embrace " "proprietary tools such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and WhatsApp, pressured by " "the network they generate. Schools and universities then tried to impose " "them on students, who subsequently suffered the loss of freedom from using " "programs that users don't control, as well as bad security and violations of " "privacy." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Because I refuse to use unethical software, the complete reliance on " "proprietary platforms has created an ethical conflict. My aim has been to " "complete my university degree without surrendering to the imposed nonfree " "services, by convincing my professors<a href=\"#teachers\" " "id=\"teachers-rev\"><sup>[2]</sup></a> to allow me to use only free-software " "replacements to proprietary applications. I didn't expect to win a fight " "against such power, but now, through polite but firm action, I think I may " "have prevailed. Hopefully this story will help you resist too." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Ethical studying" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Over time I've become more and more determined to avoid nonfree " "software. Among other challenges, that meant getting a Libreboot'ed ThinkPad " "and switching to GNU/Linux distros that include only libre packages. One " "might ask:" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><blockquote><p> msgid "" "What about studies? Weren't you required to use Windows? Or MS Office? Or " "some other proprietary tools?" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Actually, a majority of classroom assignments could be completed with free " "software. Today we have the luxury of excellent libre operating systems and " "libre tools for most tasks. Most popular programming languages have free " "software implementations. On those few occasions when some nonfree tool was " "strictly required, I was able either to convince the professor to let me " "make a substitution—for example, to complete the exercises with a " "PostgreSQL database instead of Oracle—or to do the assignment on a " "university computer in the lab. I admit, running nonfree software on a " "computer other than one's own doesn't fully solve the ethical problem. It " "just seemed fair, but it is not something I'm proud of." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "I also take the issue of in-browser JavaScript (js) more seriously now. Web " "js runs in an isolated sandbox, which leads many to believe it's acceptable, " "even though it's nonfree. Sandboxing might indeed solve security issues, " "but the true problem with proprietary programs lies elsewhere, in its denial " "of letting users have control. Currently, maintaining one's software " "freedom in the field of web browsing is not easy. Sites frequently " "malfunction when js is disabled. I have had to ask colleagues to help me " "enter study-related data into a Google Sheet because I couldn't do that " "without js enabled. In addition, js code is used to implement browser " "fingerprinting which is used to track users." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Gentle persuasion" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Without serious problems, I completed the fifth semester of my studies. At " "the beginning of the sixth semester, the pandemic began. Universities " "closed their physical facilities, so most students returned home and " "professors started organizing remote classes. Unsurprisingly, they all " "chose proprietary platforms. Cisco WebEx, Microsoft Teams, ClickMeeting, and " "Skype were popular choices. I could not find a free software client for any " "of those. Also, not realizing the problem of nonfree js, professors expected " "everyone to be able to easily join the video sessions using any web " "interface." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "How did I handle these requirements? I would <em>very</em> politely email " "every single professor who announced something would be done using a " "problematic platform, explaining the lack of a suitable free software " "client. I often included a link to a popular online explanation of the " "issues of software freedom and universities, the “Costumed " "Heroes” video created by the Free Software Foundation (FSF), along " "with some other links to free videoconferencing programs like Jami and Jitsi " "Meet." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Although there are many documented surveillance and security issues on these " "centralized platforms, I explained that, for me, software freedom was the " "troubling factor. Replies urging me to “run the program in a virtual " "machine” or saying that I “don't need the source code to use the " "service,” made it clear that some of my professors didn't understand, " "or understood only part of the issues. Had I been studying anything other " "than informatics, I suspect the fraction of those who understood the problem " "would be far smaller." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Missing out" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "There were two distinct areas of concern. The first was with accessing and " "participating in the teaching materials; for example, in a Machine Learning " "class I found someone to forward on to me what the professor had said. The " "second was around registration and assessment. For some remote classes, " "presence was not checked. I skipped those. Uploading my homework to Moodle " "also didn't pose any issues." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The first real problem arose with the Artificial Intelligence (AI) " "course. It was taught by rotation. The first professor gave homework " "requiring the proprietary Framsticks application, but allowed me to do a " "neural networks exercise instead. Another professor agreed I could use " "Webots instead of Choreographe for a simulation exercise. Yet another one " "asked us to complete an online NVIDIA course that required nonfree js. That " "professor did not respond to my email." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "One Distributed Systems homework was supposed to be submitted via WebEx, but " "that professor agreed to let me use Jami instead." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Uncertainty and doubt" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Another issue that arose was gnawing uncertainty in the absence of a clear " "policy. Not knowing whether the university would recognize my principles " "was a cause of ongoing stress. Despite my small early victory, other " "rotational courses meant that three more professors would each need to agree " "if I were to pass, so until June I could not be sure I would succeed. In " "March, System Programming classes started. The professor, who didn't want " "to lose time connecting to a libre platform to rate my homework, gave me " "little hope, so again I was to live in uncertainty through the Easter and " "beyond." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "I believe every class should <em>at minimum</em> be offered ways to " "interoperate with libre tools so that students can at least read class " "assignments on free platforms, and upload their answers from them. Unless " "universities offer interoperability, the reliance on proprietary software " "costs both students and professors time and headaches. At one point I " "emailed two professors about the use of nonfree platforms for lectures. One " "didn't respond and the other replied rudely. They seemed not to understand, " "but I suspect they were avoiding any extra work. This had a corrosive " "impact on my engagement and I stopped caring about lectures. Avoiding a " "language-specific package manager that I felt put me at risk of security and " "freedom issues cost me considerable time and delayed my studies. Time is " "precious for us all." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Friction over freedom" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Although stressful, thus far things had gone fairly smoothly. But after " "Easter, a Software Engineering course presented the first big problem. This " "professor first ignored my emails, but eventually wrote a long reply and " "threatened to fail me if I missed one more meeting. That email's tone " "showed great annoyance, perhaps anger. It was suggested that I use a " "colleague's help to participate in the meeting. Another classmate and I " "connected through Mumble, through which the professor was also " "intermediated—not perfect, but it worked!" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The issues of software freedom, which are ethical, must be separated from " "other concerns to which open source supporters often give priority. For " "example, advocates of open source refrain from bringing those important " "freedom issues to the table and only say that software with source code " "publicly available is going to achieve higher quality with the help of the " "community. Meanwhile, our opponents claim proprietary software can bring " "higher revenue, allowing the hiring of more developers to work on improving " "it." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The Compilers course exam was to be conducted through Microsoft " "Teams. Again, sticking to my principles, I thought I would fail. Funnily " "enough, it was Teams that failed. It could not handle dozens of students " "connecting, so instead the exam was conducted via email. On the other hand, " "during contact with my thesis supervisor in July, Jami broke during the " "meeting. No software is perfect. But with libre software you at least get to " "keep both pieces when it breaks." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "It is not necessarily the functional aspects of the software that creates " "friction around lack of software freedom. During the summer I had to do an " "internship. I backed out of a paid offer after learning that the employer " "would make my code nonfree. I eventually did another, unpaid internship." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "So after all my struggles, I finally passed the summer semester and even had " "decent grades. What at some point seemed almost impossible, was now a " "reality." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Proprietary imposed at all levels" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Before the winter semester, a list of allowed videoconferencing platforms " "that comply with the data protection law was given to professors. It " "contained Microsoft Teams, Cisco WebEx, ClickMeeting, and Google Meet. You " "will surely see the irony here!" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "One professor agreed to use Jitsi Meet for all his classes and suggested " "that I ask the student council to recommend it to the Dean, but the council " "never responded to my emails. High quality software offering better data " "protection capabilities was deliberately sidelined in favor of commercial " "nonfree solutions in what seems like a case of corrupt corporate capture of " "an educational institution. The libre software didn't get approved and the " "professor kept communicating with other students via WebEx." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Misconceptions" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "As I mentioned earlier, despite being highly knowledgeable computer " "scientists and experienced in informatics, many academics demonstrated a " "generally poor understanding of the politics and ethics around software." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The professor giving the seminar claimed that because a libre platform also " "runs on someone else's server, “it cannot be safer.” I responded " "that Jitsi Meet allows for independent instances to be created, which " "eliminates the need to rely on a single company. I also noted that the lack " "of libre clients is the main problem with other services. It is a shame that " "professors at this level, who fully grasp the difference between " "intermediated encryption and end-to-end encryption, will teach it in their " "classes but not practice it in their daily profession." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "On another occasion, I objected to using a Windows VM for a penetration " "testing exercise. The professor remarked that one would not be a good " "penetration tester if restricted to testing only libre servers. I gave up on " "responding to him, but I think proprietary platforms should be considered " "insecure by default due to, for instance, possible backdoors they may have." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Having resolve" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "At some point I had an argument with my supervisor, who gave me an ultimatum " "that I must use Microsoft Teams. I didn't agree and my supervisor was " "supposed to inform the Dean about withdrawing from supervising me. Perhaps " "the Dean didn't read that email? I'm just guessing. Anyway, a few weeks " "later I even borrowed some electronics from my supervisor—almost as if " "the argument had never happened." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Later, one professor who didn't agree to let me pass a course without using " "Teams wanted to fail me for my “absences,” despite my uploading " "homework throughout the semester. After a protracted argument, I was offered " "an option to meet online on January 8th… on Teams! I politely refused " "again, and reiterated my points. The professor eventually CC'd the Associate " "Dean in an email. In the meantime, the deadline to upload my thesis for a " "January defense expired. After many reminder emails, a response finally " "came, and through the Dean's intercession I got a grade, passed my seventh " "semester and successfully defended my thesis in March." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h3> msgid "Conclusions" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Looking back, I'm proud of my actions. I took the risk of failing my " "studies, and I would end up with lower final grade than if I had submitted " "to the use of unethical and insecure software products. But I am content " "with this. I don't think surrendering to nonfree platforms would bring any " "long-term benefits—only more compromises." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "We can see some people are intolerant to software freedom principles, but in " "the end those were few and most university staff at the AGH were actually " "kind to me. Thanks to them I now have a proof that it <em>is possible</em> " "to study, graduate… indeed to <em>live</em> without relying on " "proprietary software. After all this hard experience, I feel more " "independent than ever, and I even received appreciation from the well-known " "RMS <a href=\"#rms\" id=\"rms-rev\"><sup>[3]</sup></a>. Hopefully, my story " "will help more students get to where I am." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Struggling to run only libre programs forced, and continues to force me, to " "gain new skills. I now know enough about web technologies to make several " "sites function without JavaScript. But what is best about my experience is " "that I will be able to share my fixes with others and eventually make a " "subset of the World Wide Web usable in freedom." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "<a href=\"#thanks-rev\" id=\"thanks\">[1]</a> Thanks to Andy Farnell, Andy " "Oram and Richard Stallman for their help." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "<a href=\"#teachers-rev\" id=\"teachers\">[2]</a> Throughout this essay, I " "refer to all university teachers in the vernacular as my professors, " "although only some wear that official academic title." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "<a href=\"#rms-rev\" id=\"rms\">[3]</a> Dr. Richard M. Stallman, Founder of " "the Free Software Foundation and Chief GNUisance of the GNU Project." msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Use space (SPC) as msgstr if you don't have notes. #. type: Content of: <div><div> msgid "*GNUN-SLOT: TRANSLATOR'S NOTES*" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to <a " "href=\"mailto:gnu@gnu.org\"><gnu@gnu.org></a>. There are also <a " "href=\"/contact/\">other ways to contact</a> the FSF. Broken links and " "other corrections or suggestions can be sent to <a " "href=\"mailto:webmasters@gnu.org\"><webmasters@gnu.org></a>." msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph, #. replace it with the translation of these two: # #. We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality #. translations. However, we are not exempt from imperfection. #. Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard #. to <a href="mailto:web-translators@gnu.org"> # #. <web-translators@gnu.org></a>.</p> # #. <p>For information on coordinating and contributing translations of #. our web pages, see <a #. href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations #. README</a>. #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Please see the <a " "href=\"/server/standards/README.translations.html\">Translations README</a> " "for information on coordinating and contributing translations of this " "article." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "Copyright © 2021 Wojciech Kosior" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "This page is released under the terms of <a rel=\"license\" " "href=\"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/legalcode\"> " "Creative Commons Zero</a>." msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Use space (SPC) as msgstr if you don't want credits. #. type: Content of: <div><div> msgid "*GNUN-SLOT: TRANSLATOR'S CREDITS*" msgstr "" #. timestamp start #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "Updated:" msgstr ""