University of Cambridge Free Software Society

Welcome to the webpage for the Free Software Society at the University of Cambridge.

About the society

The society has two main aims:

• To bring together those in the University community with an interest in software freedom and the ethics of software development;
• To promote the use and development of free software within the university and beyond;

What is Free Software?

When we talk about 'free software', we refer to the issue of freedom, not price: this is 'freedom' as in 'free speech'. Free software gives the user four key freedoms:

1. Freedom to use: anyone is able to use free software, regardless of who they are, where they are and the purpose for which they use the software.
2. Freedom to share: any user of free software is able to make copies of the software and share it with others, without restriction.
3. Freedom to study: the source code of free software is human–readable and may be studied and scrutinized by anyone.
4. Freedom to modify: anyone is able to modify and improve free software. These improvements may then also be shared.

Why is Free Software Important?

Software pervades modern society, and its importance in our lives is only going to increase. This is a direct result of the convenience it provides. We believe that individuals should not be required to trade their freedom (and seemingly increasingly often also their privacy and/or security and/or autonomy) to make best use of these conveniences.

The quintessential example is the modern smartphone. These are fully–fledged computers that most of us carry around with us. They often know where we go, whom we speak to, what we buy and what interests us. But the most popular (globally) operating system for smartphones (Android) is developed by a company (Google) that makes most of its revenue from advertising. With their wide range of services, Google can collate data reflecting many facets of its users' lives. This puts Google and its partners in an unjust position of power over their customers, who often do not understand just how much these companies know about them. This data can be used to influence people— that's why it's valuable. The crucial problem is the lack of transparency with which this data is collected.

Continuing with the example of smartphones: despite them usually being fully–capable computers, many people are not able to use their smartphones to their full potential. Take the Apple iPhones: these devices are fantastically engineered machines, but to preserve its own interests, Apple has neutered them: users cannot install their own software on these devices. They do not have access to the filesystem. It can be a highly nontrivial task to change the battery. Most of what iPhone users do on their devices must first be approved by Apple. The users don't own their devices: they simply use them. We belive that if someone sells you a computer, it should be just that—a programmable and modifiable device. Not a locked–down black box destined to be replaced in a few years once it's no longer supported and weighed down by built–in obsolescence...

Smartphones are an amazing technology, and are one example of the fantastic infrastructure, devices and services that have appeared in recent years, all powered by software. But much of the current software is nonfree. Were the software free, users would be granted full control over their data and their device. The future should look like that.

What Freedom Gives You

• Privacy: users can see exactly what data a program collects about them, and indeed modify that program to stop sending that data if they wish. This fixes the biggest problem with the today's large–scale data collection: that of transparency and trust.
• Control: free software works for you, not for the interests of the shareholders of a tech firm or a large media conglomerate. There is no place for restrictive technologies such as DRM in the free world.
• Security: no software is completely secure, but the more people who have checked the code, the better. That's why if the code is readable and modifiable to everyone, vulnerabilities are caught more quickly and software is more secure.
• Education: having grown up with proprietary software, many people have a poor understanding of how computers really work. This discourages users from 'hacking': that is, playing with their devices and adapting them to their needs, instead using them only as intended by the manufacturers. In contrast, free software can be studied, modified and compiled by anyone and is a great tool for teaching and learning.
• Open standards and choice: from software to hardware, proprieters will insist that you use their individual solution, be it a power cable or a instant messaging client. This is inefficient and often inconvenient. Free software typically uses open protocols, removing control from companies and putting flexibility into the hands of users.
• Democracy: the social influence of technology is undeniable. It is undemocratic to cede unjust amounts of power over our lives and our society to a few groups. Likewise, it is important that software developed with public money is freely available to the public.
• Environment: the culture of 'disposable' equipment and built–in obsolescence is a scourge on what could be a sustainable electronics industry. User–repairable technology and lengtened device livespans go hand–in–hand with freedom in software: free software projects can have long lifespans and may be maintained by anyone interested in keeping a certain piece of hardware alive, contary to Apple slowing down their older phones.
• Community: the often community–led development of free software creates a forum in which innovative new ideas can be implemented. It is fantastic to be able to work together to create something useful.
• Practical advantages: while less important to the core principles of freedom, drawing on a community of software maintainers and users helps new features, patches and changes to be created and applied quickly and efficiently.

While not all strictly directly related to free software, these benefits stem from the same ideas of freedom associated with the software freedom movement.

Join us

If you would like to join the society, please email:
freesoftsoc@cusu.cam.ac.uk.
Membership is free and open to everyone.