1. The Family Guide to Digital Freedom
Agenda
Speaker introduction
Note on the nature of this talk
Role of software and digital technologies in society
What is being done to address the related problems
What I am trying to do and why
How I am doing it
Obstacles I have found
Conclusion
Quito, Congreso Internacional “Software Libre y Democratización del Conocimiento October 21-24, 2008 1
Marco Fioretti ttp://mfioretti.net marco@digifreedom.net
2. The Family Guide to Digital Freedom
Speaker introduction
Marco Fioretti (marco@digifreedom.net)
freelance writer, activist and teacher about open digital standards, Free Software, digital technologies and the their
relations and impact on education, ethics, civil rights and environmental issues.
Regular contributor of Linux.com, Linux Journal, LinuxFormat and other online and printed magazines
Author of the Family Guide to Digital Freedom (http://digifreedom.net)
Memberships:
− www.digistan.org: free and open digital standards for overall growth in the global economy
− www.eleutheros.it: a Catholic Approach to Information Technology (co-founder)
− www.OpenDocumentFellowship.com: adoption, use and development of the OpenDocument format
− www.RULE-project.org (Run Up to date Linux Everywhere, co-founder)
Home page: http://mfioretti.net
Quito, Congreso Internacional “Software Libre y Democratización del Conocimiento October 21-24, 2008 2
Marco Fioretti http://mfioretti.net marco@digifreedom.net
3. The Family Guide to Digital Freedom
Note on the nature of this talk
● The Family Guide to Digital Freedom is not an experience of usage of Free
Software in the alternative sector
● It is an experience of
● Promoting digital awareness and (among other things) Free Software in an
alternative, complementary way
● Attempting to bring an Open Source attitude to circles and contexts where it is
still almost totally absent
Quito, Congreso Internacional “Software Libre y Democratización del Conocimiento October 21-24, 2008 3
Marco Fioretti http://mfioretti.net marco@digifreedom.net
4. The Family Guide to Digital Freedom
Role of software and digital technologies in society
Software and digital technologies are essential in modern life
They influence practically everything we and our children do, from
job opportunities to energy bills and active democracy
The quality of our lives and our civil rights heavily depend on how
software is used around us!
This is true even for children, senior citizen and everybody who
doesn't own or ever uses computers
Quito, Congreso Internacional “Software Libre y Democratización del Conocimiento October 21-24, 2008 4
Marco Fioretti http://mfioretti.net marco@digifreedom.net
5. The Family Guide to Digital Freedom
What is being done to address the related problems
Current efforts (FSF, FFII...) are mostly aimed at geeks and specialists
In 2006/2007 the FSF did start some efforts to involve “social
activists”...
...but it still seems to focus only on the ICT staff of structured
organizations
(cfr “Help everybody love Free standards and Free Software!”,
http://www.ukuug.org/newsletter/16.3/#help__marco)
Quito, Congreso Internacional “Software Libre y Democratización del Conocimiento October 21-24, 2008 5
Marco Fioretti http://mfioretti.net marco@digifreedom.net
6. The Family Guide to Digital Freedom
What is being done to address the related problems (2)
Is this enough? In my opinion, NO.
Personally, I feel that all those initiatives are good, but not sufficient
I fear they may be too little, too late
− This concept is discussed in more detail in my talk “Perspectives
of Free SW as a Social Movement”
Quito, Congreso Internacional “Software Libre y Democratización del Conocimiento October 21-24, 2008 6
Marco Fioretti http://mfioretti.net marco@digifreedom.net
7. The Family Guide to Digital Freedom
What I am trying to do
The theme of this Congress is
“Free Software and Democratization of Knowledge”
I am working to promote a democratization of the activism and
educational initiatives which aim to guarantee civil rights and active
citizenship through the use of digital technologies
Quito, Congreso Internacional “Software Libre y Democratización del Conocimiento October 21-24, 2008 7
Marco Fioretti http://mfioretti.net marco@digifreedom.net
8. The Family Guide to Digital Freedom
What I am trying to do (2)
I am trying to involve directly two very large groups of “social
activists” which:
− are and act everywhere
− act earlier than other groups when it comes to create digital
awareness and responsibility in younger generations
− have been largely ignored, so far, by the FSF and other groups of
Free Software and digital rights activists
Quito, Congreso Internacional “Software Libre y Democratización del Conocimiento October 21-24, 2008 8
Marco Fioretti http://mfioretti.net marco@digifreedom.net
9. The Family Guide to Digital Freedom
What I am trying to do (3)
These two groups are:
− Parents
− Teachers
They have to start playing an active role:
− both as digital educators, towards their children and students
− And personally, that is choose responsibly whenever they vote
about, or buy, digital products or services
Quito, Congreso Internacional “Software Libre y Democratización del Conocimiento October 21-24, 2008 9
Marco Fioretti http://mfioretti.net marco@digifreedom.net
10. The Family Guide to Digital Freedom
Why is this important?
Because doing otherwise would be greatly diminish the probabilities of
using digital technologies to build a truly open society
(see my talk “Perspectives of Free SW as a Social Movement”)
Because education about digital issues is not technical, but is civic
education, that is something that:
− children should learn as soon as possible
− responsile parents and teachers have always been bound to teach anyway
− has solutions whose nature is not technical (fairness, equal
opportunities, saving tax money...)
Quito, Congreso Internacional “Software Libre y Democratización del Conocimiento October 21-24, 2008 10
Marco Fioretti http://mfioretti.net marco@digifreedom.net
11. The Family Guide to Digital Freedom
Why is this important? (2)
It is not possible to achieve the necessary change soon enough without
the involvement of parents, teachers and all other non-geeks citizens
For all these reasons, parents and teachers:
Must all become educators about the impact of digital
technologies on everybody's life
Must be involved in the initiatives and lobbying which today
are still, de-facto, the monopoly of a techno-savy elite
Quito, Congreso Internacional “Software Libre y Democratización del Conocimiento October 21-24, 2008 11
Marco Fioretti http://mfioretti.net marco@digifreedom.net
12. The Family Guide to Digital Freedom
How can they do it?
Parents and teachers can turn themselves into digital activists if they:
− Have the right motivations
− Receive the right information, in a format which is immediately:
understandable
usable and necessary in daily life (e.g. when voting or choosing
their children's school
relevant
Quito, Congreso Internacional “Software Libre y Democratización del Conocimiento October 21-24, 2008 12
Marco Fioretti http://mfioretti.net marco@digifreedom.net
13. The Family Guide to Digital Freedom
Which information must be provided?
Balanced information which
− avoids excesses and fanatism, even if only at the verbal level
− doesn't require advanced technical skills
− shows relationships among apparently unrelated issues, e.g. software and
energy consumption
− ... and the real importance of each of the factors (infrastructures, laws,
software licenses...) which influence them
(continues...)
Quito, Congreso Internacional “Software Libre y Democratización del Conocimiento October 21-24, 2008 13
Marco Fioretti http://mfioretti.net marco@digifreedom.net
14. The Family Guide to Digital Freedom
Which information must be provided? (2)
Balanced information which:
does promote Free Software
but is NOT centered on it
doesn't assume that everybody wants to be a programmer
(avoid words like source code or software license as much as possible)
or that everybody should ever contribute directly to Free Software, in
any way
Cfr the “Seven things we're tired of hearing from Software Hackers”,
http://digifreedom.net/node/56
Quito, Congreso Internacional “Software Libre y Democratización del Conocimiento October 21-24, 2008 14
Marco Fioretti http://mfioretti.net marco@digifreedom.net
15. The Family Guide to Digital Freedom
What I am doing to provide this information
A book: the Family Guide to Digital Freedom
http://digifreedom.net/node/84
− Content: the 50 things every parent should know about software and
digital technologies
− Divided in:
− Digital Dangers
− Solutions (what to know and what to do)
Forum and online community at digifreedom.net
Other educational material
Quito, Congreso Internacional “Software Libre y Democratización del Conocimiento October 21-24, 2008 15
Marco Fioretti http://mfioretti.net marco@digifreedom.net
16. The Family Guide to Digital Freedom
Obstacles I have found
So far, this initiative has met both successes and failures
The one main obstacle is always the same
− Using the right words and attitude, explaining single technical issues to
people without any technical background is (relatively) easy
− The real difficult part is to make such people understand that it really is
in their interest, and part of their teacher/parent responsibilities, to
engage in these conversations and act in these fields
Quito, Congreso Internacional “Software Libre y Democratización del Conocimiento October 21-24, 2008 16
Marco Fioretti http://mfioretti.net marco@digifreedom.net
17. The Family Guide to Digital Freedom
Conclusion
Involving all parents and teachers in discussions about digital rights is still very difficult
because of cultural and demographical reasons
− most parents and other adults of today grew up without any exposure to these issues or relevant
education: computers are still considered black magic boxes
Nevertheless, turning parent and teachers into digital activists remains a necessary and urgent
task
− today there is a huge market push to use computers and cell phones no-stop, everywhere, but only in
a passive way, to receive advertising and other instructions
Everybody should try to involve teachers and parents in the schools of his or her
neighborhood
Let's meet at http://digifreedom.net to discuss these issues and coordinate our efforts
Quito, Congreso Internacional “Software Libre y Democratización del Conocimiento October 21-24, 2008 17
Marco Fioretti http://mfioretti.net marco@digifreedom.net