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www/philosophy who-does-that-server-really-serv...


From: GNUN
Subject: www/philosophy who-does-that-server-really-serv...
Date: Mon, 8 Jan 2024 14:03:08 -0500 (EST)

CVSROOT:        /web/www
Module name:    www
Changes by:     GNUN <gnun>     24/01/08 14:03:08

Modified files:
        philosophy     : who-does-that-server-really-serve.sq.html 
        philosophy/po  : who-does-that-server-really-serve.sq-diff.html 

Log message:
        Automatic update by GNUnited Nations.

CVSWeb URLs:
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.sq.html?cvsroot=www&r1=1.16&r2=1.17
http://web.cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewcvs/www/philosophy/po/who-does-that-server-really-serve.sq-diff.html?cvsroot=www&r1=1.1&r2=1.2

Patches:
Index: who-does-that-server-really-serve.sq.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /web/www/www/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.sq.html,v
retrieving revision 1.16
retrieving revision 1.17
diff -u -b -r1.16 -r1.17
--- who-does-that-server-really-serve.sq.html   4 Oct 2023 12:08:15 -0000       
1.16
+++ who-does-that-server-really-serve.sq.html   8 Jan 2024 19:03:07 -0000       
1.17
@@ -1,4 +1,9 @@
-<!--#set var="ENGLISH_PAGE" 
value="/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.en.html" -->
+<!--#set var="PO_FILE"
+ value='<a href="/philosophy/po/who-does-that-server-really-serve.sq.po">
+ https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/po/who-does-that-server-really-serve.sq.po</a>'
+ --><!--#set var="ORIGINAL_FILE" 
value="/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.html"
+ --><!--#set var="DIFF_FILE" 
value="/philosophy/po/who-does-that-server-really-serve.sq-diff.html"
+ --><!--#set var="OUTDATED_SINCE" value="2023-11-09" --><!--#set 
var="ENGLISH_PAGE" 
value="/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.en.html" -->
 
 <!--#include virtual="/server/header.sq.html" -->
 <!-- Parent-Version: 1.96 -->
@@ -14,6 +19,7 @@
 <!--#include virtual="/server/banner.sq.html" -->
 <!--#include virtual="/philosophy/ph-breadcrumb.sq.html" -->
 <!--GNUN: OUT-OF-DATE NOTICE-->
+<!--#include virtual="/server/outdated.sq.html" -->
 <!--#include virtual="/server/top-addendum.sq.html" -->
 <div class="article reduced-width">
 <h2>Kujt i Shërben Në të Vërtetë Ai Shërbyes?</h2>
@@ -600,7 +606,7 @@
 <p class="unprintable"><!-- timestamp start -->
 U përditësua më:
 
-$Date: 2023/10/04 12:08:15 $
+$Date: 2024/01/08 19:03:07 $
 
 <!-- timestamp end -->
 </p>

Index: po/who-does-that-server-really-serve.sq-diff.html
===================================================================
RCS file: 
/web/www/www/philosophy/po/who-does-that-server-really-serve.sq-diff.html,v
retrieving revision 1.1
retrieving revision 1.2
diff -u -b -r1.1 -r1.2
--- po/who-does-that-server-really-serve.sq-diff.html   4 Aug 2018 15:59:30 
-0000       1.1
+++ po/who-does-that-server-really-serve.sq-diff.html   8 Jan 2024 19:03:08 
-0000       1.2
@@ -11,39 +11,43 @@
 </style></head>
 <body><pre>
 &lt;!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" --&gt;
-&lt;!-- Parent-Version: 1.79 --&gt;
+&lt;!-- Parent-Version: <span 
class="removed"><del><strong>1.96</strong></del></span> <span 
class="inserted"><ins><em>1.98</em></ins></span> --&gt;
+&lt;!-- This page is derived from /server/standards/boilerplate.html --&gt;
+&lt;!--#set var="TAGS" value="essays cultural ns" --&gt;
+&lt;!--#set var="DISABLE_TOP_ADDENDUM" value="yes" --&gt;
 &lt;title&gt;Who Does That Server Really Serve?
 - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation&lt;/title&gt;
-
 &lt;!--#include 
virtual="/philosophy/po/who-does-that-server-really-serve.translist" --&gt;
 &lt;!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" --&gt;
+&lt;!--#include virtual="/philosophy/ph-breadcrumb.html" --&gt;
+&lt;!--GNUN: OUT-OF-DATE NOTICE--&gt;
+&lt;!--#include virtual="/server/top-addendum.html" --&gt;
+&lt;div class="article reduced-width"&gt;
+&lt;h2&gt;Who Does That Server Really Serve?&lt;/h2&gt;
+
+&lt;address class="byline"&gt;by Richard Stallman&lt;/address&gt;
+
+&lt;div class="introduction"&gt;
+&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;On the Internet, proprietary software isn't the only way to
+lose your computing freedom.  Service as a Software Substitute, or SaaSS, is
+another way to give someone else power over your 
computing.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
+&lt;/div&gt;
    
-&lt;h2&gt;Who does that server really serve?&lt;/h2&gt;
-
-&lt;p&gt;by &lt;strong&gt;Richard Stallman&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
-
-&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;(The first version was published
-in &lt;a 
href="http://www.bostonreview.net/richard-stallman-free-software-DRM"&gt;
-Boston Review&lt;/a&gt;.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
-
-&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;On the Internet, proprietary software isn't the only 
way to
-lose your freedom.  Service as a Software Substitute, or SaaSS, is
-another way to give someone else power over your 
computing.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
-
-&lt;p&gt;The basic point is, you can have control over a program someone else
-wrote (if it's free), but you can never have control over a service
-someone else runs, so never use a service where in principle a program
-would do.&lt;/p&gt;
+&lt;p&gt;The basic point is, you can have control over a program someone
+else wrote (if it's free), but you can never have control over a
+service someone else runs, so never use a service where in principle
+running a program would do.&lt;/p&gt;
 
 
 &lt;p&gt;SaaSS means using a service implemented by someone else as a
 substitute for running your copy of a program.  The term is ours;
 articles and ads won't use it, and they won't tell you whether a
 service is SaaSS.  Instead they will probably use the vague and
-distracting term &ldquo;cloud&rdquo;, which lumps SaaSS together with
-various other practices, some abusive and some ok.  With the
-explanation and examples in this page, you can tell whether a service
-is SaaSS.&lt;/p&gt;
+distracting term &ldquo;cloud,&rdquo; which lumps SaaSS together with
+various other practices, some abusive and some OK.  And they talk
+about &ldquo;delivering a program by offering a service to run
+it.&rdquo; With the explanation and examples in this page, you can
+tell whether a service is SaaSS.&lt;/p&gt;
 
 &lt;h3&gt;Background: How Proprietary Software Takes Away Your 
Freedom&lt;/h3&gt;
 
@@ -53,15 +57,15 @@
 control because the owner (a company such as Apple or Microsoft)
 controls it.  The owner often takes advantage of this unjust power by
 inserting malicious features such as spyware, back doors, and &lt;a
-href="http://DefectiveByDesign.org"&gt;Digital Restrictions Management
+href="https://www.defectivebydesign.org"&gt;Digital Restrictions Management
 (DRM)&lt;/a&gt; (referred to as &ldquo;Digital Rights Management&rdquo; in
 their propaganda).&lt;/p&gt;
 
 &lt;p&gt;Our solution to this problem is developing &lt;em&gt;free 
software&lt;/em&gt;
-and rejecting proprietary software.  Free software means that you, as
-a user, have four essential freedoms: (0)&nbsp;to run the program as
-you wish, (1)&nbsp;to study and change the source code so it does what
-you wish, (2)&nbsp;to redistribute exact copies, and (3)&nbsp;to
+and rejecting proprietary software.  Free software gives you, as a
+user, four essential freedoms: (0)&nbsp;to run the program as you
+wish, (1)&nbsp;to study and change the source code so it does what you
+wish, (2)&nbsp;to redistribute exact copies, and (3)&nbsp;to
 redistribute copies of your modified versions.  (See
 the &lt;a href="/philosophy/free-sw.html"&gt;free software
 definition&lt;/a&gt;.)&lt;/p&gt;
@@ -73,23 +77,66 @@
 Service as a Software Substitute (SaaSS).  For our freedom's sake, we
 have to reject that too.&lt;/p&gt;
 
-&lt;h3&gt;How Service as a Software Substitute Takes Away Your 
Freedom&lt;/h3&gt;
+&lt;h3&gt;What Does Service as a Software Substitute Look Like?&lt;/h3&gt;
 
 &lt;p&gt;Service as a Software Substitute (SaaSS) means using a service as a
 substitute for running your copy of a program.  Concretely, it means
 that someone sets up a network server that does certain computing
-tasks&mdash;for instance, modifying a photo, translating text into
-another language, etc.&mdash;then invites users to do computing via
-that server.  A user of the server would send her data to the server,
-which does &lt;em&gt;her own computing&lt;/em&gt; on the data thus provided, 
then
-sends the results back to her or acts directly on her behalf.&lt;/p&gt;
-
-&lt;p&gt;The computing is &lt;em&gt;her own&lt;/em&gt; because, by assumption, 
she
-could, in principle, have done it by running a program on her own
-computer (whether or not that program is available to her at
-present).  In cases where this assumption is not so, it isn't SaaSS.&lt;/p&gt;
+activities&mdash;for instance, modifying a photo, translating text into
+another language, etc.&mdash;then invites users to let that server do
+&lt;em&gt;their own computing&lt;/em&gt; for them.  As a user of the server, 
you
+would send your data to the server, which does that computing
+activity on the data thus provided, then sends the results back
+to you or else acts directly on your behalf.&lt;/p&gt;
+
+&lt;h3&gt;To Which Activities Is the Issue of SaaSS Applicable?&lt;/h3&gt;
+
+&lt;p&gt;The issue of SaaSS-or-not-SaaSS is meaningful for a computing
+activity that is &lt;em&gt;your own&lt;/em&gt; computing.  What does that mean,
+precisely?  It means that no one else is inherently involved in the
+activity.  To clarify the meaning of &ldquo;inherently
+involved,&rdquo; we present a thought experiment in which we focus on
+one unspecified imaginary computing activity.&lt;/p&gt;
+
+&lt;p&gt;Suppose that all parts of the activity are implemented in free
+software and you have copies, and you have whatever data you might
+need, as well as computers of whatever speed, functionality and
+capacity might be required.  Could you (if given those prerequisites)
+do this particular computing activity entirely within those computers,
+not communicating with anyone else's computers?&lt;/p&gt;
+
+&lt;p&gt;If you could, then the activity is &lt;em&gt;essentially your 
own&lt;/em&gt;.
+Therefore, for your freedom's sake, you deserve to control it.
+The concept of SaaSS is applicable to such activities and not to other
+activities.&lt;/p&gt;
+
+&lt;p&gt;For such an activity, if you carry it out by running your copies of
+free programs, you do control it.  That protects the freedom you
+deserve.  However, doing it via someone else's service would give that
+someone else control over part of your computing activity.  That
+denies you the control you deserve, so we say it is unjust.  We call
+that scenario SaaSS.&lt;/p&gt;
+
+&lt;p&gt;By contrast, if due to the inherent nature of the computing to be
+done you couldn't possibly do that activity entirely in your own
+computers, then the activity isn't entirely your own, so the issue of
+SaaSS is not applicable to that activity.  In general, these
+activities involve communication with others, so the others must be
+included in it.  Buying something from a store is a typical example of
+an activity that needs to include some other party (the store).&lt;/p&gt;
+
+&lt;p&gt;If a certain activity is essentially your own, then maintaining
+your full control over it requires that you do it using your copies of
+free programs, running them on computers you control.  Doing it in any
+other way is SaaSS because it denies you the control you deserve.
+This is independent of your reasons for doing it in some other way.
+If you choose some other way because of some convenience, it is SaaSS.
+If it is because you can't obtain the free programs or the computer
+you'd need to keep control, that is still SaaSS.&lt;/p&gt;
 
-&lt;p&gt;These servers wrest control from the users even more inexorably
+&lt;h3&gt;Using SaaSS Compared with Running Nonfree Software&lt;/h3&gt;
+
+&lt;p&gt;SaaSS servers wrest control from the users even more inexorably
 than proprietary software.  With proprietary software, users typically
 get an executable file but not the source code.  That makes it hard to
 study the code that is running, so it's hard to determine what the
@@ -113,21 +160,21 @@
 history.&lt;/p&gt;
 
 &lt;p&gt;Unlike proprietary software, SaaSS does not require covert code to
-obtain the user's data.  Instead, users must send their data to the
-server in order to use it.  This has the same effect as spyware: the
-server operator gets the data&mdash;with no special effort, by the
-nature of SaaSS.  Amy Webb, who intended never to post any photos of
-her daughter, made the mistake of using SaaSS (Instagram) to edit
-photos of her.  Eventually
-&lt;a 
href="http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/data_mine_1/2013/09/privacy_facebook_kids_don_t_post_photos_of_your_kids_on_social_media.html"&gt;
 they
-leaked from there&lt;/a&gt;.
-&lt;/p&gt;
+obtain the user's data.  Instead, its structure requires users to send
+their data to the server in order to use it.  This has the same effect
+as spyware: the server operator gets the data&mdash;with no special
+effort, by the nature of SaaSS.  Amy Webb, who intended never to post
+any photos of her daughter, made the mistake of using SaaSS
+(Instagram) to edit photos of her.  Eventually
+&lt;a 
href="https://slate.com/technology/2013/09/privacy-facebook-kids-dont-post-photos-of-your-kids-on-social-media.html"&gt;
+they leaked from there&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
 
 &lt;p&gt;Theoretically, homomorphic encryption might some day advance to the
 point where future SaaSS services might be constructed to be unable to
 understand some of the data that users send them.  Such
 services &lt;em&gt;could&lt;/em&gt; be set up not to snoop on users; this does 
not
-mean they &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; do no snooping.&lt;/p&gt;
+mean they &lt;em&gt;will&lt;/em&gt; do no snooping.  Also, snooping is only one
+among the secondary injustices of SaaSS.&lt;/p&gt;
 
 &lt;p&gt;Some proprietary operating systems have a universal back door,
 permitting someone to remotely install software changes.  For
@@ -138,21 +185,34 @@
 allows the developer to remotely install modified versions.&lt;/p&gt;
 
 &lt;p&gt;With SaaSS, the server operator can change the software in use on
-the server.  He ought to be able to do this, since it's his computer;
+the server.  <span class="removed"><del><strong>He</strong></del></span>  
<span class="inserted"><ins><em>Person</em></ins></span> ought to be able to do 
this, since it's <span class="removed"><del><strong>his</strong></del></span> 
<span class="inserted"><ins><em>per</em></ins></span> computer;
 but the result is the same as using a proprietary application program
 with a universal back door: someone has the power to silently impose
 changes in how the user's computing gets done.&lt;/p&gt;
 
-&lt;p&gt;Thus, SaaSS is equivalent to running proprietary software with
+<span class="removed"><del><strong>&lt;p&gt;Thus,</strong></del></span>
+
+<span class="inserted"><ins><em>&lt;p&gt;It is common for SaaSS dis-services 
to charge a monthly fee for
+use.  Usually one</em></ins></span> SaaSS <span class="inserted"><ins><em>site 
does not substitute for another, so if
+users become unhappy with one dis-service provider it is no easy
+matter to switch to another.  When users become dependent on
+one, &lt;a 
href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/nov/05/cloud-service-provider-consumer-prices-netflix-microsoft"&gt;it
+can gouge them at will with repeated small price increases that over
+time add up to a lot&lt;/a&gt;.  We view the loss of freedom inherent in
+SaaSS as worse than the cost in money, but when a dis-service has you
+over a barrel, the cost can be painful.  Thus, even users who don't
+see deeper than the bottom line should beware of SaaSS.&lt;/p&gt;
+
+&lt;p&gt;SaaSS</em></ins></span> is equivalent to running proprietary software 
with
 spyware and a universal back door.  It gives the server operator
-unjust power over the user, and that power is something we must
+unjust power over the user, and <span 
class="removed"><del><strong>that</strong></del></span> <span 
class="inserted"><ins><em>unjust</em></ins></span> power is something we must
 resist.&lt;/p&gt;
 
 &lt;h3&gt;SaaSS and SaaS&lt;/h3&gt;
 
 &lt;p&gt;Originally we referred to this problematical practice as
-&ldquo;SaaS&rdquo;, which stands for &ldquo;Software as a
-Service&rdquo;.  It's a commonly used term for setting up software on a
+&ldquo;SaaS,&rdquo; which stands for &ldquo;Software as a
+Service.&rdquo;  It's a commonly used term for setting up software on a
 server rather than offering copies of it to users, and we thought it
 described precisely the cases where this problem occurs.&lt;/p&gt;
 
@@ -160,7 +220,7 @@
 communication services&mdash;activities for which this issue is not
 applicable.  In addition, the term &ldquo;Software as a Service&rdquo;
 doesn't explain &lt;em&gt;why&lt;/em&gt; the practice is bad.  So we coined 
the term
-&ldquo;Service as a Software Substitute&rdquo;, which defines the bad
+&ldquo;Service as a Software Substitute,&rdquo; which defines the bad
 practice more clearly and says what is bad about it.&lt;/p&gt;
 
 &lt;h3&gt;Untangling the SaaSS Issue from the Proprietary Software 
Issue&lt;/h3&gt;
@@ -209,10 +269,10 @@
 to do your own computing on data provided by you.&lt;/p&gt;
 
 &lt;p&gt;This issue demonstrates the depth of the difference between
-&ldquo;open&rdquo; and &ldquo;free&rdquo;.  Source code that is open
+&ldquo;open&rdquo; and &ldquo;free.&rdquo;  Source code that is open
 source &lt;a href="/philosophy/free-open-overlap.html"&gt;is, nearly always,
 free&lt;/a&gt;.  However, the idea of
-an &lt;a <span 
class="removed"><del><strong>href="http://opendefinition.org/software-service"&gt;&ldquo;open</strong></del></span>
 <span 
class="inserted"><ins><em>href="https://opendefinition.org/ossd/"&gt;&ldquo;open</em></ins></span>
+an &lt;a href="https://opendefinition.org/ossd/"&gt;&ldquo;open
 software&rdquo; service&lt;/a&gt;, meaning one whose server software is open
 source and/or free, fails to address the issue of SaaSS.&lt;/p&gt;
 
@@ -241,31 +301,29 @@
 
 &lt;p&gt;Rejecting SaaSS does not mean refusing to use any network servers
 run by anyone other than you.  Most servers are not SaaSS because the
-jobs they do are some sort of communication, rather than the user's
-own computing.&lt;/p&gt;
+jobs they do are some sort of communication with visitors, rather than
+each visitor's own computing.&lt;/p&gt;
 
-&lt;p&gt;The original idea of web servers wasn't to do computing for you, it
-was to publish information for you to access.  Even today this is what
-most web sites do, and it doesn't pose the SaaSS problem, because
-accessing someone's published information isn't doing your own
-computing.  Neither is use of a blog site to publish your own works,
-or using a microblogging service such as Twitter or StatusNet.  (These
-services may or may not have other problems, depending on details.)
-The same goes for other communication not meant to be private, such as
-chat groups.&lt;/p&gt;
+&lt;p&gt;The original idea of web servers wasn't to do computing for you, a
+visitor; it was to publish information for you to access.  Even today
+this is what most web sites do, and it doesn't raise the SaaSS issue,
+because accessing someone's published information on a web site isn't
+a matter of your own computing.  Neither is use of a blog site to
+publish your own works, or using a microblogging service such as
+Mastodon, or StatusNet, or Ex-Twitter.  (These services may or may not
+have other problems, depending on details.)  The same goes for other
+communication not meant to be private, such as chat groups.&lt;/p&gt;
 
 &lt;p&gt;In its essence, social networking is a form of communication and
 publication, not SaaSS.  However, a service whose main facility is
 social networking can have features or extensions which are SaaSS.&lt;/p&gt;
 
 &lt;p&gt;If a service is not SaaSS, that does not mean it is OK.  There are
-other ethical issues about services.  For instance, Facebook
-distributes video in Flash, which pressures users to run nonfree
-software; it requires running nonfree JavaScript code; and it gives
-users a misleading impression of privacy while luring them into baring
-their lives to Facebook.  Those are important issues, different from
-the SaaSS issue.
-&lt;/p&gt;
+other ethical issues about services.  For instance, Facebook requires
+running nonfree JavaScript code, and it gives users a misleading
+impression of privacy while luring them into baring their lives to
+Facebook.  Those are important issues, but distinct from the SaaSS
+issue.&lt;/p&gt;
 
 &lt;p&gt;Services such as search engines collect data from around the web
 and let you examine it.  Looking through their collection of data
@@ -284,14 +342,6 @@
 inherently SaaSS, because a repository's job is publication of data
 supplied to it.&lt;/p&gt;
 
-&lt;p&gt;Using a joint project's servers isn't SaaSS because the computing
-you do in this way isn't your own.  For instance, if you edit pages on
-Wikipedia, you are not doing your own computing; rather, you are
-collaborating in Wikipedia's computing.  Wikipedia controls its own
-servers, but organizations as well as individuals encounter the
-problem of SaaSS if they do their computing in someone else's
-server.&lt;/p&gt;
-
 &lt;p&gt;Some sites offer multiple services, and if one is not SaaSS,
 another may be SaaSS.  For instance, the main service of Facebook is
 social networking, and that is not SaaSS; however, it supports
@@ -304,24 +354,29 @@
 &lt;p&gt;Google Docs shows how complex the evaluation of a single service
 can become.  It invites people to edit a document by running a
 large &lt;a href="/philosophy/javascript-trap.html"&gt;nonfree JavaScript
-program&lt;/a&gt;, clearly wrong.  However, it offers an API for uploading
-and downloading documents in standard formats.  A free software editor
-can do so through this API.  This usage scenario is not SaaSS, because
-it uses Google Docs as a mere repository.  Showing all your data to a
-company is bad, but that is a matter of privacy, not SaaSS; depending
-on a service for access to your data is bad, but that is a matter of
-risk, not SaaSS.  On the other hand, using the service for converting
-document formats &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; SaaSS, because it's something you 
could
-have done by running a suitable program (free, one hopes) in your own
+program&lt;/a&gt;, clearly unjust, but not SaaSS.  However, it offers an API
+for uploading and downloading documents in standard formats.  A free
+software editor can do so through this API.  (Whether it is possible
+to get an account for Google Docs without running some nonfree
+JavaScript code, we don't know.)  Anyway, this usage scenario is not
+SaaSS, because it uses Google Docs as a mere repository.  Handing your
+work data to a company is bad, but that is a matter of privacy, not
+SaaSS; depending on a service for access to your data is bad, but that
+is a matter of risk, not SaaSS.&lt;/p&gt;
+
+&lt;p&gt;On the other hand, using Google Docs for converting document
+formats &lt;em&gt;is&lt;/em&gt; SaaSS, because it's something you could have 
done
+by running a suitable program (free, one hopes) in your own
 computer.&lt;/p&gt;
 
 &lt;p&gt;Using Google Docs through a free editor is rare, of course.  Most
-often, people use it through the nonfree JavaScript program, which is
-bad like any nonfree program.  This scenario might involve SaaSS, too;
-that depends on what part of the editing is done in the JavaScript
-program and what part in the server.  We don't know, but since SaaSS
-and proprietary software do similar wrong to the user, it is not
-crucial to know.&lt;/p&gt;
+often, people edit their Google Docs documents with the nonfree
+JavaScript program it sends, which is bad like any nonfree program.
+This scenario might involve SaaSS, too; that depends on what part of
+the editing is done in the JavaScript program and what part in the
+server.  We don't know, but since SaaSS and proprietary software do
+similar wrong to the user, we can judge the whole scenario morally
+without knowing which part is which.&lt;/p&gt;
 
 &lt;p&gt;Publishing via someone else's repository does not raise privacy
 issues, but publishing through Google Docs has a special problem: it
@@ -338,7 +393,7 @@
 &ldquo;cloud&rdquo; (if a technical person) probably has a specific
 meaning in mind, but usually does not explain that in other articles
 the term has other specific meanings.  The term leads people to
-generalize about practices they ought to consider individually.&lt;/p&gt;
+generalize about practices they ought to judge separately.&lt;/p&gt;
 
 &lt;p&gt;If &ldquo;cloud computing&rdquo; has a meaning, it is not a way of
 doing computing, but rather a way of thinking about computing: a
@@ -368,6 +423,54 @@
 but that term fits into a conceptual structure that downplays the issues
 that we consider important.&lt;/p&gt;
 
+&lt;h3&gt;When the User Is a Collective Activity Or an Organization&lt;/h3&gt;
+
+&lt;p&gt;So far we have explained how SaaSS applies to an individual's
+computing.  For those cases, we have clarified the concept of SaaSS
+pretty thoroughly.  SaaSS is also an issue for computing done by a
+group activity, which may be informal (such as developing a free
+program often is), or formal (a charity like the FSF or a business).
+It is basically the same concept, but we have not clarified the
+boundaries for all sorts of situations.&lt;/p&gt;
+
+&lt;p&gt;Here are some line we have drawn so far.&lt;/p&gt;
+
+&lt;p&gt;The collective activity is likely to have web pages, which will be
+hosted on some web server.  That server's treatment of visitors to its
+pages raises the usual moral issues: if they send nonfree JavaScript
+code, that is an injustice, and if they offer to do the visitor's
+computing, that is SaaSS.&lt;/p&gt;
+
+&lt;p&gt;However, the web server's own operations can also raise the issue
+of SaaSS with the collective activity as victim.  A web server often
+offers visitors a way to search through the web pages; how does it
+implement that?  If the collective activity runs a free program on its
+own computer to find the matches for the search string, the collective
+activity has control of this, as it should.  But if it asks Google (or
+any other search engine) where the matches are and displays what is
+found, the collective activity is relying on SaaSS and forfeiting its
+freedom.&lt;/p&gt;
+
+&lt;p&gt;Using a joint project's servers to work on that project isn't SaaSS
+because the computing you do in this way isn't your own&mdash;it is
+the project's computing.  For instance, if you edit pages on
+Wikipedia, you are not doing your own computing; rather, you are
+collaborating in Wikipedia's computing.  Wikipedia controls its own
+servers, but organizations as well as individuals encounter the
+problem of SaaSS if they do their computing in someone else's
+server.&lt;/p&gt;
+
+&lt;p&gt;Use of simple software repositories is not SaaSS because most of
+the actual work (as distinguished from redistribution) is done in the
+contributors' computers.  However, when the repository starts doing
+other kinds of computing work for the users, such as running tests,
+that starts to cross the line.  When the users are contributing to the
+project, so the work is the project's work rather than the
+contributor's work, that still is not SaaSS for the users.  But it may
+be SaaSS for the project.  However, if the testing means running the
+programs that the project develops, it is not SaaSS because the
+project does control the crucial software being run.&lt;/p&gt;
+
 &lt;h3&gt;Dealing with the SaaSS Problem&lt;/h3&gt;
 
 &lt;p&gt;Only a small fraction of all web sites do SaaSS; most don't raise
@@ -399,7 +502,7 @@
 using servers.  For instance, we can create a peer-to-peer program
 through which collaborators can share data encrypted.  The free
 software community should develop distributed peer-to-peer
-replacements for important &ldquo;web applications&rdquo;.  It may be
+replacements for important &ldquo;web applications.&rdquo;  It may be
 wise to release them under
 the &lt;a href="/licenses/why-affero-gpl.html"&gt; GNU Affero GPL&lt;/a&gt;, 
since
 they are likely candidates for being converted into server-based
@@ -409,19 +512,30 @@
 
 &lt;p&gt;In the meantime, if a company invites you to use its server to do
 your own computing tasks, don't yield; don't use SaaSS.  Don't buy or
-install &ldquo;thin clients&rdquo;, which are simply computers so weak
+install &ldquo;thin clients,&rdquo; which are simply computers so weak
 they make you do the real work on a server, unless you're going to use
 them with &lt;em&gt;your&lt;/em&gt; server.  Use a real computer and keep your
 data there.  Do your own computing with your own copy of a free
 program, for your freedom's sake.&lt;/p&gt;
 
-&lt;h3&gt;See also:&lt;/h3&gt;
-&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="/philosophy/bug-nobody-allowed-to-understand.html"&gt;The
+&lt;div class="announcement comment" role="complementary"&gt;
+&lt;p&gt;See also:
+&lt;a href="/philosophy/bug-nobody-allowed-to-understand.html"&gt;The
 Bug Nobody is Allowed to Understand&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
+&lt;/div&gt;
+
+&lt;div class="infobox extra" role="complementary"&gt;
+&lt;hr /&gt;
+&lt;p&gt;The first version of this article was published
+in the &lt;cite&gt;&lt;a
+href="https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/richard-stallman-free-software-drm/"&gt;
+Boston Review&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/cite&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
+&lt;/div&gt;
+&lt;/div&gt;
 
 &lt;/div&gt;&lt;!-- for id="content", starts in the include above --&gt;
 &lt;!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" --&gt;
-&lt;div id="footer"&gt;
+&lt;div id="footer" role="contentinfo"&gt;
 &lt;div class="unprintable"&gt;
 
 &lt;p&gt;Please send general FSF &amp; GNU inquiries to
@@ -439,13 +553,13 @@
         to &lt;a href="mailto:web-translators@gnu.org"&gt;
         &lt;web-translators@gnu.org&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
 
-        &lt;p&gt;For information on coordinating and submitting translations of
+        &lt;p&gt;For information on coordinating and contributing translations 
of
         our web pages, see &lt;a
         href="/server/standards/README.translations.html"&gt;Translations
         README&lt;/a&gt;. --&gt;
 Please see the &lt;a
 href="/server/standards/README.translations.html"&gt;Translations
-README&lt;/a&gt; for information on coordinating and submitting translations
+README&lt;/a&gt; for information on coordinating and contributing translations
 of this article.&lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;/div&gt;
 
@@ -466,7 +580,7 @@
      There is more detail about copyright years in the GNU Maintainers
      Information document, www.gnu.org/prep/maintain. --&gt;
 
-&lt;p&gt;Copyright &copy; 2010, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018 Richard 
Stallman&lt;/p&gt;
+&lt;p&gt;Copyright &copy; 2010, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021, <span 
class="removed"><del><strong>2023</strong></del></span> <span 
class="inserted"><ins><em>2023, 2024</em></ins></span> Richard 
Stallman&lt;/p&gt;
 
 &lt;p&gt;This page is licensed under a &lt;a rel="license"
 href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/"&gt;Creative
@@ -476,11 +590,11 @@
 
 &lt;p class="unprintable"&gt;Updated:
 &lt;!-- timestamp start --&gt;
-$Date: 2018/08/04 15:59:30 $
+$Date: 2024/01/08 19:03:08 $
 &lt;!-- timestamp end --&gt;
 &lt;/p&gt;
 &lt;/div&gt;
-&lt;/div&gt;
+&lt;/div&gt;&lt;!-- for class="inner", starts in the banner include --&gt;
 &lt;/body&gt;
 &lt;/html&gt;
 </pre></body></html>



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