# Technology: a different approach
^{a tale about user freedom and the effects of technology}

A cluster of dark clouds rolled in as the wind shook the big apartment. Richard put on his headphones to dampen the noise outside and sat on the edge of his chair, his back almost bent in half, painfully typing away at an endless stream of code. His narrow focus on the blinking cursor made his eyes ache and his keycaps are worn. A strike of lightning sent another vibration down the old building and tore a painting off the bare, peeling wall, landing it **shamefully** on the ground. His room consisted of a desk with a keyboard and monitor, a filing cabinet, a painting, and four cameras pointing directly at him. This room was verbatim to the other one billion rooms in the same building, all created by Microsoft, called **Windows 10**. This **absolutely hideous** creation of Microsoft's houses a billion people, each with a room exactly identical - the same **harsh** and **horrid** **dungeon** that Richard is **perpetually trapped** in.

Morning came, however, the skies were as dark as yesterday. Richard decided to take a break from coding. He left his room and stepped outside to take in the fresh and moist air from after the storm. He stretched his cramped legs and walked slowly to the edge of the island. The apartment was situated on an island, separated by an infinite expanse of **hostile** waters from any other island. Richard looked back and made a **horrible** realization as he stared at the oversized building. It was a **nasty, undermaintained prison** of little cells each with a person inside a room and four cameras aimed directly at them. Everyone was in a **cramped, uncomfortable** position with a laser-sharp focus on their monitor, all while being monitored by the cameras. A window diagonal to Richard's room showed a person who fell asleep watching a movie and the one next to it was another person who is also writing a program. Richard promptly went back to his **old prison cell** to contact the programmer.

Richard picked up the phone, dialed the room number, and almost immediately heard the other person accept the call.

"Hello," Richard said.

"WHO ARE YOU!? WHATS GOING ON?" the other person questioned rudely before Richard could finish.

"I am Richard Stallman, a developer of compilers, text editors, and other tools," he responded, "I have noticed that you were also writing something and I am thinking if we can work together."

"Sure. I am Linus and I am writing a custom backend for my room in this place," he answered this time with a much calmer tone.

"Out of curiosity, why would you need a custom backend for your room, my place is fine," Richard asked.

"I need you to understand something, we are living in **pain**, whether you know it or not. Though we are provided with these rooms where we can work and play, we are actively **enslaved** by Microsoft. Have you noticed those cameras in your room?" Linus pointed out.

"Wait, I haven't really paid attention to my surroundings recently," Richard turned around, and there they were: four cameras from each direction, **stalking** him as a **predator** would silently wait for the perfect time to strike.

"You see, through those cameras, the people over at Microsoft can see exactly what you are doing. Though they look out for viruses, there is a far more **malicious** purpose they serve. You know how whenever you scroll through your news feed, read articles, and look around the corner online you find these advertisements desperately enticing you to purchase their products?"

"Yeah,"

"And how they always get you every time.."

"Yeah,"

"Almost like they know what you want?"

"Wait what?"

"Advertisers know what you want because Microsoft **sells your personably identifiable data** to them!"

"Oh no, what have I done! To choose to use Windows 10 to handle my most personal and private tasks," Richard uttered in shame.

"And if that wasn't enough, the data might end up in the wrong hands and..." before Linus could finish, everyone received a notification. It read:"Breaking News: an imposter  working at Microsoft breached their records, exposing the privacy of each and every user of the Windows 10 platform."

---
"THAT'S IT!! I had enough with this Windows crap! Let's get cracking," Linus ranted.

Together, Richard and Linus developed plans for a new system called Linux, where users can run their own rooms, under the complete control of themselves. Little by little, they collected the scraps left by Windows users (the e-waste caused from abandoned hardware) and built their own island and their own construction next to Microsoft's. This time, not a prison, but a wide open field almost like a **garden**, where users and developers can work and play **openly** as a tightly-knit **community** instead of being each confined to an unpleasant room tied to a chair and monitored 24/7. The garden thrived and continues to **thrive** with **flowers** and other plants growing all over the place, bees and butterflies also enjoying the place. Instead of being seated at desks, people are **free** to move around and sit on the grass with laptops, interact with the world around them with **innovative** technologies such as AR glasses, and can finally talk to each other again. Developers like Richard and Linus carry out their tasks with much more **passion** and **renewed** focus, knowing that their work serves the community and **empowers** all to a **brighter future**. The figures of the few hundred people darkened as the setting sun cast a **golden** hue over the now **healthier**, **happier**, **liberated** and more **united community** of Linux users.

___
Technology over the recent years are handing over an unprecedented amount of control to their creators and because "*power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely*", proprietary technologies are often created, even if useful, to function against the will of the users and constantly abuse them for profit. This results in the loss of privacy, over-dependence and monopoly, and users being forced to use counterintuitive software that acts against their interests. Though it is a rising problem, a solution currently exists - that is, open source software. Open source software is made for the community, by the community, therefore, serving the interests of the community and does not put any one of its members at an unfair advantage. It also creates a large community, gives many an identity, and invokes a powerful sense of belonging like no other proprietary software could, therefore, connecting people together socially. Even I have personally made many friends from participating in a few open source communities. Technology can imapct people in bad ways, however, a solution always exists. Technology is both a problem and a solution.