From 9aad3a87c2c1a6440230ff5b648289259c064a53 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Alain Reguera Delgado Date: Nov 05 2011 02:58:10 +0000 Subject: Update `Preface/overview.docbook'. --- diff --git a/Manuals/Tcpi-ug/Preface/overview.docbook b/Manuals/Tcpi-ug/Preface/overview.docbook index 54ffa61..fbd69a1 100755 --- a/Manuals/Tcpi-ug/Preface/overview.docbook +++ b/Manuals/Tcpi-ug/Preface/overview.docbook @@ -37,8 +37,8 @@ boundaries without any intervention from the outside. Otherwise, the cuban State would be inevitably attached to someone that can differ from it and, that would be something - unacceptable for cuban State, because it would compromise the - former idea it has about independency. + unacceptable for cuban State because it would compromise the + former idea it had about independency. @@ -49,11 +49,11 @@ garantee the freedom of computer users paying a monetary price or not for it. The cuban State, on the other hand, introduces free software at convenience because there are entire - operating systems free of charge one can study and change as - needed, not in the sense of the freedom it provides to people. - The cuban State uses free software as another impositions to - control what software does people use and which one - doesn't. + operating systems free of charge the cuban State can study and + change as needed, not in the sense of the freedom it provides + to people. The cuban State uses free software as another + impositions to control what software does people use and which + one doesn't. When I was working in the health sector of cuban State, my superior told me once that I couldn't keep using &TCD; on @@ -71,24 +71,64 @@ cannot change from one operating system to another just because someone wants to. - Some people might see that it is free - software anyway, but think that again: Shouldn't you have the - freedom to decide what free software to use, and also what - community you join to? No one must impose you anything about - which social community you participate in, that is a decision - you need to take yourself, not someone else. Sadly for cuban - people, the medium where such free software communities live - in (i.e., Internet) is only available for institutions related - to cuban State, making it very difficult for cubans without - any political relation with the cuban State to make decitions - like that and integrate any free software community at all. I - strongly beleive that for the free software philosophy to - touch the heart of cubans, the free software communities must - be accessable to all cubans. However, while the cuban State - keeps itself being inbetween, controlling how the cubans can - or cannot integrate any specific way of living, there will not - be free software in Cuba, nor any freedom for cubans to make - use of. + Some people might see that it is free software + anyway. Yes, that's true, but think that again: Shouldn't you + have the freedom to decide what free software to use, and also + what community you join to? No one must impose you anything + about which social community you participate in, that is a + decision you need to take yourself, not someone else. The + free software isn't free because of its name, but the legal, + social, economical and political environment it is used in. If + licenses used by software producers (either free or privative) + to release their work isn't protected somehow, software + producers won't be motivated to create any software at all + (either free or privative). + + + + Consider what's happening in Cuba with Windows, the operating + system produced by Microsoft corporation. When one install the + Windows operating system, one of the first screens in the + installation process is the License under which Microsoft + releases its product. This License expreses what you can do + and cannot do with this product (e.g., you cannot install it + without paying Microsoft for doing so). In Cuba, I've seen no + protection to make users to comply with such licenses. Anyone + is able to install a Windows system, even in at statal levels. + Now, if the Microsoft license has no protection in Cuba, what + interest does the cuban legal system would have to protect the + free software licenses (e.g., GPL) which give freedom to + computer users? + + + + The main problem here, as far as I can see, is based on + different ideas about the same concept. The free software + movement was initiated by Richard Stallman in the United + States of America, based on the political system of that + country. In order to use free software, in the sense of + freedom thought by Richard Stallman, it is required that a + similar political system be present, or at least one that + respects the free software licenses. Otherwise, I don't see a + way for cuban people to understand what free software is, nor + the philosophy behind it. + + + + Free software communities are the place where free software is + produced. There are international, national and local + communities grouped under free software philosophy. In Cuba, + because all the communication media are controlled by cuban + State and cuban State uses it to its own benefits, it is + difficult to people whose differ from cuban State to + have access to communication media where the free software + communities live in. I strongly beleive that for the free + software philosophy to touch the heart of cubans, the free + software communities must be accessable to all cubans. + However, while the cuban State keeps itself being inbetween, + controlling how the cubans can or cannot integrate any + specific way of living, there will not be free software in + Cuba, nor any freedom for cubans to make use of. @@ -97,22 +137,22 @@ software. The migration from privative software to free software must be initiated from people deepest comprehension of what they are doing, not from impositions of another - inquestionable order everybody need to comply with. So, + inquestionable order everybody needs to comply with. So, cubans need to feel what freedom is and express it in order to perceive a deep impact of free software in cuban society. We - cannot pretend that cubans use free software based on a lie or - a distorted idea of the freedom it provides, that idea won't - last much before it falls itself into pieces. People need a - way of identifying themselves apart from any social or - political system in order for them to be able of decide - whether or not to be part of one. + cannot pretend that cubans will use free software based on a + lie or a distorted idea of all the freedom it provides, that + idea won't last much before it falls itself into pieces. + People need a way of identifying themselves apart from any + social or political system in order for them to be able of + decide whether or not to be part of one. It is impossible to truly defend freedom if one doesn't have felt what it is. The cuban State never talks (at least on its - information media) of introducing free software for freeing - the cuban society of privative software. In fact, if you + information media) about introducing free software for freeing + the cuban society from privative software. In fact, if you compare the privative software and the way cuban State restricts information, @@ -120,9 +160,9 @@ Informatics and Telecommunications (MIT). you may find them very similar. The resolutions - emitted by cuban State are specific to statal instituions when - using computers to share information. I don't know of any - legal estipulation about using information and communication + emitted by cuban State are specific to statal instituions that + use computers to share information. I don't know of any legal + estipulation about using information and communication technologies by nautural people outside the statal sector and spite of it, I've heard of people that has been called by the cuban State security departament to explain why they built a @@ -142,41 +182,42 @@ cable had been touched the cuban territory, but nothing more has been mentioned so far. There is a terrible silence about it. Some people are woundering why to spend so much money on - that if no cuban can use it, others prefer to think that the - entire project failed. It is difficult to know what happend - exactly because, again, there is no alternative way of - communication but those provided and controlled by the cuban - State. The fact is that there isn't a way for cubans to + that if very few cubans can make use of it, others prefer to + think that the entire project failed. It is difficult to know + what happend exactly because, again, there is no alternative + way of communication but those provided and controlled by the + cuban State. The fact is that there isn't a way for cubans to contract an Internet service at home, nor a viable way to acquire a fixed telephone line at home either. However, the - same isn't true for extrangers coming from other countries to - visit Cuba or stay inhere as residents. The cuban State - permits these persons to pay the Internet service, in offices - called Telepuntos or for accessing it at home using different - fees. Some cubans cannot understand this, nor the logic - behind it either. + same isn't true for extrangers coming from other countries + whose are visiting Cuba or staying inhere as residents. The + cuban State permits these persons to access Internet paying a + service in offices called Telepuntos or from home using + different fees. Some cubans cannot understand this, nor the + logic behind it either. - In Cuba there is only one telecommunication organization named - ETECSA. This organization is very tied to cuban State and - controls everything related to telephone networks and - dedicated links for data transmistion in the island. + In Cuba there is only one telecommunication corporation named + ETECSA. This organization gives the impresion of being very + tied to cuban State and controls everything related to + telephone networks and dedicated links for data transmistion + in the island. I heard of a case where someone tried to establish an independent connection from Cuba to another country using the air as phisical medium for data trasmission and that - person is pressently suffering years in cuban prisons for + person is pressently suffering years in a cuban prison for doing that. The cuban State considered such action as a - risk for national security. At this moment I have no more + risk for national security. At this moment I haven't more information about this case. It is very difficult to be accurate about such things without an alternative information medium, apart from those under cuban State control. - Based on the fact that the telephone network is the - only communication medium most cubans have direct access to, - our attention is centered on it, as phisical medium to + Based on the fact that the telephone network is + the only communication medium most cubans have direct access + to, my attention is centered on it, as phisical medium to exchange data using computers. It is important to remark that, when using the telephone network as medium for data transmission, there are limitations in the number of @@ -189,7 +230,16 @@ Besides all these restrictions, the telephone network has a national scope that can be efficiently used by computers to transfer data all over the island at a cost of national - telephone calls. + telephone calls providing, thus, an alternative medium for + data transmision that people can use to communicate themselves + whatever thing they need to. + + + + To protect the information passed through the telephone line, + people can make use of the GnuPGP + application or the Openssl + cryptography toolkit, both available in &TCD;.