Cory Doctorow on The Changelog
“Desperate” is often the opposite of “open”: it’s when we’re in trouble that we’re most likely to compromise on our principles. How, then, did open become the default for so many tools and applications? Because when you use irrevocable open/free licenses, you lock your code open, defending it from anyone who would lock it up again—including a future version of you, in a moment of weakness.
Open licenses have served us well for more than two decades, but they need help if we’re going to survive the era in which computers invade our bodies and the structures we keep those bodies in. #
So here’s the thing: every time you “like” something, share something, tag yourself in a photo, or click on an article on Facebook, the site collects data on you and files it away in their folder of YOU. And it’s not just your activity on Facebook that they’re keeping track of. They also track what device you used to log on, what other app you came from, other sites you’ve visited, and much more.
Listen to both if you get a chance.