Through out modern history decades have been so easily defined. Until recently everyone could recognize and identify a decade from a sample of a song a movie or an item of clothing. The Beatles in the 60’s Ghost Busters in the 80’s for example. and anyone growing up in those decades will invariably think back and talk fondly of them as if no decade since has come close. If you ask people growing up in the 60’s what it was like they will most likely tell you it was amazing that it felt like you where part of something big, The music of the time was so intertwined with politics that following a band was literally choosing a life style. The music brought about the flower power movement and in turn transformed society. Same with the 90’s Anyone that listened to acid house / rave music will tell you their whole lives revolved around that music scene from the clothes they wore to the friends they kept. People lived for the weekends when they could go to the clubs and raves buying the drugs and merchandise to further immerse themselves in that scene.

So what about the Noughties (2000-2009) ask yourself what was so special about this decade ? What band, what fashion trend what outdated gadget what movement was so cool back then ? How about The Teens (2010-2019) put it another way in 10 years from now can you imagine a sub culture existing that collects and immerses itself in the music fashion and cinema of 2014 for example ? what was so defining about that year or the year before it or after it. Sure some of you reading this will fondly remember a song you had on a loop one great summer but did the rest of society join you in that total immersion ?

Firstly, I want to note that Avril looks surprisingly good in that video she is literally trapped in 2008 biologically speaking. and observation that we are still basically in 2008 feels alarmingly true, and the implications of that are somewhat extensive.

Peter Van Valkenburgh commented that we don’t need any new culture because there is so much of it, which has only recently been perfectly cataloged and available at your fingertips (at least that was the case before the censorship campaign began).

For the most part, I don’t really see zoomers as having their own culture. Zoomer pop culture seems to be completely a rehash of a bunch of stuff right about 2008. Although the noughties where barely memorable compared with the teens they where like the war years, i mean it just got worse and worse like literally no one can point to anything memorable or worth remembering in the last decade

1 possible explanation for that is that it is the last stop in the culture before things got really weird, and therefore it’s something people want to hang on to. This is the year Obama got elected.

From there, all of the LGBT stuff, and the race stuff, went into hyperdrive. Obama was elected by white people on the promise of ending racial tensions and putting the whole thing behind us, and instead he used his position as president to agitate for a bunch of racial grievances from the 1960s that most Americans viewed as finished with.

People apparently long for that time, before everything went too weird.

The other angle is that 2007/2008 is when the iPhone launched, and before long, basically everyone had become addicted to these devices. We don’t fully understand the effects of this, but I have speculated at some length (in various articles that the psychological disconnect created by smart-phones – this new form of unreality, where people have lost connection to their physical environment completely – is what allowed for everything to go so weird over the last 17 years or so.

The smart-phones certainly affected human relationships. It interfered significantly with normal human interactions – people won’t have a conversation without constantly messing with their phones. This caused a breakdown in relationships. The phones also gave women the ability to get unlimited amounts of attention from thousands or millions of men, in turn enabling these men to anonymously say what ever they like to these women. These dynamics made the majority of fertile women more or less completely unwilling to engage in normal human mating behaviour. Its important to define the difference between the earlier cell phones and smart phones.

Along with lacking the basic natural motivation and romantic drive towards creativity because of the phone, it’s just an obvious fact that constantly having a screen in front of your face is going to destroy both concentration and creativity.

Therefore, everyone in society is stuck in a loop. The creatives themselves are stuck in a loop in that they aren’t coming up with new ideas, but more importantly, the mass are stuck in a loop. The entire concept of art involves the artist asking the viewer of the art to join them in a creative journey, and this then requires imagination on the part of the consumer of the entertainment. Therefore, even if an artist is capable putting down the phone, keeping off the various anti-creativity drugs, and staying fit enough to have a working brain, his art is not worth anything to a society that is stuck in a loop and therefore only has interest in the safe and familiar.

However, we must note that even if we’ve reached a kind of stasis in terms of artistic expression, society continues to change rapidly, as we continue down this spiral of LGBT, racial revolution and feminism. The fact that people choose to comfort themselves with this looped past decades culture simply shows that people of all ages are simply dumbstruck, incapable of offering a response to what is happening.

Both supporters and opponents of this global agenda are entirely passive. The supporters do not think about any of it, they just go along with whatever new thing is promoted by CNN, the Democrat Party, and Hollywood. Opponents continually fall back on stupid clichés and worn out nonsense.

People in 2024 are in a state of future shock that is truly extreme, by any measure. In this context, the static culture is what you would expect.

We all thought that the internet was a massive own goal of the establishment, and in the beginning it really looked liked it was. Never before where Patriots able to find each other, network and meet with such ease. I remember trying to track down the biggest nationalist party in my country in my teens only to realise it was x directory and basically unfindable. I eventually managed to contact them by pausing a documentary i came across by chance where one of the activists was holding a leaflet with their phone number on it.

For some glorious years we grew and grew powered by the internet. We met online in chat forums and chat rooms. We spent hours and hours at our desks making plans sharing ideas and organising real world events. Then we met in real life and carried out our work. The 2 meshed hand in hand the internet and real world activism we where unstoppable……

Then came the smart phone.

I’ve been online dating between the years of 2002 to 2015 and i can tell you there was a huge shift in my experience. In 2002 for example a conversation with a woman would go something like

”Oh i’m from such and such a town where are you from ?”

”wow you have a dog, me too”

”What’s your favorit colour”

”Do you have brothers and sisters? wow me too”

People where genuinely excited to talk to others they met on the internet curious and open, spending great lengths to write long emails or hours in chat rooms / msm or other private messengers of the day. Sat at their desktops undistracted and interested to get to know one another.

Then the smart phone basically just ripped it all up. Now if your online dating you don’t even need to write you can just swipe … People approach and reply to each other in the length of a sarcastic tweet or even just a series of emojis. arrogantly dismissing each other from their seat on the bus or elevator to the office. the convenience has rendered courtship and any meaningful intellectual romance to the dustbin of history.

The smart phone has all but killed off Nationalism outside of Eastern Europe. Sure there are still nationalist parties and people that identify as being Nationalist, but the old goals of Nationalism are to put it bluntly defunct. Instead of sitting at a desk top finding new members to meet up with on the weekend activity, people now prefer to scroll through their preferred orgs social media page and like and occasionally share one of their posts. All communication with other Nationalists is invariably limited to and sent out in the length of a tweet. Done from as mentioned before, the bus home or the elevator to the office. This is the total extent of involvement and commitment from 90% of people that self identify as nationalists. This new wave of Nationalism is about self gratification, the same way a person feels good about themselves for donating a dollar to a bum then going about their day on a high for ”doing the good deed”

An article of this length and nature is supposed to have a happy ending but there isn’t going to be one. So what’s the point in writing it to begin with ? Well because people haven’t realised what’s happened. People don’t even realise that their political parties and scared ideals are finished. The western man & woman hasn’t even had the time to sit back and reflect on what’s missing in a cultural and social context, because they have been too busy swiping left in their time loops.

I guess to summarize id say that the internet pre smartphone was a creative safe space for idealists, people on the fringe of mainstream culture who where able to find people just like them. Using the internet required you to be at home rather than in a bar so you didn’t have the hedonistic sluts dominating it with their selfies. In effect the patriotic party has been ruined by the mass which is quite telling actually. It might, it.. just might give weight to the Neo-aristocracy idea that the mass is in fact not something we should be trying to pander to or even use but rather something to be avoided all together.

Many Neo-aristocrats will have grown up in families with strict mothers and remember  The constant nagging and trying to stay on top things was surely difficult to bear, if we didn’t know it then as children we do now as ORDER15  that she was doing it for our own well being, all now backed up by recent findings  According to one expert, titled  strict mothers usually have more successful children. 

Erica Rascon, a professor from the University of Essex has conducted a study which showed that strict mothers have more successful children, and that successful people had highly demanding mothers. The research analyzed surveys of more than 15 000 children aged 13-14 between 2004 and 2010. According to Rascon, “the measure of the expectations in this study reflects a combination of aspirations and beliefs about the likelihood of access to higher education declared by the majority of parents, in most cases the mother.”

The children whose mothers had high expectations are much more confident and secure. The results of the study showed that daughters who had persistent and nagging mothers have 4% lower chances of getting pregnant prematurely. Children who had persistent mothers were also more likely to finish college and get a nice job. It may sound unrealistic, but demanding and strict mothers do have more successful children.

Most children considered  strict mothers their true enemy while growing up. Half way through 2023 such a thing as strict mother becomes rare indeed, even the ones that care about their child’s behaviour are often to weak to fully get to grips with discipline and feel guilt even enforcing it but we assure you that enforcing strict rules and high expectations will help your child immeasurably later in life. They may  not like it now, but they will end up thanking you a thousand times as a adult. When they are a adult They will recognize and appreciate all the effort you gave to raise them right, and they will and should try adopting the same approach for their children.

In a age of total degeneracy and the collapse of the family unit within the wider community Neo-aristocrats should embrace the trend not as a disaster but rather a opportunity. While other children fail by the wayside  ours can advance.

Viking warriors had the skills to survive against various forms of warfare and combat.

The reason for the Vikings fighting prowess is found in the way they trained both with and without weapons. For combat without weapons, the Norse had developed a martial arts system called Glima.

To be a good fighter and survive the unpredictability of combat, a warrior must know how to defend themselves unarmed against an armed opponent.

The Norse developed Glima, which is a self-defense system that employs throws, blows, kicks, chokes, locks, pain techniques and some weapon techniques. It is comparable with the best martial arts systems from all around the world. The word glíma in Old Norse means “glimpse” or “flash,” which describes the system’s techniques…speed.

The Viking martial art is so named because the methods bring down their opponents with lightening quick moves and tricks using both feet and hands.

This style of combat training helped develop the strength, reflexes, endurance and courage that Viking warriors needed to survive in combat. Glima also builds self confidence and for Norse children, Glima training usually began at around 6 or 7 years of age.

Glima self-defense training was the foundation of a Viking warrior and these techniques are still practiced today in Scandinavia, Europe, North America, and South America.

Glima is mentioned in the Prose Edda in the book of Gylfaginning when the Æsir god Thor took his journey to Utgards-Loki and was defeated in a wrestling match by the female jötunn Elli (Old Norse “Elli” means “old age”).  Yes, Thor was beaten by an old woman in hand to hand unarmed combat…but there’s more to the story as to why. (read the Gylfaginning)

In Gylfaginning, Thor and his companions Loki and Þjálfi are in the hall of the giant Útgarða-Loki where they meet difficult challenges testing their strength and skill. Thor has just been humiliated in a drinking challenge and wants to get even.

Then said Thor: ‘Little as ye call me, let any one come up now and wrestle with me; now I am angry.’ Then Útgarda-Loki answered, looking about him on the benches, and spake: ‘I see no such man here within, who would not hold it a disgrace to wrestle with thee;’ and yet he said: ‘Let us see first; let the old woman my nurse be called hither, Elli, and let Thor wrestle with her if he will.

She has thrown such men as have seemed to me no less strong than Thor.’ Straightway there came into the hall an old woman, stricken in years. Then Útgarda-Loki said that she should grapple with Ása-Thor. There is no need to make a long matter of it: that struggle went in such wise that the harder Thor strove in gripping, the faster she stood; then the old woman attempted a hold, and then Thor became totty on his feet, and their tuggings were very hard.

Yet it was not long before Thor fell to his knee, on one foot. Then Útgarda-Loki went up and bade them cease the wrestling, saying that Thor should not need to challenge more men of his body-guard to wrestling.

Glima is so important to Norse society, Thor is also the god of wrestling.

As with people of every age and nationality, the Norse loved sports.

Glima was not just used for self defense and combat, but was also a sport. Wherever Vikings gathered, Glima was a big part of the entertainment. It was the most widespread sport in the Viking Age and there were several variations of Scandinavian folk wrestling, such as: Lausatök, Hryggspenna, and Brokartök.

Glima is practiced by men and women of all ages.

The original Norwegian settlers in Iceland took Viking wrestling and the Glima combat systems with them, according to the Jónsbók law book from 1325 AD. In the Icelandic medieval book of laws known as Grágás (Gray Goose Laws), which refers to a collection of earlier Norwegian laws, there were rules for wrestling. The Icelandic populace has taken very good care of their Norwegian heritage, and Glima there is almost unchanged since Viking times.

The skilled variants of Glíma wrestling, called Brokartök, Hryggspenna, and Lausatök, have complex rules with competitors divided into several classes based on strength and skill.

Brokartök (Trouser-grip)

Brokartök is by far the most widespread form of glima in Iceland and Sweden and it is this version of glima that is Iceland’s national sport.

The Brokartök form of glima favors technique over strength. Each of the two wrestlers wear a special belt around the waist and separate additional belts on the lower thighs of each leg, which connect to the main belt with vertical straps. A fixed grip is then taken with one hand in the belt and the other in the trousers at thigh height. From this position the glima-wrestler attempts to trip and throw his opponent. In this style of glima, a thrown wrestler may attempt to land on his feet and hands and if he succeeds in doing so he has not lost the fall. The winning condition in this type of glima is to make the opponent touch the ground with an area of the body between the elbow and the knee.

There are four points that differentiate Brokartök from other forms of wrestling:

• The opponents must always stand erect.
• The opponents step clockwise around each other (looks similar to a waltz). This is to create opportunities for offense and defense and to prevent a stalemate.
• It is not permitted to fall down on your opponent or to push him down in a forceful manner, as it is not considered sportsman-like.
• The opponents are supposed to look across each other’s shoulders as much as possible because it is considered proper to wrestle by touch and feel rather than sight.

The core of the system are eight main brögð (techniques) which form the basic training for approximately 50 ways to execute a throw or takedown.

Brokartök glíma is different from all other ethnic grips in three ways:

• Upprétt staða
  Pursuers shall remain upright. The positioning in many of the ethnic grips sports often resembles a setsquare but in Brokartök glíma that is called ousting or “bol” and is banned.
• Stígandinn
  Brokartök glíma involves steps, which involves contestants stepping forth and back like they are dancing in a clockwise motion. Stígandi is one of the characteristics of Glíma and designed to avoid a standstill and create opportunities for offence and attack.
• Níð
  It is forbidden in Brokartök glíma to tail your opponent to the floor or push your opponent down with force. That is considered to be unsportsmanlike and opposing the nature of Glíma as a sport for honorable sportsmen and women. The Brokartök glíma sportsman or sportswoman shall conquer his or her opponent with a Glíma grip so well implemented that it suffices in a “bylta”, which forces your opponent to fall to the ground without any further action. The concept “níð” does not exist in other ethnic grip sports.

Hryggspenna (Backhold wrestling)

Hryggspenna is more similar to other styles of wrestling and is considered to be more a test of strength than of technique. In Hryggspenna the opponents take hold of each other’s upper body and whoever touches the ground with any part of the body except the feet has lost.

Lausatök (Loose-Grip or Free-Grip)

Lausatök is the most widespread form of Glima practiced and there are regular competitions of this form of Glima, such as the Norwegian Glima Championship. In Lausatök Loose-Grip wrestling, the contestants may use the holds they wish.  Lausatök, or Løse-tak in Norwegian, is quite aggressive and differs in many ways from the other styles of Viking wrestling. This style was banned in Iceland for a period of about 100 years before being taken up again recently, within the last generation.

Lausatök, or Løse-tak in Norwegian, is quite aggressive and differs in many ways from the other styles of Viking wrestling. Lausatök comes in two forms: A version for self-defense or combat and a version for friendly competition.

In both, all kinds of wrestling techniques are allowed, but in the friendly version they are still taught to be executed in a way so they won’t cause the opponent injury. In such a friendly match the winner is considered the one who is standing tall while the other is lying on the ground. This means that if both the opponents fall to the ground together the match will continue on the ground by the use of techniques to keep the other down while getting up.

Excessive use of techniques aimed at deliberately injuring an opponent is frowned upon in sport Lausatök glíma. It is enough to use glima techniques that send an opponent to the floor, to inflict ‘pain’ on the floor, to ‘slap’ and opponent as opposed to ‘punch’ and kicks aimed at shocking an opponent rather than breaking bones. Such actions are considered níð; unsportsmanlike and opposing the nature of Glíma as a sport for honorable sportsmen and women. The concept “níð” does not exist in other ethnic grip sports.

Old Norse: nīð (Old English: nīþ) was a term for a social stigma implying the loss of honor and the status of a villain. A person affected with the stigma is a nīðing (Old Norse: níðingr, Old English: nīðing, nīðgæst).

Surrounding glima is a code of honor called drengskapur that calls for fairness, respect for and caring about the security of one’s training partners.  You do not injure your opponent in the training and glima as a sport.

Lausatök glima for combat and self-defense was the basis for the Vikings fighting expertise and also includes techniques against weapons. In order to have a structured form of unarmed combatives against striking weapons, the Vikings had to know how to use a variety of weapons, such as sword, axe, spear, seax, long seax, stick and knife. The foundation for the use of these weapons is found in Lausatök combat glima.

As Brokartök is the most widespread form of Glima in Iceland and Sweden, Lausatök is by far the most widespread form of Glima practiced in Norway, Europe and North America. There are regular competitions in this form of Glima such as the Norwegian Glima Championship.

In Lausatök Loose-Grip wrestling, the contestants may use the holds they wish and it is practiced both outdoors and indoors year round in Scandinavia.

Glíma as a sport has also gone by the name of Scandinavian Wrestling and Viking Wrestling (Vikingbryting).

Sources:

• Gylfaginning
• Prose Edda (complete)
• Jana K Schulman, The Laws of Later Iceland: Jónsbók: The Icelandic Text According to MS AM 351 fol. Skálholtsbók eldri. With an English Translation, Introduction and Notes (2010).
• Grágás (Gray Goose Laws)

• A community group in Yorkshire has signed a three-year lease on a petrol station
• The Upper Dales Community Partnership hopes its a move to self-sufficiency
• Depleting services across rural England has seen communities take action
• Numbers of petrol stations have dropped from 37,000 in 1970 to 8,600 in 2013

  Traditionalists have been talking about having our own communities since as long as anyone can remember, its one of Neo-aristocracies main themes. The topic is a popular one among the hardcore, but for almost all its only ever a day dream a nice idea if you will, and just about the hardest of all ideas to put into action. However where we Traditionalists still struggle there are groups all across the world doing exactly what we dream about albeit not with the same ideological backdrop.

    A community group in Yorkshire has taken over its only remaining petrol station out of fear that it would have been bought by property developers, making it the latest acquisition for a village bent on self-sufficiency.

  The Upper Dales Community Partnership (UDCP) in Hawes is a non-for-profit company that began 20 years ago amid mass closures of facilities and depleting services to the area, populated by 1,137 people.

  According to a 2016 report by Rural England, provision of services to rural areas like Hales has presented challenges due to the increase of online interactions mixed with sparsely populated and ageing demographics- creating the need for community action.

  The UDCP is doing just that.

   

  The village of Hawes, pictured, has a population of roughly 1,137 people bent on a self-sufficient village

   

  Speaking to the Times, UDCP spokesperson John Blackie said: ‘In other communities they say “Why isn’t the government providing for us?” Here we say, “If you aren’t going to provide for us we are going to provide it for ourselves.”‘

  Having initially started by taking over the local library the UDCP soon moved to set up a bus service in 2011 to replace the rural routes that were being axed- it makes £60,000 a year from the fares of roughly 65,000 passengers.

  Petrol stations have equally diminished alongside bus routes- the Times reporting that numbers have dropped from 37,000 in 1970 to 8,600 in 2013.

  The closure of the Hawes petrol station would have meant a 36mile round-trip to the nearest petrol station.

  But the three-year lease that the UDCP now possesses will see a 24-hour self-service facility. It is further expected to bring revenue to the other service UDCP offers as it is in one of 17 areas eligible for a 5p per litre rural rebate, which was rolled out in 2015.

   

  In 2011 the Upper Dales Community Partnership started its own bus service, pictured,  that rakes in a revenue of £60,000 a year from the fares of roughly 65,000 passengers

   

  The local post office in Hawes also risked closure but was taken over by the Upper Dales Community Partnership, who employs 18 paid workers

   

  The library in Hawes, pictured, is open five days a week and another facility run by the Upper Dales Community Partnership

  Last month the UDCP employs 18 paid staff as well as 40 volunteers and has an annual turnover of around £350,000.

  The UDCP has also attained the Post Office, built a one-stop shop community centre and soon plans to build two plots of land to build affordable homes.

  Mr Blackie told the Times: ‘I hope other communities will look at us and see that, if we can do it, they can do it too. If nobody will do it for us, then we will do it for ourselves.’

  
  Traditionalists must start to take seriously the predicament we as a people are in and at least entertain other forms of ethnic an cultural survival, control of our goods and services.  Schools, places of worship, farms, the local store, all critical to the life of small communities and the well being of the folk. Others have shown the way. It is possible if we have the collective will to realise it.

Ireland is about to pass “one of the most radical hate speech bills” in the entire world which will throw people in jail for possessing “hateful” material on their devices and consider the accused guilty until proven innocent. 

“Ireland is about to pass one of the most radical hate speech bills yet,” Irish nationalist Keith Woods said on Twitter. “Merely possessing ‘hateful’ material on your devices is enough to face prison time.”

“Not only that, but the burden of proof is shifted to the accused, who is expected to prove they didn’t intend to use the material to ‘spread hate’. This clause is so radical that even the Trotskyist People Before Profit opposed it as a flagrant violation of civil liberties. Dark times.”

“This is a massive attack against freedom of speech,” Elon Musk responded.

“It’s insane what’s happening in the ‘free world,’” Donald Trump Jr. commented. 

“Thank you for standing for free speech!” Woods responded. “What’s happening in the West is tragic. And now Meatball Ron [DeSantis] is signing hate-speech legislation for Florida in a foreign country. I hope you take your country back!”

“Ireland has had uninterrupted rule of far left extremists for decades. Ireland embraced neo-marxism as much as any small state, growing the economy on its ‘competitiveness’ for American companies and finance capital,” 

“Now that the transformation into an identityless global economic zone is almost complete, hate speech and similar legislation are necessary to ensure the Irish people cannot again express sovereignty over their homeland.”

Earlier this year, the Irish police announced they were monitoring Woods just for interviewing Catholic reactionary Nick Fuentes for a podcast talking about politics. Generally speaking these type of extremist policies are often rolled out in one country as a test for others. Simply put if the mass doesn’t stand against these vile anti west extremists now then it will be too late 

Tangley Manor Dating back to 1016,

There’s no drawbridge, but Great Tangley Manor—the oldest continuously inhabited home in the UK—does have a moat. And now it can be yours for £11 million ($13.5 million). 

The Grade I-listed home dates all the way back to 1016 and sits on nearly 10 acres of land in Surrey, England. Spanning 11,225 square feet, the residence is divided into two wings known as Great Tangley Manor and Great Tangley Manor West. Internally, it comprises 10 bedrooms, six bathrooms, seven living rooms and an indoor swimming pool. The grounds of the estate also feature a walled garden, tennis court, WWII air raid shelter, a lake, sprawling meadow and a helicopter hanger. While it may not be entirely medieval in its appearance, one of the dwelling’s most defining characteristics is a moat that surrounds the entire property.  

With a home being on the site for over a thousand years and possibly the longest inhabited house in Britain, naturally Great Tangley has evolved over time with each addition and renovation being carefully designed and carried out by the best craftsmen of the day.” 

Since 1947, the ancient abode has been owned by four different families. Although, its current inhabitants have made the most dramatic upgrades to the ancient manor—most notably the addition of a glass-walled extension, air conditioning and three EV charging ports. “This is a house that is a testament to how done correctly, homes can change and grow over time to suit the needs of their owners, yet not detract from its architectural integrity and incredible history,” adds Welsh.  

The dining room contains timber from the Spanish Armada

Its very interesting past, includes ties to multiple British monarchs, the Spanish Armada, award-winning architects and even the Vanderbilts. The manor is said to have first served as a hunting lodge for Prince John during the 12th century. At the time, part of the home was lost in a fire, but it was later rebuilt as a medieval hall house in the 15h century. Its Tudor façade and upper floor were added in 1582. Meanwhile, its owner is believed to have aided in the British fight against the Spanish and was gifted timbers from the Spanish Armada, which can now be seen in the dining room. 

In the years since Great Tangley Manor has been visited by royals and historical figures alike. In fact, Queen Mary, King George V and King George VI reportedly frequented the property and etched their signatures on the windowpanes using a diamond ring. Gladys Vanderbilt, an American heiress from the Vanderbilt family, took up residence here in the summer of 1913 and during her stay, gave birth to her second child.

“Homes like Great Tangley Manor are an important part of the rich history of the UK and just a small part of what makes those isles stand out among the rest of the west, as it goes on sale we wonder and we hope that somehow it will survive this new dark age this new anti culture era. we are entering into so that future generations may marvel in its very unique and very British character. 

The Tudor facade.

The property is surrounded by a moat.

Sitting area.

Another living room.

Another living room.

One of the bedrooms.

The gardens.

The bridge.

 

The idea behind free software is that the owners and users of computing devices (computers, printers, smartphones, etc.) should be free to do what they wish with the devices they buy, and that device vendors should not be able to place limits on the use of devices or otherwise dictate to owners how to use those devices. In order to maintain this control over their devices, owners need access to the source code of the software that runs (or runs on) the device. Enter free software.

Free software (FS) should not be confused with “freeware.” Freeware is software that you can obtain and use free of charge, but you don’t have access to its source code. The difference between the two distribution models is often expressed as free software is “free as in speech,” freeware is “free as in beer.” Although, as it turns out, if it is “free as in speech,” it will probably be “free as in beer.” Perhaps the best way to understand what free software is, is to think of it as being “free as in freedom.” The GNU Project identifies four specific freedoms, but really there are three. You have the right to:

1. Run the program any way you see fit
2. View and modify the source code
3. Make copies and share the code (modified or unmodified) with others

A BRIEF HISTORY

Prior to the late 1970′s the overwhelming majority of software programs were free in the sense of freedom. At that time, software companies began a deliberate campaign to force developers to sign Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) and agree not to share the source code of the programs they were developing. Although this didn’t sit well with many of them, they were eventually convinced, by the financial benefits, to go along.

One committed hacker, (((Richard Stallman))), balked and started his own campaign to “re-free” software. Stallman used the burgeoning internet community to advance his idea and created the GNU Project as a vehicle to accomplish his goal.

Because of the way software copyright laws work, Stallman needed to copyright all of his code or risk losing it to the public domain. This created a paradox. His goal was to undo the damage caused by copyright practices concerning software, but yet he would have to copyright his work or lose control over it, including the ability to make it free. He and his collaborators originated the idea of a “copyleft.” They would copyright their software and release it under a license that mandated that, while users of the software were guaranteed their freedoms, if they chose to redistribute the software they had to do so under the same license. This license is called the GNU General Public License (GPL).

The GNU Project’s stated aim was “to create a complete, free operating system.” They decided to make it POSIX compliant. Basically it would be a kind of clone of Unix – a powerful and popular operating system of the time. They were well on their way toward this goal, when a young Swedish student (who was a citizen of Finland), Linus Torvalds, announced that he was going to create a Unix-like operating system, that ran on the under-powered personal computers of the day. Ultimately, Torvalds, realizing the complementary aspects of the two projects, adopted much of the GNU Project’s software and released his kernel to the public under the GPL.

Big software companies began to take notice. In the two decades or so, that software had become proprietary, one company, Microsoft, had built a virtual monopoly for software running on personal computers. Competitors began to evaluate Linux as a means of breaking Microsoft’s monopoly. In the year 2000, IBM decided to invest $1 billion in Linux. This investment proved a boon to free software.

Today, there are over 50,000 free software projects. Some, like Linux, MySQL, Apache, and the GNU Compiler Collection are leaders in their respective fields. Free software systems, featuring the Linux kernel, run on everything from mainframes to tiny embedded devices and everything in between. If you surf the web, use a cell phone, or record television shows, chances are you’re using free software.

OPEN FOR DEBATE

Prior to IBM’s investment in the Linux kernel – and by extension free software – a debate began about what to call free software. Stallman preferred the term “free software” because he felt it emphasized the importance of source code freedom. Others disagreed. They argued that corporations would never be able to identity the value of something that they perceived as being “free as in beer.” They lobbied for a change in name to “open source software.” They felt this removed the emphasis from “free” and allowed them to demonstrate that this development model would enable more innovation, higher quality code, and faster development times. This counter-revolution would largely win out. Most folks today call free software, “open source software” and this may be the term with which you are familiar. But a horse by any other color, is still a horse and free software (regardless of what it is called) has certainly come of age.

(Editor’s note: This entry was originally published in October 2013. It was revised and updated March 2019, and again in December of 2021.)
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