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[Ruth Marlene Friesen]

Excellent, Norbert! 
And wonderfully enlightening!

Thank you and Blessings!

I don't normally do "forwards" but this is one to be shared with 
others.

Ruth

On 26 Nov 2004 at 13:49, Norbert Bollow wrote:

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> Don Parris has (in private email) expressed interest in how I
> would formulate my arguments for Free Software from a Christian
> perspective.  Hence here is my write-up of what has motivated
> me to start the DotGNU project, and what still motivates me to
> be active in the Free Software movement.  By the way, I have
> prayed to God, asking Him that the brothers and sisters whom
> the Lord wants to call to start a Christian Free Software
> business together with me would feel particularly moved by the
> Holy Spirit when reading this article.
> 
> May the peace of Christ be with you all,
> Norbert.
> 
> 
> 
> 
>   Arguments against Microsoft software, in favor of Free Software 
and
>   IETF-style Open Standards, from a Christian, Biblical 
perspective.
> 
> According to Dan 2:36-45, the age of human empires is coming to 
an end
> through a sovereign action of God.  This will be the end of all kinds
> of human empires, including business empires.  Here the term 
"business
> empires" refers to companies which use anti-competitive tactics,
> oppression or manipulation, to extend their realm of influence, or to
> make people work for them under unjust conditions.  These tactics 
are
> in direct violation of the command of Jesus to love your neighbor 
as
> yourself.
> 
> It is reasonable to expect that when God crushes all the wicked 
human
> empires, they will try to strike back in some way.  Since they 
cannot
> do anything directly against God, they will instead take action
> against the saints.  The Bible speaks openly about this.  Dan 7:25 
and
> Rev 13:7-8 speak about a time of particularly strong persecution
> shortly before the end of the age, while Rev 18:24 makes this 
general
> statement about "Babylon the Great" (which symbolizes the 
political
> and economic empires of the world): "In her was found the blood 
of
> prophets and of the saints, and of all who have been killed on the
> earth."
> 
> It is therefore important for Christians, and especially for Christian
> businesses and ministries, to understand what is going on, so that
> God's people can obey the command to "come out of her" 
(Babylon, which
> symbolizes the worldly system of human empires) "so that you will 
not
> share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues"
> (Rev 18:4).
> 
> A lot of internet technology, including the domain name system 
(DNS)
> and the email system, has been developed and standardized in a
> righteous manner, i.e. in a manner which is completely outside the
> control of all human empires.
> 
> The software which runs on most mailservers to transport email 
over
> the internet, as well as the software which implements the domain 
name
> system, are distributed with full source code and licensed under 
terms
> which allow anyone to modify the programs, and to redistribute the
> programs in original or modified form.  The means that the 
fundamental
> software which makes the internet useful for communicating by 
email is
> not part of any human empire, it's not part of the "Babylon" system
> about which God says "come out of her".  In general, computer 
software
> with this nice property is referred to as "Free Software" or "Open
> Source Software". (The two terms "Free Software" and "Open 
Source
> Software" have practically identical meaning; from the Christian
> perspective it is preferable to say "Free Software" because this 
term
> emphasizes the aspect of freedom from the control of all wicked 
human
> empires.)
> 
> The fundamental protocols of the internet, including the protocols 
for
> the domain name system and the email system, have been 
standardized
> through a collaborative process based on "rough consensus" in 
"IETF
> Working Groups".  Here "IETF" stands for "Internet Engineering 
Task
> Force".  This is not an organization under anyone's control, but
> rather an international community of network designers, operators,
> vendors, and researchers which is open to any interested 
individual. 
> There has never been any act of an industry consortium or a 
government
> of this world or any international treaty which would have given the
> IETF the authority to determine the future of the internet.  The
> influence of the IETF comes solely through voluntary decisions of 
the
> authors of computer programs to follow the standards published by 
the
> IETF.  This situation is not a shortcoming of the IETF, but rather it
> is what ensures that the results of the "internet standards" process
> are acceptable from the Christian "Kingdom-of-God" perspective. 
> Interestingly, the IETF standards are usually referred to as "RFCs",
> where "RFC" is an abbreviation for "Request For Comments".  In 
the
> IETF standards process, all knowledgeable people are invited to 
join
> in and comment.
> 
> The first important internet standard where one of the wicked
> corporate empires of this world has managed to achieve 
dominating
> influence is the standard for the HTML (HyperText Markup 
Language)
> format which specifies the format of webpages so that they can be
> displayed in a browser such as Firefox or "Internet Explorer".  
While
> HTTP, the HyperText Transfer Protocol, which is used to transport
> webpages over the internet, has been standardized through the 
IETF
> process, the HTML format for webpages has been standardized 
only by
> the "World Wide Web Consortium", an industry consortium in 
which
> Microsoft Corporation has a strong influence.  In addition,
> Microsoft's "Internet Explorer" has such dominant market share 
that
> web designers are effectively forced to design pages so that they 
look
> good in "Internet Explorer" and competing web browsers such as 
Firefox
> (which should be preferred not only because it's better and more
> secure, but also because it's Free Software) must be programmed 
to
> mimic the behavior of "Internet Explorer" instead of just 
implementing
> the standard.  In this context it is important to keep in mind that it
> has been found in court (both by the district court and by the 
appeals
> court) that Microsoft Corporation has achieved this monopoly 
position
> in an illegal manner, i.e. through illegal anti-competitive actions to
> drive competitors such as Netscape out of the market.  The end 
result
> of this lawsuit (in which the U.S. "Department of Justice" sued
> Microsoft Corporation) has been to establish as a fact that 
Microsoft
> has committed a grave injustice; however the lawsuit hasn't had 
any
> significant success in the area of putting things right, through
> taking away from Microsoft the influence over the internet which 
they
> have illegally gained.  In this area the U.S. "Department of Justice"
> and the courts seem to be powerless.  It's up to every individual
> computer user to decide whether they want to continue to be part 
of
> Microsoft's software empire, or whether they want to come out of it
> and use Free Software such as the Firefox web browser and the
> GNU/Linux operating system.
> 
> Microsoft's .NET initiative can also be seen as an attempt to bring
> more of the internet under Microsoft's control.  For example the 
New
> York Times reported on July 25, 2002 in the article "Microsoft Tries
> to Explain What Its .Net Plans Are About" that "Microsoft also 
warned
> today that the era of 'open computing,' the free exchange of digital
> information that has defined the personal computer industry, is
> ending." Fortunately, at least so far, this aspect of Microsoft's
> plans for extending the reach of their empire appears to have been
> unsuccessful.
> 
> Looking forward, the next main battlefield where Microsoft 
Corporation
> is likely to attack the realm of Free Software and IETF-style open
> standards is the email system.  Clearly the email system needs to 
be
> changed in some way to solve the problem of unsolicited bulk 
email
> (spam).  Microsoft has recently attempted to get changes to the 
email
> system approved through the IETF working-group process, 
changes which
> would have introduced the "Sender-ID" sender authentication 
system.  A
> major problem of this proposal is that it would have required a
> (non-sublicensable) patent license from Microsoft, which is
> incompatible with the idea of Free Software.  Not surprisingly, it 
has
> been impossible to achieve "rough consensus" for this Microsoft
> proposal, as required by IETF procedures.  That however has not
> stopped Microsoft from still trying to push their ideas through, for
> example through political lobbying and through sheer market 
power. 
> Besides this "Sender-ID" system, Microsoft is also pushing for the
> introduction of some kind of central authority for the internet which
> would enforce a kind of postage for email.
> 
> Of course Microsoft would like to replace the current internet email
> system which is based on IETF standards ("RFCs") and Free 
Software
> with a proprietary system under their control.  It is important for
> Christian businesses and ministries to resist that.  If we allow that
> to happen, we will be in a situation like that described in 1 Sam
> 16:19-23, where only two people in the whole army of Israel had 
proper
> weapons, because the Philistines had made sure that there were 
no
> smiths among the people of Israel.  With Microsoft's proprietary
> software, only one company (Microsoft) is able to change the 
software.
>  With Free Software and open standards ("RFCs"), everyone has 
the
> right to make needed changes, which includes many Christians 
who have
> the necessary skills.
> 
> As mentioned in the beginning, shortly before the end of the age 
and
> the return of our Lord Jesus, circumstances will change so that
> Christian ministry and legitimate, God-fearing business activities
> become more difficult.  However also during this difficult time, our
> calling remains unchanged:  We must continue to witness to a 
dying
> world about the eternal salvation which can be found in Jesus 
Christ.
> 
> - From the perspective of the Kingdom of God, the most important
> aspect of the internet is the ability to communicate by email.  If we
> manage to retain our ability to communicate quickly and reliably
> though securely encrypted email messages, it will be much easier 
to
> effectively coordinate ministry activities even when there is some
> persecution.  The persecution will eventually become so heavy that 
no
> form of ministry is possible anymore, but if we prepare properly, we
> will be able to minister effectively and save a lot of souls during
> the early stages of persecution when many people start to realize 
that
> they're part of a wicked human empire.
> 
> 
>   Written by Norbert Bollow, 2004-11-26.
>   This document is in the Public Domain.
>   No Rights Reserved.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> - -- 
> Founder & Steering Committee member of DotGNU, see 
http://dotgnu.org/
> Free Software Business Strategy Guide   --->  
http://FreeStrategy.info
> Norbert Bollow, Weidlistr.18, CH-8624 Gruet (near Zurich, 
Switzerland)
> 
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Blessings & Thanks,
 
Ruth 

http://Ruthes-SecretRoses.com
An intentional and mentoring friend like "Ruthe"!



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