We spend a huge amount of our modern lives using software. Yet most of the most commonly-used software is not open-source, meaning it's less transparent, of lower quality, less reliable, less flexible, more expensive and often with predatory vendor lock-ins making it hard for us to escape...I list some alternatives we could easily switch to from today by opting open-source, from email providers to web apps; browsers to messaging apps; documentation to cloud storage; entire operating systems to social media; and a whole host more.
Sam
✌️ 🤓 🤚

ethicalrevolution.co.uk/opt-op…

Even if you are not at the technical level to be modifying and contributing to open source code, you can be confident open source software is not spying on you and misusing your data - because anyone could check. This should already be music to the ears of Friendica and Mastodon users. But are you using open source software in other aspects of your digital life?

Sam's list was an interesting checklist for me of the open source software I am already using and some I didn't know about. Then there were some services I simply don't use at all at this time, but might in the future.

I already use: Filen for cloud storage, LibreOffice for office software, Thunderbird for email, Friendica, Mastodon, and Trust Cafe for social media, Pixelfed for photo sharing, Ecosia for search engine, Firefox and Ecosia for web browsers.

New to me (I'll try them next time I need them) are Lufi for file transfer, Piefed for a Reddit alternative, OhMyForm for forms, Apertium or DeepL for translation, Jitsi for video conferencing.

I haven't got as far as switching to Linux; still using Windows on my laptop and desktops, but with LibreOffice instead of MSOffice. Still need to use Google Suite for work.

What about you?

FYI When choosing a cloud storage alternative to Google and One Drive, I did extensive research and decided on Filen, a German service, secure, privacy oriented, clean energy, and very good value lifetime and annual subscriptions. If anyone is interested here's a referral code that will get you a free 10 GB when you sign up filen.io/r/f034f540753a778cc01…

Another very highly rated choice especially for businesses needing to have team members collaborating on docs is Sync, a Canadian service.

#EthicalRevolution #TheOnlyWayisEthics #Opensource #FOSS

N in the ethical journey is about nurturing yourself through nature, specifically the mental and physical health (immune system!) benefits of spending time in it. They are well documented. Sam has three suggestions:
1. Spend at least a couple hours a week enjoying a natural area with all your senses.
2. Learn to identify plant and animal species in your area. Personal note: I'm not a "there's an app for that" kind of person, but this is something good technology can really help with. You can be a citizen scientist submitting observations to iNaturalist. Apps like Merlin make it much easier (and fun!) to identify birds by song.
3. Go for a brisk walk within two hours of rising/daylight every day - among other benefits this sets your circadian rhythm so you can sleep well at night.

I'm already doing #2 to some extent, so I'm going to focus on #3, which can be challenging as my early morning hours are already pretty full, but since I don't commute to work anymore (I used to get most of my exercise through long cycles to and from work everyday) I think it would be a very good idea for me to do this - I will try to work it into my schedule to get the day off to a good start.

ethicalrevolution.co.uk/natura…

L is for "Love Local" in Sam's Ethical Revolution path. ethicalrevolution.co.uk/love-l…
Sam advises to patronize small local businesses who want to develop a positive relationship with you not serve shareholders, qualifies that local greenhouses may not always be the lowest carbon footprint for food, and encourages involvement in local politics or community groups. He recommends a film "The Economics of Happiness" which can be viewed here.

Local is relevant for me as I live in one of those small towns where small businesses struggle to remain viable, and a northern town where most food is imported from far away. The exceptions can be found at the Farmers' Market which I patronize regularly. We do have some lovely local shops too and last night I just attended a skin care demo at a local boutique that sells ethical women's wear and other products from Canadian woman owned businesses. Like many modern small businesses she supplements local in person traffic with an online web site elladoraboutique.ca/.
This is a reminder to patronize my local businesses run by neighbours first before jumping to the computer to order.

I also recently watched a presentation on solar passive greenhouses which in contrast to conventional greenhouses require minimal inputs. They cost more to build as they have features like underground pipes to store heat. There is a local initiative to build one here. This would alleviate Sam's concern with greenhouses and allow 3-4 season food production locally.

Unfortunately I do not have time to volunteer for this or other worthy local causes. It's a matter of time, and also energy. In my life I basically tread water and constantly fall behind on my present commitments, let alone take on more. Far from ideal but I'm doing my best.
#EthicalRevolution

Journey Jovial is the next step on the personal A-Z Ethical Revolution.
ethicalrevolution.co.uk/journe…

A big part of Sam's advice here is not to get overwhelmed and anxious by the barrage of negative news. This advice wasn't timed for this particular point in time, but it couldn't be more apt. Indeed, I have been memorized by the train wreck of Trump's first weeks in office, and actually, I feel it's right not to look away. Nor to look away from the ongoing genocide in Gaza, or the war in Congo that is affecting families of people I know. On the other hand, it's true - I am suffering from information overload spending so much time on the computer reading stuff.

Sam's advice is get news from trusted sources - he suggests a few- and don't feel like you have to keep up with it everyday.

The primary source he suggests is The Conversation, in which journalists work with academic experts to produce a variety of articles on current events and developments in many fields. It is good...but let's see, I'm already getting daily to weekly newsletters from several sources, adding another might be counterproductive to the intent of this step?

I do daily peruse the headlines from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:C… as a RSS feed; it's very succinct, but alerts me to events happening in parts of the world I might not otherwise hear about.

In addition, I get a daily newsletter of local news from 'Town and County', a feed of mainly environmental Canadian news from The Narwhal (several articles a week, but I usually only look at the first paragraph), a weekly newsletter from Global Voices, and Good Sunday Morning, a weekly letter from Green Party of Canada leader Elizabeth May which is always very interesting. Now I've added a twice weekly digest from the Conversation Global. Then there's a couple weekly and various other sporadic newsletters related to my profession. Too much?

I'm tempering this by reminding myself I don't need to keep up with all the internet news on a daily basis, or keep checking them every hour as I am wont to do. I have them going to a feed reader (Inoreader) rather than cluttering up my email.

And then there's my two print hardcopy newsmagazines (one leftleaning but mainstream, one more radical) that I subscribe to, and more to the point, actually read - I'm proud of that. And once in awhile I listen to the Canada Broadcasting Corp. news on the radio

I realized I've got my news sources corralled quite well; the real problem for me is social media, even though I have been very selective with my social media sources including this lovely Friendica instance, it is an endless source of stimulation that can easily become too much, and this is where I really need to be more selective with my time. At least leave it until the end of the day.

How do you get your news and how do you feel about it?
#EthicalRevolution