16 August 2025
Article published by: wxie
Date of publication: 16 August 2025
title: Climbing the Freedom ladders: make decision on the software you use description: On 2025-08-17 I gave this speech as sharing in Climber Toastmasters club. —
Good afternoon.
Some of you ask me: what do you do for a living?
Normally I answer I am doing software related work.
Software? The reaction sometimes seems that I am talking something mysterious or far away from our daily life.
Dear Fellow members, Distinguished guests,
In all aspects, Software is one thing that has been changing the world for the last few decades. Each and every one’s life is connected to software more than the Covid-19. Whether you are using a computer, a smart phone, or driving a car, you are using software.
Do you agree?
The title of my talk is “Climbing the freedom ladders: make decision on the software you use”. Freedom and software, the relation may sound strange to you. Let me ask you a question.
What does freedom mean to you?
(Ask a few audience.)
When I find it is hard to define a term, I often go to the opposite of the term. For example, Courage isn’t the absence of fear; it’s the opposite of surrendering to fear. A coward avoids risks, but courage means acting despite them. Likewise, freedom doesn’t mean no control. Rather, for me, freedom means have control of our own life.
Back to Software, if software is important in our life, our control of life will depend on our control of the software we use.
Do you agree?
What do I mean by having control of the software we use?
Every human being deserves to have the freedom to run, study, modify, and share the software they use. Software freedom is a human right. Which programs respect your software freedom? I know that the only software that respects user’s freedom is free software (自由软件). With free software, you, the user, decide what you want the program to do. You’re in full control over your computing, your data, and the output. You retain sovereignty over your most confidential data, instead of being forced to reveal secrets to greedy and negligent companies like Adobe, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI. Companies like Microsoft may promise that they keep your data safe, but who can confirm if they really do? With libre software, you’re not at the mercy of Big Tech: you decide who has access to your information.
In addition, with free software, you decide what features you want. If you need a new feature, you can contact the developer with your story and ideas. Some of your friends like me or an outside contractor can adapt the software to your needs. With free software, you have the freedom to modify, improve, and customize the program as you see fit.
Furthermore, only you choose how long you want to use a libre program. You don’t have to rely on a company providing software patches and security updates. Even if the main developer decides to drop a program, you can call on the free software community to further develop the software or ask your tech department or a contractor to maintain the software, which will in most cases be much cheaper than paying for a license year after year.
In case the ethical arguments have not convinced you to make the switch to free software, consider doing it to save money. While the “free” in “free software” means “free” as in “freedom”, not as in “free beer,” free/libre software will often save your thousands or even millions for company in software licenses.
This is the background. You may need some time to digest the idea.
In the following time, I would how you can make decision in choosing the software you use.
Chromium = More practical, but less private by default.
Ideally, I use GNU IceCat = Maximum freedom, but slower and niche.
Other choice:
Firefox (with privacy tweaks)
Brave (Chromium-based but privacy-focused)
| Category | Microsoft Office | LibreOffice |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | ❌ Paid (Subscription or one-time purchase) | ✅ 100% Free |
| Compatibility | ✅ Perfect with .docx/.xlsx |
⚠️ Minor formatting issues with MS files |
| Collaboration | ✅ Real-time co-editing (Cloud) | ❌ Limited (No native cloud sync) |
| Advanced Features | ✅ AI tools (Copilot), Power Query, Designer | ⚠️ Basic macros, PDF editing |
| User Interface | ✅ Modern (Ribbon UI) | ⚠️ Dated (Office 2003-style) |
| Privacy | ❌ Telemetry/data collection | ✅ No tracking |
| Offline Use | ✅ Full functionality | ✅ Full functionality |
| Updates | ✅ Automatic (365) | ⚠️ Manual updates |
| Platforms | ✅ Windows, Mac, Web, Mobile | ✅ Windows, Mac, Linux |
WeChat = an all-in-one app for chat, payments, and services. Centralized “super app” for convenience (but surveilled).
I recommend Mastodon = Decentralized, ethical social media (but smaller user base).
Because I also use Wechat, I use it in a sandbox to let it run in an isolated environment.
Choose Scribus if:
You need high-quality print posters (e.g., conferences, brochures).
You want full design control (typography, grids).
These are just some examples for you. Actually, you have much more choices if you are looking for free software. If you don’t know how, I can show you later. However, if you haven’t made the right choice, you have not control. For example, Microsoft announced that Support for Windows 10 ends on October 14, 2025. Microsoft wants you to buy a new computer because most likely your computer will not work with the new Windows 11. But your computer can still be fast and secure if you choose the free software operating system. Don’t you want to save your machine? I can help.
Dear friends,
A thousand-mile journey starts with a single step, each step towards your software freedom is a good step. Climbing the freedom ladders, you will feel much better to have control of your own life if you have confidence that you have control over the software you use.
Thank you.
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