Hello Libre Planet Ontario. Enclosed you'll find a thread of a
local Ontarian looking for some answers. I sent this message to the
general help email of Gnu and they gave me a set of links that helped me
track down groups like you in my area.
I
live in the municipality of Cornwall, Roughly one hour South East of
Ottawa. Finding out if there are LIbre resources available in my locality
would be highly helpfull.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [gnu.org #1158584] The path to free
Local Time: October 26, 2016 11:06 AM
UTC Time: October 26, 2016 11:06 AM
From: address@hidden
To: address@hidden
Hello, Leya,
> address@hidden - Tue Oct 25 18:22:07 2016]:
> Hello Gnu Project. I'm a single Canadian woman in her 30s and I didn't
> know anything about free software or internet security or anonymity
> until the last couple months when I started researching and
> actively familiarizing myself with Edward Snowden, wikileaks and
> free software initiatives like gnu and I've learned a great deal in
> a short time and I am frankly feeling somewhat overwhelmed with
> where to go, what to do and how best to manage my needs. I have a
> fairly severe neurological disorder which doesn't impact physically
> as much as it impact mentally and I am on a fixed income for this
> so my budget is very low and I use technology assistively to manage
> my situation. However I believe strongly in human rights, anonymity
> and freedom. I use a mac because I part of my disorder means that
> any equipment I use has to be fairly robust and the breakable
> plastic of some low end windows computers just wasn't going to cut
> it, as oposed to the hard metal less breakable mac hardware.
> However, from videos with Richard, I've come to understand the
> inherant back doors and insecurites of Apple technology. Part of my
> impairement is that visual learning and understanding how things
> work is very poor and all this written reading is becomming very
> painfull and I am fed up with trying to understand all of this new
> information about free os and every new program I am going to have
> to learn to go "libre" as some might have it. For now, I have
> installed what I can, Tor browser, Open Office, Startpage,
> protonmail and a password manager just to get me started. Would you
> guys be able to offer any resources, wisdom or advice on how I
> might proceed.. I want to be able to still play games like the ones
> on steam.. I want to be able to use photoshop, or if someone can
> recommend a non proprietary profesional photo and video editing
> software that is as good as photoshop, I have tried some free image
> editing software but none really did what I needed for my work. I
> would love to fully install a gnu/linux os on my mac hardware , but
> I do not know if that is possible and my disability makes figuring
> it out on my own very hard and then there's the anxiety that once I
> do, I won't be more impared because I can't find or use any of the
> things I need for my wellbeing.
>
> Thank you and I appreciate your time
First off, let me say: I'm really impressed by how much you've learned
in so short a time, especially considering the hinderances! We are
really glad to hear of your interest and that you are moving to free
software.
You've already taken a number of a excellent measures to ensure
freedom and privacy. I understand your reservations about
transitioning to a free operating system. As you've ascertained,
using a nonfree system does, of course, not preclude you from using
any softare that your freedom. Please see
<http://www.fsf.org/working-together> for more information on this.
There you will find links to moving to free software
(<http://www.fsf.org/working-together/moving)>. The following few
pages might also be of interest, help:
- <https://www.fsf.org/windows> (how to switch from Windows)
- <http://www.gnu.org/distros/free-distros.en.html> (distributions we
endorse)
- <http://www.gnu.org/software/for-windows.html> (free programs that
work on Windows)
- <https://www.fsf.org/resources/hw/endorsement/respects-your-freedom>
(laptops we've certified respect your freedom)
- <https://h-node.org/> (database of hardware that works well with free
software)
- <http://emailselfdefense.org> (instructions on how to set up e-mail
encryption)
- <http://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Orca> (Gnome screenreader)
This is only the general e-mail contact for the FSF and the GNU
Project and I am unable to answer technical questions. If you have
questions about how to installation or capabilities, please go to the
distro's Web site. For instance, instructions for loading a USB drive
with Trisquel are at
<https://trisquel.info/en/wiki/how-create-liveusb>. (To download the
Trisquel iso image itself, go to <https://trisquel.info/en/download>.)
Volunteers on the mailing lists can answer technical questions you
might have about installation and capabilities.
Please note that you have the option of trying a distro before
switching to it permanently. At
<http://www.fsf.org/working-together/moving/burning> you will find
instructions for trying GNU/Linux.
You can find all the free software we know about in the Free Software
Directory, at <http://directory.fsf.org/wiki/>. I encourage you to
search there for a program that meets your needs. Also, you might
find it helpful to go to <http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/>,
where you will find a complete list of all the public mailing lists,
and to <http://www.gnu.org/help/gethelp.html>, which we are working to
improve.
I feel it would be most useful for you to be in touch with someone
who's both visually impaired and experienced with GNU/Linux. I am
trying to reach such a person, and, if I'm successful, I will put you
in touch with them, so that they can show you the way more effectively
than I can.
Regarding the challenge of doing this on a fixed income:
- a lot of free software is gratis, so that should help, and,
regarding tech support, you might be able to find a GNU/Linux user
group in your area. Please see LibrePlanet's group list
(<http://libreplanet.org/wiki/Group_list>). (LibrePlanet is a Web
portal to foster community-based free software groups and make it
easy for people to connect with local and non-local activists.)
Maybe there is someone in your area who is able to help you with the
transition.
- have you considered buying a refurbished computer? This would give
you the option of holding on to your current one, and experimenting
with the new(/old) one, until your feel comfortable enough to
transition permanently. Also, aside from financial reasons, there
are considerable environmental reasons to do so. There are no doubt
a number of retailers in your area from which you could get one,
and, ideally, there might be a nonprofit from which you could buy
one with GNU/Linux already installed. Otherwise, you could install
it yourself. (I have a refurbished ThinkPad and that's what I did.)
Regarding Photoshop, the free alternatives we use are GIMP
(http://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Gimp) and Inkscape
(http://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Inkscape).
Regarding installing
> gnu/linux os on my mac hardware
this can be done, but I can't (i.e. am not able to) give you
instructions (and certainly not better instructions than what could
find via a Web search).
I hope this helps.
I will write you again if I can reach the visually impaired free
software activist.
Thank you for supporting free software.
And best wishes for a successful transition.
Sincerely,
j.
--
Jeanne Rasata
Program Assistant
Free Software Foundation
GnuPG Key: F24B 3F64 31A1 90D6 1CCC 0394 E8FD 48A0 DE0D C371
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