I received my first computer at the age of 4, a small refurbished Acer netbook with 512MB of RAM running Windows XP. My current desktop software stack of choice is Debian GNU/Linux with the KDE Plasma desktop environment. I also run Debian on my servers, but without a graphical desktop environment. I run LineageOS on my phone without Google software.
I do not participate in popular corporate social media and communications networks, but rather opt for free-as-in-freedom, decentralized platforms such as the fediverse and Matrix, as well as my own websites.
My political views tend to be liberal and socialist, and I believe strongly in individual freedoms both in the digital world and offline, such as freedom of speech, privacy and autonomy, and am opposed to any form of censorship, domestic surveillance, or excessive control over one's life by the government or corporate entities.
I am a proponent of intellectual property reforms. I believe no entity should be able to hold a monopoly on information, especially in the digital age when such information can be duplicated with minimal effort and without any loss to the original. These monopolies tend to benefit large corporations more than small organizations and individuals, and can enable exploitative business practices and censorship. The foundations of society are built on the free exchange of ideas and the ability to create and share derivative works. I publish all of my work in the public domain or under copyleft licenses such as the GNU GPL and Creative Commons licenses, and encourage others to do the same.
I am not opposed to new technologies, however I do believe it is critical that technological development be approached in a way that maximizes benefit and minimizes harm to those who use it, rather than maximizing profit at the expense of the user. Technologies such as brain implants and gene editing may prove to be helpful, however they raise significant ethical concerns and could pose serious risks.
I believe it is entirely possible that somewhere in the universe there is other intelligent life, and hope for diplomacy and collaboration between terrestrial and extraterrestrial species. If you are an alien interested in destroying the Earth, please do not waste your resources; humans will take care of it in a few hundred years.
I have three cats who provide companionship, emotional support and "assistance" with various projects.
I can be contacted either by email at the@crispy.cat or on matrix at @crispycat:matrix.calitabby.com. You can also leave comments throughout the site using the form below.