tobias_platen's blog
Tobias Alexandra Platen's software freedom blog
The weekend after I ♥ Free Software Day 2025 – Saturday
Yesterday I contributed to the Free Software Directory, unfortunately I did not have enough time to write my intended blog post. So I am doing that now. #ilovefs
Free Software is a matter of freedom, not price. A program is free software if the program’s users have the four essential freedoms:
The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose (freedom 0).
The freedom to study how the program works and to make changes (freedom 1).
The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help others (freedom 2).
The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others (freedom 3).
I have been developing free software both professionally and as a hobby for long times. Recently I came out as genderqueer (also known as non-binary) at the first
meeting of a GNU/Linux user group I cofounded. On the weekend before I was at FOSDEM where I met many trans and non-binary individuals, some of them at the Guix Days fringe event.
I also have used software written by trans and non-binary contributors. This includes the FPGA toolchain based on yosys and nextpnr, GNU MediaGoblin, SlimeVR and Monado to just name a few. For an upcoming hardware project (A Lighthouse tracked VR headset with RYF in mind), I will be using an ICE40 FPGA. For GNU MediaGoblin, I plan to setup my own instance again. I spefifically backed SlimeVR because the software is portable and can be used on a Freedom RespectingTalos II. When I saw the BLÅHAJ in the SlimeVR video I immediately recognized it is part of the Transgender culture. I also saw more than one BLÅHAJ at FOSDEM. Finally there is Monado, where one of the lead developers and some other contributors do identify as non-binary and/or transgender. Many of those persons were not out when I started using the software. Over the time, I realized that I am trans too, more specifically non-binary.
Part II of the blog post will be done tomorrow.