CFS is a fully autonomous organization and therefore can and will dictate the terms of its development, whether that be in projects or in relations with other parties. Similarly, we are committed to producing environments and software that empower individuals. To this end, we are igniting the beacon of freedom and knowledge so that others may find their way home from the murky fog that shrouds this industry. We find that these ideals are the foundations of our very being and commit to them wholeheartedly; in heart, soul and software.
These ideals may be summarized decisively:
| Freedom | To explore, to seek, to experiment
| Knowledge | To aid, to create, to express
| Power | To motivate positive change
In the literal sense, CFS expresses malware in the following way. "Malware is software that illicitly or unethically hijacks, damages, or trespasses on a user's digital property, wellbeing, rights as an individual, or otherwise causes harm."
Examples include everything from a simple malicious bug to authoritarian powers seeking to extend their zone of control to the digital realm. The organizations behind this malware are not necessarily governmental and may be bureaucratic or capitalistic in nature. CFS believes especially that in the modern age that software has the potential to accentuate or proliferate the oppression of vulnerable groups, and that the damage these groups consequently suffer should be recognized wholly. Indeed, this is already the case; consider the 'great firewall' in China for example, which continues to restrict access to information for Chinese citizens. Such cases violate our core values.
Software may also be considered malware if its operation causally directs a chain of events that lead to harm. CFS recognizes that the penultimate issue of malware is that it facilitates harm, and we believe this should extend to software that facilitate systems that propagate it. Common dictionary definitions ignore this caveat. Perhaps the most obvious example would be TotallyFakeMegaCorp's server software, which actively contributes (significantly no less) to ecological destruction on an industrial scale. One could also consider TotallyFakeMegaCorp's delivery worker trackers to be malware - software that leads to economic and mental strain for something as trivial as needing to take a break.
We consider furthermore that intention is irrelevant in the classification of malware. Programmers are human beings, and are equally as liable to critical mistakes as the next individual. Allow us to state emphatically that merely having bugs in one's code does not certify one as "evil" - but it would, assuming harm, deem the resultant software product to be malware. Imagine the following example.
A fictitious programmer, John Coding, is writing a messaging application. However, due to negligence, inexperience or malevolence, John Coding creates a bug that automatically plays videos in the background. For users with limited bandwidth, especially away from the West where Wi-Fi data is not unlimited, this causes economic harm in the form of extra bills or work lost. Advertisers and hosting sites also experience economic harm. Although the intention may have been pure, the end result is malware nevertheless.
CFS believes that every programmer has a duty to avoid the creation of or participation in malware, in whatever form it may take; to code responsibly.
The implementor is the individual who obtains, derives, or otherwise inherits a design. Consequently, the implementor owns this design. Likewise, the implementor possesses the skills and vision to see the design to fulfilment. We commonly think of the design as encompassing a coding problem, but the problem may also be mathematical or literal in nature.
As an implementor, the individual acquires access to the design in totality. This includes any subsystems, regardless of the state of their implementation. There are no exceptions. CFS considers that a design built upon systems to which the implementor has arbitrarily limited access are inherently problematic. In a similar fashion, code created with ignorance ensures negligence. Ultimately, this degree of access is necessary to envisage the whole product; to view the world with one's own eyes, rather than behind a glass pane. Furthermore, arbitrary obstructions build distrust and breed elitism. No CFS implementor will be denied knowledge or the freedom to seek it.
Likewise the implementor is the sole arbiter of rejection. The implementor reserves the universal right to reject a design without justification and will be free to do so without fear of adverse consequence. This right is fundamental and universal, derived of the free will of the individual. In other words, no implementor may be compelled to create a design for any reason.
Implementors additionally are free to envisage the design in their own lens, including but not limited to; interpretation, functionality, intention, experimentation and stylization. This will occur without surveillance or unnecessary intervention from meddling powers. CFS justifies that code created in this way is whole and free from external influence that would otherwise corrupt the final product. In practice, this may take a broad swathe of forms. Examples may be as simple as the modification of an integer for investigative reasons or as extreme as institutional sabotage. We believe such measures are justified when, for example, a malign corporate agenda acts as a barrier to software that would otherwise be capable of doing good.
The consequence of these ideals is that the implementor bares the sole responsibility of the design they create. This is a product of the autonomy offered in the development process, as well as the natural result of the implementor's ownership over the design. A prospective implementor earns their status by recognizing, accepting and utilizing these ideals. Alternatively, they may reject these ideals and choose to remain complacent; there are no compromises.
This page is a summarized expression of our ideals, motivations and practices, but CFS is more than merely our ideology. It is people. Our people - our implementors, our writers, our leaders, our supporters. No matter the circumstances, so long as suffering permeates society and software is used, CFS will continue to exist. If necessary, defiantly.
We hope that, like us, you witness this truth embedded in our work.
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