No one should have to use proprietary software to talk to their government
The LibreJS browser add-on blocks javascript that is above a certain size/complexity and doesn't have a programatically declared (or manually whitelisted) FOSS license.<p>The FSF uses LibreJS on the computers in their office.  Which makes it <i>excruciating</i> to buy airline tickets, for example.<p>I was flabbergasted when I found this out.  I thought something along the lines of "I've been giving these mad martyrs money!?". :)<p>...It took a while to sink in, but...  They are right.<p>The reasoning goes like this:<p>A script embedded in a website is a tiny program that runs on your computer.  It is software.<p>Some software is morally wrong.  Some software is morally neutral or good.  Software can/has/will change the world, and it's important that it be a force of good, not evil.<p>You can tell the difference between good and bad software by applying the following metrics.  The software is "free" (as in William Wallace) if it provides the user with the following freedoms:<p><pre><code>    * The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any
      purpose (freedom 0).
    * The freedom to study how the program works, and change
      it so it does your computing as you wish (freedom 1).
      Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
    * The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your
      neighbor (freedom 2).
    * The freedom to distribute copies of your modified
      versions to others (freedom 3). By doing this you can
      give the whole community a chance to benefit from your
      changes. Access to the source code is a precondition
      for this.
</code></pre>
The javascript on government websites (even non-USA) should have those freedoms.  Why not?<p>Another comment here said that the FSF needs to "pick its battles".  Actually, don't you think this is a great one to pick?  There's no good excuse for a government web-dev to avoid meeting those requirements.  And there's no good argument against users demanding them.  It's <i>just javascript</i>!<p>[Edit: wrap "excruciating" in * instead of ".]