I care about the licensing of the software I use, not because of some philosophical principle, but because I got sick and tired of having the thumbscrews put on me by proprietary software companies.

The latest row over at Ubuntu about licensing shows that plenty of other people feel the same way. End users aren't licence agnostic; they know that the licensing of the products they use is important.

Concerns over licensing are not the preserve of a few whacko freetards, but of ordinary users. Ubuntu is, after all, one of the most popular and least techie Linux distributions.

Many years ago, I switched from Apple to Suse Linux after having been shafted by Steve Jobs. I was also not sure whether Apple would survive as a company and therefore not sure whether I'd soon have access to my data if I switched platforms. I felt then that Linux would offer me protection as even if SuSE went bust, free software would mean I wouldn't be trapped.

I found that, at the time, SuSE had an upgrade cycle worse than Microsoft's. I quickly got sick of this and researched other distributions. I moved to Debian for a number of reasons, but the clincher was the social contract, which I regarded then and still regard now as a guarantee of freedom - freedom to access my data and freedom to do what I want with my computer. I have never regretted the move to Debian.

Other reasons to like Debian are:

Debian releases upgrades when they're ready not because they need a new revenue stream

The Debian project takes freedom (that means my freedom ) seriously. This means I can rely on having access to my data

Debian is safe and secure and offers different distributions depending on your expertise level and your needs

I understand how some people can get frustrated when Debian refuses to include useful proprietary software. I think, however, that this modus operandi is right. It means that I, the computer user, decide when I want to cross the line from free to non-free. It means that I decide when I want to risk having my data tied up in a closed proprietary format, because I know when I've installed non-free software.

This knowledge is important. The current argument over the Firefox EULA shows that it's important to others too. Incidentally, Debian has already solved this by rebranding Firefox as Iceweasel.