Speaker
Description
Windows 10 security updates end on 14 October 2025 [0], which is KDE's 29th birthday and also, ironically, International E-Waste Day [1] (you cannot make these things up!). Hundreds of millions of functioning devices [2] will become e-waste, disposed in large part in countries in the Global South, including India. Moreover, this means manufacturing and transporting new ones, which is perhaps the biggest waste of all: hardware production alone can account for over 75% of a device's CO2 emissions over its lifespan.
Free Software is a solution, today! We have an opportunity to coordinate a global, unified Free Software campaign over the next 6 months to raise awareness about the environmental harm of software-driven hardware obsolescence, while upgrading users from Windows 10 to GNU/Linux directly to keep those devices in use and out of the landfill.
Let's think big and act boldly! In this talk I will engage attendees from KDE India and the Indian Free Software movement to join the growing "End Of 10" campaign to make Windows 10 the last version of Windows end users ever use.
[0] https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/10/lots-of-pcs-are-poised-to-fall-off-the-windows-10-update-cliff-one-year-from-today/
[1] https://weee-forum.org/iewd-about/
[2] https://www.canalys.com/insights/end-of-windows-10-support-could-turn-240-million-pcs-into-e-waste
