an actual blog post!

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+[[!tag tags/debian]]
+[[!tag tags/music]]
+When I woke up this morning, my first conscious thought was that today is 
+the 25th anniversary of a project I myself have been dedicated to for 
+nearly 24 years, the [Debian](https://debian.org) GNU/Linux 
+distribution.  I knew it was coming, but beyond recognizing the day to
+family and friends, I hadn't really thought a lot about what I might do
+to mark the occasion.
+
+Before I even got out of bed, however, I learned of the passing of 
+[Aretha Franklin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aretha_Franklin), 
+the Queen of Soul.  I suspect it would be difficult to be a caring human 
+being, born in my country in my generation, and not feel at least some
+impact from her mere existence.  Such a strong woman, with amazing talent,
+whose name comes up in the context of civil rights and women's rights 
+beyond the incredible impact of her music.  I know it's a corny thing to 
+write, but after talking to my wife about it over coffee, Aretha really has 
+been part of "the soundtrack of our lives".  Clearly, others feel the 
+same, because in her half-century-plus professional career, "Ms Franklin"
+won something like 18 Grammy awards, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, 
+and other honors too numerous to list.  She will be missed.
+
+What's the connection, if any, between these two?  In 2002, in the 
+[platform I wrote as a candidate for election as Debian Project Leader]
+(https://www.debian.org/vote/2002/platforms/bdale), 
+I wrote that "working on Debian is my way of expressing my most strongly 
+held beliefs about freedom, choice, quality, and utility."  Over the years,
+I've come to think of 
+[software freedom](https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.en.html) as
+an obvious and important component of our broader freedom and 
+equality.  And that idea was strongly reinforced by the 
+[excellent talk](https://debconf18.debconf.org/talks/38-thats-a-free-software-issue/)
+[Karen Sandler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Sandler)
+and [Molly de Blanc](https://www.fsf.org/about/staff-and-board/)
+gave at Debconf18 in Taiwan recently, in which they pointed out that
+in our modern world where software is part of everything, everything can
+be thought of as a free software issue!
+
+So how am I going to acknowledge and celebrate Debian's 25th anniversary
+today?  By putting some of my favorite Aretha tracks on our 
+[whole house audio](https://lwn.net/Articles/674191/) system built
+entirely using libre hardware and software, and work to find and fix 
+at least one more bug in one of my Debian packages.  Because expressing 
+my beliefs through actions in this way is, I think, the most effective 
+way I can personally contribute in some small way to freedom and 
+equality in the world, and thus also the finest tribute I can pay to 
+Debian... and to Aretha Franklin.