Nabble - Gnu - Press Release

FSF works with PayPal to the benefit of the free software community

2009-11-23T10:33:23Z

## FSF works with PayPal to the benefit of the free software community

The Free Software Foundation thanks PayPal for responding to its
concerns and making its terms more free software friendly.

http://www.fsf.org/news/paypal/

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Monday, November 23rd, 2009 -- Usually
when you hear good news about licensing from the Free Software
Foundation (FSF), it's because some noteworthy software has become free
software or GPL-compatible when it wasn't before. Today's news is a
little unorthodox because it doesn't fit that description--but it will
still be a big help to free software developers.

A large number of people in the free software community feel that PayPal
is a convenient way to send money to others. Part of the reason for this
is that you can use many of PayPal's services with only free
software--they typically don't require special proprietary software, or
even JavaScript.

However, FSF recently discovered that PayPal had added a proprietary
software license to its User Agreement. FSF license compliance engineer
Brett Smith explained, "Of course, the FSF couldn't agree to those
terms, so as soon as we learned about them, we contacted PayPal to see
if we could make other arrangements. The company listened to our
concerns, and specifically excepted us from these conditions. But not
only that: next year, PayPal is also updating its user agreement to
ensure that the free software community can continue to receive and make
payments without having to accept a proprietary software license."

FSF executive director Peter Brown said, "We'd like to express our
appreciation to PayPal for taking time to hear us out and make this
change. The company easily could have insisted on keeping the terms
as-is. But they recognized how important this issue was to the
community, and put in the effort to listen to us and accommodate our
concerns. We want to thank them for that generous help."

### About the Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute
computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as
in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its
GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free software. The FSF
also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of
freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites, located at fsf.org
and gnu.org, are an important source of information about GNU/Linux.
Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
http://donate.fsf.org. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

### Media Contacts

Peter Brown
Executive Director
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942
licensing@...

###

_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press@...>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press

Breaking the dependency on proprietary software: A call to nonprofits to refuse Microsoft Windows 7

2009-10-06T14:23:53Z

## Breaking the dependency on proprietary software: A call to nonprofits
to refuse Microsoft Windows 7

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 -- The Free
Software Foundation (FSF) today launched the next stage of its
"Windows 7 Sins" campaign at <http://windows7sins.org>, making the
case against Microsoft and proprietary software by writing to 500
leaders of the most influential nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs) worldwide, asking them to make the switch to freedom-respecting
free software, and to help foster awareness of the ethical importance of
computer user freedom.

The letter warns these "Windows 7 decision makers" about the "lack of
privacy, freedom, and security" they will suffer should they adopt
Windows 7, and makes the case that they should instead adopt free
software by outlining seven major areas where proprietary software
like Windows is hurting society: invading privacy, poisoning
education, locking users in, abusing standards, leveraging
monopolistic behavior, enforcing Digital Restrictions Management
(DRM), and threatening user security.

FSF executive director Peter Brown said, "The dependency of
organizations working for social change and improvement on software
owned and exclusively controlled by Microsoft is leading society into
an era of digital restrictions, threatening and limiting our freedoms.
Free software on the other hand, is about freedom, not price, and it
is designed to give you the ability to study and improve the software
for your own needs. Today, we're asking leaders in the nonprofit
sector to switch to the free software GNU/Linux operating system for
all their desktop and computer infrastructure needs."

The GNU/Linux operating system is readily available, easy-to-use, and
supported by numerous vendors and a worldwide community. GNU/Linux
distributions come with thousands of freely licensed software
applications, including complete accounting and fundraising solutions
suitable for charities.

FSF campaigns manager Matt Lee added, "Charities, NGOs, and other
nonprofit organizations that choose proprietary software are
undertaking bad public policy, often through misinformation or a
failure to see their technology choices as connected to their social
missions. We hope to alert these decision makers to the positive
contribution they can make to society by switching their organizations
to free software. I hope these groups will make a public policy
commitment to freedom and join a growing list of organizations who
understand that sinking money and time into proprietary software is
inconsistent with the core values of freedom and progress."

More information about the campaign, including the text of the letter
and a mailing list that will provide subscribers with information
updates and action alerts, is online at <http://en.windows7sins.org>.

### About the Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to
promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and
redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and
use of free (as in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating
system and its GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free
software. The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and
political issues of freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites,
located at fsf.org and gnu.org, are an important source of information
about GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
<http://donate.fsf.org>. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

### About Free Software and Open Source

The free software movement's goal is freedom for computer users. Some,
especially corporations, advocate a different viewpoint, known as
"open source," which cites only practical goals such as making
software powerful and reliable, focuses on development models, and
avoids discussion of ethics and freedom. These two viewpoints are
different at the deepest level. For more explanation, see
<http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html>.

### Media Contacts

Matt Lee
Campaigns Manager
Free Software Foundation
Cell: +1 (617) 500.3284
campaigns@...

Peter Brown
Executive Director
Free Software Foundation
Cell: +1 (617) 319.5832
campaigns@...

###

_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press@...>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press

FSF files brief in Bilski case calling on the Supreme Court to eliminate software patents

2009-10-02T15:36:11Z

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Friday, October 2, 2009 -- The Free
Software Foundation (FSF) today submitted an amicus curiae brief
calling on the Supreme Court to affirm that software ideas are not
patentable. After outlining the positive impact that the free
software movement and the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL) have
had on computer use, the brief explains how software patents are an
obstacle and a danger to software developers.

FSF founder Richard Stallman and the free software movement have been
campaigning worldwide against software patents since the late 1980s,
but the effort in the United States is coming to a head with the
Supreme Court now reviewing patentable scope for the first time since
1981's *Diamond v. Diehr* case.

End Software Patents (ESP) executive director Ciaran O'Riordan
explained, "Every software patent is a restriction on software
developers and users of computers, and there are currently 200,000
software patents in the USA. As well as being an unjust restriction on
a common household tool, time has now also proven software patents to
be an economic failure and a hindrance to the progress of the useful
arts. This means they've failed their constitutional mandate and have
no legal legitimacy. The Supreme Court has itself never authorized the
patenting of software ideas, so there's real hope that this problem
can finally be solved."

O'Riordan credited the swpat.org wiki contributors for their help,
saying, "Much of the material for this brief came from our publicly
editable wiki at swpat.org. For each point we decided to make, we used
the wiki to find references and quotes and further information -- and
I hope other brief drafters found it useful too. Contributing to this
resource is a great way for people to get involved in the campaign --
the Bilski case will continue for months, and there is still much work
to be done to eliminate software patents worldwide."

The 44-page brief further details the commonly noted outrageous risks
and expenses imposed by patents, which leave individuals and small
projects particularly vulnerable, but also highlights the deeper
injustices: "This inability to participate on an even basis amplifies
the problem, but there is also a deeper problem: losing control of
one’s computing in his or her daily life. Because individuals can
write software, they can help themselves and solve their own problems.
Given that software development includes common activities such as
making a webpage, the freedom to use a computer as you see fit for
your daily life is a fundamental form of expression, just as using a
pen and paper is. ... In the context of writing an email reader, a
word processor, or an image viewer, being blocked from reading,
modifying, or writing in the required data format is equivalent to
being banned from writing a functional program for that task."

In April of 2008, FSF worked with the End Software Patents (ESP)
campaign to file an amicus curiae brief in the Court of Appeals for
the Federal Circuit's (CAFC) hearing of the *in re Bilski* case. In
October 2008, the CAFC issued its ruling, which gutted patents on
program ideas running on general-purpose computers. In June of this
year, the Supreme Court decided to review the case.

The full text of the brief is available online at
<http://endsoftpatents.org/amicus-bilski-2009>.

More information about the briefs which have been submitted is
available at
<http://en.swpat.org/wiki/Bilski_v._Kappos_amicus_briefs>.

### About the End Software Patents campaign

End Software Patents is a project formed to eliminate patents for
software and other designs with no physically innovative step. It
promotes a US technology-development environment which will drive
innovation and growth in the global marketplace. End Software Patents
receives sponsorship from the Free Software Foundation. For more
information on participating in the project, or to access its
knowledge base, please visit its website at
<http://endsoftpatents.org>.

### About the Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to
promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and
redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and
use of free (as in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating
system and its GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free
software. The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and
political issues of freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites,
located at fsf.org and gnu.org, are an important source of information
about GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
<http://donate.fsf.org>. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

### About Free Software and Open Source

The free software movement's goal is freedom for computer users. Some,
especially corporations, advocate a different viewpoint, known as
"open source," which cites only practical goals such as making
software powerful and reliable, focuses on development models, and
avoids discussion of ethics and freedom. These two viewpoints are
different at the deepest level. For more explanation, see
<http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html>.

### Media Contacts

Ciaran O'Riordan
Executive Director, End Software Patents
+32 487 64 17 54
esp (at) endsoftwarepatents.org

###

_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press@...>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press

FSF offers "GNU Bucks" for finding nonfree works in free distributions

2009-10-01T15:19:37Z

## Free Software Foundation announces new bounty program, offering
"GNU Bucks" for finding nonfree works in free distributions

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Thursday, October 1, 2009 -- The Free
Software Foundation (FSF) today announced that it will begin rewarding
those who find and report any nonfree components in free software
operating system distributions with public recognition and "GNU
Bucks." The FSF maintains a list of guidelines covering what it means
to be a free distribution, and endorses distributions that commit to
meeting those guidelines.

"By spurring users to find and report problems, this new
awards program will help make sure that the FSF-endorsed free
distributions of GNU/Linux stay really and truly free," said FSF
executive director Peter Brown.

"Ever since we published the guidelines for what it takes to be a free
system distribution, we have been looking for practical ways to deal
with the issue of nonfree software that is accidentally included in
these distributions -- steps that are within our means and the means
of distribution maintainers. This new program does a good job of
striking that balance," said FSF licensing compliance engineer Brett
Smith.

Those qualifying for the award will receive a "GNU Buck" bank note,
in the amount of pi and signed by Free Software Foundation president
and "Chief GNUisance" Richard Stallman.

In order to qualify for the GNU Buck award, someone first submits a
detailed, actionable report about nonfree materials in a free
distribution to both the FSF and the maintainers of the distribution.
If the the report is confirmed, the person will receive an award and
the option of public recognition. The FSF will also notify other free
distributions to make sure they can address the issue as well.

The awards follow in the tradition of the checks written by legendary
computer scientist Donald Knuth to anyone who found errors in his
seminal textbook "The Art of Computer Programming." To receive a check
was such an honor that they were more often displayed on office walls
than cashed. (Knuth stopped writing actual checks in 2008 due to check
fraud.)

A full explanation of the program is at
<http://www.gnu.org/help/gnu-bucks.html>.

For more information on the FSF's criteria for classifying a
distribution as free, see
<http://www.gnu.org/distros/free-system-distribution-guidelines.html>.
The full list of distributions meeting these criteria is published at
<http://www.gnu.org/distros/free-distros.html>.

### About the Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to
promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and
redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and
use of free (as in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating
system and its GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free
software. The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and
political issues of freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites,
located at fsf.org and gnu.org, are an important source of information
about GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
<http://donate.fsf.org>. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

### About Free Software and Open Source

The free software movement's goal is freedom for computer users. Some,
especially corporations, advocate a different viewpoint, known as
"open source," which cites only practical goals such as making
software powerful and reliable, focuses on development models, and
avoids discussion of ethics and freedom. These two viewpoints are
different at the deepest level. For more explanation, see
<http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html>.

### About the GNU Operating System and Linux

Richard Stallman announced in September 1983 the plan to develop a
free software Unix-like operating system called GNU. GNU is the only
operating system developed specifically for the sake of users'
freedom. See <http://www.gnu.org/gnu/the-gnu-project.html>.

In 1992, the essential components of GNU were complete, except for
one, the kernel. When in 1992 the kernel Linux was re-released under
the GNU GPL, making it free software, the combination of GNU and Linux
formed a complete free operating system, which made it possible for
the first time to run a PC without non-free software. This combination
is the GNU/Linux system. For more explanation, see
<http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html>.

### Media Contacts

Brett Smith
Licensing Compliance Engineer
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942
<licensing@...>

John Sullivan
Operations Manager
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942
<campaigns@...>

###

_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press@...>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press

Sugar Labs and FSF announce joint efforts to promote learning platform for children worldwide

2009-09-18T10:22:54Z

Sugar Labs and Free Software Foundation Celebrate Software Freedom
Day, Announce Joint Efforts to Promote the Sugar Learning Platform for
Children Worldwide

http://www.fsf.org/news/sugar-labs

CAMBRIDGE, MA, September 18, 2009 - Sugar Labs, nonprofit provider of
the Sugar Learning Platform for children, and the Free Software
Foundation (FSF), which promotes computer users' right to use, study,
copy, modify, and redistribute computer programs, have announced joint
efforts to collaborate and promote Sugar on the occasion of Software
Freedom Day, September 19th. The FSF will host an event in Boston
featuring Sugar Labs Executive Director Walter Bender, FSF president
Richard Stallman, and other speakers. Peter Brown, FSF's executive
director, said, "The Sugar Learning Platform is fast becoming an
essential route to computer user freedom for children around the
world. The international free software movement is getting behind
Sugar, and we want to use Software Freedom Day as an opportunity to
help draw community attention, developer resources, and external
funders to the important work going on at Sugar Labs."

The FSF has upgraded its hosting services support of Sugar Labs to
keep pace with its growth. As part of the ongoing relationship,
Bernardo Innocenti, a member of the Sugar Labs Oversight Board, is
working at the FSF offices. Mr. Innocenti stated: "The FSF and Sugar
Labs are pursuing distinct, but interdependent goals; Free (as in
Freedom) Software is a fundamental part of globally accessible
education, and good education enables critical thought, a
pre-requisite for appreciating the value of Freedom."

Sugar is a global project. Translated into 25 languages, it is used in
classrooms in 40 countries by over 1 million children as part of the
One Laptop per Child (OLPC) nonprofit program. Sugar's simple
interface, built-in collaboration, and automatic backup through each
student's Journal have been designed to interest young learners. The
recently released Sugar on a Stick (SoaS) project brings Sugar to even
more children, allowing young learners to keep a working copy of Sugar
on a simple USB stick, ready to start up any PC or netbook with the
child's environment and data. Pilot projects in schools with Sugar on
a Stick are underway in Boston, Berlin, and elsewhere. SoaS is free
software available under the General Public License (GPL) and is
available for download without charge at sugarlabs.org.

According to Walter Bender, "Sugar is running on over 99% of all of
the OLPC-XO laptops around the world because governments prefer its
quality, openness, built-in collaboration, and easy localization to
indigenous languages. Teachers and students are exercising their
freedom by modifying and improving Sugar and its Activities. With
Sugar on a Stick, access to Sugar is even more widespread."

For example, Uruguay has distributed a Sugar-equipped OLPC laptop to
every student in the country. Alexandre Oliva of FSF's sister
organisation Free Software Foundation Latin America
(http://www.fsfla.org) said, "I was amazed when I first saw Sugar in
action in Peru two years ago; shortly thereafter, my daughter tasted
Sugar and loved it. She's going to elementary school next year, and
I'm very happy she can now easily carry Sugar with her, and share it
with her friends. Myself, I'm going to spread its freedom into as many
schools as I can." Karsten Gerloff, President of Free Software
Foundation Europe (http://fsfe.org), added: "Education and Free
Software are both all about sharing knowledge. Through projects like
Sugar, young people around the world can discover the creativity that
freedom makes possible. Together with the political backing that
FSFE's Edu-Team and others are building, Sugar puts Free Software in
its rightful place in education."

Sugar Labs relies on the efforts of software developers who donate
their skills to the project. Mr. Bender continued, "We are looking for
developers with experience in GNU/Linux, Python and/or Gtk+ for
contributing to the Sugar shell and educational Activities for
children. We also need testers, experienced packagers, and educators
willing to contribute their ideas for Sugar in the classroom."

About Sugar Labs

Sugar Labs, a volunteer-driven, nonprofit organization, is a member
project of the Software Freedom Conservancy
(http://conservancy.softwarefreedom.org). Originally part of the One
Laptop Per Child project (http://www.laptop.org), Sugar Labs
coordinates volunteers around the world who are passionate about
providing educational opportunities to children through the Sugar
Learning Platform. Sugar Labs is supported by donations and is seeking
funding to accelerate development. For more information, please visit
http://www.sugarlabs.org.

Sugar Labs is a registered trademark of the Software Freedom
Conservancy. Other names are trademarks of their respective owners.

About the Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to
promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and
redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and
use of free (as in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating
system and its GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free
software. The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and
political issues of freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites,
located at fsf.org and gnu.org, are an important source of information
about GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
http://donate.fsf.org. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

###

For more information, please contact:

Sugar Labs: Sean Daly, Marketing Coordinator
website: http://www.sugarlabs.org
e-mail: pr@...

Free Software Foundation: Peter Brown, Executive Director
website: http://www.fsf.org
e-mail: campaigns@...

_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press@...>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press

Turtles all the way down to the source code: FSF's Boston Software Freedom Day event to feature Walter Bender

2009-09-15T15:24:56Z

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 -- On
Saturday, September 19th, Boston's casual free software users and the
technologically curious will gather together for a Software Freedom
Day event hosted by the Free Software Foundation (FSF).

Software Freedom Day is the international holiday dedicated to
recognizing and promoting software that respects computer users'
freedom. While the FSF is hosting its day-long public gathering in
Boston, other teams all over the globe will be celebrating in their own
cities, towns and villages as well.

Saturday's event schedule includes workshops, demonstrations,
lightning talks by attendees, and hands-on free software activism. In
addition, Walter Bender, the founder and executive director of Sugar
Labs, will be the morning's featured speaker. He'll be talking about
"Turtle Art," which is a fun and creative educational free software
activity for kids that runs in the Sugar environment on platforms like
the One Laptop Per Child project's XO. In the afternoon, Richard M.
Stallman, founder of the GNU Project and president of the FSF, will
speak to participants about how and why to make the move to free
software.

"It's usually a relaxed affair, attracting both new and experienced
users from the community, getting together in the same space and
sharing tips and tricks," said Matt Lee, FSF campaigns manager. This
is the FSF's third year hosting a Software Freedom Day event in
Boston.

The event will take place on September 19th from 10am-5pm, and
participation is open to the public at no charge. More info about the
schedule is available at
<http://groups.fsf.org/wiki/Boston_Software_Freedom_Day>, and RSVPs to
<membership@...> are appreciated. The location is in Chinatown at
the Encuentro 5 Community Center (<http://www.encuentro5.org/>), 33
Harrison Ave, 5th floor, Boston, MA 02111.

More information about other Software Freedom Day events around the
world can be found at <http://www.softwarefreedomday.org>.

### About the Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to
promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and
redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and
use of free (as in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating
system and its GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free
software. The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and
political issues of freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites,
located at fsf.org and gnu.org, are an important source of information
about GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
<http://donate.fsf.org>. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

### Media Contacts

Matt Lee
Campaigns Manager
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942
<campaigns@...>

John Sullivan
Operations Manager
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942
<campaigns@...>

_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press@...>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press

FSF updates list of free GNU/Linux distributions, adding Kongoni and announcing the Trisquel 3.0 release

2009-09-11T10:04:50Z

## FSF updates list of free GNU/Linux distributions, adding Kongoni and
announcing the Trisquel 3.0 release

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Friday, September 11, 2009 -- The Free
Software Foundation (FSF) today announced updates related to its list
of fully free GNU/Linux distributions, including the addition of one
new distribution called Kongoni, and a milestone release of the
Trisquel system.

Trisquel, which was added to the list last December, has issued its
3.0 release, codenamed "Dwyn." It is the first in a new series of
short term support releases that will be updated every six months with
new software to add features, improved performance, and hardware
compatibility.

Kongoni, named after the Shona word for "gnu," is based in Africa. For
optimal performance with minimal bandwidth requirements, it uses a
packaging system called "ports" that downloads programs as source and
builds them automatically.

Trisquel, Kongoni, and the other GNU/Linux system distributions on the
FSF's list only include and only propose free software. They reject
nonfree applications, nonfree programming platforms, nonfree
drivers, nonfree firmware "blobs," and any other nonfree software
and documentation. They uphold a commitment to remove any such
components as they are discovered -- a commitment most well-known
GNU/Linux distributions do not follow.

FSF operations manager John Sullivan said, "It's very encouraging to
see this list continuing to increase in both quality and quantity.
While others continue to propagate the outdated claim that it's too
hard or not possible to make distributions without proprietary binary
firmware and other nonfree programs, free software activists and
developers working on projects like Kongoni and Trisquel continue to
prove them wrong."

Both Trisquel and Kongoni are calling for more contributors to help.
Trisquel is seeking mirrors, package maintainers, beta testers,
translators, and documentation writers. Kongoni is looking for people
to help with publicity, and writing new package ports. More
information about using and contributing to Trisquel and Kongoni can
be found at their respective Web sites, <http://trisquel.info/> and
<http://kongoni.co.za/>.

The FSF's guidelines for free system distributions are online at
<http://www.gnu.org/distros/free-system-distribution-guidelines.html>,
and the distributions committed to those guidelines are listed at
<http://www.gnu.org/distros/free-distros.html>.

### About the Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer
programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as in freedom)
software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its GNU/Linux variants --
and free documentation for free software. The FSF also helps to spread
awareness of the ethical and political issues of freedom in the use of
software, and its Web sites, located at fsf.org and gnu.org, are an important
source of information about GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can
be made at <http://donate.fsf.org>. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

### About Free Software and Open Source

The free software movement's goal is freedom for computer users. Some,
especially corporations, advocate a different viewpoint, known as "open
source," which cites only practical goals such as making software powerful and
reliable, focuses on development models, and avoids discussion of ethics and
freedom. These two viewpoints are different at the deepest level. For more
explanation, see
<http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html>.

### About the GNU Operating System and Linux

Richard Stallman announced in September 1983 the plan to develop a free
software Unix-like operating system called GNU. GNU is the only operating
system developed specifically for the sake of users' freedom. See
<http://www.gnu.org/gnu/the-gnu-project.html>.

In 1992, the essential components of GNU were complete, except for one, the
kernel. When in 1992 the kernel Linux was re-released under the GNU GPL, making
it free software, the combination of GNU and Linux formed a complete free
operating system, which made it possible for the first time to run a PC without
nonfree software. This combination is the GNU/Linux system. For more
explanation, see <http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html>.

### Media Contacts

John Sullivan
Operations Manager
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942
<campaigns@...>

###

_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press@...>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press

Free Software Foundation files objection to Google Book Search settlement

2009-09-08T12:20:35Z

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Tuesday, September 8, 2009 -- Today the
Free Software Foundation (FSF) filed an objection in court to the
proposed Google Book Search settlement (The Authors Guild, Inc., et
al. v. Google Inc.). The objection urges the court to reject the
proposed settlement unless it incorporates terms that better address
the needs of authors using free licenses like the GNU Free
Documentation License (GFDL), and does not provide special competitive
advantages to Google.

The GFDL is a copyright license that authors use for their works when
they believe others should have the freedom to share and improve those
works. It was designed primarily for use with technical documentation,
but has been used for many different kinds of written works -- from
print biographies to Wikipedia articles. Whereas copyright is normally
used to prohibit others from distributing works, the GFDL encourages
this, with the requirement that any such redistribution must also be
under its pro-sharing terms.

But under the proposed settlement, works released under the GFDL and
similar licenses are lumped in with works under full restrictive
copyright. Google would therefore be given permission to display and
distribute these works without abiding by the requirement to pass the
freedoms guaranteed under the GFDL on to Google Books readers.

"The Google Book Search settlement assumes that authors are only
interested in being paid for publication rights of their works,"
explained Brett Smith, license compliance engineer at the FSF.
"However, authors using free licenses, like the GFDL and the Creative
Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license, have made it clear that they
want to ensure that everyone can share and change their work. These
licenses already give Google permission to display and publish the
works. This settlement offers the company an escape clause to take
works that have been permanently dedicated to a commons out of that
commons, undermining both the purpose of these licenses and the wishes
of the authors who use them."

The objection states, "The settlement attempts to balance the various
commercial interests in the publication and distribution of books but
in doing so it ignores those concerned more with freedom than with the
ability to earn profits through Google's commercial ventures. When
freely licensed books are distributed without regard for their terms,
authors, publishers and readers are all harmed and the community's
unifying values are undermined. This harm cannot be adequately
quantified or compensated or otherwise addressed in a royalty
arrangement."

The full text of the objection, prepared by the Software Freedom Law
Center on the FSF's behalf, is available online at
<http://www.fsf.org/licensing/google-book-search-objection.pdf>. The
full text of the GFDL is at
<http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/fdl.html>.

### About the Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to
promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and
redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and
use of free (as in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating
system and its GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free
software. The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and
political issues of freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites,
located at fsf.org and gnu.org, are an important source of information
about GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
<http://donate.fsf.org>. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

### About Free Software and Open Source

The free software movement's goal is freedom for computer users. Some,
especially corporations, advocate a different viewpoint, known as
"open source," which cites only practical goals such as making
software powerful and reliable, focuses on development models, and
avoids discussion of ethics and freedom. These two viewpoints are
different at the deepest level. For more explanation, see
<http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html>.

### Media Contacts

Brett Smith
License Compliance Engineer
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942 x18
<brett@...>

###

_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press@...>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press

Free Software Foundation launches public awareness campaign against Microsoft and proprietary software

2009-08-26T00:08:54Z

Windows 7 Sins: Free Software Foundation launches public awareness
campaign against Microsoft and proprietary software

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Wednesday, August 26th, 2009 -- The Free
Software Foundation (FSF) today launched its "Windows 7 Sins" campaign
at http://windows7sins.org, making the case against Microsoft and
proprietary software. Preceding the upcoming release of Microsoft
Windows 7, the campaign's first public action will also be today -- a
freedom rally at 12:00pm on the historic Boston Common.

The campaign outlines seven major areas where proprietary software in
general and Microsoft Windows in particular hurt all computer users:
invading privacy, poisoning education, locking users in, abusing
standards, leveraging monopolistic behavior, enforcing Digital
Restrictions Management (DRM), and threatening user security.

These points are outlined in the text of a letter the campaign mailed to
the leaders of the Fortune 500 companies, now published on its Web site.
The letter warns "Windows 7 decision makers" about the "lack of privacy,
freedom, and security" they will suffer should they adopt Windows 7, and
makes the case that they should instead adopt free software such as the
GNU/Linux operating system and the office productivity suite
OpenOffice.org.

FSF executive director Peter Brown said, "Free software is about
freedom, not price. Our growing dependence on computers and software
requires our society to reevaluate its obsession with proprietary
software that spies on citizens' activities and limits their freedom to
be in control of their computing. There is free software available right
now for any activity you or your business needs, and it is better in the
most important aspect -- it respects your freedom."

The FSF is asking concerned citizens to help get this message out by
nominating other organizational leaders who are also "Windows 7 decision
makers" to receive a version of the letter. Brown continued, "Many
people are frustrated by the organizations they interact with and their
support for a software industry that works against the freedom of
citizens. Our national and local governments, NGOs, and our universities
and schools that use proprietary software are undertaking bad public
policy, often through ignorance or misplaced values. We hope to alert
these decision makers to the positive contribution they can make to
society by switching their organizations to free software."

FSF campaigns manager Matt Lee added, "With |windows7sins.org|, we hope
to make businesses and computer users aware of the growing dangers of
proprietary software from both Microsoft and other companies such as
Apple and Adobe. With the release of Microsoft's updated operating
system, business leaders have the opportunity to escape to freedom and
join a growing list of leaders who understand that sinking money and
time into proprietary software is a dead-end inconsistent with their
best interests."

More information about the campaign, including the text of the Fortune
500 letter and a mailing list that will provide subscribers with
information updates and action alerts, is online at
http://windows7sins.org.

About the Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute
computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as
in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its
GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free software. The FSF
also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of
freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites, located at fsf.org
and gnu.org, are an important source of information about GNU/Linux.
Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
http://donate.fsf.org. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

About Free Software and Open Source

The free software movement's goal is freedom for computer users. Some,
especially corporations, advocate a different viewpoint, known as "open
source," which cites only practical goals such as making software
powerful and reliable, focuses on development models, and avoids
discussion of ethics and freedom. These two viewpoints are different at
the deepest level. For more explanation, see
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html.

Media Contacts

Matt Lee
Campaigns Manager
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942 x24
campaigns@... <mailto:campaigns@...>

Peter Brown
Executive Director
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942
campaigns@... <mailto:campaigns@...>

_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press@...>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press

Free Software Foundation to host a mini-summit on Women in Free Software

2009-08-24T08:52:15Z

# The Free Software Foundation will host a mini-summit on Women in
Free Software to discuss how the free software community can
cultivate and increase participation by women in free software's
development and activism communities.

http://www.fsf.org/news/summit-on-women-in-free-software

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Monday, August 24th, 2009 -- On September
19, 2009, Deborah Nicholson of the Free Software Foundation (FSF),
Stormy Peters of the GNOME Foundation and Hillary Rettig, free software
activist and author of The Lifelong Activist, will gather a small
group of women activists, thinkers, and scholars to identify strategies
and initiatives that will foster sustained participation by women in the
movement.

As organizations representing an international movement to bring free
software and freedom to everyone, the FSF and GNOME Foundation are
seeking practical initiatives to increase the participation of women in
the movement. Historically, women have been underrepresented in the
technology and free software communities, and despite recent increases
in the adoption of free software, the situation has not significantly
improved. Deborah Nicholson said, "At the summit, we will discuss
existing entry points, why women don't always feel invited, and when
they do, why they don't always stay. Individual projects have found ways
to make women welcome and we will look at some of these examples and
discuss how to build on those successes. We will also identify new
strategies and tactics to help create a balanced community."

Stormy Peters said, "The Women in Free Software mini-summit will be an
opportunity to discuss how the FSF and the GNOME Foundation can work
with the free software community to more effectively encourage women to
participate, and to make policy and program recommendations to the FSF
and the wider community to further this goal."

http://www.fsf.org/news/summit-on-women-in-free-software

### About the Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute
computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as
in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its
GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free software. The FSF
also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of
freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites, located at fsf.org
and gnu.org, are an important source of information about GNU/Linux.
Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
<http://donate.fsf.org>. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

### Media Contacts

Peter T. Brown
Executive Director
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942
<campaigns@...>

_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press@...>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press

Coalition launches petition demanding that Amazon drop DRM from the Kindle

2009-08-03T13:08:49Z

# Coalition of readers, authors, journalists, and public interest groups
launches petition demanding that Amazon drop DRM from the Kindle

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Monday, August 3rd, 2009 -- The Free
Software Foundation's DefectiveByDesign.org campaign, supported by
prominent authors, journalists, and librarians, has launched a petition
against the Amazon Kindle's use of digital restrictions management
(DRM).

"The freedom to read without supervision or interference is central to a
free society," said FSF executive director Peter Brown. "When ebook
products like the Kindle use DRM to restrict what users can do with
their books, that is a clear threat to the free exchange of ideas."

Signatories to the petition include prominent academic and industry
names like Creative Commons and Change Congress co-founder Lawrence
Lessig; author, poet and MacArthur Fellow Lewis Hyde; Harvard Law
Professor and Vice Dean for Library and Information Resources John
Palfrey; and Christopher Hayes, Washington, DC editor for *The Nation*.
The petition, published at <http://defectivebydesign.org/amazon1984>, is
now open for others to add their signatures as well.

"The level of control Amazon has over their ebooks conflicts with basic
freedoms that we take for granted," said Palfrey. "In a future where
books are sold with digital restrictions, it will be impossible for
libraries to guarantee free access to human knowledge."

On the heels of disabling the text-to-speech feature on many ebooks,
Amazon drew even further wide-ranging criticism for the remote deletion
of Ayn Rand novels and two George Orwell books (*Animal Farm* and
*1984*) from the devices of hundreds of users.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos apologized for the deletions, saying that Amazon
would handle such situations differently in the future. But so far no
substantive changes have been made.

"Amazon should never have had this power to begin with, and imposing it
broke promises they had previously made. The only dependable way to
preserve people's rights to free thinking and free expression is for
Amazon to remove their DRM," said FSF operations manager John Sullivan.

### Additional comments from signers

"This incident shows that the law gives radically more control to the
company than it ought to." --Lawrence Lessig, author and Harvard Law
professor

"Any time someone puts a lock on something you own without your
permission, they're not acting in your interests." --Cory Doctorow,
author and blogger

"Our future needs Orwell's books, but it does not need Orwell's
predictions." --Evan Katsamakas, assistant professor in the School of
Business at Fordham University

"You shouldn't need a license to read." --Lewis Hyde, author, poet and
MacArthur Fellow

### About the Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute
computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as
in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its
GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free software. The FSF
also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of
freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites, located at fsf.org
and gnu.org, are an important source of information about GNU/Linux.
Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
<http://donate.fsf.org>. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

### Media Contacts

Holmes Wilson
Campaigns Manager
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942 x19
Mobile: +1 (508) 410-0980
<campaigns@...>

John Sullivan
Operations Manager
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942 x23
Mobile: +1 (617) 388 8344
<campaigns@...>

_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press@...>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press

Coalition launches petition demanding that Amazon drop DRM from the Kindle

2009-08-03T10:42:01Z

Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos apologizes for Kindle ebook deletion. FSF calls upon Amazon to free the ebook reader.

2009-07-23T15:07:03Z

## Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos apologizes for Kindle ebook deletion. Free
Software Foundation calls upon Amazon to free the ebook reader.

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Thursday, July 23, 2009 -- The Free
Software Foundation (FSF) welcomed the apology issued today by Amazon
CEO Jeff Bezos, as negative reviews from DefectiveByDesign.org
campaign supporters criticizing the Kindle's use of proprietary
software and Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) to remotely delete
ebooks continued to pour in.

In a post to the Kindle Community forum on Amazon's Web site, Bezos
said:

This is an apology for the way we previously handled illegally
sold copies of 1984 and other novels on Kindle. Our "solution" to
the problem was stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line
with our principles. It is wholly self-inflicted, and we deserve
the criticism we've received. We will use the scar tissue from
this painful mistake to help make better decisions going forward,
ones that match our mission.

With deep apology to our customers,
Jeff Bezos
Founder & CEO
Amazon.com

The FSF and Defective By Design, which on Monday called on activists to
post reviews calling attention to the Kindle Swindle's arbitrary
deletion of George Orwell ebooks from hundreds of users' devices,[1]
welcomed Bezos's apology, but said more must be done to remedy the
problems exposed by Amazon's actions.

[1] http://www.defectivebydesign.org/blog/1248

FSF's executive director Peter Brown explained, "Unfortunately this
matter requires more than just changing internal policy. The real issue
here is Amazon's use of DRM and proprietary software. They have
unacceptable power over users, and actual respect necessitates more than
an apology -- it requires abandoning DRM and releasing the Kindle's
software as free software."

The deletion of the Orwell ebooks was Amazon's third blatant
demonstration of the control its software provides over users. In June,
Amazon remotely deleted copies of Ayn Rand books, and prior to that,
they disabled Text-to-Speech functionality for select titles -- a move
which was a slap in the face to all users and particularly to the
visually impaired community.

FSF operations manager John Sullivan added, "Amazon has been a positive
example for Defective By Design to point to in the world of DRM-free
music. We hope that this controversy will show Amazon that they need to
take the same enlightened approach when it comes to ebooks, so Kindle
users can be confident that they won't be Swindled again."

### About the Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute
computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as
in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its
GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free software. The FSF
also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of
freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites, located at fsf.org
and gnu.org, are an important source of information about GNU/Linux.
Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
<http://donate.fsf.org>. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

### Media Contacts

Holmes Wilson
Campaigns Manager
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942
<campaigns@...>

Peter Brown
Executive Director
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 319 5832

###

_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press@...>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press

Microsoft's Empty Promise

2009-07-16T15:18:46Z

Last week, Microsoft extended the terms of their Community Promise to
implementations of the ECMA 334 and 335 standards. You might think
this means it's safe to write your software in C#. However, this
promise is full of loopholes, and it's nowhere near enough to make C#
safe.

### Why Worry About C#? ###

Since we published Richard's article about Mono[1] last week, some
people have been asking us why we're expressing special concern about
free software developers relying on C# and Mono, instead of other
languages. Sun probably has patents that cover Java. Maybe IBM has
patents that cover C compilers. "Shouldn't we discourage the use of
these too?" they ask.

It's true that all software patents are a threat to developers--but
that doesn't mean that all software patents are equally threatening.
Different companies might have patents that *could* be used to attack
other languages, but if we worried about every patent that *could* be
used against us, we wouldn't get anything done. Microsoft's patents
are much more dangerous: it's the only major software company that has
declared itself the enemy of GNU/Linux and stated its intention to
attack our community with patents. If Microsoft designed a patent
trap into C#, that is no more than what it said it would do.

The company has been quite clear about its intentions since late
2006. At a user conference in November that year, Microsoft CEO
Steve Ballmer said, responding to a question about their patent
agreement with Novell:

> ... the fact that [GNU/Linux] uses our patented intellectual
> property is a problem for our shareholders. We spend $7 billion a
> year on R&D, our shareholders expect us to protect or license or get
> economic benefit from our patented innovations. So how do we somehow
> get the appropriate economic return for our patented innovation...?

(Seattle Post-Intellegencer, The Microsoft Blog, "Ballmer on Novell,
Linux and patents," November 16, 2006. "Intellectual property" is a
confusing term that should be avoided; to learn more, visit
<http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.html>.)

A few days later, an interview with Microsoft President Bob Muglia was
published, and he made it clear that they considered C# one of these
so-called "patented innovations:"

> There is a substantive effort in open source [sic] to bring such an
> implementation of .Net to market, known as Mono and being driven by
> Novell, and one of the attributes of the agreement we made with
> Novell is that the intellectual property [sic] associated with that
> is available to Novell customers.

(eWeek.com, "Microsofts Muglia Talks Longhorn, Novell and Java",
November 17, 2006.)

They've been turning up the heat ever since. In May 2007,
Microsoft followed all this up by announcing in a Fortune magazine
interview that they believed GNU/Linux infringed 235 Microsoft
patents. And recently they made it very clear that these were not
idle threats: the company sued TomTom for using the VFAT filesystem
implementation in the kernel Linux without buying a license from it.

All of this can't simply be brushed aside. These are statements and
actions made at the highest executive levels of the company. Using
patents to divide and conquer the free software community is a
fundamental part of their corporate strategy. Because of that, C#
represents a unique threat to us. The language was developed inside
Microsoft, so it's likely they have many patents to cover different
aspects of its implementation. That would make free software
implementations of C#, like Mono, an easy target for attack.

The Community Promise does nothing to change any of this. Microsoft
had an opportunity to take action and demonstrate that it meant us
no harm with C#. Instead, they took meaningless half-measures that
leave them with plenty of opportunities to hurt us.

### Incomplete Standards ###

The ECMA 334 and 335 specifications describe the core C# language,
including information about standard libraries that must be available
in any compliant implementation. However, there are several libraries
that are included with Mono, and commonly used by applications like
Tomboy, that are not required by the standard. And just to be clear,
we're not talking about Windows-specific libraries like ASP.NET and
Windows Forms. Instead, we're talking about libraries under the
System namespace that provide common functionality programmers
expect in modern programming languages: binary object serialization,
regular expressions, XPath and XSLT, and more.

Because these libraries are not defined in the ECMA specifications,
they are not protected in any way by Microsoft's Community Promise.
If this were the only problem with the promise, it might be safe to
use applications that avoid these libraries, and stick to what's in
the standard. But even the code that's covered by the promise isn't
completely safe.

### Figuring Out What's Necessary ###

The Community Promise only extends to claims in Microsoft patents that
are *necessary* to implement the covered specifications. Judging just
by the size of its patent portfolio, it's likely that Microsoft holds
patents which a complete standard implementation probably infringes
even if it's not strictly necessary--maybe the patent covers a
straightforward speed optimization, or some common way of performing
some task. The Community Promise doesn't say anything about these
patents, and so Microsoft can still use them to threaten standard
implementations.

### Moving the Goalposts ###

Let's say you've written an implementation of one of the
specifications covered by the Community Promise, and you want to
determine whether or not you'll be sued for infringing a certain
Microsoft patent. The necessity question already makes it difficult
enough to figure this out. But even if you manage it, you should make
sure you check again tomorrow, because the Community Promise might not
protect you then.

The Community Promise does not give you any rights to exercise the
patented claims. It only says that Microsoft will not sue you over
claims in patents that it owns or controls. If Microsoft sells one of
those patents, there's nothing stopping the buyer from suing everyone
who uses the software.

### The Solution: A Comprehensive Patent License ###

If Microsoft genuinely wants to reassure free software users that it
does not intend to sue them for using Mono, it should grant the public
an irrevocable patent license for all of its patents that Mono
actually exercises. That would neatly avoid all of the existing
problems with the Community Promise: it's broad enough in scope that
we don't have to figure out what's covered by the specification or
strictly necessary to implement it. And it would still be in force
even if Microsoft sold the patents.

This isn't an unreasonable request, either. GPLv3 requires
distributors to provide a similar license when they convey modified
versions of covered software, and plenty of companies large and small
have had no problem doing that. Certainly one with Microsoft's
resources should be able to manage this, too. If they're unsure how
to go about it, they should get in touch with us; we'd be happy to
work with them to make sure it's satisfactory.

Until that happens, free software developers still should not write
software that depends on Mono. C# implementations can still be
attacked by Microsoft's patents: the Community Promise is designed to
give the company several outs if it wants them. We don't want to see
developers' hard work lost to the community if we lose the ability to
use Mono, and until we eliminate software patents altogether[2], using
another language is the best way to prevent that from happening.

[1] http://www.fsf.org/news/dont-depend-on-mono
[2] To learn more about our End Soft Patents campaign, visit
http://swpat.org/

_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press@...>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press

FSF welcomes AdBard network for free software advertising

2009-06-02T06:17:30Z

FSF welcomes AdBard network for free software advertising

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Tuesday June 2, 2009 -- The Free Software
Foundation (FSF) today welcomed the launch of AdBard a new advertising
network for technology based websites based upon the promotion of Free,
Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) friendly products and services.

The AdBard Network has been created by Tag1 Consulting to serve websites
dedicated to free software ideals, helping them connect with companies
selling products and services targeting a FLOSS audience. AdBard solves
the problem that more generic advertising has led to the display of
proprietary software products on sites that otherwise promote computer
user freedom.

"The Free Software Community now has an ethical alternative to ad
networks that promote proprietary software" said Peter Brown, Executive
Director of the Free Software Foundation. "This is a huge win for many
of the sites that serve our community. And we wish AdBard and the
websites that display AdBard adverts every success. We also hope this
will inspire other ad networks to adopt similar policies."

"AdBard is a great way for advertisers and publishers in the free
software community to come together and help grow the free software
services market." said Jeremy Andrew, CEO of Tag1.

The FSF receives no money from AdBard and has no financial interest in
Tag1 Consulting, but is making this announcement to help the
advertising-supported web sites in the free software community to stop
legitimizing proprietary software by advertising it.

Websites already using AdBard include http://Kerneltrap.org,
http://Libre.FM and http://BoycottNovell.com. For a complete list visit
http://adbard.net/adbard/websites.

Advertisers can find out more by visiting http://adbard.net/advertise.

About the Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute
computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as
in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its
GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free software. The FSF
also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of
freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites, located at fsf.org
and gnu.org, are an important source of information about GNU/Linux.
Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
http://donate.fsf.org. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

About Tag1 Consulting, Inc.

Tag1 Consulting, Inc. is a distinguished professional consulting company
headquartered in sunny Florida, with an international presence providing
computer consulting services worldwide. Tag1 focuses on performance and
scalability consulting of GNU/Linux and *BSD, using Apache, PHP, MySQL
and PostgreSQL, specializing on Drupal performance. For more information
visit www.tag1consulting.com.

Media Contact

Matt Lee Campaigns Manager Free Software Foundation
PHONE +1 (617) 542 5942 x25 campaigns@...

###

--
Peter T. Brown
Executive Director
Free Software Foundation
www.fsf.org www.gnu.org

_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press@...>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press

FSF Settles Suit Against Cisco

2009-05-20T10:04:47Z

[This press release is available on the web at
<http://www.fsf.org/news/2009-05-cisco-settlement.html>.
FSF Compliance Engineer Brett Smith has written about what we can
learn from this settlement at
<http://www.fsf.org/blogs/licensing/2009-05-settlement>.]

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Wednesday, May 20, 2009 -- The Free
Software Foundation (FSF) and Cisco Systems, Inc. are pleased to
announce that they have reached a joint agreement.

Under the agreement, the FSF has agreed to dismiss its lawsuit against
Cisco.

Cisco has agreed to appoint a Free Software Director for Linksys, a
subsidiary of Cisco, to supervise Linksys' compliance with the
requirements of free software licenses such as the GPL (the GNU
General Public License). The Free Software Director will report
periodically to the FSF regarding Linksys' compliance efforts. Cisco
has further agreed to take certain steps to notify previous recipients
of Linksys products containing FSF programs of their rights under the
GPL and other applicable licenses, to publish a licensing notice on
the Linksys website, and to provide additional notices in a separate
publication. In addition, Cisco will continue to make the complete and
corresponding source code for versions of FSF programs used with
current Linksys products freely available on its website. Cisco will
also make a monetary contribution to the FSF.

The parties recognize Cisco's ongoing obligations under the GPL and
other free software licenses. The FSF will continue to independently
monitor Linksys' compliance with these licenses, and work with
Linksys to resolve any new issues that may arise.

"We are glad that Cisco has affirmed its commitment to the free
software community by implementing additional measures within its
compliance program and dedicating appropriate resources to them,
further reassuring the users' freedoms under the GPL," said Peter
Brown, Executive Director of the FSF. "Our agreement results in
making all of the relevant source code available in the fastest way
possible."

### About the FSF

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to
promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and
redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and
use of free (as in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating
system and its GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free
software. The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and
political issues of freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites,
located at fsf.org and gnu.org, are an important source of information
about GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
<http://donate.fsf.org>. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

### Media Contacts

Brett Smith
Licensing Compliance Engineer
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942 x18
<brett@...>

###

_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press@...>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press

FSF launches new free software activist internship program

2009-05-07T14:32:27Z

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Thursday, May 7, 2009 -- The Free Software
Foundation (FSF) today announced a new internship program for free software
activists, inviting students to apply for its first round of openings by
Monday, May 25th.

The program provides opportunities for participants to work closely with FSF
staff members for twelve-week terms in core areas of the FSF's work, including
campaign and community organizing, free software licensing, systems and network
administration, GNU project support, and web development.

"We have provided internships on and off over the years, but we're excited to
be able to offer these more permanent educational opportunities. We're looking
forward to working with and learning from students, and I'm glad that as part
of our continued growth we are able to offer a place where students concerned
with free software ethics can help advance a cause they care about," said John
Sullivan, FSF's operations manager.

The internships are unpaid, but the FSF will provide the documentation needed
for students to receive funding or credit from outside sources. A limited
number of positions are available, and priority will be given to candidates
able to work full-time on-site at the FSF headquarters in Boston.

Application instructions and further details about the program are available at
<http://www.fsf.org/volunteer/internships>.

### About the Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer
programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as in freedom)
software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its GNU/Linux variants --
and free documentation for free software. The FSF also helps to spread
awareness of the ethical and political issues of freedom in the use of
software, and its Web sites, located at fsf.org and gnu.org, are an important
source of information about GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can
be made at <http://donate.fsf.org>. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

### Media Contacts

John Sullivan
Operations Manager
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942
<campaigns@...>

###

_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press@...>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press

ESP launches en.swpat.org: A Wiki for Anti-Software Patent Campaigns

2009-05-04T12:12:14Z

ESP LAUNCHES EN.SWPAT.ORG: A WIKI FOR ANTI-SOFTWARE PATENT CAMPAIGNS

Monday, May 4th, 2009 — End Software Patents today launched en.swpat.org, a
wiki to document the case against software patents. Over 100 articles have
already been started to give an idea of the scope and structure of the wiki.

ESP's executive director Ciaran O'Riordan explains: "So far, we have
articles about the case law, legislation, and patent office behavior in
various countries. We have articles about economic studies, about related
books, about the various ways to fight software patents, about each of the
arguments against software patents, and most importantly, the evidence for
each argument. There are so many topics, I've only had time to scratch the
surface of each, but visitors should get an idea of how all this information
is being categorized and organized. We've also built up a very long list of
sources of information that have yet to be processed. The wiki can be edited
by anyone, so I'm looking forward to seeing what the community and other
projects make of it. If other campaigns, large and small, would like to use
en.swpat.org as a workspace, that would be welcome. It makes sense for
projects with common goals to be interconnected."

"Most of the information currently on en.swpat.org was gathered
casually. Each time I see something interesting in a document, I make a note
of it in the wiki." O'Riordan continued, "If more people start contributing
in this piecemeal manner, we can create something really useful with very
little effort. Good wikis are made sentence by sentence. There's no need for
anyone to try to write a full article."

"There were hesitations about compiling articles about individual companies
and organizations. swpat.org should become a reference, not a platform for
announcements or for smear campaigns, but there is useful info that can be
gathered about companies, so I decided to allow it and we'll keep a close
eye on how those articles get used."

"By placing all the information side-by-side, we can spot inconsistencies
and fill the gaps. I recently found information about software patent case
law in France. Everyone I previously talked to said that the only European
software patent case law was in Germany and England. On en.swpat.org,
there's a page for collecting case law, so now everyone can see that there
are three European countries with case law. And maybe there are others that
are yet to be uncovered."

As the "en" in the web address suggests, there are plans to add wikis for
languages other than English in the future. Adding new languages will depend
on finding a group of dedicated people for that language. The various
language wikis will be linked together and coordinated much like is done in
Wikipedia. That is to say, there'll be a lot of independence and each wiki
will be useful as a starting point for research by the contributors to other
swpat.org wikis. But that's for the future.

About End Software Patents

End Software Patents is a project formed to eliminate patents on software
and other designs with no physically innovative step. End Software Patents
is funded by donations handled on its behalf by the Free Software
Foundation. For more information on participating in the project, or to
access its knowledge base, please visit its website at:
http://endsoftwarepatents.org/

To be kept informed about End Software Patents, please join the mailing list:
http://campaigns.fsf.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/esp-action-alert

About the Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer
programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as in freedom)
software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its GNU/Linux
variants -- and free documentation for free software. The FSF also helps to
spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of freedom in the use
of software, and its Web sites, located at fsf.org and gnu.org, are an
important source of information about GNU/Linux. Donations to support the
FSF's work can be made at http://donate.fsf.org. Its headquarters are in
Boston, MA, USA.

Media contact for this ESP press release:

Ciaran O'Riordan
Director, End Software Patents
Tel: +32 487 64 17 54
email: ciaran [at] fsf.org

###

_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press@...>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press

FSF releases audio recording of LibrePlanet conference

2009-03-30T11:10:17Z

### FSF releases audio recording of LibrePlanet conference

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Monday, March 30, 2009 -- The Free
Software Foundation (FSF) today released the complete audio recordings
from the first day of the LibrePlanet GNU/Linux conference, held on
March 21, 2009, in Cambridge, MA.

The recordings include a talk given by Samba's Jeremy Allison on
Microsoft and its relationship with the free software community, and
Gnash developer Rob Savoye announcing the Cygnal project -- a rich
media server with features roughly compatible with the Flash Media
Server. Two members of the autonomo.us group, Evan Prodromou and FSF
director Mako Hill, spoke about efforts to engineer for free network
services and the successful launch of the micro-blogging service
identi.ca.

The event, which was attended by free software activists from all over
the world, also included a panel discussion on regional software
activism efforts from Brian Gough of the GNU Project, Ryan Bagueros of
North-by-South and Bradley M. Kuhn of the Software Freedom
Conservancy. FSF president Richard Stallman announced a new article
and campaign targeting the dangers of nonfree JavaScript, then
presented the FSF Award for the Advancement of Free Software to Wietse
Venema, developer of the Postfix mail server, and the FSF Award for
Projects of Social Benefit to Creative Commons.

"These recordings provide the free software community an opportunity
to hear about some of the important work underway, and to get
connected with the priorities that the Free Software Foundation is
staking out for the coming year" said Peter Brown, FSF executive
director.

The recordings, presented in the Ogg Vorbis and Ogg Speex codecs, as
well as photographs of the event, courtesy of local photographer Matt
Hins can be found at http://fsf.org/conference/

### About the Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to
promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and
redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and
use of free (as in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating
system and its GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free
software. The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and
political issues of freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites,
located at fsf.org and gnu.org, are an important source of information
about GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
<http://donate.fsf.org>. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

### Media Contacts

Matt Lee
Campaigns manager
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942 x24
<campaigns@...>

###

_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press@...>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press

Wietse Venema and Creative Commons winners of the annual free software awards

2009-03-24T14:38:00Z

Wietse Venema and Creative Commons announced as winners of the annual
free software awards

http://www.fsf.org/news/2008_free_software_awards

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- March 24, 2009 -- The Free Software
Foundation (FSF) announced the winners of the annual free software
awards during the GNU/Linux conference LibrePlanet, held on March 21-22
at Harvard Science Center in Cambridge, MA.

Creative Commons was honored with the Award for Projects of Social
Benefit, and Wietse Venema was honored with the Award for the
Advancement of Free Software. Presenting the awards was FSF founder and
president Richard Stallman.

The FSF Award for Projects of Social Benefit is presented annually to a
project that intentionally and significantly benefits society by
applying free software, or the ideas of the free software movement, in a
project that intentionally and significantly benefits society in other
aspects of life.

Since its launch in 2001, Creative Commons has worked to foster a
growing body of creative, educational and scientific works that can be
shared and built upon by others. Creative Commons has also worked to
raise awareness of the harm inflicted by increasingly restrictive
copyright regimes.

Creative Commons vice president Mike Linksvayer accepted the award
saying, "It's an incredible honor. Creative Commons should be giving an
award to the Free Software Foundation and Richard Stallman, because what
Creative Commons is doing would not be possible without them."

In receiving this award, Creative Commons joins previous winners Groklaw
(2007), Sahana (2006), and Wikipedia (2005).

The Award for the Advancement of Free Software went to Wietse Venema.
The awards committee honored both Venema's significant and wide-ranging
technical contributions to network security, and his creation of the
Postfix email server. Venema said, "In my experience, free software
presents a tremendous opportunity for individuals and organizations to
make contributions to society. I'm grateful for the opportunities that I
have had over the past twenty years, and I'm proud that so many people
have adopted my software."

Venema joins a distinguished list of previous free software award winners:

* 2007 Harald Welte
* 2006 Ted Ts'o
* 2005 Andrew Tridgell
* 2004 Theo de Raadt
* 2003 Alan Cox
* 2002 Lawrence Lessig
* 2001 Guido van Rossum
* 2000 Brian Paul
* 1999 Miguel de Icaza
* 1998 Larry Wall

This year's award committee was composed of Suresh Ramasubramanian
(Chair), Peter H. Salus, Raj Mathur, Hong Feng, Andrew Tridgell, Jonas
Oberg, Verner Vinge, Richard Stallman, and Fernanda G. Weiden.

About the FSF

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute
computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as
in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its
GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free software. The FSF
also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of
freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites, located at fsf.org
and gnu.org, are an important source of information about GNU/Linux.
Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at http://donate.fsf.org
<http://donate.fsf.org/>. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

Media Contacts

John Sullivan
Operations Manager
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942 x23
campaigns@... <mailto:campaigns@...>

###

_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press@...>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press

Community-produced free software textbooks for GNU/Linux users

2009-03-19T08:31:35Z

The Free Software Foundation and FLOSS Manuals are joining forces in a
sprint to write a new textbook introducing GNU/Linux beginners to the
command line. Join us as we sprint to release a new book by Monday March
23rd!

You can participate in the online authoring of this new text by visiting
http://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/book-sprint

Community-produced free software textbooks for GNU/Linux users

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Thursday, March 19, 2009 -- The Free
Software Foundation (FSF) and FLOSS Manuals today announced a community
project to collaboratively produce a new free software textbook for
GNU/Linux users, with an text sprint to write the first title in the
series, "Introduction to the Command Line."

At the March 21st-22nd GNU/Linux conference LibrePlanet
(http://fsf.org/conference), the FSF and FLOSS Manuals will be providing
the space and technology to collaboratively write and edit a new
textbook for free software users entitled, "Introduction to the Command
Line." FLOSS Manuals' Adam Hyde said, "This is an exciting opportunity
to work with the FSF and help build a sustainable model for the
production of more textbooks for free software users. I encourage
volunteers to start contributing text and ideas immediately. This new
book will be available online for free download immediately after
LibrePlanet finishes on Monday, March 23, and two hundred copies will be
available for sale in book form from the FSF web site."

FSF executive director Peter Brown said, "By purchasing a copy of this
new book, supporters can help kickstart the production cycle of
additional freely licensed, community-written texts for free software.
We also hope that our collaboration with FLOSS Manuals will encourage
more volunteer authors to participate in the production free software
documentation".

All material will be available under both the GNU General Public License
and the GNU Free Documentation License, and all editorial contributions
to the book will be recognized in print.

Details are available at http://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/book-sprint

About the Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute
computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as
in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its
GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free software. The FSF
also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of
freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites, located at fsf.org
and gnu.org, are an important source of information about GNU/Linux.
Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
http://donate.fsf.org. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

About the FLOSS Manuals Foundation

The FLOSS Manuals Foundation (Stichting FLOSS Manuals) creates free,
libre and open source software documentation for free, libre and open
source software. FLOSS Manuals is a community of free documentation
writers that publish free manuals about free software across multiple
languages. By supporting quality, user-friendly documentation, FLOSS
Manuals aims to encourage the use of this software, to support the
technical and social revolution it enables.

Media Contacts

Adam Hyde
FLOSS Manuals
adam@... <mailto:adam@...>
http://www.flossmanuals.net/about
http://www.booksprint.info

Peter Brown
Executive Director
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942 x25
campaigns@... <mailto:campaigns@...>

_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press@...>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press

FSF adds speakers for LibrePlanet conference on GNU/Linux: March 21st-22nd

2009-03-04T14:43:40Z

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Wednesday, March 4, 2009 -- The Free
Software Foundation (FSF) today announced additions to the speaker
lineup for its March 21st-22nd LibrePlanet 2009 conference.

The conference, to be attended by GNU/Linux users, free software
activists, and programmers from around the world, stresses three themes:
strengthening global free software activism, addressing the threats
posed to free software users by moves toward "cloud computing" and
"software as a service," and advancing the projects on the FSF's High
Priority Projects list.

The current list of speakers is available at
<http://groups.fsf.org/index.php/LibrePlanet2009/aboutspeakers>.

Jeremy Allison, lead developer of Samba, will be giving a talk
entitled, "The Elephant in the Room. Free Software and Microsoft."
Allison said, "Free software is going mainstream, but there are
still many threats to the ideals that are changing the face of the
software industry. I'm delighted to be able to speak at LibrePlanet,
and encourage anyone interested in the future of free software to
attend."

Microsoft's recent patent aggression toward TomTom's use of the kernel
Linux also sets the stage for Ciaran O'Riordan, executive director of
the End Software Patents campaign, to update free software activists on
the aftermath of the landmark *in re Bilski* decision in the United
States, as well as other related international political activity.

Evan Prodromou, member of the autonomo.us working group and founder of
the identi.ca free software microblogging service, will be sharing
lessons learned from his experience bringing free software concepts to
web services. Concerned about user autonomy, he warns, "If you decide
that Google Docs doesn't work the way you want, you can't tinker with
the software and fix it. If you want to share a map on your Web site,
you need Yahoo!'s permission. If you want to use a new social networking
site, you have to re-enter all your personal data and re-invite all your
friends. The data and code belong to someone else, and they're hidden
behind servers that you, the user, aren't allowed to touch."

John Sullivan, FSF operations manager, said, "We're excited to feature
FSF president Richard Stallman and other well-known speakers in these
three major areas -- but this isn't going to be a lecture series. The
second day will be scheduled in collaborative style with rooms and
resources provided for activists, users and programmers to work
together, with breakout sessions happening on the first day as well."

LibrePlanet 2009 attendance is free to FSF associate members, with
nonmembers paying a $60 fee to cover conference costs. Space is limited,
so the FSF is requesting RSVPs to <membership@...> by March 14th.
Further details and the conference wiki can be found at
<http://www.fsf.org/associate/meetings/2009>. The list of High Priority
Projects is at <http://www.fsf.org/campaigns/priority.html>. Organizers
and participants are also congregating in the #libreplanet IRC channel
on irc.freenode.org.

### About the Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute
computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as
in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its
GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free software. The FSF
also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of
freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites, located at fsf.org
and gnu.org, are an important source of information about GNU/Linux.
Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
<http://donate.fsf.org>. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

### Media Contacts

Matt Lee
Campaigns Manager
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942
<campaigns@...>

###

_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press@...>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press

Terminal Server for Windows XP / Vista (Enjay TSPro)

2009-03-04T02:21:05Z

Turn your Windows XP/Vista/SBS into a full blown Terminal Server

1. Salient Features :

1.1. You can use Windows XP / Vista / SBS as your ThinClient server.

1.2. The best alternative to TSE/Citrix is now available on XP, VISTA and 2003 SBS

1.3. No TSCAL required

1.4. Multi-User and Multi-Session possible on XP, VISTA, 2003 SBS

1.5.Seamless Application publishing option also available. (like Citrix)

2. Variants / Versions Available :

2.1. Enjay TSPro XP - for Windows XP Family

2.1.1. XP Home is not supported as of now.

2.2. Enjay TSPro Vista - for Windows Vista Family.

2.3. Enjay TSPro SBS - for Windows 2k3 SBS.

2.4. All above will be available in

2.4.1. unlimited User License

3. Licensing / Pricing :

3.1. One license per server. One fixed price per server.

3.2. Unlimited, multiple concurrent remote desktop sessions.

4. General :

4.1.It is legal to use Enjay TSPro on top of Windows XP / Vista / SBS

4.2.Read the paragraph called "Remote Access Technologies" in Windows EULA;

4.3. It is about the (unlimited) number of Remote Desktop Sessions.

4.4. Enjay TSPro does not include TS-CALs or other Microsoft Licenses. If you need Microsoft licenses, contact your Microsoft representative or reseller.

5. Using Windows XP/Vista Vs Windows 2003 Server :

5.1.With Windows Server:

5.1.1.Better memory management

5.1.2.Better user level security

5.1.3.has many IT admin tools, which XP/Vista lacks

5.1.4.File and folder level security is better

5.2.When to use Windows XP

5.2.1.more suitable for simple and small setup

5.2.2.Many application do run fine on Windows XP but not on Windows Server.

5.2.3.Many devices will not have Drivers for Server

Enjay Network Solutions

919898007650, 919377107650

0260-3241732, 0260-3251732

0260-3261732, 0260-3251733

0260-3203400, 0260-2785124

_______________________________________________
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http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press

EndSoftwarePatents.org Phase II: developing a global resource and campaign

2009-02-23T13:55:19Z

EndSoftwarePatents.org Phase II: developing a global resource and campaign

"By organizing this information and delivering it into the hands of
activists and law makers, we can form an immense tool to help existing
and future campaigns around the world" Ciaran O'Riordan, Director End
Software Patents.

https://www.fsf.org/news/endsoftwarepatents-phase-II

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Monday, February 23rd, 2009 -- The Free
Software Foundation today announced funding for the End Software Patents
project to document the case for ending software patents worldwide. This
catalog of studies, economic arguments, and legal analyses will build on
the recent success of the "in re Bilski" court ruling, in which End
Software Patents (ESP) helped play a key role in narrowing the scope for
patenting software ideas in the USA.

For this new phase of End Software Patents work, the FSF has engaged
veteran anti-software-patent lobbyist Ciaran O'Riordan, taking over from
Ben Klemens as director of ESP. O'Riordan brings years of experience
campaigning against software patents in the EU. This knowledge, combined
with what was learned during the Bilski work, will form the starting
point for a global information resource and campaign. The goal is make
it easy for activists around the world to benefit from existing
knowledge, often scattered and sometimes disappearing with time.

O'Riordan explained, "Each campaign raises new evidence and arguments
for the case against software patents. The work on the Bilski case
uncovered new economic studies and developed legal proposals for how to
pin down the slippery goal of excluding software ideas from
patentability. To make the most of that work, Phase II of ESP will work
on documenting and organizing that information and making it easily
reusable. We'll add to that what was learned during the years-long
campaign against the EU software patents directive, and then we'll
research and document what's happening in South Africa, India, New
Zealand, Brazil, and so forth."

In recent years, some of the largest technology companies have led a
charge to register tens of thousands of software patents in an apparent
attempt to stifle competition and threaten software users. To counter
those efforts O'Riordan explained the work the campaign will undertake,
"We have the arguments and the studies to show how software patents harm
competition, choice, innovation, SMEs, standards, and entrepreneurs. We
can show that by blocking individuals and communities from participating
in software development, software patents impede a very important
activity. We've seen how inefficient, slow, and costly the patent system
is -- how incompatible it is with software development timelines.

"There's a mountain of information, but a bottleneck is that much of it
is contained in electronic archives -- sometimes public, sometimes
private -- and in news stories, and unmaintained websites. By organizing
this information and delivering it into the hands of activists and law
makers, we can form an immense tool to help existing and future
campaigns around the world."

"While other online resources focus on exposing and fighting individual
bad software patents, we will be continuing our broader approach of
working to see the entire system reformed so that patent offices no
longer grant patents for software ideas. Until that happens, there will
always be new mosquitoes to swat, and software developers and users will
continue to be intimidated by the possibility of legal actions."

The project website is located at http://endsoftpatents.org. To be
informed about the details of this project in the coming days and weeks
and to learn how you can participate, please sign up to the ESP mailing
list at http://campaigns.fsf.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/esp-action-alert

About End Software Patents
End Software Patents is a project formed to eliminate patents for
software and other designs with no physically innovative step. End
Software Patents is funded by donations to the Free Software Foundation.
For more information on participating in the project, or to access its
knowledge base, please visit its website at http://endsoftpatents.org.

About the Free Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute
computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as
in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its
GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free software. The FSF
also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of
freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites, located at fsf.org
and gnu.org, are an important source of information about GNU/Linux.
Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
http://donate.fsf.org. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

Media Contacts
Ciaran O'Riordan
Director End Software Patents
Tel: +32 487 64 17 54
email: ciaran [at] fsf.org

_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press@...>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press

FSF announces annual meeting March 21-22: The LibrePlanet 2009 conference

2009-02-05T10:37:40Z

Boston, Massachusetts, USA--Thursday, February 5, 2009--The Free
Software Foundation has announced LibrePlanet 2009, an expansion of
its traditional annual meeting to a two-day event. The event will be
held in Cambridge, MA, on March 21st and March 22nd, 2009, and in
addition to presentations from FSF staff and board members will
include a full "unconference" day of work oriented toward
progressing free network services and other areas important to the
free software community as outlined on the FSF's High Priority
Projects list.

Alongside last year's meeting, the FSF helped launch the
autonomo.us working group, convened as an independent advisory group
of programmers and activists concerned about the effects of network
services on user freedom. Continuing on that path, several
autonomo.us members will be in attendance at this year's event to
help lead talks and participate in working groups, including Evan
Prodromou of identi.ca, FSF board members Benjamin Mako Hill and
Henri Poole, the Software Freedom Conservancy's Bradley Kuhn, and
Creative Commons's Mike Linksvayer.

FSF's operations manager John Sullivan said, "It's exciting that
now, in our seventh year of hosting this event, we're able to expand
it to two days and add an 'unconference' style segment bringing
together community members to focus on making tangible progress in
these critical areas. We intend this as a working conference, but
participation is not limited to coders; we'll also need folks who
can do visual design, write and edit text, and share their
experiences as free software users."

LibrePlanet 2009 attendance is free to FSF associate members, with
nonmembers who are committed to the ideals of software freedom
paying a $60 fee to cover conference costs. Space is limited, so the
FSF is requesting RSVPs to <membership@...> by March 2. Further
details and the conference wiki can be found at
<http://www.fsf.org/associate/meetings/2009>. The list of High
Priority Projects is at
<http://www.fsf.org/campaigns/priority.html>.

### About the FSF

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to
promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and
redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and
use of free (as in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU
operating system and its GNU/Linux variants -- and free
documentation for free software. The FSF also helps to spread
awareness of the ethical and political issues of freedom in the use
of software, and its Web sites, located at fsf.org and gnu.org, are
an important source of information about GNU/Linux. Donations to
support the FSF's work can be made at <http://donate.fsf.org>. Its
headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

### Media Contacts

John Sullivan
Operations Manager
Free Software Foundation
(617)542-5942
<campaigns@...>

_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press@...>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press

Free Software Foundation Files Suit Against Cisco For GPL Violations

2008-12-11T09:10:50Z

## Free Software Foundation Files Suit Against Cisco For GPL Violations

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Thursday, December 11, 2008 -- The Free
Software Foundation (FSF) today announced that it has filed a
copyright infringement lawsuit against Cisco. The FSF's complaint
alleges that in the course of distributing various products under the
Linksys brand Cisco has violated the licenses of many programs on
which the FSF holds copyright, including GCC, binutils, and the GNU C
Library. In doing so, Cisco has denied its users their right to share
and modify the software.

Most of these programs are licensed under the GNU General Public
License (GPL), and the rest are under the GNU Lesser General Public
License (LGPL). Both these licenses encourage everyone, including
companies like Cisco, to modify the software as they see fit and then
share it with others, under certain conditions. One of those
conditions says that anyone who redistributes the software must also
provide their recipients with the source code to that program. The
FSF has documented many instances where Cisco has distributed licensed
software but failed to provide its customers with the corresponding
source code.

"Our licenses are designed to ensure that everyone who uses the
software can change it," said Richard Stallman, president and founder
of the FSF. "In order to exercise that right, people need the source
code, and that's why our licenses require distributors to provide it.
We are enforcing our licenses to protect the rights that everyone
should have with all software: to use it, share it, and modify it as
they see fit."

"We began working with Cisco in 2003 to help them establish a process
for complying with our software licenses, and the initial changes were
very promising," explained Brett Smith, licensing compliance engineer
at the FSF. "Unfortunately, they never put in the effort that was
necessary to finish the process, and now five years later we have
still not seen a plan for compliance. As a result, we believe that
legal action is the best way to restore the rights we grant to all
users of our software."

"Free software developers entrust their copyrights to the FSF so we
can make sure that their work is always redistributed in ways that
respect user freedom," said Peter Brown, executive director of the
FSF. "In the fifteen years we've spent enforcing our licenses, we've
never gone to court before. We have always managed to get the
companies we have worked with to take their obligations seriously. But
at the end of the day, we're also willing to take the legal action
necessary to ensure users have the rights that our licenses
guarantee."

The complaint was filed this morning in United States District Court
for the Southern District of New York by the Software Freedom Law
Center, which is providing representation to the FSF in this case.
The case is number 08-CV-10764 and will be heard by Judge Paul
G. Gardephe. A copy of the complaint is available at
<http://www.fsf.org/licensing/complaint-2008-12-11.pdf>.

### About the FSF

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to
promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and
redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and
use of free (as in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating
system and its GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free
software. The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and
political issues of freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites,
located at fsf.org and gnu.org, are an important source of information
about GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
<http://donate.fsf.org>. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

### About the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL)

The GNU General Public License (GPL) is a license for software. When
a program is released under its terms, every user will have the
freedom to share and change it, no matter how they get it. The GPL is
the most popular free software license in the world, used by almost
three quarters of all free software packages. The FSF recently
updated the license to address new concerns in the free software
community; version 3 of the GPL (GPLv3) was released on June 29, 2007.

### About the GNU Operating System and Linux

Richard Stallman announced in September 1983 the plan to develop a
free software Unix-like operating system called GNU. GNU is the only
operating system developed specifically for the sake of users'
freedom. See <http://www.gnu.org/gnu/the-gnu-project.html>.

In 1992, the essential components of GNU were complete, except for
one, the kernel. When in 1992 the kernel Linux was re-released under
the GNU GPL, making it free software, the combination of GNU and Linux
formed a complete free operating system, which made it possible for
the first time to run a PC without non-free software. This combination
is the GNU/Linux system. For more explanation, see
<http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html>.

### Media Contacts

Brett Smith
Licensing Compliance Engineer
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942 x18
<brett@...>

###

_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press@...>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press

FSF Releases New Version of GNU Free Documentation License

2008-11-03T15:16:22Z

## FSF Releases New Version of GNU Free Documentation License

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Monday, November 3, 2008 -- The Free
Software Foundation (FSF) today announced the release of version 1.3
of the GNU Free Documentation License (FDL). This version of the
license allows public wikis to relicense their FDL-covered materials
under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC-BY-SA) 3.0
license.

This new permission has been added at the request of the Wikimedia
Foundation, which oversees the Wikipedia project. The same terms are
available to any public wiki that uses materials available under the
new license. The Wikimedia Foundation will now initiate a process of
community discussion and voting to determine whether or not to use
CC-BY-SA 3.0 as the license for Wikipedia.

"Wikis often import material from a wide variety of sources, many of
which use the CC-BY-SA license," said Brett Smith, licensing
compliance engineer at the FSF. "Wikipedia, however, uses the GNU
FDL. The incompatibility between these two licenses has been an
obstacle to moving material back and forth between these sites. The
new provision of FDL version 1.3 will give Wikipedia and other wikis
another chance to choose the licensing policies they prefer."

"We are grateful to the leadership of the Free Software Foundation for
taking this important step," explained Sue Gardner, executive director
of the Wikimedia Foundation. "In doing this, the FSF is giving the
Wikimedia community an opportunity to make a licensing decision that
honors our mutual commitment to free culture, and best supports the
mission and goals of Wikipedia and its sister projects."

Version 1.3 of the GNU FDL also adopts the license proxy and
termination clauses that are part of the GNU General Public License
version 3, released last year. The full text of the new license,
along with more information, is available at
<http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl-1.3.html>. The text of CC-BY-SA 3.0
is available at <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>.

The FSF is still accepting comments as it considers a major revision
of the license, FDL version 2.0. More information is available at
<http://gplv3.fsf.org/>.

## About the FSF

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer
programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as in freedom)
software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its GNU/Linux variants --
and free documentation for free software. The FSF also helps to spread
awareness of the ethical and political issues of freedom in the use of
software, and its Web sites, located at fsf.org and gnu.org, are an important
source of information about GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can
be made at <http://donate.fsf.org>. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

## About the Wikimedia Foundation

<http://wikimediafoundation.org>

The Wikimedia Foundation Inc. is a nonprofit charitable organization
dedicated to encouraging the growth, development and distribution of
free, multilingual content, and to providing the full content of its
wiki-based projects to the public free of charge. It operates some of
the largest collaboratively-edited reference projects in the world,
including Wikipedia, one of the world's 10 most-visited websites. The
Foundation was created in 2003 by Jimmy Wales, the founder of
Wikipedia.

For a full list of projects, visit
<http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Our_projects>.

All projects of the Wikimedia Foundation are collaboratively developed
by volunteers using the MediaWiki software. All contributions are
licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License (except Wikinews,
which is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.5). This means
their content may be freely used, freely edited, freely copied and
freely redistributed subject to the restrictions of that license.

## Media Contacts

Brett Smith
Licensing Compliance Engineer
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942 x18
<brett@...>

_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press@...>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press

[FSF] FSF Releases New Version of GNU Free Documentation License

2008-11-03T08:13:21Z

## FSF Releases New Version of GNU Free Documentation License

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Monday, November 3, 2008 -- The Free
Software Foundation (FSF) today announced the release of version 1.3
of the GNU Free Documentation License (FDL). This version of the
license allows public wikis to relicense their FDL-covered materials
under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC-BY-SA) 3.0
license.

This new permission has been added at the request of the Wikimedia
Foundation, which oversees the Wikipedia project. The same terms are
available to any public wiki that uses materials available under the
new license. The Wikimedia Foundation will now initiate a process of
community discussion and voting to determine whether or not to use
CC-BY-SA 3.0 as the license for Wikipedia.

"Wikis often import material from a wide variety of sources, many of
which use the CC-BY-SA license," said Brett Smith, licensing
compliance engineer at the FSF. "Wikipedia, however, uses the GNU
FDL. The incompatibility between these two licenses has been an
obstacle to moving material back and forth between these sites. The
new provision of FDL version 1.3 will give Wikipedia and other wikis
another chance to choose the licensing policies they prefer."

"We are grateful to the leadership of the Free Software Foundation for
taking this important step," explained Sue Gardner, executive director
of the Wikimedia Foundation. "In doing this, the FSF is giving the
Wikimedia community an opportunity to make a licensing decision that
honors our mutual commitment to free culture, and best supports the
mission and goals of Wikipedia and its sister projects."

Version 1.3 of the GNU FDL also adopts the license proxy and
termination clauses that are part of the GNU General Public License
version 3, released last year. The full text of the new license,
along with more information, is available at
<http://www.gnu.org/licenses/fdl-1.3.html>. The text of CC-BY-SA 3.0
is available at <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>.

The FSF is still accepting comments as it considers a major revision
of the license, FDL version 2.0. More information is available at
<http://gplv3.fsf.org/>.

## About the FSF

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer
programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as in freedom)
software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its GNU/Linux variants --
and free documentation for free software. The FSF also helps to spread
awareness of the ethical and political issues of freedom in the use of
software, and its Web sites, located at fsf.org and gnu.org, are an important
source of information about GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can
be made at <http://donate.fsf.org>. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

## About the Wikimedia Foundation

<http://wikimediafoundation.org>

The Wikimedia Foundation Inc. is a nonprofit charitable organization
dedicated to encouraging the growth, development and distribution of
free, multilingual content, and to providing the full content of its
wiki-based projects to the public free of charge. It operates some of
the largest collaboratively-edited reference projects in the world,
including Wikipedia, one of the world's 10 most-visited websites. The
Foundation was created in 2003 by Jimmy Wales, the founder of
Wikipedia.

For a full list of projects, visit
<http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Our_projects>.

All projects of the Wikimedia Foundation are collaboratively developed
by volunteers using the MediaWiki software. All contributions are
licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License (except Wikinews,
which is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.5). This means
their content may be freely used, freely edited, freely copied and
freely redistributed subject to the restrictions of that license.

## Media Contacts

Brett Smith
Licensing Compliance Engineer
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942 x18
<brett@...>

###

_______________________________________________
info-fsf mailing list info-fsf@...
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-fsf

_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press@...>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press

FSF reboots its High Priority list with a grant and call for input

2008-10-01T14:10:08Z

FSF reboots its High Priority list with a grant and call for input

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Wednesday, October 1, 2008 -- The Free
Software Foundation (FSF) today announced a "reboot" of its High
Priority Projects list with an accompanying $10,000 grant from
Worldlabel.com Inc. The grant will seed a new fund to promote projects
on the list, and the FSF is calling for a community conversation about
the biggest challenges computer users face using free "as in freedom"
software.

Russell Ossendryver, owner of <http://www.Worldlabel.com>, said,
"smaller companies and individuals can pool their resources in support
of critical free software projects, but awareness is key. There are
many threats from proprietary software and I wanted to contribute to a
program that can help solve those problems. I am looking forward to
working with the FSF to find creative ways to promote the cause."

FSF campaigns manager Joshua Gay emphasized that the list is not
considered static or complete, and that the FSF is seeking community
input. "The FSF is asking the community of free software users who
understand the critical issues that free software faces to tell us
about the areas where they face problems. Problems that affect the
most users are of the highest priority."

The list is online at <http://www.fsf.org/campaigns/priority-projects/>.
It includes Gnash, a project to replace Adobe's proprietary Flash
player; Coreboot, a free software replacement for proprietary BIOSes;
a call for a free software replacement for the VOIP and multimedia
chat program Skype; a free software membership and donor transaction
and contact system for non-profit organizations; a free software
replacement for Google Earth; and several more.

While the FSF doesn't itself develop or take credit for these
projects, it seeks to use its position and visibility in the community
to help bring them beneficial help and attention.

About the Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to
promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and
redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and
use of free (as in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating
system and its GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free
software. The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and
political issues of freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites,
located at fsf.org and gnu.org, are an important source of information
about GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
<http://donate.fsf.org>. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

Media Contacts

Joshua Gay
Campaigns Manager
Free Software Foundation
<campaigns@...>

Matt Lee
Campaigns Manager
Free Software Foundation
<campaigns@...>

###

_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press@...>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press

Stephen Fry's film "Happy Birthday to GNU" now available in 24 languages ready for Software Freedom Day

2008-09-18T08:25:30Z

Stephen Fry's film "Happy Birthday to GNU" now available in 24 languages
ready for Software Freedom Day

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Thursday, September 18th, 2008 -- Since
its release ten days ago, Stephen Fry's film "Happy Birthday to GNU" at
<http://www.gnu.org/fry/> has been viewed over a half-million times, and
today the Free Software Foundation (FSF) announced the availability of
twenty-four translations including Chinese, Arabic, Russian and Hebrew,
that have been prepared especially for this Saturday's Software Freedom Day.

The translations, all provided by volunteers, are still coming in. In
Kathmandu, community organizer Bibek Paudel is working with his local
community to translate the text of the video into Nepali, to make the
philosophy of software freedom easily accessible to the people of Nepal.
In Buenos Aires, Franco Iacomella worked with two fellow activists to
translate Fry's message into Spanish. "Having this video available in
Spanish will help to increase awareness of free software in Latin
America," said Iacomella.

Commenting on the popularity of the film, FSF campaigns manager and
producer of the film Matt Lee added, "Stephen Fry and the FSF have been
delighted with the response the film has received so far. The speed with
which the translations were done is amazing and we're happy that this
has become such an international effort. It's great to know that
Software Freedom Day teams around the world will be able to use the film
as part of their celebration."

About the Free Software Foundation
==================================

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute
computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as
in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its
GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free software. The FSF
also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of
freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites, located at fsf.org
and gnu.org, are an important source of information about GNU/Linux.
Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
<http://donate.fsf.org>. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

About Stephen Fry and "Happy Birthday to GNU"
=============================================

Happy Birthday to GNU is a short film featuring the English humorist,
actor, novelist and filmmaker Stephen Fry, celebrating the 25th
anniversary of the launch of the GNU project. In the five-minute film,
Fry compares the free software operating system to "good science" and
contrasts it with the "kind of tyranny" imposed by the proprietary
software produced by companies like Microsoft and Apple that it
replaces. He encourages people to use free GNU/Linux distributions like
gNewSense (<http://gnewsense.org>) and free software generally, for
freedom's sake. The film is available for viewing and download from
<http://www.gnu.org/fry>.

About Software Freedom Day
==========================

Software Freedom Day (SFD) is a worldwide project to celebrate software
freedom. Each community celebrates software freedom in its own way --
some groups focus on advocacy, some give away software and others use
the day for outreach and education. Their home page is
<http://www.softwarefreedomday.org>.

About the GNU Operating System and Linux
========================================

Richard Stallman announced in September 1983 the plan to develop a free
software Unix-like operating system called GNU. GNU is the only
operating system developed specifically for the sake of users' freedom.
See <http://www.gnu.org/gnu/the-gnu-project.html>

In 1992, the essential components of GNU were complete, except for one,
the kernel. When in 1992 the kernel Linux was re-released under the GNU
GPL, making it free software, the combination of GNU and Linux formed a
complete free operating system, which made it possible for the first
time to run a PC without non-free software. This combination is the
GNU/Linux system. For more explanation, see
<http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html>

Media Contacts
==============

Matt Lee
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942
campaigns@...

_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press@...>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press

Software Freedom Day in Boston is a Wealth for the Commons: Saturday, September 20, 2008

2008-09-12T09:00:56Z

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Thursday, September 11th, 2008 -- It's
Saturday and a roomful of people are advising each other on modifying
their mobile devices, optimizing their GNU/Linux systems and organizing
for software freedom. But it's not a room full of experts -- at least
not mostly. Artists, activists, students and others want the freedom to
do anything they want with their computers and they're here to learn new
tricks and garner shortcuts from each other.

The Free Software Foundation is hosting a Boston event to honor Software
Freedom Day, an international holiday that was observed on every
continent but Antarctica last year. The FSF will be one of more than 200
teams hosting events around the world. Boston's celebration is
especially notable because this is where the free software movement
began. Richard M. Stallman, FSF founder and president, started work at
MIT on the free software GNU operating system twenty-five years ago.

The event takes place on September 20th from 10am-4pm, and participation
is open to the public. More info about the schedule is available at
http://groups.fsf.org/index.php/Software_Freedom_Day_in_Boston_2008, and
RSVPs to membership@... are appreciated. The location is in
Chinatown at the Encuentro 5 Community Center
(http://www.encuentro5.org/), 33 Harrison Ave, 5th floor, Boston, MA
02111.

"It's great to take a day to celebrate the ideals of free software
simultaneously with so many people around the globe. It emphasizes one
of the most exciting things about this movement and community -- the
ability to share and collaborate with people in all corners of the
world. Last year's Boston event was incredibly well attended and
received, and I think this year's will be even better," said John
Sullivan, FSF operations manager and representative on the Software
Freedom Day advisory board.

Free software, controlled by the community, is the ideal tool for
keeping democratically elected leaders accountable. Keynote speaker
Aaron Swartz of Watchdog.net will explain how he used free software in
his project to free public domain books, government archives, and
databases -- and how others can too. Later in the day, attendees will
participate in workshops on diverse topics like using free software to
make art and to get a great website up and running.

British comedian Stephen Fry recently made a video with the FSF in which
he talks about free software and how important it is for society, saying
that it is indicative of a culture that values transparency,
accountability and "good science." The six-minute video, which can also
be seen at http://www.gnu.org/fry, will be screened and discussed after
lunch. Finally, the floor will be open for news and questions that
didn't get covered during the rest of the day -- possible topics include
free software development hurdles, hardware compatibility issues, and
the state of software patent reform.

About the Free Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute
computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as
in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its
GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free software. The FSF
also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of
freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites, located at fsf.org
and gnu.org, are an important source of information about GNU/Linux.
Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
http://donate.fsf.org. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

About Software Freedom Day
Software Freedom Day (SFD) is a worldwide project to celebrate software
freedom. Each community celebrates software freedom in its own way --
some groups focus on advocacy, some give away software and others use
the day for outreach and education. Their home page is
http://www.softwarefreedomday.org.

Media Contacts
Peter Brown
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942
campaigns@...

_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press@...>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press

FSF and Stephen Fry celebrate the GNU Project 25th anniversary

2008-09-01T20:06:50Z

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Tuesday, September 2, 2008 -- The GNU operating
system is turning 25 this year, and the Free Software Foundation (FSF) has
kicked off its month-long celebration of the anniversary by releasing "Happy
Birthday to GNU," a short film featuring the English humorist, actor, novelist
and filmmaker Stephen Fry.

In the five-minute film, Fry compares the free software operating system to
"good science" and contrasts it with the "kind of tyranny" imposed by the
proprietary software produced by companies like Microsoft and Apple that it
replaces. He encourages people to use free GNU/Linux distributions like
gNewSense (<http://gnewsense.org>) and free software generally, for freedom's
sake.

"Stephen has generously donated his time to the cause of free software. His
ability to communicate a technological and philosophical movement in terms of
the basic principles of sharing and user freedom -- ideas that everyone can
understand -- will introduce a new and broader audience to the benefits of free
software," said Matt Lee, an FSF campaigns manager and writer/producer of the
film.

The video is available for download at <http://www.gnu.org>, and the FSF is
encouraging supporters to share it as widely as possible. Many have already
posted an image of Fry linking back to the video on their blogs and web sites.
The film will also be distributed as an update to gNewSense users.

Peter Brown, the FSF's executive director, added, "We intend for the 25th
anniversary to be more than just a reflection on the history of the free
software movement, because despite all of the success brought about by the GNU
system and other free software projects, we still need a determined effort to
replace or eliminate the proprietary applications, platforms, drivers and
firmware that many users still run. In this light, the video of Stephen Fry is
not just a celebration, but a rallying call for the work that still needs to be
done. During September we plan a number of further announcements leading up to
Software Freedom Day (<http://softwarefreedomday.org/>) on September 20 and the
GNU anniversary on September 27."

Today over 300 software packages are released under the auspices of the GNU
Project, and new programs are being added all the time. These programs range
from the original core operating system components to more recent additions
like Gnash, a free software answer to the threat posed by Adobe's proprietary
Flash player plugin; and GNU PDF, a reader for PDF files. Outside of GNU, the
Free Software Directory (<http://directory.fsf.org>) names over 5,000
additional free software projects, including Firefox-based web browsers, the
Apache web server, and OpenOffice.org. Other well-known groups, like Wikipedia,
Creative Commons, and the free culture movement, cite the GNU system and the
free software philosophy as important inspirations for their decisions to make
similar commitments to freedom in their respective areas.

"Happy Birthday to GNU," along with more information about GNU software and
philosophy, are on display at <http://www.gnu.org>.

### About the GNU Operating System and Linux

Richard Stallman announced in September 1983 the plan to develop a free
software Unix-like operating system called GNU. GNU is the only operating
system developed specifically for the sake of users' freedom. See
<http://www.gnu.org/gnu/the-gnu-project.html>.

In 1992, the essential components of GNU were complete, except for one, the
kernel. When in 1992 the kernel Linux was re-released under the GNU GPL, making
it free software, the combination of GNU and Linux formed a complete free
operating system, which made it possible for the first time to run a PC without
non-free software. This combination is the GNU/Linux system. For more
explanation, see <http://www.gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.html>.

### About Free Software and Open Source

The free software movement's goal is freedom for computer users. Some,
especially corporations, advocate a different viewpoint, known as "open
source," which cites only practical goals such as making software powerful and
reliable, focuses on development models, and avoids discussion of ethics and
freedom. These two viewpoints are different at the deepest level. For more
explanation, see
<http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html>.

### About the Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer
programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as in freedom)
software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its GNU/Linux variants --
and free documentation for free software. The FSF also helps to spread
awareness of the ethical and political issues of freedom in the use of
software, and its Web sites, located at fsf.org and gnu.org, are an important
source of information about GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can
be made at <http://donate.fsf.org>. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

### Media Contacts

John Sullivan
Operations Manager
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942
<campaigns@...>

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FSF demonstrates iPhone's incompatibility with free software and GPLv3

2008-07-31T10:13:00Z

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Thursday, July 31, 2008 -- The Free Software
Foundation (FSF) has published a statement exposing Apple's hostile position
towards free software on its iPhone mobile computing platform.

The statement contrasts the iPhone with other proprietary computer operating
platforms that have allowed free software access, saying "For many years, we
have been suffering from Microsoft's PC monopoly; a platform that has allowed
Microsoft to inflict untold harm on computer users and the computing industry.
The free software community has been working for many years to give people an
opportunity to escape to GNU/Linux from Windows, but the iPhone would allow no
such escape route."

FSF operations manager John Sullivan explained, "The severity of the
restrictions imposed by Apple's iPhone are contingent on the idea that you see
it as just a phone. But that justification is an attempt to whitewash ethical
standards that have been intrinsic to general-purpose computers. Apple's new
restrictive model gives them unprecedented and unjust control over iPhone
users. We should reject the iPhone and the model it represents, and instead
support companies that respect and encourage our freedom."

Other mobile computing companies are in fact embracing the free software
community and ensuring that users and developers have full access to improve
and share their software. The statement cites the Neo FreeRunner as a prime
example of this approach, and encourages the free software community to support
it. The Free Software Foundation is also calling for people to contact Apple's
CEO Steve Jobs, asking him to change Apple's stance and allow free software on
the iPhone.

Published at
<http://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/why-free-software-and-apples-iphone-dont-mix>,
"Why free software and Apple's iPhone don't mix" is one of a series of articles
detailing the threats posed by Apple's iPhone to the free software community.
It focuses specifically on Apple's "tivoization" model of requiring every
application installed on the iPhone to have an approved cryptographic
signature, a restriction which is incompatible with version 3 of the GNU
General Public License and with user freedoms to share and modify free software
in general.

### About the Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer
programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as in freedom)
software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its GNU/Linux variants --
and free documentation for free software. The FSF also helps to spread
awareness of the ethical and political issues of freedom in the use of
software, and its Web sites, located at fsf.org and gnu.org, are an important
source of information about GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can
be made at <http://donate.fsf.org>. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

### Media Contacts

John Sullivan
Operations Manager
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942
<campaigns@...>

###

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NPR station WBUR Boston adds support for free audio standard

2008-05-14T11:19:09Z

NPR station WBUR Boston adds support for free audio standard

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- May 14, 2008 -- The Free Software
Foundation (FSF) has marked a milestone in their PlayOgg.org
campaign with the announcement that National Public Radio (NPR) news
station WBUR Boston has begun worldwide webcasting in the free audio
format Ogg Vorbis.

Robin Lubbock, WBUR's director of new media said, "WBUR has a great
schedule of news and information programming 24 hours a day, which we
are very happy to make available to Ogg Vorbis listeners. It's
exciting to work with the Free Software Foundation to give a new
audience the chance to listen to WBUR's award winning programing as
well as the wonderful programs from NPR and the BBC Worldservice that
you can find daily on WBUR."

Peter Brown, executive director of the FSF, responded to the news
stating, "I would like to thank WBUR general manager Paul La Camera,
for so graciously listening to the case we made for free audio
standards. The leadership displayed by WBUR in providing a free audio
format will help to bring this issue the national attention and
recognition it deserves, and will serve as a vital step in educating
the public and other publicly funded radio stations. We urge NPR
listeners to stream WBUR's Ogg Vorbis stream, and to acknowledge and
thank WBUR for this work when making your contributions."

Unlike MP3, Windows Media, Real Audio or Quicktime, Ogg Vorbis is not
restricted by software patents. The threat of these patent lawsuits
chills independent development of multimedia software tools. The use
of unencumbered formats like Ogg Vorbis is necessary for providing
access to publicly funded news and other programming without
dependence on the patent-holding corporations and proprietary software
vendors.

Patent-encumbered formats owned by companies like Microsoft and Apple
require listeners to use non-free software; controlled by them, not by
the users. They design their software to restrict the users and spy on
their activities. If users choose Ogg Vorbis for audio and Ogg Theora
for video, they can use many different media players, including free
software designed to respect their freedom and privacy.

Joshua Gay, FSF campaigns manager explained the campaign, "[i]t is
time for our publicly funded broadcasters to take seriously the impact
their decisions to webcast only in proprietary formats have on the
future of free unencumbered audio standards. Today, WBUR has made an
important commitment to free standards, and we are now working with
other publicly funded broadcasters to follow their example".

The WBUR stream is available at <http://www.wbur.org/listen/>, or you
can go directly to <http://www.wbur.org/listen/feed/ogg.m3u>.

Resources and a mailing list to track related events can be found at
<http://PlayOgg.org>. Technical details about the Ogg Vorbis format
are at <http://xiph.org/vorbis/>

#About The Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to
promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and
redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and
use of free (as in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating
system and its GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free
software. The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and
political issues of freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites,
located at fsf.org and gnu.org, are an important source of information
about GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
<http://donate.fsf.org>. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

#Media Contacts

Joshua Gay
Campaigns Manager
Free Software Foundation
617-542-5942×19
<jgay@...>

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Get DeltaH, gNewSense 2.0

2008-05-01T14:37:33Z

BOSTON, MA, USA — May 1, 2008 — The gNewSense project today announced
the release of DeltaH[1], the second version of their all free-software
GNU/Linux distribution.

The DeltaH download web page states[2], "DeltaH was our second major
release, based on Ubuntu Hardy. 2.0 was released on May 1st 2008 -
less than a week after Hardy's release."

The gNewSense project dubs itself as "A free as in freedom GNU/Linux
distribution, that takes all the non-free blobs out of a rather
popular distribution."

In addition to stripping binary blobs from the kernel, the package and
source trees contain only free software drivers, and do not offer
access to any proprietary software. Because of this commitment to free
software, the Free Software Foundation and the GNU project recommend
that users seeking to install a distribution of GNU/Linux consider
installing gNewSense.

The developers of gNewSense invite those interested in discussing this
latest release to join their mailing list[3] or join them on
irc.freenode.net in the #gnewsense channel.

[1],[2]: http://www.gnewsense.org/Main/Deltah
[3]: http://lists.nongnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnewsense-users
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