FSF-certified to Respect Your Freedom: ThinkPenguin USB Wifi adapter with Atheros chip

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA — Tuesday, April 30th, 2013 — The Free Software Foundation (FSF) today awarded Respects Your Freedom (RYF) certification to the TPE-N150USB Wireless N USB Adapter, sold by ThinkPenguin. The RYF certification mark means that the product meets the FSF's standards in regard to users' freedom, control over the product, and privacy. The TPE-N150USB can be purchased from http://www.thinkpenguin.com/TPE-N150USB. Software certification focused primarily on the firmware for the Atheros AR9271 chip used on the adapter.

ThinkPenguin's founder and CEO, Christopher Waid, accepted the certification: "ThinkPenguin, Inc. was founded with the goal of making free software more easily adoptable by the masses. Today I'm proud to say we are one step closer in achieving that goal. Not only do we have a product catalog that works with free software, but there is a reputable certification process to help users distinguish the good from the bad."

Only a handful of 802.11 wireless devices have both free software drivers and free firmware, so the need for wireless networking cards has been a major obstacle preventing people from running a completely free GNU/Linux operating system. Additionally, because many machines now come with a blacklist in their boot firmware that severely limits what internal wireless cards users can install, external USB devices are sometimes the best or only option.

Furthermore, even when a given wireless device is supported by free software, few sellers of such devices publish that information. The FSF supports http://h-node.org, a database of hardware compatible with free software, as a resource where users can find and share information about compatibility to help their purchasing decisions. But RYF certification goes beyond that. It is reserved for companies who promise not only that their certified device is and will continue to be compatible with free software operating systems, but also to promote this fact to their potential customers.

The TPE-N150USB Wireless N USB adapter chipset, Atheros AR9271, was developed by Qualcomm Atheros (QCA).

FSF's executive director, John Sullivan, said, "The FSF is grateful to the QCA team for publishing the firmware for this device as free software. Much credit also goes to Christopher Waid of ThinkPenguin for his central role in making this collaboration successful. At QCA, we especially want to acknowledge Adrian Chadd for his development work on the firmware and driver, and Luis Rodriguez for his related legal and policy work. We hope others will follow the example set by these two companies working together."

Once QCA published the firmware, free software developers, including Jason Self, Rubén Rodríguez, and Alexandre Oliva, completed the work of packaging it as part of the Linux-libre kernel for Trisquel, Parabola GNU/Linux, and other FSF-endorsed distributions.

The TPE-N150USB is the second product to be awarded RYF certification. The first certification was awarded in October 2012 to the LulzBot AO-100/AO-101 3D printer sold by Colorado-based Aleph Objects, Inc.

To learn more about the Respects Your Freedom hardware certification, including details on the certification of the TPE-N150USB Wireless N USB adapter, as well as information on the driver and firmware for the device, visit http://www.fsf.org/ryf. Hardware sellers interested in applying for certification can consult http://www.fsf.org/resources/hw/endorsement/criteria.

Subscribers to the FSF's Free Software Supporter newsletter will receive announcements about future Respects Your Freedom products.

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 ThinkPenguin, Inc

Started by Christopher Waid, founder and CEO, ThinkPenguin, Inc. is a consumer-driven company with a mission to bring free software to the masses. At the core of company is a catalog of computers and accessories with broad support for GNU/Linux. The company provides technical support for end-users and works with the community, distributions, and upstream projects to make GNU/Linux all that it can be.

Media Contacts

Joshua Gay
Licensing & Compliance Manager
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942 x20 licensing@fsf.org

Media Inquires
ThinkPenguin, Inc.
+1 (888) 39 THINK (84465) x703
media@thinkpenguin.com

###

--
Follow us at https://status.fsf.org/fsf | Subscribe to our blogs via RSS at http://fsf.org/blogs/RSS
Join us as an associate member at http://fsf.org/jf

Sent from the Free Software Foundation,

51 Franklin Street
Fifth Floor
Boston, MA 02110-1335
United States

You can unsubscribe to this mailing-list by visiting the link https://crm.fsf.org/index.php?q=civicrm/mailing/unsubscribe&reset=1&jid=127595&qid=3964363&h=5596dc03d7f51eaf.

To stop all email from the Free Software Foundation, including Defective by Design,
and the Free Software Supporter newsletter, click this link:

https://crm.fsf.org/index.php?q=civicrm/mailing/optout&reset=1&jid=127595&qid=3964363&h=5596dc03d7f51eaf.

Tell W3C: We don't want the Hollyweb

Dear ,

Hollywood is at it again. Its latest ploy to take over the Web? Use its influence at the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to weave Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) into HTML5 — in other words, into the very fabric of the Web. Millions of Internet users came together to defeat SOPA/PIPA, but now Big Media moguls are going through non-governmental channels to try to sneak digital restrictions into every interaction we have online. Giants like Netflix, Google, Microsoft, and the BBC are all rallying behind this disastrous proposal, which flies in the face of the W3C's mission to "lead the World Wide Web to its full potential."

We're not going to let this happen. Sign the petition to help us reach 50,000 signers by May 3rd, the International Day Against DRM.

On May 3rd, we'll deliver your signatures to the W3C in an eye-catching stunt that's sure to make headlines and make it impossible for the W3C to keep pretending this isn't a big deal.

Some have mistakenly thought this proposal would finally end the use of proprietary browser plugins like Silverlight and Flash. In reality, this would only make it easier for companies to achieve the same purpose via hooks in HTML itself. The difference would only be on paper; in practice, users would experience the very same unethical restrictions, platform incompatibilities, and device limitations as with proprietary browser plugins.

In addition to signing, you can:

• Build momentum: use this page to share the petition far and wide.
• If you have a Web site, paste in this code to embed our Hollyweb image as a link to the petition:
  <a href="http://www.defectivebydesign.org/no-drm-in-html5"><img src="//static.fsf.org/nosvn/dbd/drm_to-do-share.png" alt="Stop the Hollyweb! No DRM in HTML5." /></a>

If you want to learn more about the myths around this issue, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has an excellent write-up which covers all of the misleading discussion around the proposal and how, no matter what platform or browser you use, this puts the Web as we know it at stake. Read it here.

Thanks for speaking up,
John, Libby, Zak, and Kyra

You can read and share the online version of this message at http://www.defectivebydesign.org/we-dont-want-the-hollyweb.

--
Follow us at https://status.fsf.org/fsf | Subscribe to our blogs via RSS at http://fsf.org/blogs/RSS
Join us as an associate member at http://fsf.org/jf

Sent from the Free Software Foundation,

51 Franklin Street
Fifth Floor
Boston, MA 02110-1335
United States

You can unsubscribe to this mailing-list by visiting the link https://crm.fsf.org/index.php?q=civicrm/mailing/unsubscribe&reset=1&jid=127522&qid=3870481&h=eb74bead05fc6acb.

To stop all email from the Free Software Foundation, including Defective by Design,
and the Free Software Supporter newsletter, click this link:

https://crm.fsf.org/index.php?q=civicrm/mailing/optout&reset=1&jid=127522&qid=3870481&h=eb74bead05fc6acb.

Friends don't let friends use Windows 8

Dear ,

Sometimes, proprietary software actually helps us fight for freedom. Windows 8 is so bad it's almost funny--it's not only proprietary software full of spyware and security vulnerabilities, but it's also confusing for would-be users. Lucky for us, Microsoft's spectacular failure is the perfect time to help people switch to free software.

Today, we're launching a new infographic to encourage everyone to close Windows and open the door to software freedom. Windows 8 is so ripe for parody, we just couldn't resist. Check it out:

Upgrading to free software can be daunting for some people. That's why we need you, the free software experts, to lend a helping hand.

Take our pledge to help a friend or family member upgrade from Windows

Then, share this infographic with every Windows user you know. When your friends or family see the infographic and want to switch, set a date to help them do it. You'd be surprised what a difference a few hours of your time can make in someone else's life.

So, what are you waiting for? Take the pledge and liberate someone from Microsoft's shackles today.

Sincerely, Libby, Zak, John, and the rest of the FSF team

Read this message online at: http://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/friends-dont-let-friends-use-windows-8
--
Follow us at https://status.fsf.org/fsf | Subscribe to our blogs via RSS at http://fsf.org/blogs/RSS
Join us as an associate member at http://fsf.org/jf

Sent from the Free Software Foundation,

51 Franklin Street
Fifth Floor
Boston, MA 02110-1335
United States

You can unsubscribe to this mailing-list by visiting the link https://crm.fsf.org/index.php?q=civicrm/mailing/unsubscribe&reset=1&jid=127489&qid=3811724&h=a5c042be3ee73d7c.

To stop all email from the Free Software Foundation, including Defective by Design,
and the Free Software Supporter newsletter, click this link:

https://crm.fsf.org/index.php?q=civicrm/mailing/optout&reset=1&jid=127489&qid=3811724&h=a5c042be3ee73d7c.