Saturday, August 31, 2013

Free Software Supporter - Issue 65, August 2013

Free Software Supporter

Issue 65, August 2013

Welcome to the Free Software Supporter, the Free Software Foundation's monthly news digest and action update -- being read by you and 69,626 other activists.

View this issue online here: https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter/2013/august

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

  • You're Invited: GNU 30th anniversary celebration and hackathon
  • United for a Web without proprietary JavaScript
  • Replace your LibrePlanet2012 shirt for only $10!
  • GNU MediaGoblin shirts now available
  • First batch of videos from LibrePlanet 2013 published!
  • gNewSense 3.0 released
  • FSF to begin accepting GPG signed assignments from the U.S.
  • Interview with Bernd Kreuss of TorChat
  • New fsfstatus notification account
  • Sell your Netflix stock to send a message: No DRM in HTML
  • RMS in Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
  • RMS in Berlin, Germany, for induction into the Internet Hall of Fame
  • Replicant project opens forums
  • Conservancy helps Samsung resolve GPL compliance matter amicably
  • Conservancy seeks Systems Analyst / Software Architect for six-month consulting position
  • Use Libre.fm and GNU FM and help defeat surveillance
  • Paranoia optimization for our modern times
  • LeastAuthority.com announces a spy-proof storage service
  • Join the FSF and friends in updating the Free Software Directory
  • LibrePlanet featured resource: GNU 30th anniversary satellite events
  • GNU Spotlight with Karl Berry: 15 new GNU releases!
  • GNU Toolchain Update
  • Richard Stallman's speaking schedule and other FSF events
  • Thank GNUs!
  • Take action with the FSF!

You're Invited: GNU 30th anniversary celebration and hackathon

From August 26th

The GNU system will be celebrating its 30th anniversary on September 28 and 29 in Boston, and in cities around the world. RSVP today.

United for a Web without proprietary JavaScript

From August 30th

The FSF has launched a campaign to persuade organizations to make their Web sites work without requiring that users run any nonfree JavaScript. Users are uniting to focus on one site at a time -- currently, greenpeace.org.

Replace your LibrePlanet2012 shirt for only $10!

From August 1st

Relive the fond memories of LibrePlanet with logo shirts commemorating the events in 2012 and 2013.

GNU MediaGoblin shirts now available

From August 30th

GNU MediaGoblin shirts are now available in the GNU Press store for $25 and are printed on American Apparel t-shirts.

First batch of videos from LibrePlanet 2013 published!

From August 7th

The first batch of videos from LibrePlanet 2013 are now available for streaming and downloading in VP8/Vorbis, both free media formats, and are hosted on an instance of GNU MediaGoblin.

gNewSense 3.0 released

The latest release of gNewSense is out, bringing with it a spate of new features and bug fixes. Most notably, gNewSense 3.0, codenamed "Parkes," is now based on Debian rather than Ubuntu.

FSF to begin accepting GPG signed assignments from the U.S.

The FSF is pleased to announce that we can begin accepting GPG-signed assignments from contributors residing in the United States.

Interview with Bernd Kreuss of TorChat

From August 27th

This is the latest installment of our Licensing and Compliance Lab's series on free software developers who choose GNU licenses for their works. In this edition, we interviewed Bernd Kreuss, the developer of TorChat, a peer-to-peer instant messenger with a completely decentralized design.

New fsfstatus notification account

From August 28th

The FSF has a new out-of-band notification account at https://pumprock.net/fsfstatus. We will post updates on planned and unplanned service outages there.

Sell your Netflix stock to send a message: No DRM in HTML

From August 28th

We're ramping up the pressure on Netflix to keep DRM away from the HTML standard and asking investors to sell their shares in NFLX.

RMS in Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

RMS was in the Centro de Eventos of the Universidad de Passo Fundo, in Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, on July 1st, 2013, to deliver his speech "A Free Digital Society," to an audience of over four hundred professionals, students, and teachers in the IT field.

RMS in Berlin, Germany, for induction into the Internet Hall of Fame

On August 3rd, 2013, RMS was at the InterContinental Hotel, in Berlin, Germany, where he was inducted in the Internet Hall of Fame, in recognition of his contributions as an innovator and for founding the Free Software Foundation.

Replicant project opens forums

By Paul Kocialkowski, from August 9th

The Replicant project has opened forums to encourage community support and discussion.

Conservancy helps Samsung resolve GPL compliance matter amicably

By Software Freedom Conservancy, from August 16th

Samsung and Conservancy worked together to resolve an issue where a GPLed exFAT filesystem driver was released without the complete corresponding source code.

Conservancy seeks Systems Analyst / Software Architect for six-month consulting position

By Software Freedom Conservancy, from August 26th

Conservancy recently raised funds to begin work on an FSF-endorsed free software non-profit accounting system and now seeks the talent of an experienced systems analyst and software designer to complete a six-month contract project (with the possibility of extension).

Use Libre.fm and GNU FM and help defeat surveillance

By Libre.fm, from August 26th

The Libre.fm and GNU FM developers outline the importance of using free software to combat surveillance and add that with the 30th anniversary of the GNU project coming in September, now is an important time for all GNU projects to work together on providing replacements to sites that users cannot control.

Paranoia optimization for our modern times

By Deborah Nicholson, from August 23rd

GNU MediaGoblin contributer Deborah Nicholson reflects on the social effects of avoiding surveillance on the Web.

LeastAuthority.com announces a spy-proof storage service

By LeastAuthority.com, from July 30th

LeastAuthority.com has announced Simple Secure Storage Service (S4), a backup service that encrypts your files to protect them from the prying eyes of spies and criminals.

Join the FSF and friends in updating the Free Software Directory

From August 30th

Tens of thousands of people visit directory.fsf.org each month to discover free software. Each entry in the Directory contains a wealth of useful information, from basic category and descriptions to version control, IRC channels, documentation, and licensing. The Free Software Directory has been a great resource to software users over the past decade, but it needs your help staying up-to-date with new and exciting free software projects.

To help, join our weekly IRC meetings on Fridays. Meetings take place in the #fsf channel on irc.gnu.org, and usually include a handful of regulars as well as newcomers. Everyone's welcome.

The next meeting is Friday, September 6th from 2pm to 5pm EDT (18:00 to 21:00 UTC). Details here:

After this meeting, you can check https://www.fsf.org/events to see the rest of MONTH's weekly meetings as they are scheduled.

LibrePlanet featured resource: GNU 30th anniversary satellite events

Every month on LibrePlanet, we highlight one resource that is interesting and useful -- often one that could use your help.

For this month, we are highlighting the list of GNU 30th anniversary satellite events, which provides information about celebrations for the GNU system's 30th anniversary occurring around the world. You are invited to adopt, spread and improve this important resource.

Do you have a suggestion for next month's featured resource? Let us know at campaigns@fsf.org.

GNU Spotlight with Karl Berry: 15 new GNU releases!

15 new GNU releases this month (as of August 26, 2013):

  • bison-3.0
  • bzr-2.60
  • combine-0.4.0
  • denemo-1.0.6
  • freeipmi-1.3.1
  • gettext-0.18.3.1
  • glibc-2.18
  • glpk-4.52.1
  • gnubatch-1.9
  • gnupg-2.0.21
  • libmatheval-1.1.11
  • parallel-20130822
  • sipwitch-1.7.0
  • ucommon-6.0.7
  • xorriso-1.3.2

To get announcements of most new GNU releases, subscribe to the info-gnu mailing list: http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-gnu. Nearly all GNU software is available from http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/, or preferably one of its mirrors (http://www.gnu.org/prep/ftp.html). You can use the url http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/ to be automatically redirected to a (hopefully) nearby and up-to-date mirror.

A number of GNU packages, as well as the GNU operating system as a whole, are looking for maintainers and other assistance. Please see http://www.gnu.org/server/takeaction.html#unmaint if you'd like to help. The general page on how to help GNU is at http://www.gnu.org/help/help.html. To submit new packages to the GNU operating system, see http://www.gnu.org/help/evaluation.html.

As always, please feel free to write to me, karl@gnu.org, with any GNUish questions or suggestions for future installments.

GNU Toolchain update

From August 19th

The GNU toolchain refers to the part of the GNU system which is used for building programs. These components of GNU are together often on other systems and for compiling programs for other platforms.

Read about updates to G++, GCC, and more.

Richard Stallman's speaking schedule

For event details, as well as to sign-up to be notified for future events in your area, please visit https://www.fsf.org/events.

So far, Richard Stallman has the following events in September:

Other FSF and free software events

Thank GNUs!

We appreciate everyone who donates to the Free Software Foundation, but we'd like to give special recognition to the folks who have donated $500 or more in the last month.

This month, a big Thank GNU to:

  • Gregory Maxwell
  • Kevin McCarthy
  • Colin Carr
  • Steve Sprang
  • Martin Cohn
  • Krishna Kunchithapadam
  • Liang Zhao
  • Bitcoin Grant
  • Chris Allegretta
  • Eberhard Schopf
  • Henri Sivonen

You can add your name to this list by donating at https://donate.fsf.org.

Take action with the FSF

Contributions from thousands of individual members enable the FSF's work. You can contribute by joining at https://www.fsf.org/join. If you're already a member, you can help refer new members (and earn some rewards) by adding a line with your member number to your email signature like:

I'm an FSF member -- Help us support software freedom! https://www.fsf.org/jf?referrer=2442

The FSF is also always looking for volunteers (https://www.fsf.org/volunteer). From rabble-rousing to hacking, from issue coordination to envelope stuffing -- there's something here for everybody to do. Also, head over to our campaign section (https://www.fsf.org/campaigns) and take action on software patents, DRM, free software adoption, OpenDocument, RIAA and more.

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Copyright © 2013 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/.


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Friday, August 30, 2013

United for a Web without proprietary JavaScript

Dear ,

For some time now, free software users have been concerned about the increasing number of Web sites that cannot run without nonfree JavaScript programs downloaded and executed on the visitor's computer. Richard Stallman first raised the concern with his article The JavaScript Trap, pointing out that most JavaScript programs are not freely licensed, and that even free software Web browsers are usually configured to download and run these nonfree programs without informing the user. We've recently started organizing free software users around the issue.

Now we're proud to announce a new, dedicated Web page for our Free JavaScript campaign, an ongoing effort to persuade organizations to make their Web sites work without requiring that users run any nonfree software. By convincing influential sites to make the transition, we will raise awareness of the need for free software-friendly Web sites and influence the owners of other sites to follow.

The current focus of the campaign is Greenpeace.org, the online home of the famous global environmental organization. They haven't responded to our email requesting that they make their site work without requiring nonfree software, so we're asking you to add your voice with an email of your own. We'll focus on Greenpeace for a period, and then move to another focus, concentrating efforts on one site at a time to maximize our impact.

Head over to the new Free JavaScript campaign area to learn more about the issues and take action by emailing Greenpeace.org. The campaign page also hosts resources for using the Web without nonfree JavaScript, a mailing list and a wiki page where you can share your ideas for the campaign.

Sincerely,

Zak Rogoff

Campaigns Manager

P.S. If you are an experienced JavaScript developer that's interested in helping with the campaign, please let us know by emailing campaigns@fsf.org!

You can view this post online at https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/united-for-a-web-without-proprietary-javascript.


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Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Sell your Netflix stock to send a message

Dear ,

Cancel Netflix graphic

"#CancelNetflix I used it and used to love it. But keep your hands off DRM in HTML5. Not cool. I'm stopping my rel. with you." -- @jordiburcas*

A few weeks ago we put out a call: if you care about freedom on the Web, cancel your Netflix subscription. The company has been leading an aggressive lobbying effort to change the fundamental language of the Web (HTML) to add an official extension accommodating Digital Restrictions Management (DRM). Free software supporters and the blogosphere have responded strongly to our previous posts about this attack on Web freedom, and many (like @jordiburcas above) have canceled their accounts. Now we're asking you to take this to the next level by dumping any stock you own in the company.

Netflix's plan is to hijack the standards-setting power of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the body that coordinates the development of HTML, in an attempt to make it easier to distribute media with DRM. Netflix's proposed extension to HTML, called Encrypted Media Extensions or EME, is supported by software companies like Microsoft and Google, as well as the powerful media corporations that provide the primary impetus for DRM. This cabal supports DRM because it gives them control over Web users. By adding artificial restrictions to media, they are able to corral people into their outdated business models and revoke customers' access to media (even media they have paid for) when it suits them.

As if we didn't already have reason enough to oppose this scheme, the proliferation of DRM inherently makes it harder to use free software. EME would indubitably lead to an explosion of DRM-encumbered media on the Web, restricting our freedom and pressuring users to install proprietary software to satisfy the demands of digital restrictions. For those committed to freedom and unwilling to install this software, DRM-encumbered sites would create a growing dark zone on the Web.

Dump your Netflix stock and post about it to inspire other shareholders to join you. If you're still holding on to a Netflix membership, cancel it for a double whammy and post with the hashtag #DivestNetflix*. Even if you don't own Netflix stock or have an account, you can help by spreading this message to the many others that do.

"#CancelNetflix I used it and used to love it. But keep your hands off DRM in HTML5. Not cool. I'm stopping my rel. with you." -- @jordiburcas*

Screenshot of a tweet about canceling Netflix

This is a pivotal moment in the W3C deliberations over EME, when its proponents are struggling to maintain the illusion that EME won't cause any problems for the Web. Also, despite previous hype, Netflix recently released new subscriber numbers that were below expectations for the second quarter of 2013. These facts mean this is a critical time to send a message by divesting.

We should also remember that this is part of a larger struggle for freedom and control over our media. The world is in the initial stages of a great transition from locally stored to remotely hosted media. This shift will come with more opportunities for media distributors to encumber their products with DRM, and we need to demonstrate from the outset that doing so will cost them our support as customers and investors. That's why we're asking you to join the movement and divest from Netflix.

 

Sincerely,

 

Zak Rogoff

Campaigns Manager

* We encourage users to do their microblogging with Web sites that do not include nonfree JavaScript, like instances of pump.io or GNU social. If you use Twitter, you can access the mobile version of the Twitter site which works with JavaScript turned off, even on a desktop computer.

You can view this post online at https://www.defectivebydesign.org/divest-from-netflix.


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Defective by Design is a campaign of the Free Software Foundation:

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Thursday, August 22, 2013

You're Invited: GNU 30th anniversary celebration and hackathon

Dear ,

Are GNU ready to party?

It's been 30 years since the GNU manifesto was penned. What began as frustration over a printer driver has grown into a massive social movement. The GNU system itself has exploded; not only is it a fully free operating system, but it has expanded to include an entire universe of software. Now, GNU is on the threshold of another amazing leap, and we want you to be a part of it.

You're Invited: GNU 30th anniversary celebration and hackathon
Featuring Richard Stallman
When: Saturday and Sunday, September 28 - 29, from 10am until midnight. Special fundraising dinner to be held on Friday, September 27th.
Where: MIT, Cambridge, MA
RSVP: Registration is now open!

GNU's 30th will be an opportunity for free software legends and enthusiastic newcomers to tackle important challenges together, while toasting to the GNU system's success. That's why this 30th anniversary event is more than just a celebration, it's also a hackathon. This event isn't just for programmers either; there will also be opportunities to contribute in many other ways besides writing code, such as a Free Software Directory sprint, crypto workshops, and much more. Come join us in developing and documenting free software for our Web-based world, with a focus on federated publishing and communication services, as well as tools to protect privacy and anonymity. Plus, it has cake and coding; what could be better?

And of course, you'll want to be in the room when Richard Stallman makes a highly anticipated announcement about the future direction of GNU.

Register now!

The anniversary celebration is a chance to come together with other free software supporters to launch GNU on the path to another successful decade. In addition to contributing code and documentation, consider joining us for a special fundraising dinner on Friday, September 27th. Give back to GNU while enjoying a delicious meal with Richard Stallman, Bradley Kuhn, and John Sullivan. More details about the fundraising dinner will be available soon, and a limited number of tickets will be available. To reserve advance tickets, please email campaigns@fsf.org.

See you in Boston,

Libby Reinish
Free Software Foundation, on behalf of GNU

P.S. Can't make it to Boston? 30th anniversary satellite celebrations will be held around the world. If you'd like to be notified if a satellite event is planned in our area, sign up for our GNU 30th satellite event notifications list.


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Wednesday, August 7, 2013

First batch of videos from LibrePlanet 2013 published!

Dear ,

The first round of videos from LibrePlanet 2013 is now available for streaming and downloading. LibrePlanet is an annual conference sponsored and organized by the Free Software Foundation, with LibrePlanet 2013 being the best one yet. All current associate members of the FSF enjoy the perk of being able to attend LibrePlanet without paying an entry fee. This year we set out to make sure LibrePlanet featured fully functioning live video streaming using only free software, and it was a great success. The videos are now available for viewing in VP8/Vorbis, both free media formats, and are hosted on an instance of GNU MediaGoblin, the social media sharing platform which many of you helped support.

If you missed LibrePlanet this year or didn't have time to attend all the talks, there are lots of great sessions worth watching. In total, seven talks are included in this batch of videos. They include:

These videos are just from the first set of talks. In the coming weeks, we will be posting more of the dozens of hours of footage from talks, panels, and workshops at media.libreplanet.org. Continuing in our theme of freedom and community production, these videos are all freely licensed for easy sharing and remixing. Check back soon for more.

We have already started planning LibrePlanet 2014. To make sure you hear the details as soon as they are available, subscribe to the mailing list.

Sincerely,

William Theaker

You can view this post online at https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/first-batch-of-videos-from-libreplanet-2013-published.


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