Welcome to the Free Software Supporter, the Free Software
Foundation's (FSF) monthly news digest and action update -- being read
by you and 225,142 other activists. That's 6,259 more than last month!
Tell Microsoft to upcycle Windows 7. Set it free!
From January 24th
Microsoft has taken a few steps in the right direction, such as
releasing some small but important components of Windows as free
software. We want them to accelerate these changes. We need Microsoft
to prove to the world that their "love" of free software isn't just an
ad campaign, and that they aren't just reaping the benefits of free
software in order to exploit users by pushing them into relying on
Service as a Software
Substitute.
They can do this by releasing Windows 7 under a free software
license. The history of free software has shown us that software
doesn't have to expire, and can even be written to last fifty
years. And now that this version of their operating system has reached
its "end-of-life," they have no good reason not to.
Our petition has shot past the goal of 7,777 signers, but we encourage
you to add your voice as well! Keep an eye on our Web site and social
media accounts to see what we'll be doing next.
Sign the petition here by February
5!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- First LibrePlanet 2020 keynote announcement, plus new location!
- Bring the planet to LibrePlanet by sponsoring an attendee
- LibrePlanet 2020 needs you: Volunteer today!
- It is time to end the DMCA anti-circumvention exemptions process and put a stop to DRM
- Spring the mouse trap: Don't fall for Disney+
- Boston CiviCRM meetup looking for new organizer
- GNU Guile 3.0.0 released
- GNU Linux-libre 5.5 now available; required more deblobbing than usual
- Ring doorbell app packed with third-party trackers
- Reddit thread: I recently had a full head MRI. Using free software, I was able to pluck my brain out and turn it into a desk light.
- EA to brick Tetris phone app
- January GNU Emacs news
- Join the FSF and friends in updating the Free Software Directory
- LibrePlanet featured resource: LibrePlanet:Conference/2020
- GNU Spotlight with Mike Gerwitz: 16 new GNU releases!
- FSF and other free software events
- Thank GNUs!
- GNU copyright contributions
- Translations of the Free Software Supporter
- Take action with the FSF!
View this issue online here:
https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter/2020/february
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to the end to read the Supporter in French, Spanish, or Portuguese.
First LibrePlanet 2020 keynote announcement, plus new location!
From January 15th
The first keynote for LibrePlanet
2020 has been announced! Internet Hall
of Famer Brewster Kahle is renowned as the founder of the Internet
Archive, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the cultural history of
the Web.
More keynote speakers will be announced shortly, but in the meantime:
LibrePlanet has a new location, at Boston's Back Bay Events Center!
We've taken the grand tour and couldn't be happier about our choice of
location. We're confident that the Events Center will be a great host
for the technology and social justice conference we've all come to
know and love. It's just the right place for us (and the movement) to
take our next steps in freeing the future. The Back Bay Events Center
is close to public transportation and the FSF headquarters.
For more LibrePlanet 2020 updates, keep a close eye on the conference
Web site, https://libreplanet.org/2020. And although we're always
happy to see walk-ins, we highly encourage you to register for
LibrePlanet
today!
Bring the planet to LibrePlanet by sponsoring an attendee
From January 8th
The FSF is proud of the fact that the LibrePlanet audience and
speakers come from a diverse range of backgrounds, countries, and
cultures. We believe that anyone who wants to attend or speak at the
conference should not be held back by financial burdens, so if you
have a few dollars to spare, why not make a
donation
to help a few more people attend LibrePlanet? You'll be supporting a
robust, diverse free software community by helping to reduce the
financial barrier for those who need the help.
LibrePlanet 2020 needs you: Volunteer today!
From January 28th
LibrePlanet is coming up on March 14-15, and we need YOU to make the
world's premier gathering of free software enthusiasts a
success. Volunteers are needed for several different tasks at
LibrePlanet, from an audio/visual crew to point cameras and adjust
microphones, to room monitors to introduce speakers, to a set-up and
clean-up crew to make our conference appear and disappear at the Event
Center, and more! You can volunteer for as much or as little time as
you like, whether you choose to help out for an hour or two, or the
entirety of both days. Either way, we'll provide you with a VERY
handsome LibrePlanet 2020 shirt in your size, in addition to free
admission to the entire conference and lunch and our eternal
gratitude.
If you're interested in joining the volunteer team, contact our
volunteer captain Matt Lavallee at [email protected]: let him know
your T-shirt size, and what training session you can attend.
It is time to end the DMCA anti-circumvention exemptions process and put a stop to DRM
From January 22nd
We call once again for the end of the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act's (DMCA) anti-circumvention provisions, and the absurd
exemptions process that comes with it. Users have the right to control
their own computing, and the right to share the tools we create with
others. The DMCA violates those rights.
We shouldn't have to fight for what is already morally ours. But fight
we will, and we won't stop no matter how many hurdles they throw in
front of us. We can't stop until all users have their rights restored.
Spring the mouse trap: Don't fall for Disney+
From January 28th
Like the witch with her cauldron, Disney executives were concocting
something evil when they were brewing up Disney+. It needed just the
right amount of poison to be palatable: not enough to where it would
turn everyone away, but not so little that users would be able to
actually take a screenshot of the film that they are
watching. Maleficent is more than just a character in a Disney film;
it's an apt descriptor for the behavior of Disney itself when it comes
to their attack on culture through Digital Restrictions Management
(DRM).
Boston CiviCRM meetup looking for new organizer
From January 23rd
The FSF's CiviCRM meetup in Boston is looking for community members
who are interested in taking over and reviving this meetup. At one
point, this meetup had about twelve people every month, but in the
last two or three years it has gone down to one to three. We know
there are people in the Boston area working at nonprofits, and who are
using or considering using CiviCRM as an important part of their
work. We would love for them to get together, but we don't have the
time to organize the meetup anymore.
GNU Guile 3.0.0 released
From January 16th by Andy Wingo
We are ecstatic and relieved to announce the release of GNU Guile
3.0.0. This is the first release in the new stable 3.0 release
series. See the release announcement for full details and a download
link.
GNU Linux-libre 5.5 now available; required more deblobbing than usual
From January 27th by Michael Larabel
Fresh off the Linux 5.5 release, the Free Software Foundation Latin
America crew has debuted their GNU Linux-libre 5.5 downstream that
continues to be focused on deblobbing the kernel of drivers requiring
proprietary firmware and stripping out other code/functionality that
is contingent upon nonfree software bits, and removing the ability to
load closed-source kernel modules.
Ring doorbell app packed with third-party trackers
From January 27th by Bill Budington
Ring isn't just a product that allows users to surveil their
neighbors. The company also uses it to surveil its customers. An
investigation by the EFF of the Ring doorbell app for Android found it to
be packed with third-party trackers sending out a plethora of
customers’ personally identifiable information (PII). Four main
analytics and marketing companies were discovered to be receiving
information such as the names, private IP addresses, mobile network
carriers, persistent identifiers, and sensor data on the devices of
paying customers.
The danger in sending even small bits of information is that analytics
and tracking companies are able to combine these bits together to form
a unique picture of the user’s device. This cohesive whole represents
a fingerprint that follows the user as they interact with other apps
and use their device, in essence providing trackers the ability to spy
on what a user is doing in their digital lives and when they are doing
it. All this takes place without meaningful user notification or
consent and, in most cases, no way to mitigate the damage done.
There's nothing surprising about any of this news, but it's just
another reason to warn your friends and family not to use these
products!
Reddit thread: I recently had a full head MRI. Using free software, I was able to pluck my brain out and turn it into a desk light.
From January 24th by User_browser_
Nifty free software project: this Reddit poster used a series of free
software programs to create a model of their own brain, and created a
ghoulishly delightful 3D model that now works as a desk lamp! Let us
know if you try to duplicate their results -- we would love to hear
about any ways that our supporters are using free software creatively.
(We offer old.reddit.com as the link below because it doesn't require
you to run proprietary
JavaScript.)
EA to brick Tetris phone app
From January 23rd by Rob Beschizza
A popular, official Tetris app is going to get bricked this
April. Users of Tetris Blitz fired up the game yesterday to be given a
smarmy "it's time to say goodbye" message from the publisher. Users
loved this version of the game because you could play it one-handed,
but in the era of Digital Restrictions Management (DRM), just because
you paid for something doesn't mean you own it.
January GNU Emacs news
From January 27th by Sacha Chua
In these issues: Emacs starter kits without third party packages; a
gentle introduction to Emacs configuration; Horizon theme for Emacs;
getting started with live coding in Python inside Emacs; and more!
Join the FSF and friends in updating the Free Software Directory
Tens of thousands of people visit https://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.freenode.org, and usually include a handful
of regulars as well as newcomers. Freenode is accessible from any IRC
client -- everyone's welcome!
The next meeting is Friday, February 7th, from 12pm to 3pm EST (16:00
to 19:00 UTC). Details here:
LibrePlanet featured resource: LibrePlanet:Conference/2020
Every month on the LibrePlanet
wiki, we highlight one
resource that is interesting and useful -- often one that could use
your help.
For this month, we are highlighting LibrePlanet:Conference/2020,
which provides information about the upcoming LibrePlanet conference,
happening here in Boston on March 14-15! This page is here to help you
facilitate meetups with other free software supporters at the
conference, including themed dinners. 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 [email protected].
GNU Spotlight with Mike Gerwitz: 16 new GNU releases!
16 new GNU releases in the last month (as of January 26, 2020):
For announcements of most new GNU releases, subscribe to the info-gnu
mailing list: https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-gnu.
To download: nearly all GNU software is available from
https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/, or preferably one of its mirrors from
https://www.gnu.org/prep/ftp.html. You can use the URL
https://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
https://www.gnu.org/server/takeaction.html#unmaint if you'd like to
help. The general page on how to help GNU is at
https://www.gnu.org/help/help.html.
If you have a working or partly working program that you'd like to
offer to the GNU project as a GNU package, see
https://www.gnu.org/help/evaluation.html.
As always, please feel free to write to us at [email protected]
with any GNUish questions or suggestions for future installments.
FSF and other free software events
- February 3, 2020, Brussels, Belgium, International Copyleft Conference
- March 14-15, 2020, Boston, MA, LibrePlanet 2020: Free the Future
- July 22-28, 2020, Zacatecas, Mexico, GUADEC 2020
Thank GNUs!
We appreciate everyone who donates to the Free Software Foundation,
and 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:
- Adam Lewis
- Alex Boulette
- Alexandre BLANC
- Alison Chaiken
- Andrew Tosh
- Arcanite Solutions
- Brewster Kahle
- Brian Strand
- Catena Cyber
- Conan Chiles
- Dominic Walden
- Georges Sancosme
- Guillaume REMBERT
- Guus Sliepen
- Harry Mangalam
- Inouye Satoru
- Jason Heise
- Jean-Francois Blavier
- Jerome Quinn
- John McFarland
- John Owen
- Julia Kreger
- Kevin McCarthy
- Leslie Hawthorn
- Li-Cheng Tai
- Lincoln Clarete
- Luke Shumaker
- Marcus Pemer
- Mario Habdija
- Mark Harris
- Martin Jansche
- Masaru KIMURA
- Michael Cornelius
- Michael HENDERSON
- Michael Mauger
- Mikhail Pomaznoy
- Nathan Pooley
- Orlando Wingbrant
- Pablo Otero
- Paul Allen
- Peter Kunze
- Philipp Weis
- Puduvankunnil Udayakumar
- Richard Harlow
- Stefan Maric
- Steve Wickert
- Terence O'Gorman
- Thomas Saglio
- Tim Wilson
- Tony Chidester
- William Bolella
- Yidong Chong
You can add your name to this list by donating at
https://donate.fsf.org/.
GNU copyright contributions
Assigning your copyright to the Free Software Foundation helps us
defend the GNU GPL and keep software free. The following individuals
have assigned their copyright to the FSF (and allowed public
appreciation) in the past month:
- Jean-Christophe Helary (Texinfo)
- Justin Timmons (Emacs)
- Klaus Weiss (Emacs)
- Ladislav Michl (GNUstep)
- May Shao (glibc)
- Michael Piscopo (GNU Radio)
- Valerii Zapodovnikov (GNU Radio)
- Vincent Imbimbo (Bison)
Want to see your name on this list? Contribute to GNU and assign your
copyright to the FSF.
Translations of the Free Software Supporter
El Free Software Supporter está disponible en español. Para ver la
versión en español haz click aqui:
https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter/2020/febrero
Para cambiar las preferencias de usuario y recibir los próximos
números del Supporter en español, haz click aquí:
https://my.fsf.org/civicrm/profile/create?reset=1&gid=34&id=3095323&cs=ba8e3ef01e19d981eb4b3333a9ee4678_1580768728_168
Le Free Software Supporter est disponible en français. Pour voir la
version française cliquez ici:
https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter/2020/fevrier
Pour modifier vos préférences et recevoir les prochaines
publications du Supporter en français, cliquez ici:
https://my.fsf.org/civicrm/profile/create?reset=1&gid=34&id=3095323&cs=ba8e3ef01e19d981eb4b3333a9ee4678_1580768728_168
O Free Software Supporter está disponível em português. Para ver a
versão em português, clique aqui:
https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter/2020/fevereiro
Para alterar as preferências do usuário e receber as próximas
edições do Supporter em português, clique aqui:
https://my.fsf.org/civicrm/profile/create?reset=1&gid=34&id=3095323&cs=ba8e3ef01e19d981eb4b3333a9ee4678_1580768728_168
Take action with the FSF!
Contributions from thousands of individual members enable the FSF's
work. You can contribute by joining at https://my.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://my.fsf.org/join
The FSF is 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 campaigns section
(https://www.fsf.org/campaigns) and take action on software patents,
Digital Restrictions Management (DRM), free software adoption,
OpenDocument, and more.
#
Copyright © 2020 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
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