Welcome to the Free Software Supporter, the Free Software
Foundation's (FSF) monthly news digest and action update -- being read
by you and 231,747 other activists. That's 310 more than last month!
Let's work together to improve and spread free software
From June 26
Free software needs a strong community, made up of people just like you.
Think of how many of our rights and freedoms we exercise through software.
We must ensure that we, the users, are in control of this software, not
tech giants who deprive us of our rights! We still have a long way ahead
to achieve full software freedom, and we can only get there if we all work
together.
The FSF has a long history of advancing free software by working together
with groundbreaking projects. However, we can't do this without your help.
Let's work together to improve and spread free software. Share the message
using the hashtag #WorkingTogether on social media networks.
Want to read this newsletter translated into another language? Scroll
to the end to read the Supporter in French or Spanish.
Keep cool with GNU summer swag
From June 29
Update your summer outfit and summer reading list while also supporting
free software and the FSF. The GNU Press shop has plenty of
new goodies for you and all purchases directly support the mission of
the FSF to work together with others to improve and spread free software!
The GNU head T-shirt is back in a new color, we have a new DRM-free
living shirt for you, and the
Emacs deluxe bundle will keep you
entertained all summer long
We have nothing to hide, only everything to protect
From June 20
"I have nothing to hide." That's what most people say when a
conversation turns to the topic of privacy. Learn how to counter
this argument by watching the LibrePlanet 2023 lightning talk
that inspired this article, and read about free software tools
such as GNU Privacy Guard, Jami, and Tor that you can use
to ensure the privacy of yourself and your loved ones. This is
the first article in an ongoing series on privacy.
How do we counter the dangers resulting from the ongoing, worldwide
legislation like chat control, the EARN IT Act, and the so-called
"Online Safety Bill" that threatens end-to-end encryption and
privacy in general? Take action! Write a letter to the appropriate
agencies to let them know that you value your privacy and the privacy
of the people around you, and remind them of their duty to protect it.
This article, second in an ongoing series on privacy, includes sample
letters that you can use.
The US Federal Trade Commission solicited public comments
From June 13
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) solicited public comments, which
were due by June 21, on the business practices of so-called "cloud
computing" providers. The FSF received reports
from activists who made their voices heard based on our call, and we
are encouraged by their efforts in advocating to foster and protect
free software principles.
Note: The deadline for submitting public comments has ended, but you
can still send a message to the FTC webmaster to request that their
website functions without running nonfree JavaScript.
EU: Majority for AI Act -- and safeguards for free software
From June 14 by Free Software Foundation Europe
The European Parliament voted in favor of the AI Act. The Act contains
a far-reaching exemption for nonprofit organizations as well as small
free software projects. These exemptions must now be safeguarded in the
trialogue, in which the EU Parliament, the Council, and the Commission
will negotiate the final text of the Act. They also need to be anchored
in the Cyber Resilience Act and the Product Liability Directive.
The freedom-respecting phone number service JMP has
launched! All their code is AGPLv3+, and it lets you send and receive
SMS/MMS/group texts without nonfree baseband firmware (or any baseband
at all!) And, as a plus, FSF associate members get a gratis month with their FSF
Jabber ID!
Right to challenge patents used against free software is under threat
From June 2 by Joe Mullin
The US Patent Office has proposed new rules about who can challenge
wrongly granted patents. If the rules become official, they will offer new
protections to patent trolls. Challenging patents used against free
software will become far more onerous, and it will be impossible
for some. The deadline for submitting public comments has ended,
but you can still inform yourself about the issue to be prepared for
any future opportunities to give your input. Learn why software
patents are unjust at https://endsoftwarepatents.org/.
Join the FSF and friends in updating the Free Software Directory
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 Libera.Chat, and usually include a handful of
regulars as well as newcomers. Libera.Chat is accessible from any IRC
client -- Everyone's welcome!
The next meeting is Friday, July 7 from 12:00 to 3:00 EDT (16:00 to
19:00 UTC). Details here:
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 the Distro Guide, which provides
information about different freedom-respecting distros such as their
release cycles, graphical environment, and other information. You are
invited to adopt, spread and improve this important resource.
To download: nearly all GNU software is available most reliably from
https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/. Optionally, you may find faster download
speeds at a mirror located geographically closer to you by choosing
from the list of mirrors published at
https://www.gnu.org/prep/ftp.html, or you may use
https://ftpmirror.gnu.org/ to be automatically redirected to a
(hopefully) nearby and up-to-date mirror.
This month, we welcome GNU Chief Webmaster Jason Self who officially
joins Alexandre Oliva as co-maintainer of Linux-libre. Many thanks
Jason (and Alex) for all your work on GNU Linux-libre!
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.
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:
Pan Junjie (GNU Emacs)
Daniel Salvatore Oriani (GNU Emacs)
raf (GNU Findutils)
Peter Lucas Stuart (GNU Emacs)
Want to see your name on this list? Contribute to GNU and assign your
copyright to the FSF.
Contributions from thousands of individual associate members enable
the FSF's work. You can contribute by joining the FSF community,
gifting an associate membership to a loved one
or making a donation. 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 -- Let's work together to improve and spread free software!
https://www.fsf.org/appeal
Do you read and write Portuguese and English? The FSF is looking
for translators for the Free Software Supporter. Please send an
email to [email protected] with your interest and a list of your
experience and qualifications.
