Welcome to the Free Software Supporter, the Free Software
Foundation's (FSF) monthly news digest and action update -- being read
by you and 232,236 other activists.
Recently, the FSF has participated in many education initiatives, such as visiting Everett High School and speaking about free software.
Boost the FSF's advocacy for free software in education: Help us reach our stretch goal
From January 2
We're thankful for the support we've received so far in our current
fundraising campaign. Since the start of our fundraiser, free software
supporters like you have raised $339,156 to fuel free software
education. During this time, more than 120 new associate members have
joined the FSF community! Program manager Miriam Bastian shares some
of the FSF's recent efforts in education, the theme of our current
fundraiser, and announces a new stretch goal of raising $425,000 to
boost free software education.
Want to read this newsletter translated into another language? Scroll
to the end to read the Supporter in French, Spanish, or Portuguese.
LibrePlanet 2024: May 4 and 5, Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston, MA
From January 2
We have exciting news: we found a venue we think will be great for
LibrePlanet: the Wentworth Institute of Technology (WIT) at 550
Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115, USA, and we also have a new date!
LibrePlanet: Cultivating Community will be held at the WIT on May 4
and 5, 2024. We look forward to having LibrePlanet at this place of
learning and are sure that the conference will benefit from it.
A message from president Geoffrey Knauth: Reflecting on the origins of software freedom
From December 28
In his year-end message, FSF president Geoffrey Knauth reflects on the
Foundation's mission to protect software users everywhere. Knauth
says, "the FSF is the firmament created to protect and develop the GNU
Project, and, these days, other free software initiatives as
well. Today, GNU is the gold standard of what free software should be:
unambiguously devoted to your computing freedom and rigorously
maintained to provide maximum power and extensibility to users." Read
this and other inspiring words.
New friends-tier associate membership: Enjoy certain benefits and support the FSF from $35
From November 9
We would like to highlight a membership tier that was recently
introduced called friends. This new tier grants certain FSF
associate member benefits, such as the USB membership card with
Trisquel GNU/Linux, access to the member forum, use of our XMPP
(Jabber) server, and more for an annual payment of $35. This new tier
is part of an overall restructuring of our membership levels that was
announced to members in early November via email. Our hope is that
this will help even more people, in particular those on a tighter
budget and those for whom exchange rates may pose an additional
barrier, participate in the FSF's efforts as associate members.
Free software in education and free software education
From December 26
Free software is vital for education, and free software education is
vital for a free society. In an outreach effort to bring free software
philosophy to schools, FSF staff Devin Ulibarri and Miriam Bastian
visited Everett High School (EHS) in December and talked with
approximately sixty cybersecurity and robotics students about free
software. It was thrilling to meet all these students and to learn
what interests them. The teens asked us questions like "Is it safe to
use free software?" "What are examples of GNU software that is widely
used?" and "How can a high school student or someone who is just
starting college get involved with free software projects?" Read the
article, review our newest school handouts, and participate in our
efforts to bring free software into education.
Licensing & Compliance Lab updates and why we need your support to educate, serve the free software community
From December 21
The newest member of the Licensing and Compliance Lab shares his
background as well as some of the work he's been a part of since he
began working at the FSF. With licensing and compliance manager Kris
Siewicz on board, the FSF has been able to more actively defend free
software. For example, the Lab took action against a practice of
adding contradictory terms to GNU licenses. In addition to this, the
FSF has had an 11% increase in copyright assignments in the 2023
financial year; has been able to answers questions sent to
[email protected], which often inform updates to the public FAQ and
other publications; and has now reached nearly 17,000 free software
packages listed in the Free Software Directory (FSD).
Our work isn't over: Keep fighting for the freedom to learn
From December 19
Thanks to digital media, and for the first time in history, free (as
in freedom), universal education for all is within reach. Corporate
greed, however, is what stands in the way of this goal. OverDrive and
Follet have used the millions of dollars and incredible engineering
talent they have at their disposal to develop new ways to restrict
readers and spy on them, all while claiming to uphold core educational
principles like universal access and freedom from censorship. IDAD may
be over for this year, but our work against DRM continues. We invite
you to join us in campaigning against DRM in whatever way interests
you.
Share this holiday fairy tale with your loved ones
From December 12
A company offers you a tool to make your life easier, but, when you
use it, you find out that the tool forces you to use it only in the
way the tool's manufacturer approves. Does this story ring a bell?
It's what millions of software users worldwide experience again and
again, day after day. It's the story of Wendell the Elf and the
ShoeTool.
Watch the fairy tale of Wendell the Elf and the ShoeTool to remind
yourself why you shouldn't let your tools tell you how to use them.
Thanks to overwhelming support, we were able to meet our December 14 matching campaign goal!
From December 11, updated December 15
Thanks to overwhelming support, we were able to meet our matching
campaign goal. However, the fundraiser is still in full swing. Help us
reach our goal of $425,000: https://www.fsf.org/appeal/
In this issue of the Bulletin, you'll read and learn about: the
reasons why we stand firm in our resolve for freedom; how to properly
license your program under a free software license; an examination of
trends toward investing in machine potential in lieu of human
potential; what JShelter is, how it protects your online privacy, and
how you can help improve it; and the challenges to buying a house in
freedom.
With an associate membership, you can start a Jitsi room and invite
whoever you please, whether or not they have an FSF account. You're
not handing over your credentials to Apple or Google by proxy, only
the bare minimum required to authenticate you -- to a small nonprofit
that cares so strongly about your and our digital autonomy that we
work harder than organizations at twice or ten (or more!) times our
size, against the combined might of just about every major tech
corporation on the planet.
US Federal employees and retirees: Contribute conveniently through the Combined Federal Campaign
From December 4
US federal employees and retirees can support the Free Software
Foundation (FSF) in its mission to protect computer users' freedoms
through the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). Pledges to support the
FSF through the CFC can be made by designating the FSF as the
beneficiary charity. The FSF's CFC ID is 63210. There are four options
to give: giving through payroll deduction, credit/debit card, e-check,
or pledging volunteer hours. Donors can pledge until the end of the
campaign period on January 15, 2024.
A Jami Manifest to keep the freedom of your communications
From December 13 by Cyrille Béraud
Free Software Award-winning project and GNU package Jami is asking for
your support. Cyrille Béraud, president of Savoir-faire Linux Inc. the
company behind the Jami project, tells us about the work that goes
into its development, the importance of privacy in communication, and
how the free/libre tool helps people communicate confidently in
freedom. Jami's mission is to provide everyone with free, secure
communication software that respects their privacy. Please share the
word, and consider making a contribution to their cause.
Polish hackers repaired trains the manufacturer artificially bricked. Now the train company is threatening them
From December 13 by Jason Koebler
At the junction of DRM and Right to Repair, we learned this month
about Polish trains that stopped working after they were brought to an
independent repair shop for maintenance. It turns out that the trains
were programmed to stop working when such "unauthorized" repairs are
attempted and became useless. Fortunately, hackers were called upon to
fix these trains. The hackers shared their methods in a talk recorded
later in the month. For devices -- whether they be laptops, phones,
cars, or trains -- to truly have a right to repair, the four freedoms
of free software are a necessity.
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, January 5 from 12:00 to 15:00 EST (17:00
to 20:00 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 Teaching Materials, which provides
information about educational materials that can be used in classrooms
to teach youth about free software and why it's important. 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.
May 4-5, 2024, Wentworth Institute of Technology, LP 2024
July 12-14, 2024, St. John's University, Queens, New York City, HOPE XV
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.
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:
Andriy Gapon (GDB)
Augustin Chéneau (GNU Emacs)
Mekeor Melire (GNU Emacs)
Rahul Juliato (GNU Emacs)
Sergei Kostiaev (GNU Emacs)
Zeck S. (GDB)
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 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:
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.
