Welcome to the Free Software Supporter, the Free Software
Foundation's (FSF) monthly news digest and action update -- being read
by you and 230,967 other activists.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Join us in saying goodbye to our beloved office on August 16!
Apple vs EU commission: The FSFE intervenes to safeguard free software
FlightAware customer data left exposed for over three years
Microsoft’s latest security update has ruined dual-boot Windows and Linux PCs
Court to California: Try a privacy law, not online censorship
Critics of China’s proposed National Internet ID System hit with online bans, censorship, harassment
Breaking up Google would offer a chance to remodel the web
GNU MediaGoblin 0.14.0 released
August GNU Emacs news
Join the FSF and friends in updating the Free Software Directory
LibrePlanet featured resource: LibrePlanet Artists
August GNU Spotlight with Amin Bandali: Fifteen new GNU releases!
Want to read this newsletter translated into another language? Scroll
to the end to read the Supporter in French, Portuguese, or Spanish.
Join us in saying goodbye to our beloved office on August 16!
From August 5 by FSF and August 15 by Christine Hall
The rumors are true -- the FSF is going fully remote! Last month, we
welcomed many free software activists to our office on 51 Franklin
Street, our home for almost 20 years. We're very excited for this new
chapter in the FSF's history, and are confident that we are now very
well-positioned to continue advocating for user freedom far into the
future. If you missed the party, or haven't visited the office in a while,
we have a photo tour of our workspace from 2010 below. Our
executive director, Zoë Kooyman, also remarked on our shift to remote
work, why we made this decision, and our hopes for how this change
will strengthen the FSF.
Apple vs EU commission: The FSFE intervenes to safeguard free software
From August 8
The Free Software Foundation Europe will be intervening in litigation
brought by Apple against the European Commission before the Court
of Justice of the European Union with the goal of protecting free
software against another attempt at corporate control of software.
Apple is seemingly tireless in seeking new ways to avoid DMA
obligations, and there are probably still a few more developments
on the way before this case can be closed.
FlightAware customer data left exposed for over three years
From August 21 by Isobel O'Sullivan
It seems that data leaks, faulty updates, and cybersecurity attacks are
endemic right now, but what about a data exposure lasting over three
years? Since 2021, FlightAware's customer personal data has been
available for anyone to access since 2021 because of a "configuration
error," and was only discovered a few weeks ago. Not only is it widely
acceptable for proprietary software companies to bar us from
studying whether software is actually respecting our data, it seems
that we can't trust them to discover problems in a reasonable time
frame, either. If you or anyone you know has an account with
FlightAware, it might be time to reconsider how wise that is.
Microsoft’s latest security update has ruined dual-boot Windows and Linux PCs
From August 21 by Tom Warren
Microsoft is in the news this month for interfering with GNU/Linux
systems via their latest security update that is now blocking GNU/Linux
installs from booting properly on dual-boot devices. Reportedly, this
patch was intended to enhance Windows security by obstructing
vulnerable GNU/Linux boot loaders, and was not supposed to be applied
to dual-boot systems. We now know that this was an inaccurate
assumption by Microsoft that has impacted GNU/Linux dual-boot users
worldwide, and Microsoft seems to have made zero plans to remedy
the issues caused by their update. If you were affected by this update
(and need help getting around these issues) or simply want to know
more about how it has messed with dual-boot Windows and GNU/Linux
devices, take a look at the Verge article below.
Court to California: Try a privacy law, not online censorship
From August 19 by Adam Schwartz, Mario Trujillo, and Aaron Mackey
Free speech and privacy won a victory last month after a federal appellate
court last week prevented enforcement of the 2022 California
Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (CAADCA) based on the finding that
parts of it likely violate the First Amendment, and that other parts require
further review by the lower court. The CAADCA requires a majority of
businesses to use invasive age-detection technology and/or only publish
content deemed "age-appropriate," which not only forces users to provide
an excessive amount of personal data, but also burdens online speech
(both adults and minors), likely including access to news about current
events and community resources for mental health help and abuse. At
least for now, the right for internet users of all ages to access and
disseminate lawful speech online is protected in California.
Critics of China’s proposed National Internet ID System hit with online bans, censorship, harassment
From August 9 by Cindy Carter
A few weeks ago, the Ministry of Public Security and the Cyberspace
Administration of China published a draft law proposing a "voluntary"
national Internet ID program and opened it up for public comment.
Since then, there has been significant public discussion about the
proposed draft law as well as censorship of this discussion, ranging
from blocking related search terms to disabling comment sections
on verified posts. This draft law, should it pass (which seems likely
right now) will almost certainly chill free speech (among other
negative effects), and could set a precedent for other countries.
Breaking up Google would offer a chance to remodel the web
From August 6 by Natasha Lomas (TechCrunch) and August 14 (The Guardian)
A US district court found Google guilty of operating an illegal
monopoly earlier this month. While it is encouraging to see Google
confronted with their blatant abuse of power over computer users,
we should remain vigilant about any "remedies" that they offer. It's
still too early to say whether any "solutions" that will be coming out
of this ruling will be a win or loss for user freedom, especially
knowing that Google doesn't prioritize user freedom or privacy.
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!
LibrePlanet featured resource: LibrePlanet Artists
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 Artists, which is a
network of graphic designers, photographers, illustrators, videographers,
animators, and audio engineers committed to creating free artwork only
using free software. They help to create educational materials and other
media for LibrePlanet teams, as well as to advocate for free software
generally.
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.
October 27-29, 2024, Raleigh Convention Center, Raleigh, NC, ATO
November 8-9, 2024, Online and University of Washington, Seattle, WA, SeaGL
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.
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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.
