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Read and share online: https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter/2024/november
Welcome to the Free Software Supporter, the Free Software
Foundation's (FSF) monthly news digest and action update -- being read
by you and 231,355 other activists.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- FSF is working on freedom in machine learning applications
- FSF associate members to assist in review of current board members
- Winamp failed to confuse people about software freedom
- Free Software Foundation to serve on "artificial intelligence" safety consortium
- OSAID erodes the meaning of "open source"
- Winners of the 2024 Youth Hacking 4 Freedom announced
- The fediverse is getting its own TikTok competitor called Loops
- Disability rights are technology rights
- Premiere of the Ada & Zangemann movie on Ada Lovelace Day
- October GNU Emacs news
- Join the FSF and friends in updating the Free Software Directory
- LibrePlanet featured resource: LibrePlanet Gaming Collective
- October GNU Spotlight with Amin Bandali: Seven 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/2024/november
Encourage your friends to subscribe and help us build an audience by
adding our subscriber widget to your website.
Miss an issue? You can catch up on back issues at
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Want to read this newsletter translated into another language? Scroll
to the end to read the Supporter in French or Spanish.
FSF is working on freedom in machine learning applications
From October 22
The FSF has set up a working group in order to come to a
conclusion about what criteria a machine learning application
should meet in order to be considered free (as in freedom). The
FSF published a preliminary statement on the conclusions we have
reached so far. Importantly, and consistent with the free
software definition, we believe that for a machine learning
application to be free, the software should be free, and that its
training data and related scripts should respect all users,
following the four freedoms.
FSF associate members to assist in review of current board members
From October 21
As previously announced, the FSF board of directors has turned its
attention inward in a review of its current board members serving
before March 1, 2024. The board members under review in this process
are Ian Kelling, Geoff Knauth, Henry Poole, Richard Stallman, and
Gerald Sussman. All associate members who fit the criteria are called
to ask questions and provide information that will be useful to voting
members in making their decisions. The discussion forum opened on
October 21, 2024 and is expected to conclude the first week of
December. If you're not yet an associate member, you can become one
and weigh in on future discussions related to the FSF's governance.
Winamp failed to confuse people about software freedom
From October 17
A little over a month ago, we heard that the source code of Winamp was
published under a license (WCL) that claimed to be a "free, copyleft
license," and promised users the freedom to use, modify, and study the
software. This turned out to not be the truth, due to multiple
restrictions that ultimately resulted in a lot of backlash after users
discovered Winamp wasn't free software like it claimed to be.
Confusing, and deliberately or not, deceptive licenses such as WCL are
unfortunately not unheard of, and are quite often nonfree contrary to
company proclamations. Anyone who believes in user freedom would do
well to keep an eye out, but also to avoid creating or using confusing
licenses, and report them if you encounter them.
Free Software Foundation to serve on "artificial intelligence" safety consortium
From October 8
The FSF will be joining representatives from more than 600 different
institutions in discussions about the safety of (so-called) artificial
intelligence in the US National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST)'s consortium. we will do our utmost to ensure that the free
software perspective is represented in these discussions, as well as
pushing for conclusions that respect and prioritize individual user
freedom.
OSAID erodes the meaning of "open source"
From October 31 by Bradley M. Kuhn
The Open Source Initiative (OSI)'s definition for so-called Open
Source Artificial Intelligence (OSAID) fails to give users freedom.
Unfortunately for the free software movement, the OSAID features an
especially fatal oversight: a failure to require reproducibility for
large language models. This is in addition to the problems inherent in
the term "open source" itself. The OSI's stated reasoning for
launching this weak and sloppy definition now is based on the belief
"there was no point in publishing a definition that no existing AI
system could currently meet." In its rush to capitalize on hype and be
used by the industry, the OSI makes the fatal mistake of leaving
freedom behind -- and increases the disparity between "open source"
and freedom. Read also the FSF's post on freedom in Machine Learning
applications and SFC's earlier aspirational statement on the topic.
Winners of the 2024 Youth Hacking 4 Freedom announced
From October 27 by the Free Software Foundation Europe
Last week, European developers aged fourteen to eighteen showcased
their programming skills and creativity at the third Youth Hacking 4
Freedom (YH4F) competition, organized by Free Software Foundation
Europe. YH4F is a growing European programming competition designed to
encourage younger developers of many different backgrounds to develop
free software projects that can help with difficulties in their
communities. Many younger developers participated in the competition,
with six winners overall being chosen by the jury and invited to the
awards ceremony in Brussels to demonstrate their projects. The six
finalists worked on a wide range of projects that are certainly worth
learning a bit more about.
The fediverse is getting its own TikTok competitor called Loops
From October 25 by Sarah Perez
Choice is an essential component of freedom, but just because you have
a choice doesn't mean either of the options respects your user freedom,
such as with TikTok and newcomer Loops. Loops, an app for sharing and
commenting on short, looping videos, is joining the fediverse and
claims it will be more respectful of user data than its competitor
TikTok. While this may be true, noticeably absent from Loops plans for
integration with ActivityPub (the protocol that powers Mastodon and
PeerTube) are indicators that Loops ever intends to be published under
a GPL. Whether this is a mere oversight or intentional remains to be
seen, but regardless, according to its current terms of service, Loops
will violate user freedom, for example, by not allowing users to copy
or adapt the software. The founder is asking for feedback, so express
that you will only consider using a Loops that respects all user
freedoms, and recommend that Loops be licensed under the GNU General
Public License.
Disability rights are technology rights
From October 24 by Cory Doctorow
In the fight for free software, there is so much at stake, including
control over your own body. Unfortunately, for a lot of assistive
tech, these tools are often built without insight from the people who
benefit from the tech and are released under extremely restrictive
licenses, ultimately making it next to impossible, or at least illegal
under the DMCA, to alter these assistive technologies. For people who
use assistive technology, having the right to understand, modify, and
improve a medical device or program to fit their needs and wants may
be a deciding factor in their quality of life. Assistive technologies,
such as powered wheelchairs, glucose monitors, and neural implants,
can make a massive difference in how fulfilling your life is. If you
don't use assistive technology, now is a good time to learn about one
and all of the ways that someone might need or want to modify it.
Premiere of the Ada & Zangemann movie on Ada Lovelace Day
From October 2 by the Free Software Foundation Europe
On the fifteenth anniversary of Ada Lovelace Day, the FSFE hosted the
English premiere of the film adaptation of the 2022 children's book
Ada & Zangemann - A Tale of Software, Skateboards, and Raspberry Ice
Cream. The story follows curious tinker Ada, who realizes through
inventor Zangemann's actions how important technology is in her life
and in that of others. Both the book and the film are an excellent
introduction to free software concepts not only for kids, but also for
adults who aren't that familiar with free software yet. If you missed
the premiere, you can still watch (or rewatch) the film Ada &
Zangemann - A Tale of Software, Skateboards, and Raspberry Ice Cream
at fsfe.org, so grab some popcorn and a friend for a movie night.
October GNU Emacs news
From October 31 by Sacha Chua
In these issues: theme loading macros for light/dark, Emacs for Python and poetry, and more!
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 November 8 from 12:00 to 15:00 EST (17:00 to 20:00
UTC). Details here: https://www.fsf.org/events/fsd-2024-11-08-irc
LibrePlanet featured resource: LibrePlanet Gaming Collective
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 LibrePlanet Gaming
Collective, which is a group of free software activists organized
around their enthusiasm for video games. By gathering around free
software video games, we are furthering the ideals of free software
and related issues as necessary means for a free society. You are
invited to adopt, spread and improve this community resource.
Do you have a suggestion for next month's featured resource? Let us
know at [email protected].
October GNU Spotlight with Amin Bandali: Seven new GNU releases!
Seven new GNU releases in the last month (as of October 31, 2024):
For a full list with descriptions, please see: https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/october-gnu-spotlight-with-amin-bandali
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 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.
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 me, [email protected],
with any GNUish questions or suggestions for future installments.
FSF and other free software events
- November 8, 2024, Big Time Brewery & Alehouse, Seattle, WA, FSF community meetup
- November 8-9, 2024, Online and University of Washington, Seattle, WA, SeaGL
- November 15-16, 2024, Hyatt Regency Columbus Hilton Columbus, Colombus, OH, OLF
- December 7-8, 2024, online, EmacsConf
- December 7-8, 2024, Swiss satellite - Lucerne, Switzerland, EmacsConf
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:
- Amit Behera
- Daniel Rostovtsev
- Hideki Igarashi
- Matias Atria
- Michael Lalumiere
- Nahuel Sacchetti
- Vanguard Charitable
- ZEISS Digital Partners - Carl Zeiss AG
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:
- Stuart Ferguson (GNU Awk)
- Pranshu Sharma (GNU Emacs)
- Scott Bell (GNU Emacs)
- Konstantinos Eleftheriou (GCC, GDB, Glibc, GNU Binutilis)
- Valentino Reisfeld (GNU Emacs)
- Kamila Szewczyk (GNU Automake)
- Sam Russell (Gnulib)
- Kristoffer Balintona (GNU Emacs)
- Samuel Jackson (GNU Emacs)
- Jørgen Kvalsvik (GNU Emacs)
- Thanos Apollo (GNU Emacs)
- Umut Thuna Akgul (GNU Emacs)
- Kong YiTong (GNU Emacs)
Want to see your name on this list? Contribute to GNU and assign your
copyright to the FSF.
Translations of the Free Software Supporter
Free Software Supporter está disponible en español. Para ver la
versión en español haz click aquí:
https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter/2024/noviembre
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=9d80bda1096c843f0a7abd30cae8c1ce_1730520769_168
Le Free Software Supporter est disponible en français. Pour voir la
version française cliquez ici:
https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter/2024/novembre
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=9d80bda1096c843f0a7abd30cae8c1ce_1730520769_168
Take action with 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:
I'm an FSF member -- Help us support software freedom!
https://my.fsf.org/join
The FSF is always looking for
volunteers. 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 and take action on software
patents, Digital Restrictions
Management, free
software adoption,
OpenDocument,
and more.
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.
Copyright © 2024 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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