*Please consider adding <[email protected]> to your address book, which
will ensure that our messages reach you and not your spam box!*

*Read and share online:
<[link removed]>*


Dear Free Software Supporter,

When the Free Software Foundation (FSF) began [forty years][1] ago,
its [primary focus][2] was providing a legal home for the GNU
operating system and developing vital GNU software like [Bash][3] and
the [GNU Core Utilities][4] (Coreutils). As time has gone on, our work
advocating for free software rather than simply writing it has become
more varied and elaborate, partially in response to the billions of
dollars corporations like Microsoft and Apple spend promoting
proprietary software that denies its users freedom. We now have more
[campaigns][5] than ever, some targeting threats like
[surveillance][6] and [Digital Restrictions Management][7], others
[introducing users to free software][8] or fighting for the [right to
repair][9]. All our campaigns defy dystopia and work toward a future
in which all users can enjoy user freedom.

[1]: [link removed]
[2]: [link removed]
[3]: [link removed]
[4]: [link removed]
[5]: [link removed]
[6]: [link removed]
[7]: [link removed]
[8]: [link removed]
[9]: [link removed]

Twice a year, the tech, licensing, and campaigns teams inform you,
the FSF's supporters, on what we've accomplished.

We're proud to present to you what the campaigns team has accomplished
with the help of the community in just these last six months:

* Together with free software enthusiasts all over the world, we had
twenty-nine [LibreLocal meetups][10] in May alone. The FSF
supported several of these meetups with a financial contribution,
and almost all of them with coordination and promotion. FSF staff
spoke at eight community meetups around the world, two of which
were recorded and published on our [PeerTube][11] channel so that
others can watch [Greg Farough's][12] introduction to the FSF and
the LibrePlanet community for the Shiraz, Iran event and [my][13]
presentation for the Thessaloniki, Greece meetup. We have great
news for those who enjoyed the LibreLocal meetups: there are still
[more][22] to come.

[10]: [link removed]
[11]: [link removed]
[12]: [link removed]
[13]: [link removed]
[22]: [link removed]

* We voiced our outrage about Microsoft's latest injustice to require
a hardware TPM module for Windows 11 users as part of our
[Defective by Design][7] campaign. We then asked you to [keep
putting pressure on Microsoft][16], since Microsoft tyrannically
decided to cease security updates for Windows 10;

[7]: [link removed]
[16]: [link removed]

* Parts of the IRS tax filing software, [Direct File][14], got
released to the people as free software, thanks to your letters to
the IRS in response to our [call to advocate for freedom-respecting
tax filing software][15].

[14]: [link removed]
[15]: [link removed]

* We sourced our now well-known [FSF40 logo][17] from the free
software community through a [logo contest][18];

[17]: [link removed]
[18]: [link removed]

* We cataloged historic items that speak to the [history][19] of the
free software movement and entrusted a select number of them to the
community in the first ever FSF memorabilia [auction][20];

[19]: [link removed]
[20]: [link removed]

* We were, and still are, busy organizing the [FSF40 hackathon][21]
as well as the [celebration event][1] we're planning for October 4;

[21]: [link removed]
[1]: [link removed]

* We highlighted a bunch of free software activists in our [Working
Together for Free Software series][23] to inspire others to do the
same;

[23]: [link removed]

* We recorded video tutorials on how to [edit the LibrePlanet
wiki][24], as well as how to [open a terminal][25], and [move around
when using the command line][26]. All these tutorials were
published our [PeerTube][11] channel;

[24]: [link removed]
[25]: [link removed]
[26]: [link removed]
[11]: [link removed]

* We facilitated a smooth [running of the board process][27]. This
led to the introduction of several new, permanent FSF board and
voting members, meaning the FSF's organizational structure is
stronger and more committed than ever;

[27]: [link removed]

* We invited the free software community to submit nominations for
the 2024 [Free Software Awards][28];

[28]: [link removed]

* Campaigns manager Greg Farough continued to serve as your software
freedom advocate on the [machine learning safety consortium][29] of
the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST); and

[29]: [link removed]

* As always, we reported on important news about software freedom
such as the [US Social Security Administration reversing its
freedom-impeding identity verification policy][30] and threats to
user freedom such as [Amazon tightening the digital handcuffs][31].

In sum, we've written, thoroughly reviewed, and published thirty-two
blog posts and press releases, plus six [newsletters][32] in English,
French, and Spanish, and–not to forget–the spring *[Bulletin][33]*
with five special articles, which should reach you soon!

[30]: [link removed]
[31]: [link removed]
[32]: [link removed]
[33]: [link removed]

We're only halfway through 2025, and the best is yet to come. To give
you just a few examples: there are [more LibreLocal meetups][22] to
come, the in-person [celebration][1] on October 4, and the [FSF40
hackathon][21]. On top of our existing [campaigns][34] for software
freedom, we also plan to give more talks and workshops, turn our
[command line videos][26] into a series, and launch a training program
for volunteers so that they can visit schools in their area to educate
students and teachers about free software.

[22]: [link removed]
[1]: [link removed]
[21]: [link removed]
[34]: [link removed]
[26]: [link removed]

In a world where technology is becoming increasingly predatory, a
dystopian reality seems unavoidable. It can feel like a small number
of people are dictating how we live our lives. Free software can stand
against the aspects of dystopia caused by proprietary software. It is
the [antithesis to a dystopian reality][35] instilled in software subjection,
because with libre software, you, the user, have full control over the
software vital to your daily life.

[35]: [link removed]

The FSF has been campaigning for your user freedom for forty years and
won't stop until we have achieved software freedom for all computer
users. However, we can't prevent a dystopian future alone -- we need you.


Can you join us in our crucial work to guard user freedom and defy
dystopia? [Become an associate member][44] today! Every associate
member counts, and every new member will help us reach our fundraising
[goal][35] of 200 new members. By supporting us today, you help defy
dystopia.

We know not everyone is in a position to donate $140 USD or more,
which is why we also offer the Friends membership at $35 USD that
comes with a few less [benefits][41]. In addition, you can now apply
to receive a [sponsored FSF membership][42].

[44]: [link removed]
[41]: [link removed]
[42]: [link removed]
[35]: [link removed]

Our advocacy will continue to grow and expand as needed -- until
we've defeated dystopia for good. We rely on *your* commitment to
software freedom to help fuel our own. With every refusal to use a
nonfree program, and promotion of a free one in its place, we come
closer to an autonomous digital future for all.

Thank you for your support,

Miriam Bastian
Program Manager
--
Interested in helping us expand our reach?

* Follow us on Mastodon at <[link removed]> and PeerTube at <[link removed]>, showing your support for federated social networks.
* Get active on the LibrePlanet wiki: <[link removed]>.
* Share on your blog or [social network]([link removed]) that you support us, and why you do so.
* Subscribe to our RSS feeds: <[link removed]>.
* Join us as an associate member: <[link removed]>; and display your membership button (<[link removed]>) on your website.

Read our Privacy Policy: <[link removed]>.

Sent from the Free Software Foundation,

31 Milk Street
# 960789
Boston, Massachusetts 02196
United States


You can unsubscribe from this mailing list by visiting

[link removed].
To stop all email from the Free Software Foundation, including Defective by Design,
and the Free Software Supporter newsletter, visit

[link removed].