*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,

*This year end, we are focusing on growing the community further,
with a goal of gaining [500 new associate members before December
31st][0]. The deadline is only one day away—or, depending on
where you are located, today!—and we are not there yet. We need
your support to reach—and hopefully exceed—this goal. The more
members we can count, the better equipped we are to defend
\#UserFreedom, and educate people about its importance. Below is a
message from our president, Geoffrey Knauth, reflecting on the
FSF's mission to protect software users everywhere.*

[0]: [link removed]

*We're so grateful for your commitment to free
software. If you can afford to, we hope you'll consider helping us
even more, by turning this commitment into [an associate
membership][4] for just as little as $10 per month ($5 for
students), or $120 per year. You can also help bring us one step
closer to software freedom by [sharing your commitment][1], along
with this article, with people in your community and on your social
media using the \#UserFreedom hashtag. By inspiring others to
join, we can continue to help computer users find freedom
everywhere.*

[1]: [link removed]
[4]: [link removed]

---
Since its founding, the Free Software Foundation (FSF) and
thousands of volunteers have worked hard to make computing safe
for users, liberating them to learn the best of the arts of
computer science from each other and to share freely their
creations, while protecting users from exploitative licenses and
intrusions of governments and corporations that put their
interests ahead of your computing freedom.

In 2021, it became very clear that people in the free software
community care deeply about the values enshrined in the FSF
mission and the [four freedoms][6]. And this level of engagement
requires improved governance from the Board of Directors in
the form of visibility in our decision-making, and mechanisms
that encourage members to discuss and advance candidates for
selection to the board. The structure up to now has been too
opaque. Consequently, the board has [worked very hard][7] this year
with outside experts to bring FSF associate members more
transparency and give them a voice in governance going forward.
Besides what we've [already announced][7], more details will be
coming soon.

[6]: [link removed]
[7]: [link removed]

In anticipation of the release of a formal process for
proposing board candidates, you can already start to think about
people in the free software community whom you admire and why. Ask
them if they would like to be part of the future governance of
the FSF. If those people are interested, FSF associate members
will be able to nominate them. We must do this now, so that the
Foundation can continue to protect computer users' freedom far
into the future.

Imagine a world in which only governments and corporations have a
say in how you, the individual, use your own computer. I don't
think you want that particularly limited future for yourself or
your children. The FSF helps give voice to the individual who wants
protection in the form of rights, status, and freedom in
computing. We rely on your participation and support.

In the spirit of holiday cheer, doing something for software
freedom can be as small as voicing your support for someone, or a
group of people, who have made your life better through a software
package they developed. Consider starting the new year by sending
them some cheer via a thank you note for the work they do.

As 2021 comes to a close, please also consider [supporting the
FSF][8], so that our hard-working and dedicated staff may
continue the work they do behind the scenes to secure
freedom-preserving infrastructure, develop and promote advocacy,
and deliver services to you. Along with the developers of free
software, our staff are often the unsung heroes. They are
dedicated, smart, wise and considerate. I wish them a free and
Happy New Year just as much as I do you.

[8]: [link removed]

Be well and be free,

Geoff Knauth
President


--
* Follow us on Mastodon at <[link removed]>, GNU social at
<[link removed]>, PeerTube at <[link removed]>, and on Twitter at @fsf.
* Read about why we use Twitter, but only with caveats at <[link removed]>.
* Subscribe to our RSS feeds at <[link removed]>.
* Join us as an associate member at <[link removed]>.
* Read our Privacy Policy at <[link removed]>.

Sent from the Free Software Foundation,

51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor
Boston, Massachusetts 02110-1335
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].