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Read and share online: https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter/2022/january
Welcome to the Free Software Supporter, the Free Software Foundation's (FSF)
monthly news digest and action update -- being read by you and 227,399
other activists.
Take the next step to software freedom: Become a member before Jan. 20
From January 1
"I wholly support the ideals of free software, and clearly the
world is a better place because of you. I think
this "experiment" has now been proven! The ideals of FSF work,
period." -- Jonathan Krell, FSF associate member
We've been inspired by seeing the 278 new associate members who
have decided to help us ring in the new year by joining the Free
Software Foundation (FSF). We're sincerely grateful for the way
they've answered the call by standing up for software
freedom. We're just as grateful for all of the donations and
membership renewals we've had during our year-end drive. Since
we've seen a strong show of support in the latter half of our
appeal, we're extending the date to join and still receive one of
the special pins we're offering to January 20th.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- A message from FSF president Geoff Knauth: Will you support user freedom by helping to reach our membership goal?
- FSF adopts new governance framework for board members
- IDAD 2021: Counteracting Disney+'s attack on culture
- Support the Freedom Ladder campaign: Lessons we learned so far and what's next
- Find your free software footing with the FSF Licensing and Compliance Lab
- Support the FSF through the GNU Press shop with great holiday picks
- Fall Bulletin: Package management, e-books, AGPL, and more
- Be part of LibrePlanet 2022!
- Last minute gift ideas: Give an FSF membership and other free software gifts
- The big change
- Groundbreaking acknowledgment of free software in Italy
- GCompris releases version 2.0
- Graphics editor Krita releases v5.0
- Children's book published about software, skateboards, and raspberry ice cream
- One more small step toward the right to software repair
- End-to-end voice, video and chat communication platform GNU Jami releases Taranis, a major release
- December GNU Emacs news
- Join the FSF and friends in updating the Free Software Directory
- LibrePlanet featured resource: Freedom Ladder Stories
- GNU Spotlight with Mike Gerwitz: Thirteen 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/2022/january
Encourage your friends to subscribe and help us build an audience by
adding our subscriber widget to your Web site.
Miss an issue? You can catch up on back issues at
https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter.
Want to read this newsletter translated into another language? Scroll
to the end to read the Supporter in French or Spanish.
A message from FSF president Geoff Knauth: Will you support user freedom by helping to reach our membership goal?
From December 30
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. 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 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, more details will
be coming soon.
FSF adopts new governance framework for board members
From December 16
The board of the Free Software Foundation has approved and
implemented two new measures designed to help make FSF governance
more transparent, accountable, ethical, and responsible. They are
a Board Member Agreement that enumerates the responsibilities of
board members, and a Code of Ethics that lays out principles to
guide their decision-making and activities.
IDAD 2021: Counteracting Disney+'s attack on culture
From December 28
Our fifteenth annual International Day Against DRM (IDAD) might
be over, but the fight against Digital Restrictions
Management (DRM) continues. Each year, the Free Software
Foundation and its Defective by Design campaign distill
what we've learned throughout the year in our anti-DRM activism
on one special day: a day especially supportive to those
retailers and publishers who rightly refuse to foist DRM on their
customers, and a day especially critical of those who haven't
gotten the message that our real digital rights cannot be
restricted. For those of us steeped in the Defective by Design
campaign, IDAD never fails to provide moments that inspire us in
our work for the coming year.
This year, those moments came in the form of reviews that
activists around the world left for Disney+ following our call to
help educate those who are about to subscribe to the platform on
what they really need to know about Disney+: not its alleged
features, not the films or television shows it might have, but
the way it infringes on their rights by its use of DRM. We
couldn't agree more with one reviewer, who said that they wanted
to be "treat[ed] as a valued client and not as a revenue source
to be exploited."
Support the Freedom Ladder campaign: Lessons we learned so far and what's next
From December 21
This year, we launched the "Freedom Ladder" campaign. Rather than
presenting a finished campaign right out of the gate, the Freedom
Ladder is a work in progress, and will always be one. It is also
the first and only campaign in which the Free Software
Foundation will engage with the nuances of the strict
standards for software freedom that we ourselves adhere to
fully. The ultimate goal of this campaign is for everyone to
reach full freedom, as defined by the FSF's unflinching standard:
all software anyone uses on any computer must be under terms that
respect four key freedoms. To reach this goal, everyone has to
climb a sort of ladder, working over time toward a freer
existence. We want to support each and every choice they make to
use free software or refuse proprietary software, because each
such choice is a step in the right direction.
Find your free software footing with the FSF Licensing and Compliance Lab
From December 14
As a computer user, your first step towards software freedom does
not need to begin with a law degree or with knowledge of free
software licensing. It can simply begin with the desire to use a
computer program in the way you envision. Taking a moment to
understand the meaning of free software is making the first step
into a much larger world, and provides you with an opportunity to
find your place in the free software movement. Here at the FSF
Licensing & Compliance Lab, we labor enthusiastically to get the
word out, protect the foundations on which free software is
built, and provide resources to empower those wishing to
participate.
Support the FSF through the GNU Press shop with great holiday picks
From December 7
Greetings from the GNU Press shop! My name is Davis Remmel, and I
am excited to introduce myself as the new operations assistant at
the Free Software Foundation. These past few weeks I've
been working through our backlog of orders, and I'm pleased to
say that we are just about caught up and processing new orders on
our normal timeline.
Davis made some recommendations on the great FSF gear you can
purchase at the GNU Press Shop to help support the FSF.
Fall Bulletin: Package management, e-books, AGPL, and more
From December 9
As we reach the close of another year of fighting for free
software, and in what is for many people the most turbulent of
times, we have finalized another Free Software Foundation
Bulletin. Our biannual magazine is printed as well as presented
online -- if you've received it in the mail, we encourage you to post
a picture on social media with #fsfbulletin!
Be part of LibrePlanet 2022!
From December 13
LibrePlanet 2022: Living Liberation preparations are well on
their way. Submissions are now closed for sessions and for the
Free Software Awards. Registration will open soon. You can
support LibrePlanet by becoming a sponsor or exhibitor in our
virtual space, or you can help out with the development of
LibreAdventure.
Last minute gift ideas: Give an FSF membership and other free software gifts
From December 23
If you're still looking for a gift for that special someone -- or
someone you forgot! Choose a gift that will keep on giving for
the rest of the year! Free your own digital life and the ones of
those you love by opting to give them a gift that will raise
their social consciousness, create more lasting cheer, and defend #UserFreedom. Give gifts that support and enhance #UserFreedom.
The big change
From December 15 by Ludovic Courtès
This post looks at what's probably the biggest change Guix has
seen since it started nine years ago and that anyone writing
packages will immediately notice: simplified package inputs. Yes,
we just changed how each of the 20K packages plus those in
third-party channels can declare their dependencies. Before
describing the change, how we implemented it, and how packagers
can adapt, let's first take a look at the previous situation and
earlier improvements that made this big change possible.
Groundbreaking acknowledgment of free software in Italy
From December 17 by Dynamic.ooo
From the law court of Venice comes the first order in Italy that
protects the GNU General Public License (GPL). The decision made
on December 13th, 2021, by the law court of Venice, represents an
important achievement for free software in Italy.
In fact, it represents an important step in the direction of
strengthening the protection of intellectual works distributed
through free software licenses in all their forms, concrete
progress for Italian jurisprudence on the subject and more
generally for the country.
(To read this article without proprietary JavaScript, use a text
browser like w3m)
GCompris releases version 2.0
From November 31 by Paul Brown
GCompris 2.0 improves classic favorites loved by children of all
ages, and adds even more activities for more fun and learning.
GCompris is KDE's educational suite of more than 170 activities
and pedagogical games. It is used by teachers, parents and, most
importantly, children worldwide. GCompris is a fixture in
classrooms and at home, giving kids the opportunity to practice a
wide range of skills while having fun at the same time.
Graphics editor Krita releases v5.0
From December 23 by Krita
It has certainly been a long time coming and a lot of hard work,
but Krita 5 is here at last! I can say with a measure of
pride (and a whole helping of relief for the development team)
that 5.0 is up there among the largest and most significant
updates that Krita has ever seen, affecting and improving almost
every aspect of the program in a variety of ways, big and
small. And of course, there's a ton of cool new features that we
can't wait for our community of artists to start working with.
Children's book published about software, skateboards, and raspberry ice cream
From December 23 by FSFE
This illustrated children's book tells the story of the famous
inventor Zangemann and the girl Ada, a curious tinkerer. Ada
begins to experiment with hardware and software, and in the
process realises how crucial it is for her and others to control
technology.
A book for children from the age of 6 that arouses children's
interest in tinkering and encourages shaping technology.
One more small step toward the right to software repair
From December 28 by Bradley M. Kuhn
Yesterday afternoon, we filed a Motion for Remand in our lawsuit
against Vizio for their flagrant GPL & LGPL violations, alleged
with great detail in our complaint in California state
court. Vizio's response to that complaint was to “remove” the
case to federal court. Vizio argues that the lawsuit can only be
brought by a copyright holder as a copyright infringement lawsuit
in federal court. In response, we have asked the federal court to
return ("remand") the case to state court.
End-to-end voice, video and chat communication platform GNU Jami releases Taranis, a major release
From December 23 by GNU Jami
Taranis is the new major stable release of GNU Jami, and so we invite
all Jami users to upgrade their version of Jami to this newest
release now. Taranis, the Gallic and Celtic god of the sky,
lightning and thunder, will be the baptismal name of this new
version of Jami.
December GNU Emacs news
From December 30 by Sacha Chua
In these issues: Emacs pretest 28.0.90 is out, M-x Research,
Emacs meetups, 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 Friday, January 7 from 12pm to 3pm EST (16:00 to
19:00 UTC). Details here:
LibrePlanet featured resource: Freedom Ladder Stories
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 Freedom Ladder Stories
page, which is a place for anyone to leave their free software
story. How did you get into free software? What difficulties did
you encounter adopting free software into your life? What
successes, no matter how small, made a difference for your
software freedom? You are invited to add to, spread and improve
this important resource.
Do you have a suggestion for next month's featured resource? Let us
know at [email protected].
GNU Spotlight with Mike Gerwitz: 13 new GNU releases!
13 new GNU releases in the last month (as of December 27, 2021):
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 from
https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/, or preferably one of its mirrors from
https://www.gnu.org/prep/ftp.html. You can use the URL
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.
FSF and other free software events
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:
- Andrew Tosh
- Blair Bryant
- Colin Strasser
- David Turner
- Dock Williams
- Donald Craig
- Guus Sliepen
- Iñaki Arenaza
- Jared Flatow
- Jean-Francois Blavier
- Jeremy Nenninger
- Juan José González
- Karen Peterson
- Mark Boenke
- Michael Lewis
- Michael Stroucken
- Morten Lind
- Paul Kotelevets
- René Genz
- Richard Valdes
- Robert Young
- Stephen Longfield
- Steve Tuyizere
- Thomas Hahn
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:
- Daniel Kraus (GNU Emacs)
- Johannes Hendrikus Donner (GNU Emacs)
- Michael Herstine (GNU Emacs)
- Michael Strey (GNU Emacs)
- Teo Wei Jie Zachary (GNU Emacs)
- Vincent Ambo (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
El Free Software Supporter está disponible en español. Para ver la
versión en español haz click aqui: https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter/2022/enero
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=f41bdd2ae86bc879feccd3aba5072871_1641376471_168
Le Free Software Supporter est disponible en français. Pour voir la
version française cliquez ici: https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter/2022/janvier
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=f41bdd2ae86bc879feccd3aba5072871_1641376471_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
(https://www.fsf.org/volunteer). 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
(https://www.fsf.org/campaigns) and take action on software
patents, Digital Restrictions Management (DRM), free software
adoption, OpenDocument, and more.
#
Copyright © 2022 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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