LibrePlanet is coming March 21-22, 2015: Propose a session!

LibrePlanet 2015 is coming! We're excited to announce that next year's conference will be held March 21-22, 2015 in Cambridge, MA. The Free Software Foundation is teaming up with the Student Information Processing Board at MIT once again to bring you a conference you won't want to miss. Our Call for Sessions is open now, and you can also apply to volunteer or exhibit at LibrePlanet 2015. General registration will open in October.   You've got until Sunday, November 2nd, 2014 at 19:59 EST (23:59 UTC) to submit your proposals. We can't wait to see what you come up with!   This year, the theme of LibrePlanet is "Free Software Everywhere." We're looking for talks that touch on the many places and ways that free software is used around the world, as well as ways to make free software ubiquitous. Think "everywhere" in the broadest sense of the word--it's not just geography-based talks we're after. What are some contexts where free software is thriving, and some others where it needs a push? How have you worked to advance free software in your company or community? And what about free software on all of the myriad pieces of hardware we use, including laptops, phones, tablets, and even coffee makers? At LibrePlanet 2015, we're taking software freedom around the world, to outer space, and considering its role in industry, government, academia, community organizing, and personal computing.   Should I submit a session proposal for LibrePlanet?   Yes! We encourage speakers of all experience levels to submit a proposal. LibrePlanet is a great place for new and seasoned speakers alike. While LibrePlanet always includes technical talks, our program also emphasizes non-technical topics and topics that are appropriate for newcomers. We are especially interested to see proposals from people who use free software or apply its values for social benefit, from academic research to community organizing, education to medicine and the arts. LibrePlanet is committed to increasing the participation of speakers belonging to groups traditionally underrepresented at free software conferences, including women and people of color.   Some ideas for sessions   Sharing a story of how free software has been applied for social benefit Tackling a threat or organizing challenge facing the free software movement Demonstrating a new and exciting piece of software or development within an existing software project Engaging youth, the future of the free software movement. We're looking for proposals for all age groups, from young children, to high school age, to college students Thinking critically about challenges and opportunities facing the movement, and charting a path to victory Bringing a key part of free software history to life Giving newcomers a way to learn about free software principles and philosophy, and/or giving newcomers a way to start using free software in their daily lives   At LibrePlanet, we are looking for sessions that embrace the free software movement's ideals and also its language. For example, using "free software" is better than using "open source."   Volunteer for LibrePlanet   LibrePlanet depends on volunteer support during the planning process all the way through the event. We're looking for volunteers who want to help us with the planning and preparation work for LibrePlanet. Learn more about volunteering and sign up at LibrePlanet.org.   Promotional opportunities at LibrePlanet   LibrePlanet is the perfect place to spread the word about your organization to an inspired and engaged audience. We have two kinds of promotional opportunities for LibrePlanet 2015: exhibit tables and sponsorships. Exhibit tables will be located in a highly visible primary thoroughfare. Your table and program acknowledgement will reach hundreds of software developers, free software activists, academics, students, and computer users. You can apply for an exhibit table at LibrePlanet.org. Exhibitors will be accepted on a rolling basis until the hall fills, so apply early!   What makes LibrePlanet so special is the amazing contributions from our speakers, exhibitors, and volunteers. We can't wait to hear your ideas!   Happy hacking, Libby Reinish Campaigns Manager

Tell the FCC: Net Neutrality is (still) crucial to free software

Dear Pascal, This post was originally published in July, before the end of the first FCC comment period. Now we're highlighting it again before the end of the second comment period, in support of today's Internet Slowdown day of action. Tons of major Web sites (including ours) are coming together today to give a tongue-in-cheek demonstration of what would happen if the FCC caves to Big Cable and guts Net Neutrality. If you're in the US, please tell decisionmakers how important Net Neutrality is to the free software community (even if you commented in earlier, it will be counted again). If you're not in the US, you'll still find this post interesting -- there is precedent for other countries basing their rules on what happens here. We are not linking to the official Internet Slowdown action page because it requires running proprietary JavaScript and heavily encourages Facebook. But we agree with their goals, so we are acting in solidarity by displaying their clever banner (which is free JavaScript) and linking to the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Dear FCC tool, where you can take action in freedom. The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) needs to be convinced that Net Neutrality is worth saving. The agency has asked members of the public, along with industry leaders and entrepreneurs, to tell it why Internet Service Providers should be banned from traffic discrimination. This comment window is one of the best opportunities we've had to make an impact. Comments are due Monday, September 15, 2014. Submit your statement in support of Net Neutrality right away using the Electronic Frontier Foundation's free software commenting tool. Net neutrality, the principle that all traffic on the Internet should be treated equally, should be a basic right for Internet users. It's also crucial for free software's continued growth and success. Here's why: Media distribution giants that use Digital Restrictions Management and proprietary software to control what's on your computer have also been fighting for years to control the network. Without Net Neutrality, DRM-laden materials could be easier to access, while DRM-free competitors could be stuck in the slow lane. Web-based free software projects like GNU MediaGoblin could also suffer the slow treatment while competitors like YouTube shell out big bucks for speedier service. The bottom line--an Internet where the most powerful interests can pay for huge speed advantages could push smaller free software projects right off the map and make it harder for decentralized projects to flourish. That's not good for free software, and it's not good for other innovative voices for change in the digital world. Tell the FCC: Net Neutrality will help free software flourish. Activists have worked for years to get to this moment. Over the last several months, things have really heated up--with Internet freedom lovers camping out outside of the FCC, serenading FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler with a special version "Which Side Are You On?" The comments flooding in to the agency have jammed the phones and crashed the FCC's email servers. And yet, Chairman Wheeler still thinks he can get away with ignoring overwhelming public outrage and wrecking the free Internet. We have to keep up our historic momentum in order to convince a cable-industry sympathizer like Chairman Wheeler to listen to the public and protect Net Neutrality. The deadline for comments is less than a week from now on Monday. Don't delay--comment now! Libby Reinish Campaigns Manager You can read this post online at https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/tell-the-fcc-net-neutrality-is-still-crucial-to-free-software.

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Fight the hype with this Apple Watch graphic

Dear Pascal, Opened a tech news site today? If so, you're probably up to your neck in buzz about today's Apple keynote. Front and center were Apple's new devices, the Apple Watch and iPhone 6. They're pretty and they're trendy, but, as we've been saying for years, those sleek metal finishes hold some of the most sophisticated and unjust restrictions around. On top of that, the company that sells them is a patent bully solely focused on control of the industry and its customers. Fight the hype: share this image on your networks today, while the Apple Watch and iPhone 6 are in the news cycle. Right click on it and choose save, then upload to social media. (See our opinions on different social media platforms.) Apple's devices are chock-full of Digital Restrictions Management (DRM). They won't allow you to replace the operating system with a free one, or even to install 3rd-party free software applications. The company uses its massive arsenal of patents to bully software developers that make things that resemble Apple's products, even by accident. Despite all this and more, most people have no idea what Apple's up to. To learn more details behind the five reasons, and to take action by telling Apple you won't stand for their abuse, check out DefectiveByDesign.org/Apple. Unlike Apple, we don't have millions to burn on commercials (we tried to get U2 to play for us but they said no). But we can build a movement for digital freedom and self-determination from the ground up. We need to use tools like this image to show our friends and communities -- and Apple -- that we know what these devices are really all about: control. Zak Rogoff Campaigns Manager PS - With the support of the Free Software Foundation, developers are bringing the free software mobile operating system Replicant to more devices all the time. See the list of currently supported devices or help the project expand it with a donation for more test devices. You can read this post online at https://www.defectivebydesign.org/node/2329.

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Free Software Foundation statement on the new iPhone, Apple Pay, and Apple Watch

Free Software Foundation statement on the new iPhone, Apple Pay, and Apple Watch   You can read this post online at https://fsf.org/news/free-software-foundation-statement-on-the-new-iphone-apple-pay-and-apple-watch/.   The Free Software Foundation encourages users to avoid all Apple products, in the interest of their own freedom and the freedom of those around them.   Today, Apple announced new iPhone models, a watch, and a payment service. In response, FSF executive director John Sullivan made the following statement: It is astonishing to see so much of the technology press acting as Apple's marketing arm. What's on display today is widespread complicity in hiding the most newsworthy aspect of the announcement -- Apple's continuing war on individual computer user freedom, and by extension, free speech, free commerce, free association, privacy, and technological innovation.   Every review that does not mention Apple's insistence on using Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) to lock down the devices and applications they sell is doing an extreme disservice to readers, and is a blow to the development of the free digital society we actually need. Any review that discusses technical specs without first exposing the unethical framework that produced those products, is helping usher people down a path that ends in complete digital disempowerment.   Keep a tally of how many reviews you read today mention that Apple threatens anyone who dares attempt installing another operating system like Android on their Apple phone or watch with criminal prosecution under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Keep a tally of how many reviews mention that Apple devices won't allow you to install any unapproved applications, again threatening you with jail time if you attempt to do so without Apple's blessing. Keep a tally of how many reviews highlight Apple's use of software patents and an army of lawyers to attack those developing a more free computing environment than theirs.   We've seen several examples since the last Apple product announcement of times when smartphones and other computers have been used for political activism and important free speech. We've also seen several examples of times when such expressions have been censored. If we continue allowing Apple this kind of control, censorship and digital "free speech zones" will become the permanent norm.   There is a reason that the inventor of the US's first internally programmable computer shuns Apple devices as antithetical to vital kinds of creativity. But it's not enough to just say "Don't buy their products." The laws Apple and others use to enforce their digital restrictions, giving them a subsidized competitive advantage over products that respect user freedom, must be repealed.   At least the watch did end up having a clasp so you can remove it -- we were worried.   We urge users to investigate ways to support the use of mobile and wearable devices which do not restrict users' essential freedoms. Such projects include Replicant, a free software fork of Android, and F-Droid, an app repository of exclusively free software for Android. People should also let Tim Cook at Apple know how they feel. Follow us on GNU social | Subscribe to our blogs via RSS | Join us as an associate member Sent from the Free Software Foundation, 51 Franklin Street Floor 5 Boston, Massachusetts 02110-1301 United States Unsubscribe from this mailing list. Stop all email from the Free Software Foundation, including Defective by Design, and the Free Software Supporter newsletter.

FSF and Debian join forces to help free software users find the hardware they need

FSF and Debian join forces to help free software users find the hardware they need   You can read this post online at https://fsf.org/news/fsf-and-debian-join-forces-to-help-free-software-users-find-the-hardware-they-need.   BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Monday, September 8, 2014 -- The Free Software Foundation (FSF) and the Debian Project today announced cooperation to expand and enhance h-node, a database to help users learn and share information about computers that work with free software operating systems.   While other databases list hardware that is technically compatible with GNU/Linux, h-node lists hardware as compatible only if it does not require any proprietary software or firmware. Information about hardware that flunks this test is also included, so users know what to avoid. The database lists individual components, like WiFi and video cards, as well as complete notebook systems.   The compatibility information comes from users testing hardware on systems running only free software. Previously, h-node site guidelines required they be running one of the FSF's endorsed distributions. While the FSF does not include Debian on this list because the Debian project provides a repository of nonfree software, the FSF does acknowledge that Debian's main repository, which by default is the only place packages come from, is completely free.   "Unlike other common GNU/Linux distributions, installing official Debian by default means installing only free software. As long as Debian users do not add additional package repositories, their systems are a reliable source of fully free compatibility information. We're looking forward to working with Debian to help free software users get the hardware they need, and encourage the companies who provide it," said FSF's executive director John Sullivan.   "By collaborating with h-node, Debian for the first time has the opportunity to join efforts with other free software communities on the assembly of a database of hardware that doesn't require anything outside the Debian main archive to work properly," said Lucas Nussbaum, Debian Project Leader. "Debian is confident that the fruits of this collaboration will result in the largest curated database of Debian-compatible hardware, and invites all Debian community members to contribute hardware compatibility information to h-node."   H-node was started by Antonio Gallo, who continues to be the project's lead developer. The FSF now provides infrastructure and support. The software powering the site is also distributed as free software under version 3 of the GNU General Public License.   Users can contribute either by running one of the FSF's endorsed distributions, or Debian with only packages from the default main archive installed. Developers and translators can contribute by working on the site's code. Information for getting involved is at http://h-node.org/help/page/en/Help.   About the Free Software Foundation   The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free software. The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites, located at fsf.org and gnu.org, are an important source of information about GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at https://donate.fsf.org. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA. More information about the FSF, as well as important information for journalists and publishers, is at https://www.fsf.org/press.   Media Contacts   John Sullivan Executive Director Free Software Foundation +1 (617) 542 5942 campaigns@fsf.org   Lucas Nussbaum Debian Project Leader press@debian.org Follow us on GNU social | Subscribe to our blogs via RSS | Join us as an associate member Sent from the Free Software Foundation, 51 Franklin Street Floor 5 Boston, Massachusetts 02110-1301 United States Unsubscribe from this mailing list. Stop all email from the Free Software Foundation, including Defective by Design, and the Free Software Supporter newsletter.