AKLUG Archive: [aklug] Fw: Free Software Supporter

From: Christopher Howard <ch.howard@zoho.com>
Date: Mon Nov 30 2015 - 22:20:50 AKST

Begin forwarded message:

Date: Tue, 01 Dec 2015 01:58:14 -0500
From: "Free Software Foundation" <info@fsf.org>
To: <ch.howard@zoho.com>
Subject: Free Software Supporter - Issue 92, December 2015

Welcome to the Free Software Supporter, the Free Software Foundation's
monthly news digest and action update -- being read by you and 100,096
other activists.

[Unwrap our Ethical Tech Giving
Guide](https://www.fsf.org/givingguide/v6/)! Are you giving your loved
ones tech gifts they can use freely, or gifts which put someone else in
control? Look through this year's Giving Guide! For other
freedom-supporting gift ideas, visit the [FSF
shop](http://shop.fsf.org)!

## TABLE OF CONTENTS

* It's Fall, still, and the *Bulletin* is out!
* Unwrap our 2015 Ethical Tech Giving Guide
* Software Freedom Conservancy launches 2015 fundraiser
* Let's Encrypt: The FSF beta-tests a new Certificate Authority
* FSF to begin accepting GPG signatures for copyright assignments from
  Italy
* Recap from October 2015 at Kent State University
* DMCA exemptions process shows why anti-circumvention rules need to be
  repealed
* Time to act on TPP is now
* New article by RMS, "Applying the Free Software Criteria"
* John Sullivan, FSF Executive Director, on the future of free software
* Join the FSF and friends in updating the Free Software Directory
* The European Parliament calls on the European Union to migrate to
  free software
* I turned off JavaScript for a whole week and it was glorious
* Before DRM, there were Mesopotamian boundary stones
* FSFE submits comments on the European Commission's Digital Single
  Market strategy
* In Memory of Telsa Gwynne
* LibrePlanet featured resource: Ogg-friendly sites
* GNU Spotlight with Brandon Invergo: 26 new GNU releases!
* GNU Toolchain Update
* Richard Stallman's speaking schedule and other FSF events
* Thank GNUs!
* Take action with the FSF!
* GNU copyright contributions

View this issue online here:
<https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter/2015/december>

Encourage your friends to subscribe and help us build an audience by
adding our subscriber widget to your web site.

* Subscribe: <https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter>
* Widget: <https://www.fsf.org/associate/widget>

Miss an issue? You can catch up on back issues at
<https://www.fsf.org/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/2015/diciembre>

**Para cambiar las preferencias de usuario y recibir los próximos
números del Supporter en español, haz click aquí:**
<https://my.fsf.org/civicrm/profile/edit?reset=1&gid=34&id=840330&cs=324513bdad63b4714aff1b488977ad54_1448953094_168>

Le Free Software Supporter est disponible en français. Pour voir la
version française cliquez ici:
<https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter/2015/decembre>

**Pour modifier vos préférences et recevoir les prochaines
  publications du Supporter en français, cliquez ici:**
  <https://my.fsf.org/civicrm/profile/edit?reset=1&gid=34&id=840330&cs=324513bdad63b4714aff1b488977ad54_1448953094_168>

### It's Fall, still, and the *Bulletin* is out!

*From November 30th*

As many of you are aware, twice a year we mail a new edition of the
FSF *Bulletin* to our members and supporters via the good old United
States Postal Service. Including articles by serveral of our staff,
such as *The time to fight back against TPP is now*, *Privacy, who
needs it* and *Popular education, and movements... like free software*.

*
<https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/its-fall-still-and-the-bulletin-is-out>

### Unwrap our 2015 Ethical Tech Giving Guide

*From November 27th*

Electronics are popular gifts for the holidays, but people often
overlook the restrictions that manufacturers slip under the wrapping
paper. From remote deletion of files to harsh rules about copying and
sharing, some gifts take more than they give.

*
<https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/unwrap-our-2015-ethical-tech-giving-guide>

### Software Freedom Conservancy launches 2015 fundraiser

*From November 23rd*

Software Freedom Conservancy announces a major fundraising
effort. Pointing to the difficulty of relying on corporate funding
while pursuing important but controversial issues, like GPL
compliance, Conservancy has structured its fundraiser to increase
individual support.

* <https://sfconservancy.org/news/2015/nov/23/2015fundraiser/>

### Let's Encrypt: The FSF beta-tests a new certificate authority

*From November 25th*

Let's Encrypt! We encrypt and are taking part in beta-testing a new
program to make the process of getting X.509 certificates for
Transport Layer Security encryption a trivial process, as well as
cost-free. It's run by the Internet Security Research Group, whose
board members include the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Mozilla.

*
<https://www.fsf.org/blogs/sysadmin/lets-encrypt-the-fsf-beta-tests-a-new-certificate-authority>

### FSF to begin accepting GPG signatures for copyright assignments
from Italy

*From November 30th*

The FSF is pleased to announce that we can begin accepting GPG
signatures for assignments from contributors residing in Italy.

*
<https://www.fsf.org/blogs/licensing/fsf-to-begin-accepting-gpg-signatures-for-copyright-assignments-from-italy>

### Recap from October 2015 at Kent State University

*From November 30th*

RMS gave his speech, "A Free Digital Society," at Kent State
University, in Kent, OH, on October 17th, to an audience of over 300
people.

* <http://www.fsf.org/blogs/rms/rms-20151017-kent>

### DMCA exemptions process shows why anti-circumvention rules need to
be repealed

*From November 6th*

The deck was always stacked against users in the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act's anti-circumvention exemptions process. The DMCA
exemption process is broken beyond repair and the Library of Congress
should have granted all exemptions.

*
<https://www.defectivebydesign.org/DMCA-exemptions-process-anti-circumvention>

### Time to act on TPP is now

*From November 9th*

With accord reached on TPP, there is only a limited window left to
stop it. We took action this past month, but find out ways to stay
tuned and take further action as the window closes!

*
<https://www.fsf.org/blogs/licensing/time-to-act-on-tpp-is-now-rallies-against-tpp-in-washington-d-c-november-14-18>
* <https://www.fsf.org/campaigns/trading-freedom>

### New article by RMS, "Applying the Free Software Criteria"

*From November 9th*

Richard Stallman shows us how to "apply the free software criteria to
judge whether a software package, an operating system, a computer, or
a web page is fit to recommend."

* <https://www.fsf.org/blogs/rms/applying-free-sw-criteria>
* <https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/applying-free-sw-criteria.html>

### John Sullivan, FSF executive director, on the future of free
software

*From November 9th by Bruce Byfield*

For the free software movement to succeed globally, it needs to
resonate with people who don't specialize in technology and don't care
to.

*
<http://www.linux-magazine.com/Online/Blogs/Off-the-Beat-Bruce-Byfield-s-Blog/John-Sullivan-FSF-Executive-Director-on-the-Future-of-FS>

### Join the FSF and friends in updating the Free Software Directory

*From November 30th*

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 irc.gnu.org, and usually include a handful of
regulars as well as newcomers. Everyone's welcome.

The next meeting is Friday, December 4th from 2pm to 5pm EST (17:00 to
20:00 UTC). Details here:

* <https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Free_Software_Directory:Meetings>

### The European Parliament calls on the European Union to migrate to
free software
*From November 3rd by April*

On October 29, 2015, the European Parliament adopted a report by
Claude Moraes which condemned mass surveillance. This report calls on
the European Union to migrate to free software, and to add free
software as a mandatory selection criterion in IT public procurement.

*
<https://www.april.org/en/european-parliament-calls-european-union-migrate-free-software>

### I turned off JavaScript for a whole week and it was glorious

*From November 18th by Klint Finley*

There's another web out there, a better web hiding just below the
surface of the one we surf from our phones and tablets and laptops
every day. It is a web that is made possible in part by the FSF
through their Free JavaScript campaign.

*
<http://www.wired.com/2015/11/i-turned-off-javascript-for-a-whole-week-and-it-was-glorious>

### Before DRM, there were Mesopotamian boundary stones

*From November 30th by Sarah Jeong*

Thousands of years before the advent of digital restrictions
management, the Mesopotamians were already practicing analog
restrictions management, with a form of double liability that's
parallel to DMCA section 1201.

*
<https://motherboard.vice.com/en_ca/read/before-drm-there-were-mesopotamian-boundary-stones>

### FSFE submits comments on the European Commission's Digital Single
Market strategy

*From November 4th by the FSFE*

FSFE believes that free software is an essential prerequisite for the
Digital Single Market and can provide the desired innovative potential
that Europe needs in order to be successfully competitive in the
global ICT market. Free software will help to achieve the majority of
goals set by the Commission in order to achieve a truly digital single
market.

* <https://fsfe.org/news/2015/news-20151104-01.en.html>

### In Memory of Telsa Gwynne

*From November 6th by GNOME*

The GNOME Foundation is proud to honor Telsa Gwynne for her
contributions to the GNOME community.

* <https://www.gnome.org/news/2015/11/in-memory-of-telsa-gwynne/>

### LibrePlanet featured resource: Ogg-friendly sites

Every month on LibrePlanet, we highlight one resource that is
interesting and useful -- often one that could use your help.

For this month, we are highlighting the "Ogg Friendly Sites" page. We
need to move the Ogg listing from
<http://www.fsf.org/campaigns/playogg/en/> to the LibrePlanet wiki,
but before then we need to figure out a format to present the entries.
Join in the discussion and share ideas on moving the info and keeping
it up to date.

* <https://libreplanet.org/wiki/Group:Play_Freedom/Ogg_Friendly_Sites>

Do you have a suggestion for next month's featured resource? Let us
know at <campaigns@fsf.org>.

### GNU Spotlight with Brandon Invergo: 26 new GNU releases!

26 new GNU releases in the last month (as of November 24, 2015):

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.

This month, we welcome back Nick Ralabate as the maintainer of GNU
Solfege.

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 us at <maintainers@gnu.org>
with any GNUish questions or suggestions for future installments.

### GNU Toolchain update

*From November 23rd*

The GNU toolchain refers to the part of the GNU system which is used
for building programs. These components of GNU are together often on
other systems and for compiling programs for other platforms.

This month, which includes October and November, features GCC, Binutils,
and GDB. The compiler and assembler now have support for new
architectures

* <http://nickclifton.livejournal.com/20224.html>

### Richard Stallman's speaking schedule

For event details, as well as to sign-up to be notified for future
events in your area, please visit <https://www.fsf.org/events>.

So far, Richard Stallman has the following events this month:

  * December 1, 2015 Chapingo, Mexico [El Software Libre y Tu
Libertad](https://www.fsf.org/events/rms-20151201-mexicocity)
  * December 2, 2015 Mexico City, Mexico [El Software Libre y Tu
Libertad](https://www.fsf.org/events/rms-20151202-mexicocity)
  * December 3, 2015 Mexico City, Mexico [¿Tenemos que soportar más
vigilancia que en la Unión
Sovietica?](https://www.fsf.org/events/rms-20151203-mexicocity)
  * December 4, 2015 Cuatitlan, Mexico [El movimiento del software
libre](https://www.fsf.org/events/rms-20151204-cuatitlan)
  * December 10, 2015 Ciudad Mante, Mexico [El movimiento del software
libre](https://www.fsf.org/events/rms-20151210-ciudadmante)
  * December 11, 2015 Ciudad Madero, Mexico [Por una sociedad digital
libre](https://www.fsf.org/events/rms-20151211-ciudadmadero)

### Thank GNUs!

We appreciate everyone who donates to the Free Software Foundation,
but we'd like to give special recognition to the folks who have
donated $500 or more in the last month.

* <https://www.gnu.org/thankgnus/2015supporters.html>

This month, a big Thank GNU to:

  * Stanley Zisk
  * Colin Carr
  * Alessandro Vesely
  * Trevor Spiteri
  * Antonio Carzaniga
  * Matteo Frigo
  * Norman Richards
  * Tiago Vieira
  * Rui Ueyama

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 GPL and keep software free. The following individuals have
assigned their copyright to the FSF in the past month:

  * Stefan Kamphausen (EMACS)
  * Joakim Jalap (EMACS)
  * Edward Hart (EMACS)
  * Jan Malakhovski (EMACS)
  * Santiago Saavedra Lopez (EMACS)
  * Jarno Ilari Suni (GNU AWK)
  * Stephen Henry Whipple (EMACS)
  * Justin Talbott (EMACS)
  * Chunyang Xu (EMACS)
  * Mathieu Lirzin (JWHOIS)
  * Shakthi Kannan (EMACS)
  * Constantino Calancha Paredes (EMACS)
  * Lambda Coder (EMACS)
  * Lee Bochicchio (EMACS)
  * Jasmin Jacqueline Jessich (GCC)

Want to see your name on this list? Contribute to GNU and assign your
copyright to the FSF.

<https://www.gnu.org/server/takeaction.html#dev>

### Take action with the FSF

Contributions from thousands of individual 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 also 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 campaign section
(<https://www.fsf.org/campaigns>) and take action on software patents,
DRM, free software adoption, OpenDocument, RIAA, and more.

###

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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[aklug] Fw: Free Software Supporter - Issue 92, December 2015