Trisquel 6.0 image for the USB member cards now available!

Dear Pascal,
Trisquel 6.0 LTS "Toutatis," which uses GNOME 3 as the default desktop environment, was released earlier this year, boasting a host of improvements, including enhanced browser capabilities, accessibility by default for disabled users, and Long Term Support.
The Trisquel 6.0 image for the USB member cards is now available! You can download it or get its source code, and we have posted instructions for reflashing the existing 4 GB member card and preserving some of the data on your card. Unfortunately, the image will not fit on the older 2 GB cards, but it can be installed on any USB stick with at least 3.8GB of available space.
If you are not yet a member, do consider joining today! In addition to having the satisfaction of knowing your donation will be funding the FSF's campaigns for computer-user freedom, you will be able to enjoy a number of benefits, including the aforementioned member card, your own associate-member button, e-mail forwarding, free admission to LibrePlanet (the FSF-sponsored and organized conference), a 20% discount on FSF merchandise, the FSF's biannual bulletin, an IRC Freenode cloak, use of our XMPP server, Digital Credit Union eligibility, public acknowledgement for referrals, and tax deduction in the USA.
Member support makes up the backbone of the FSF's funding, and your membership would go to ensure the foundation's continued effectiveness.
Thank you for supporting free software.
Sincerely,
Jeanne Rasata
Assistant to the President
This post can be viewed online at https://www.fsf.org/blogs/membership/trisquel-6-0-image-for-the-usb-member-cards-now-available

Will Ubuntu Edge commit to using only free software?

Dear Pascal,

Ubuntu is aiming to raise $32 million in crowdfunding to fund Ubuntu Edge, a mobile computer that can dual-boot between Android and Ubuntu GNU/Linux.

Will Ubuntu Edge commit to using only free software? If the project succeeds and has $32 million available to spend, this is surely possible, but there is no indication in any of the promotional materials that this is part of the plan.

Isn't Android already free software? In theory, yes, but in practice, no. To work on actual hardware, Android ends up relying on device drivers that are either outright proprietary or use proprietary firmware blobs. All commonly available Android devices also come with proprietary software applications installed.

This is why today we announced a fundraising partnership with the Replicant project, which produces a version of Android that runs on existing devices without proprietary system software.

Isn't Ubuntu already always committed to free software? No. Ubuntu's default GNU/Linux distribution includes nonfree drivers, and its software marketplace promotes proprietary programs.

But, we don't want to make assumptions about what Ubuntu Edge will or won't be. We and many other free software supporters excited about the possibility of a GNU/Linux mobile device would like to hear official confirmation:

1. Will the Ubuntu Edge versions of both Android and Ubuntu contain or rely on any proprietary software or proprietary firmware?

2. Will the Ubuntu Edge include any Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) software?

3. Will the device's bootloader be free software?

4. Will the device have Restricted Boot, or will users be able to replace the operating system with a free one of their choice?

5. Will Ubuntu Edge include F-Droid, the free software Android application repository, as part of a commitment to promote and recommend only free software?

Ubuntu in the past has said they are forced to make temporary compromises in software freedom in order to have their operating system work on the computers people own and speed adoption of free software. But in this case, Ubuntu would have the chance to dictate the design of the hardware themselves. Software freedom should be the foundation of that design. There is no reason for compromise.

Conveniently, Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth is doing an AMA on Reddit starting at 12:30 EDT, so maybe we will get some answers.

This post can be viewed online at https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/will-ubuntu-edge-commit-to-using-only-free-software
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FSF launches fundraising program for Replicant, the fully free Android-based mobile OS

FSF launches fundraising program for Replicant, the fully free Android-based mobile OS

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Thursday, July 25, 2013 -- The Free Software Foundation (FSF) today launched a fundraising initiative for Replicant, a fully free Android distribution and the first mobile operating system (OS) to run without relying on proprietary system code. Replicant's small volunteer developer team is focused on improving their OS, while also expanding it to work on more devices. Donations will primarily be used to buy new devices for development and testing -- a critical need -- but will also help fund infrastructure and promotion for the project.

The FSF's previous purchase and donation of a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 allowed the project's developers to support the tablet, but adding support for a new device requires between $400 and $600 in donations for hardware costs alone. Each device that this long-term fundraising program is able to provide is likely to allow thousands of users of that device to run a free mobile OS for the first time.

Supporters are making these contributions at the FSF-hosted page for the campaign.

While most of Android is already free software, device manufacturers distribute the OS with some key nonfree parts. Those parts are in the layer of Android that communicates with the phone or tablet hardware, such as the WiFi and Bluetooth chips. In addition, every commonly available Android device comes pre-loaded with a variety of proprietary applications running on top of the operating system. Replicant seeks to provide all of the same functionality using only free software.

Users of Replicant have a full suite of free software mobile-optimized applications at their fingertips through F-Droid, Replicant's default app repository. F-Droid isn't just for Replicant -- it works on all Android-based systems, and the FSF recommends it as a replacement for Google Play store.

FSF executive director John Sullivan, who has been using Replicant on his primary phone for three years, said, "Mobile operating systems distributed by Apple, Microsoft, and Google all require you to use proprietary software. Even one such program in a phone's application space is enough to threaten our freedom and security -- it only takes one open backdoor to gain access. We are proud to support the Replicant project to help users escape the proprietary restrictions imposed by the current major smartphone vendors. There will still be problems remaining to solve, like the proprietary radio firmware and the common practice of locking down phones, but Replicant is a major part of the solution."

The Replicant project was founded in 2010 by Aaron Williamson, Graziano Sorbaioli, Denis "GNUtoo" Carikli and Bradley M. Kuhn, to unify the efforts of various individuals attempting to produce a fully free Android distribution. Most of the recent development has been done by Carikli and Paul Kocialkowski, both of whom have been instrumental in developing the project's relationship with the FSF.

Kocialkowski said, "For a long time, it wasn't possible to operate a mobile phone using free software, even though that is one of the areas of computing where the most important issues are at stake. Replicant is a free Android derivative, while other Android versions usually require nonfree components to actually run on phones. We expect that having our project supported by the Free Software Foundation's fundraising program will greatly help the project, particularly by enabling us to build support for more phones."

As of its 4.0 0004 release on July 22nd, Replicant works on ten devices, including multiple phones from the Samsung Galaxy S line and tablets from the Samsung Galaxy Tab line, as well as the Google Nexus S.

In addition to funding, the Replicant project needs developers, and is listed on the FSF's High Priority Projects page. Hackers interested in working on Replicant or those with questions about the project should introduce themselves to the IRC channel, #replicant on irc.freenode.org, and the mailing list. Developers interested in porting Replicant to new devices should visit the project's wiki to get started. Supporters can also help by installing Replicant and submitting bug reports to the developers.

The fundraising campaign is part of the FSF's Working Together for Free Software initiative, a broad campaign to connect software freedom advocates with projects that need their help. Other projects that have benefited from this program include the web media-publishing platform GNU MediaGoblin and the GNU Octave mathematics and data manipulation package.

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.

Media Contacts

Zak Rogoff
Campaigns Manager
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942 x31
campaigns@fsf.org

#

This post can be viewed online at https://www.fsf.org/news/fsf-launches-fundraising-program-for-replicant-the-fully-free-android-based-mobile-os

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Dear Pascal,

We normally don't send press releases to this list, but we thought this one was something you should hear about right away. Below, you'll find the press release outlining our suit filed with eighteen other organizations against the NSA for the recently revealed surveillance of domestic phone calls. This is just one step in the fight to protect our freedoms, but we need your help. Please share this release with your family, friends, and coworkers.

FSF, other groups join EFF to sue NSA over unconstitutional surveillance

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Tuesday, July 16, 2013 -- The Free Software Foundation (FSF) today eighteen other activist and advocacy organizations in challenging the National Security Agency's (NSA) mass surveillance of telecommunications in the United States with a lawsuit filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). The recently revealed surveillance program intercepts and catalogs the time, place, and participants of all calls on Verizon's phone network over a defined period. This includes calls made between advocacy organizations and their supporters.

The suit, First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles v. NSA, argues that such government surveillance of political organizations discourages citizens from contacting those organizations and therefore chills the free association and speech guaranteed by the First Amendment. The EFF will represent the politically diverse group of plaintiffs, which in addition to the FSF, includes Greenpeace, the California Guns Association, the National Organization for the Normalization of Marijuana Laws, and People for the American Way.

EFF's legal director, Cindy Cohn, wrote in a press release, "The First Amendment protects the freedom to associate and express political views as a group, but the NSA's mass, untargeted collection of Americans' phone records violates that right by giving the government a dramatically detailed picture into our associational ties. Who we call, how often we call them, and how long we speak shows the government what groups we belong to or associate with, which political issues concern us, and our religious affiliation. Exposing this information -- especially in a massive, untargeted way over a long period of time -- violates the Constitution and the basic First Amendment tests that have been in place for over 50 years."

FSF executive director John Sullivan added, "Free software activists often find themselves in difficult, controversial positions, and they most certainly need the ability to safely contact us without the government watching over their shoulders. The FSF is proud to join this diverse coalition of organizations in challenging the NSA's illegal surveillance."

In addition to legal action, awareness of overly broad surveillance has highlighted the need for technical solutions to hinder unlawful government spying.

Zak Rogoff, FSF campaigns manager, said, "Verizon's complicity in this program shows that the traditional phone system is not a safe place for communication. Fortunately, free software developers have been working on decentralized voice and video calling systems that can be much more difficult for mass surveillance systems to penetrate. We call on all software developers to contribute their talents to these projects, which are listed on our High Priority Projects List at https://u.fsf.org/securecommunication. Users should also try out these programs whenever possible and report their experiences."

For more information on the case, see the EFF's announcement and the full complaint brought before the court.

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.

Media Contacts

John Sullivan
Executive Director
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942
campaigns@fsf.org

#

This post can be viewed online at https://www.fsf.org/news/fsf-other-groups-join-eff-to-sue-nsa-over-unconstitutional-surveillance

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FSF, other groups join EFF to sue NSA over unconstitutional surveillance

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Tuesday, July 16, 2013 -- The Free Software Foundation (FSF) today joined eighteen other activist and advocacy organizations in challenging the National Security Agency's (NSA) mass surveillance of telecommunications in the United States with a lawsuit filed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). The recently revealed surveillance program intercepts and catalogs the time, place, and participants of all calls on Verizon's phone network over a defined period. This includes calls made between advocacy organizations and their supporters.

The suit, First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles v. NSA, argues that such government surveillance of political organizations discourages citizens from contacting those organizations and therefore chills the free association and speech guaranteed by the First Amendment. The EFF will represent the politically diverse group of plaintiffs, which in addition to the FSF, includes Greenpeace, the California Guns Association, the National Organization for the Normalization of Marijuana Laws, and People for the American Way.

EFF's legal director, Cindy Cohn, wrote in a press release, "The First Amendment protects the freedom to associate and express political views as a group, but the NSA's mass, untargeted collection of Americans' phone records violates that right by giving the government a dramatically detailed picture into our associational ties. Who we call, how often we call them, and how long we speak shows the government what groups we belong to or associate with, which political issues concern us, and our religious affiliation. Exposing this information -- especially in a massive, untargeted way over a long period of time -- violates the Constitution and the basic First Amendment tests that have been in place for over 50 years."

FSF executive director John Sullivan added, "Free software activists often find themselves in difficult, controversial positions, and they most certainly need the ability to safely contact us without the government watching over their shoulders. The FSF is proud to join this diverse coalition of organizations in challenging the NSA's illegal surveillance."

In addition to legal action, awareness of overly broad surveillance has highlighted the need for technical solutions to hinder unlawful government spying.

Zak Rogoff, FSF campaigns manager, said, "Verizon's complicity in this program shows that the traditional phone system is not a safe place for communication. Fortunately, free software developers have been working on decentralized voice and video calling systems that can be much more difficult for mass surveillance systems to penetrate. We call on all software developers to contribute their talents to these projects, which are listed on our High Priority Projects List at https://u.fsf.org/securecommunication. Users should also try out these programs whenever possible and report their experiences."

For more information on the case, see the EFF's announcement and the full complaint brought before the court.

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.

Media Contacts

John Sullivan
Executive Director
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942
campaigns@fsf.org

#

This post can be viewed online at https://www.fsf.org/news/fsf-other-groups-join-eff-to-sue-nsa-over-unconstitutional-surveillance

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Cancel Netflix if you value freedom

Dear Pascal,
For the last few months, we've been raising an outcry against Encrypted Media Extensions (EME), a plan by Netflix and a block of other media and software companies to squeeze support for Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) into the HTML standard, the core language of the Worldwide Web. The HTML standard is set by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which this block of corporations has been heavily lobbying as of late.
The proposed adoption of EME is disturbing for what it says about the way decisions are made relative to the Web, but what does it mean for you as a free software user?
DRM and free software don't mix. All DRM software relies on keeping secrets, like decryption algorithms, from the user, so that users cannot design their own method to modify it. The secrets are stored on users' own computers in places users cannot access or even read. This practice inherently tramples Freedom 1 of the Free Software Definition: the freedom to study how a program works and change it so it does your computing as you wish.
This means that each time a part of the Web starts requiring DRM software to decrypt it, it becomes inaccessible to free software. And if influential companies like Netflix, Google and Microsoft succeed at jamming DRM into the HTML standard, there will be even more pressure than there already is for people distributing media to encumber it with DRM. We'll see an explosion of DRM on the Web -- a growing dark zone inaccessible to free software users. This threatens to happen at a time when the state of free software-friendly media on the Web was starting to improve, with the increasing quality of free video codecs and the decline of Flash accompanied by the rise of the HTML5 video tag.
Netflix's lobbying in the W3C is paid for by subscription fees, so we're asking you to help pull that money out from under them by boycotting their services. If you have an account, use this link to cancel it. Whether you're canceling an account or not, you can help the boycott build momentum by spreading the word with the hashtag #CancelNetflix.[1]
This is about more than just movies and music on the Web. The adoption of EME would represent an enclosure of the free Web and the incremental erosion of users' freedom. What's at stake is not only whether you will be able to save and remix videos or music, but also whether your web browser and operating system can be free and continue to experience the same Web as everyone else.
Microsoft has already modified Internet Explorer to start supporting EME for media streaming. Simultaneously, Netflix has begun publicly promoting Internet Explorer, revealing a two-pronged strategy of pushing proprietary browsers while attacking Web standards in the W3C. If they succeed at passing EME, pressure will be put on browsers (including the free browsers we use to surf the Web) to support this corrupt new standard. Showing opposition to EME now is a good way to demonstrate that, if it comes to this, we will stand with the free browsers in favor of their ideals.

Standing up to Netflix at the W3C

Mark Watson, an engineer from Netflix, is spearheading the effort to pass EME in the W3C, using his company's economic power to influence the consortium. The FSF and our allies have been fighting back by organizing free software users and the anti-DRM movement against the EME proposal. More than 22,000 people signed our petition demanding W3C drop EME, which we delivered in person to the W3C in May.
We have accounts that we've gotten through to many of the people that are involved with the W3C -- people who care about the Web understand that EME is a terrible idea. But the W3C's leadership, including its CEO Jeff Jaffe, are supportive of Netflix and its block. This became apparent when our friends at the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a formal objection to EME within the W3C's official process, and Jaffe reacted by trying to shove it aside and steam ahead with ratifying the proposal.
This is the time to push hard on the W3C and Netflix, and demonstrate that we refuse to choose between accessing the Internet and having freedom as software users. Please join us: revoke your support for Netflix now and spread the word. Once you've canceled, how about donating those subscription funds to the Free Software Foundation or another group that is fighting on your behalf? We will use those dollars to amplify the impact of your cancellation.
Sincerely,
Zak Rogoff, Campaigns Manager
[1] We encourage users to do their microblogging with Web sites that do not include nonfree JavaScript, like identi.ca and other instances of pump.io. If you prefer Twitter, you can use the mobile version of the Twitter site which works with JavaScript turned off, even on a desktop computer.
This post can be viewed online at https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/cancel-netflix-if-you-value-freedom

UComp Research Project Delivers First Results Under Open Source License

MODUL University Vienna (Austria) (06/28/13)

MODUL University Vienna researchers have developed an open source tool that supports text acquisition, language recognition, the detection of phonetic similarities, and the standardized integration and archiving of captured information. The researchers say the project combines state-of-the-art methods to automatically capture information from complex sources with collective human intelligence. "The technologies from the uComp project provide us with better ways to capture opinions--on a global basis, irrespective of language barriers, national borders, and cultural differences," says MODUL professor Arno Scharl. He notes that a key aspect of uComp is the combination of collective human intelligence and automated knowledge extraction by software tools. Scharl says the first step to achieving this goal has been taken successfully with the extensible Web Retrieval Toolkit (eWRT), which promotes a transparent approach to analyzing data from social media platforms. "The uComp project will advance the state of the art by offering all these capabilities in an integrated, reusable framework," he says. Scharl notes the next phase of the project will focus on using collective human intelligence to analyze and validate data gathered by eWRT.

View Full Article

In a World Without Open Source | Innovation Insights | Wired.com

In the Star Trek episode "The Trouble with Tribbles," we see a graphic example of how small initial changes can lead to monumental consequences over a fairly short time. In the episode the possible consequences of rapidly-reproducing tribbles were contained and managed, leading to awareness of the effects of "new" species on established societies. A similar story can be seen in the rise of open source software — from Linus Torvalds' first release of source code in 1991, Linux has spread by allowing users to modify, improve and share software. Open source software is now a massive force in technology today. Yet many of us aren't aware of the reach and influence open source has on our personal and professional lives.

http://www.wired.com/insights/2013/07/in-a-world-without-open-source/

Free Software Supporter, Issue 63, June 2013

Free Software Supporter

Issue 63, June 2013
Welcome to the Free Software Supporter, the Free Software Foundation's monthly news digest and action update.
View this issue online here: http://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter/2013/free-software-supporter-issue-63-june-2013
Encourage your friends to subscribe and help us build an audience by adding our subscriber widget to your web site.

• Subscribe: http://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter
• Widget: http://www.fsf.org/associate/widget

Miss an issue? You can catch up on back issues at http://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter.

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El Free Software Supporter está disponible en español. Para ver la versión en español haz click aqui: http://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter/2013/
Para cambiar las preferencias de usuario y recibir los próximos números del Supporter en castellano, haz click aquí: http://crm.fsf.org/civicrm/profile/create?gid=34&reset=1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Free Software Foundation statement on PRISM revelations
• A second FSF-certified device from ThinkPenguin: long-range USB Wifi adapter with Atheros chip
• April's English translation team is recruiting volunteers
• MediaGoblin 0.4.0: Hall of the Archivist
• Announcing the newest fully free GNU/Linux distribution: LibreWRT
• FSF polo shirts have arrived at the shop!
• As Microsoft repeal some Xbox restrictions, more apply to other products
• Fight PRISM through the Free Software Directory
• LibrePlanet featured resource: Group:PRISM
• GNU Spotlight with Karl Berry: 22 new GNU releases!
• GNU Toolchain Update
• Richard Stallman's speaking schedule
• Other FSF and free software events
• Thank GNUs!
• Take action with the FSF!

Free Software Foundation statement on PRISM revelations

From June 7th
To protect their freedom and privacy, the FSF urges everyone to contact their representatives, avoid Software as a Service, and donate to support projects working for a better, safer world. In response to the Guardian report that major Internet companies including Microsoft, Facebook, Apple, Google, YouTube, Skype, Yahoo, PalTalk, and AOL, have apparently been providing sensitive user data to the National Security Agency (NSA), FSF executive director John Sullivan made the following statement:

• http://www.fsf.org/news/free-software-foundation-statement-on-prism-revelations

A second FSF-certified device from ThinkPenguin: long-range USB Wifi adapter with Atheros chip

From June 24th
The FSF has awarded Respects Your Freedom (RYF) certification to the TPE-N150USBL long-range 802.11n USB adapter, sold by ThinkPenguin. This wireless adapter is based on the Atheros AR9271, using the same chip and firmware as the TPE-N150USB, which was awarded RYF certification in April. The RYF certification mark means that the product meets the FSF's standards in regard to users' freedom, control over the product, and privacy.

• https://www.fsf.org/news/a-second-fsf-certified-device-from-thinkpenguin-long-range-usb-wifi-adapter-with-atheros-chip

April's English translation team is recruiting volunteers

From June 11th, by april.org
Founded in 1996, April is the main French advocacy association devoted to promoting and protecting Free/Libre Software. Most of the documents published by April are in French; more and more campaigns, however, need to be run at an international level. For example, in the fight against software patents in Europe, we set up the English-language Web site Unitary-Patent.eu. Furthermore, we wish to share our experience with readers from other countries. To do this, we need to reinforce our translation team, especially for English translations. We are looking for volunteers.

• http://www.april.org/en/aprils-english-translation-team-recruiting-volunteers

MediaGoblin 0.4.0: Hall of the Archivist

From June 17th, by Christopher Webber
MediaGoblin's newest release is here, 0.4.0! We've got a whole lot of cool things, most excitingly document support and an improved plugin infrastructure. Now more than ever before MediaGoblin has the tooling to become a real library of knowledge.

• http://mediagoblin.org/news/mediagoblin-0.4.0-hall-of-the-archivist.html

Announcing the newest fully free GNU/Linux distribution: LibreWRT

From June 6th
The FSF is proud to announce the newest addition to our list of fully free GNU/Linux distributions, adding its first ever small system distribution, LibreWRT. LibreWRT is a GNU/Linux distribution for computers with minimal resources, such as the Ben Nanonote and some ath9k-based wifi routers. We have actually been using LibreWRT here at the office since late last year.

• http://www.fsf.org/blogs/licensing/announcing-the-newest-fully-free-gnu-linux-distribution-librewrt

FSF polo shirts have arrived at the shop!

From June 11th
FSF polo shirts have arrived at the shop! Responding to the overwhelmingly popular demand on our Ideas page for FSF polo shirts, the shop is now selling these stylish maroon polos for $35! It has two white buttons, and features the Free Software Foundation logo embroidered in white stitching over the left chest. This polo shirt is perfect for a free software sysadmin to wear at the office.

• http://www.fsf.org/blogs/gnu-press/fsf-polo-shirts-have-arrived-at-the-shop

As Microsoft repeals some Xbox restrictions, more apply to other products

From June 20th, by FSFE
Faced with user protests, Microsoft has been forced to make the terms for its latest Xbox gaming console look a little less restrictive. However, the "new" terms which had caused such outrage were not in fact new at all: they were similar to most other proprietary software licenses, including those covering other Microsoft software products and online services.

• https://fsfe.org/news/2013/news-20130620-02.en.html

Fight PRISM through the Free Software Directory

From June 13th
To protect their freedom and privacy, the FSF urges everyone to avoid Software as a Service, and to support projects working for a better, safer world. One small way you can help support free software projects and encourage use of free software is to help maintain and improve 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 from 2PM to 5PM EDT. 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.
Details here:

• http://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Collection:PRISM
• http://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Free_Software_Directory:Participate

LibrePlanet featured resource: Group:PRISM

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 Group:PRISM, which is an action center for a free software response to the NSA surveillance scandal. You are invited to adopt, spread and improve this important resource.

• http://libreplanet.org/wiki/Group:PRISM

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

GNU Spotlight with Karl Berry: 22 new GNU releases!

22 new GNU releases this month (as of June 25, 2013): #61

• autoconf-archive-2013.06.09
• automake-1.14
• ccrtp-2.0.6
• ed-1.9
• electric-9.04
• freeipmi-1.2.8
• gcc-4.8.1
• glpk-4.51
• gnu-c-manual-0.2.3
• gnubik-2.4.1
• gtypist-2.9.3
• gzip-1.6
• help2man-1.43.2
• libidn-1.27
• libzrtpcpp-2.3.3
• parallel-20130622
• sipwitch-1.6.1
• teseq-1.1
• teximpatient-2.3
• unrtf-0.21.4
• vera-1.20
• xnee-3.16

To get announcements of most new GNU releases, subscribe to the info-gnu mailing list: http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-gnu. Nearly all GNU software is available from http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/, or preferably one of its mirrors (http://www.gnu.org/prep/ftp.html). You can use the url http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/ to be automatically redirected to a (hopefully) nearby and up-to-date mirror.
I'd like to welcome Cyril Adrian, Paolo Redaelli, and Raphael Mack as co-maintainers of the GNU liberty-eiffel package, renamed/revived from the previous GNU smarteiffel.
I'd also like to mention the GNU Hackers Meeting for 2013, scheduled to take place from August 22 to August 25 in Paris, France. More information at http://www.gnu.org/ghm/2013/paris/.
A number of GNU packages, as well as the GNU operating system as a whole, are looking for maintainers and other assistance. Please see http://www.gnu.org/server/takeaction.html#unmaint if you'd like to help. The general page on how to help GNU is at http://www.gnu.org/help/help.html. To submit new packages to the GNU operating system, see http://www.gnu.org/help/evaluation.html.
As always, please feel free to write to me, karl@gnu.org, with any GNUish questions or suggestions for future installments.

GNU Toolchain update

From June 24th
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.
There are a lot of updates this month. Read about updates to NEWLIB, GCC, and more.

• http://nickclifton.livejournal.com/13602.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 http://www.fsf.org/events.
So far, Richard Stallman has the following events in July:

• July 01, 2013, 7:30 PM, Passo Fundo, Brazil, A free digital society
• July 05, 2013, 3:00 PM, Porto Alegre, Brazil, Keynote speech at FISL14
• July 10, 2013, 2:00 PM, Brussels, Belgium, Vers une société numérique libre
• July 12, 2013, 3:00 PM, London, United Kingdom, Abusive computing and networks, and how we fight them
• July 13, 2013, 5:45 PM, Brighton, United Kingdom, Free software, free education
• July 15, 2013, 5:00 PM, Oxford, United Kingdom, Free software and your freedom

Other FSF and free software events

• August 22, 2013 to August 25, 2013, Paris, France, GNU Hackers Meeting

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.

• http://www.gnu.org/thankgnus/2013supporters.html

This month, a big Thank GNU to:

• Dr Riccardo M Bennett-Lovsey
• Renée Verlaan

You can add your name to this list by donating at http://donate.fsf.org.

Take action with the FSF

Contributions from thousands of individual members enable the FSF's work. You can contribute by joining at http://www.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! http://www.fsf.org/jf?referrer=2442
The FSF is also always looking for volunteers (http://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 (http://www.fsf.org/campaigns) and take action on software patents, DRM, free software adoption, OpenDocument, RIAA and more.

#

Copyright © 2013 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/.