Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Free Software Foundation issues statement on Heartbleed vulnerability

Free Software Foundation issues statement on Heartbleed vulnerability
Today, news broke of a major security vulnerability in OpenSSL. The bug, which is being referred to as "heartbleed", allows unauthorized access to information protected, under normal conditions, by the SSL/TLS encryption used to secure much of the Internet. In response to the news, Free Software Foundation executive director John Sullivan made the following statement:
Using free "as in freedom" software, like OpenSSL, is a necessary first step in securing our computers, our servers, and the entire Internet. Free software guarantees users the ability to examine the code in order to detect vulnerabilities, and to create new and safe versions if a vulnerability is discovered. Bugs, sometimes big ones like Heartbleed affecting widely used software like OpenSSL, can occur in any code, free or proprietary. The difference is, when no one but a proprietary software company like Microsoft can see the code, or fix it when problems are discovered, it is impossible to have a true chain of trust. Everyone is helpless until Microsoft decides to act.
It's been documented that companies like Microsoft are even sharing bugs with others like the NSA without fixing them, looking the other way so that third parties can exploit the security hole. And Apple has a backdoor on the iPhone that security experts say was either caused by NSA sabotage or deliberate internal sabotage by Apple. In short, examples of proprietary software's insecurity abound.
Heartbleed is a serious security issue, and it's a good thing that OpenSSL is free software. This has allowed the bug to be identified, and fixed rapidly after being disclosed.
As for the FSF's own systems, we are upgrading them as we speak. We'd like to thank the Trisquel and Debian distributions of GNU/Linux for quickly releasing updates with fixed packages.
‡: Trisquel is an FSF-endorsed free GNU/Linux distribution.

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Tuesday, April 8, 2014

DevOps and open source, the new Apache project, and more



WEEKLY NEWS

FROM THE ARCHIVES

OPEN SOURCE EVENTS

Here's what's coming up in April:

  • CloudStack Collaboration Conference is scheduled for April 9-11 in Denver, CO.

  • PyCon, the largest annual gathering for the Python community, is scheduled for April 9-17 in Montreal, Canada.

  • DevNation, an open source polyglot conference for app developers and maintainers, is scheduled for April 13-17 in San Francisco, CA.

  • Check out the events calendar to see other upcoming open source events and submit your own!


If you're fighting the silo mentality at work, there's hope. A new Harvard Business Review report shows that organizations that take a collaborative approach to innovation are seeing success. Can your office be more open?

We're proud to announce the nominees for this year's People's Choice Award, where we recognize the top contributors to Opensource.com. Vote for your favorite author by April 19.

His adventure started in college with Slackware, lead him to Sendmail, then eventually to Reddit, and now his career is streaming at Netflix. Jeremy Edberg talks about the open source culture of freedom and responsibility at Netflix.

ENTERPRISERS PROJECT

Join the open sourced-dialogue about the future of CIOs.


If you're transitioning to a DevOps model, be prepared to communicate more and break down the silos. Scott Koegler explains the culture change that may be needed if you're part of a DevOps strategy.



Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Free Software Supporter - Issue 72, March 2014

Free Software Supporter

Issue 72, March 2014
Welcome to the Free Software Supporter, the Free Software Foundation's monthly news digest and action update -- being read by you and 78,096 other activists. That's 1,639 more than last month!
View this issue online here: https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter/2014/march
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.

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El Free Software Supporter está disponible en español. Para ver la versión en español haz click aqui: https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter/2014/marzo
Para cambiar las preferencias de usuario y recibir los próximos números del Supporter en español, haz click aquí: https://crm.fsf.org/civicrm/profile/create?gid=34&reset=1
Le Free Software Supporter est disponible en français. Pour voir la version française cliquez ici: https://www.fsf.org/free-software-supporter/2014/mars

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  • New highs for LibrePlanet
  • Matthew Garrett, GNOME Foundation's Outreach Program for Women are Free Software Award winners
  • Replicant developers find and close Samsung Galaxy backdoor
  • How I made a video for LibrePlanet using all free software
  • Introducing Jaewoo, the Licensing Team's spring intern
  • Get excited for LibrePlanet 2014!
  • Interview with Roman Telezhinsky of Valentina
  • GNU Press releases RUN GCC shirt
  • February 2014 - New York, NY - RMS at the Cooper Union, for HuffPost Code and the New York Tech Meetup
  • Get candidates for this year's European elections to make a stand for free software
  • Computers in the post-Snowden era: choose before paying!
  • Document Freedom Day delivers messages of interoperability around the world
  • The Revolution will be chock-full of non-coders
  • Help spread the word on the GNU MediaGoblin campaign!
  • Join the FSF and friends in updating the Free Software Directory
  • LibrePlanet featured resource: Lobbying government
  • GNU Spotlight with Karl Berry: 24 new GNU releases!
  • GNU Toolchain Update
  • Richard Stallman's speaking schedule and other FSF events
  • Thank GNUs!
  • Take action with the FSF!

New highs for LibrePlanet

From March 26th
What does it mean when, over a single year, the number of people who come to LibrePlanet more than doubles? It means that the free software movement is strong and growing. It means we have a fighting chance to protect our freedom and privacy in the digital world, and that we are inspiring new people to join us.
Other posts about LibrePlanet 2014:

Matthew Garrett, GNOME Foundation's Outreach Program for Women are Free Software Award winners

From March 22nd
Richard M. Stallman announced the winners of the FSF's annual Free Software Awards at a ceremony on Saturday, March 22, 2014, held during the LibrePlanet 2014 conference at MIT, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Two awards were given: the Award for the Advancement of Free Software, and the Award for Projects of Social Benefit.

Replicant developers find and close Samsung Galaxy backdoor

By Paul Kocialkowski, from March 12th
While working on Replicant, a fully free/libre version of Android, developers discovered that a proprietary program running on the applications processor implements a backdoor that lets the modem perform remote file I/O operations on the file system.

How I made a video for LibrePlanet using all free software

By Dan Fitzmartin, from March 21st
In this guest post, FSF member and volunteer Dan Fitzmartin documents how he made a promotional video for LibrePlanet 2014 using only free software video editing tools.

Introducing Jaewoo, the Licensing Team's spring intern

From March 24th
Jaewoo Cho recently started working at the FSF as a licensing intern. In this post, he writes about his experience with free software and his goals for the internship.

Interview with Roman Telezhinsky of Valentina

From March 19th
In this installment of our Licensing and Compliance Lab's series on free software developers who choose GNU licenses for their works, we conducted an email-based interview with Roman Telezhinsky, the lead developer of Valentina, a free software pattern-making program.

GNU Press releases RUN GCC shirt

From March 19th
Represent GCC with this novelty t-shirt! Printed by a unionized shop on 100% certified organic cotton, this shirt comes in black with white lettering framed in red bars. Sizes are available in both unisex and women's styles.

February 2014 - New York, NY - RMS at the Cooper Union, for HuffPost Code and the New York Tech Meetup

From March 5th
RMS was hosted by HuffPost Code in cooperation with the New York Tech Meetup and Cooper Union, and was in the the Great Hall of the Cooper Union's Foundation Building, in New York, NY, on February 20, 2014, to deliver his speech "A Free Digital Society" to seven hundred people in attendance.

Get candidates for this year's European elections to make a stand for free software

By FSF Europe, from March 4th
From May 22 to 25, 2014 European citizens will vote for candidates standing for the European Parliament. This is an ideal time to engage with politicians with why free software matters. Help us to get the candidates across Europe to declare their support for free software.

Computers in the post-Snowden era: choose before paying!

By FSF Europe, from March 24th
FSF and FSF Europe joined other organizations throughout the world in requesting an unfettered choice of the operating system on telephones, laptops and other computing devices.

Document Freedom Day delivers messages of interoperability around the world

By FSF Europe, from March 25th
On March 26, 2014, FSF Europe celebrated free formats and interoperability with free software activists in eighteen countries around the world.

The Revolution will be chock-full of non-coders

By GNU MediaGoblin, from March 21st
Deb Nicholson of GNU MediaGoblin writes about the importance of non-coders in building strong and diverse free software projects.

Help spread the word on the GNU MediaGoblin campaign!

By GNU MediaGoblin, from March 3rd
Can you help GNU MediaGoblin decentralize the Web by sharing their campaign on your social networks and help get GNU MediaGoblin in the news? GNU MediaGoblin has also entered the Knight News Challenge, a grant giving program centered around free expression on the net, and needs your support.

Join the FSF and friends in updating the Free Software Directory

From March 27th
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, April 4, from 2pm to 5pm EDT (18:00 to 21:00 UTC). Details here:
After this meeting, you can check https://www.fsf.org/events to see the rest of April's weekly meetings as they are scheduled.

LibrePlanet featured resource: Lobbying government

Every month on LibrePlanet, we highlight one resource that is interesting and useful -- often one that could use your help.
At LibrePlanet 2014, there was a lot of talk during the "Free software messaging meeting" on how the free software movement can promote free software adoption by government organizations.
For this month, we are highlighting the Lobbying government page, which provides information about advocating software freedom to public officials. You are invited to adopt, spread and improve this important resource.
Do you have a suggestion for next month's featured resource? Let us know at campaigns@fsf.org.

GNU Spotlight with Karl Berry: 24 new GNU releases!

24 new GNU releases in the last month (as of March 25, 2014):
To get announcements of most new GNU releases, subscribe to the info-gnu mailing list: https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-gnu. Nearly all GNU software is available from https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/, or preferably one of its mirrors (https://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.
This month, we welcome:
  • James Cloos as the new maintainer of enscript and trueprint (with an eye toward merging them),
  • Ramana Radhakrishnan as a new co-maintainer of gcc,
  • Nick Ralabate as the new maintainer of solfege,
  • Andrew Shadura and Daniel Valentine as the new maintainers of indent,
  • Andy Wingo and Daniel Hartwig as the authors and maintainers of the new package guile-opengl.
Thanks to all.
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. To submit new packages to the GNU operating system, see https://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 March 16th
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 features improvements to GCC's support for MIPS and ARM architectures.

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 in April:

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.
This month, a big Thank GNU to:
  • 0gb.us
  • Aaron Culich
  • Adam Klotblixt
  • Adel Shalawi
  • Alejandro Luis Bonavita
  • Aleph Objects, Inc.
  • Alessandro Vesely
  • Andrew Lewman
  • Andrew V. Belousoff
  • Antonio Carzaniga
  • Ashley Fryer
  • Ben Sturmfels
  • Boone Gorges
  • Brett Smith
  • Calum Robert Slee
  • Carina Buskas
  • Catalin Francu
  • CHAITANYA V BAYAPUNENI
  • Chris Cunningham
  • Clifford Ireland
  • Colin Carr
  • Craig Andrews
  • Daniel Kahn Gillmor
  • daniel watson
  • Dave Beckett
  • Dave Johnson
  • David Ayers
  • David Bruce
  • David Caldwell
  • David Hampton
  • David Johnson
  • David Klann
  • Dennis W. Tokarski
  • Diego Sarmentero
  • Donald E. Knuth
  • Douglas Hauge
  • Doyle Myers
  • Eberhard Schopf
  • Ed Price
  • Edward Fahner
  • Elyse M Grasso
  • Eric Moore
  • Filip M. Nowak
  • Flemming Richter Mikkelsen
  • Frank J. Niertit
  • Geoffrey S. Knauth
  • Georges Sancosme
  • Giacomo Castellano
  • Gregory Maxwell
  • Hal Lewis
  • harley gorrell
  • Håkon A. Hjortland
  • Henrik Hedelund
  • I-Lun Tseng
  • Iñaki Arenaza
  • Inouye Satoru
  • James A Cole
  • James E Wilson
  • James E. Bennett
  • James H. McConville
  • Jason Francis
  • Jason Schaefer
  • Jean-Francois Blavier
  • Jeff Weston
  • Jelte van der Hoek
  • Jesper Dahlberg
  • John J Watzke III
  • John Schneiderman
  • Jonathan Wakely
  • Judicael Courant
  • Julian Eden
  • Julian Graham
  • Julian Kalbhenn
  • Justin Baugh
  • Kailash Balnac
  • Kevin J. McCarthy
  • KIMURA Masaru
  • Laurent Watteau
  • Li-Cheng Tai
  • LUIZ PATERNOSTRO
  • Lyle Frost
  • Manuel Velado
  • Marinos J. Yannikos
  • Mario Lardieri
  • Mark Nelson
  • Mark Suter
  • Markus Schaldach
  • Mason Smith
  • Michael D'Errico
  • Michael Dorrington
  • Michael Lewis
  • Mikaël Cluseau
  • Mikiya Okuno
  • Mikko Värri
  • Morten Lind
  • Mridul Muralidharan
  • Neal Pawar
  • Neil Gower
  • Pariksheet Nanda
  • Patric Buskas
  • Pete Batard
  • Peter Olson
  • Peter Rock
  • Phillips Wolf
  • Rhandeev Singh
  • Robert Baldy
  • Robert Dionne
  • Robert L. McDonald
  • Roland Emile Jacoby
  • Roland H. Pesch
  • Ron McCall
  • Sebastian Tennant
  • Sencha
  • Stephen Compall
  • Steve Sprang
  • Steven C. Morreale, M.D./M.P.H.
  • Sudheera Ruwanthaka Fernando
  • Sverre H. Huseby
  • Terrance Druggan
  • Torkel Hasle
  • Trevor Spiteri
  • Uday Kale
  • Valerio Poggi
  • Vincent Hobeïka
  • Vincent Launchbury
  • Vinod Kurup
  • Walter Lain
  • Wayne Chapeskie
  • Wesley Andres Watters
  • William Pollock
  • Wolfgang Ocker
  • Yuji Shinokawa
  • Yvette Seifert Hirth
  • Matthias Herrmann
  • Keith Amidon
  • Jordan Bettis
You can add your name to this list by donating at https://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 https://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! https://www.fsf.org/jf?referrer=2442
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.

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Copyright © 2014 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 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/.
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Fifth Floor
Boston, Massachusetts 02110-1335
United States