Tag: FSF

The GNU Project has begun laying the groundwork for another piece of "Free as in Freedom" software. This time, the group has its sights set on developing a Skype alternative which rivals the original in ease of use and functionality. Dubbed GNU Free Call, the program will rely on a "self-aware, meshed calling network" to deliver secure, anonymous VoIP. The GNU SIP Witch server will provide the ...

There's been a total of one blog post by Mozilla and all of its many-tendrilled offshoots this week. I don't know why -- perhaps they're trying to finish up Firefox 3.6.4 and get the 4.0 beta out of the door -- but even then, we haven't even seen a new release candidate for either 3.6.4 or 4.0. In fact, the only actual release this week was a developer preview of Gecko 1.9.3 (but more on that ...

Getting on the Free Software Foundation's page of acceptable Linux distros isn't the easiest task in the world. Stallman and Co. have very particular requirements about what can and can't be included. A first glance at the page might put you off -- there aren't any big name distros like Ubuntu, Suse, or Fedora. Trisquel, however, is definitely worth a closer look. It's Ubuntu-based and ships ...

Have a doctorate? Hate web design, razors, soap and capitalism? Able to get by in Boston on $53,849 a year? You may be in luck. The Free Software Foundation is hiring a Campaigns Manager! According to the FSF's own site, "The campaigns manager implements the FSF communications strategy and works as part of a team to develop and implement issue campaigns and community resources, acting as a ...

British readers be warned: the Free Software Foundation's Defective by Design campaign is coming to our side of the pond tomorrow in protest at the BBC's decision to make extensive use of DRM (and in particular MIcrosoft's DRM) in their beta iPlayer software. For those who are unaware of the iPlayer, the BBC is making its programmes available for 'catch-up' via the iPlayer - albeit only for 7 days ...

Firefox is indeed free software, but not in every sense of the word. It's an open source product, but the binaries that they ship contain proprietary plugins and artwork. I'm not too scandalized by this knowledge, but in case your ideological sensibilities are offended, know that you're not alone: IceWeasel is a version of Firefox from the GNU Project that omits all non-free-as-in-speech art and ...

The Haz-Mat suited activists of DefectiveByDesign gained quite a bit of exposure when they waltzed into Apple stores across the country carrying signs and informing customers about the rights they give up when buying DRM controlled music from the iTunes Music Store. Our sister site, The Digital Music Weblog (she prefers to be called TDMW for short) caught up with the crafty folks at ...

As reported last month, this year will see the first update of the GNU General Public License—the license employed by, depending on who you ask, half to three-fourths of all free software—since 1991, and the Free Software Foundation has posted the first draft of the new GPLv3. It's no easy read, but luckily there's a Rationale Document that describes all of the changes in the new ...