# Free Software Supporter Issue 108, April 2017 Welcome to the Free Software Supporter, the Free Software Foundation's (FSF) monthly news digest and action update -- being read by you and 143,027 other activists. That's 4,350 more than last month! ### #DialUp the Web's inventor for online security and rights *From March 30th* Since the beginning of the Web -- the age of dial-up Internet connections -- the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has kept the Web's technical standards tuned in a careful balance that enables innovation and respects users' rights. On April 13th, that may change. Unless we can stop it, the W3C will welcome a new wave of user-hostile Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) onto the Web, making it harder than ever for us to be secure and free online. Join free software supporters around the world in calling W3C Director Tim Berners-Lee now and urging him not to endanger users by enshrining oppressive technology in the basic standards of the Web. * ### LibrePlanet 2017 videos and thank you *From March 29th* Did you miss LibrePlanet? Check out session videos from LibrePlanet 2017 on LibrePlanet's MediaGoblin site; more is being published each day, including lots of photos. Thank you to all the attendees, speakers, volunteers, staff, and viewers online, with special thanks to former FSF intern David Testé (soonum) for developing HUBAngl, the free streaming software used at LibrePlanet this year. It made monitoring and setup easier and more reliable -- thanks, David! * ### The Free Software Foundation is hiring an Outreach & Communications Coordinator *From March 16th* Reporting to the executive director, the Outreach & Communications Coordinator works closely with our campaigns, licensing, and technical teams to edit, write, publish, and promote high-quality, effective materials both digital and printed. Read the full listing: * ## TABLE OF CONTENTS * LibrePlanet 2017: Recapping the conference * SecureDrop and Alexandre Oliva are 2016 Free Software Awards winners * The Licensing and Compliance Lab interviews Defense Digital Service about eMCM * Do GitHub's updated terms of service conflict with copyleft? * GNU Toolchain now accepting donations with the support of the FSF * It's International Women's Day: Celebrating women in free software * Three devices from Vikings GmbH now FSF-certified to respect your freedom * W3C misses the point with inadequate security guidance * Freedomvote.nl helps voters compare party positions on digital freedom in upcoming Dutch election * March Free Software Directory meeting recaps * Join the FSF and friends in updating the Free Software Directory * LibrePlanet featured resource: Software Freedom Activism Guide * GNU Spotlight with Brandon Invergo: Twenty-two new GNU releases! * GNU Toolchain update * Richard Stallman's speaking schedule * Thank GNUs! * GNU copyright contributions * Take action with the FSF! View this issue online here: Encourage your friends to subscribe and help us build an audience by adding our subscriber widget to your Web site. * Subscribe: * Widget: Miss an issue? You can catch up on back issues at . ### El Free Software Supporter está disponible en español. Para ver la versión en español haz click aqui: **Para cambiar las preferencias de usuario y recibir los próximos números del Supporter en español, haz click aquí:** Le Free Software Supporter est disponible en français. Pour voir la version française cliquez ici: **Pour modifier vos préférences et recevoir les prochaines publications du Supporter en français, cliquez ici:** ### ### LibrePlanet 2017: Recapping the conference #### LibrePlanet Day 2, DRM, contributing, and advice *From March 26th* The second day of LibrePlanet 2017 started with a talk by author, blogger, editor, activist, and Internet freedom fighter Cory Doctorow. Straight through to Sumana Harihareswara's closing keynote, the day was full of conversations and presentations touching on a broad range of topics across the free software movement. * #### LibrePlanet Day 1, technology, politics, workshops, and winners *From March 25th* This year kicked off on Saturday, March 25th, with a keynote speech by Kade Crockford, director of the Technology for Liberty Project at the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. Throughout the day, there were 24 talks, covering a wide range of topics relating to software freedom and user freedom. At the end of the day, Richard Stallman announced the winners of the 2016 Free Software Awards. * #### Meet the LibrePlanet 2017 Speakers: Christian Fernandez *From March 23rd* * #### Meet the LibrePlanet 2017 Speakers: Denver Gingerich *From March 22nd* * #### LibrePlanet free software conference returns to MIT this weekend, March 25-26 *From March 21st* * #### Your guide to LibrePlanet 2017, wherever you are, March 25-26 *From March 20th* * #### Schedule posted: Explore the roots of freedom at LibrePlanet 2017 *From March 10th* * ### SecureDrop and Alexandre Oliva are 2016 Free Software Awards winners *From March 25th* We announced the winners of the 2016 Free Software Awards at a ceremony held during the LibrePlanet 2017 conference at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. FSF President Richard M. Stallman presented the Award for Projects of Social Benefit to SecureDrop (accepted by Senior DevOps engineer Conor Schaefer) and the Award for the Advancement of Free Software to Alexandre Oliva. Video below. * * ### The Licensing and Compliance Lab interviews Defense Digital Service about eMCM *From March 16th* In this edition of our Licensing and Compliance Lab's series on free software developers who choose GNU licenses for their works, we interviewed the Defense Digital Service (DDS) about the release of their first project, eMCM, on their recently launched free software platform Code.mil. The DDS is a team of private sector tech experts who serve as federal employees on "nerd tours of duty" at the Pentagon to solve problems of impact within the Department of Defense (DoD). * ### Do GitHub's updated terms of service conflict with copyleft? *From March 14th* GitHub's updated terms caused a great deal of concern, but while they are confusing, they do not appear to be incompatible with copyleft. The FSF, though, still recommends using other code hosting sites. * ### GNU Toolchain now accepting donations with the support of the FSF *From March 9th* The FSF is now accepting [donations to support the GNU Toolchain](https://my.fsf.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=57), a collection of foundational freely licensed software development tools including the [GNU C Compiler collection (GCC)](https://gcc.gnu.org/), the [GNU C Library (glibc)](https://www.gnu.org/software/libc/libc.html), and the [GNU Debugger (GDB)](https://sourceware.org/gdb/). Many pieces of software depend upon the GNU Toolchain, including the GNU/Linux family of operating systems which runs the majority of Web servers, millions of personal devices, and the most advanced supercomputers. * ### It's International Women's Day: Celebrating women in free software *From March 8th* The world of free software projects and the greater free software movement grow in success and visibility in no small part thanks to the developmental model that is enabled by the licenses and philosophies that drive free software. Many projects and the FSF itself have made leaps in creating more diverse and inclusive spaces over the past few years. We celebrate International Women's Day by writing about just a few of the many amazing women around the world who use their professional and personal time to drive freedom in technology. * ### Three devices from Vikings GmbH now FSF-certified to respect your freedom *From March 3rd* The FSF awarded [Respects Your Freedom (RYF) certification](https://www.fsf.org/ryf) to three devices from Vikings GmbH: the Vikings D16 Mainboard, the Vikings X200 libre-friendly laptop, and the Vikings USB Stereo Sound Adapter. The RYF certification mark means that the product meets the FSF's standards in regard to users' freedom, control over the product, and privacy. * ### W3C misses the point with inadequate security guidance *From March 3rd* On March 2nd, the project manager of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) announced unofficial guidance for organizations facing reports of user-threatening vulnerabilities in their programs or Web sites. The W3C, which sets the Web's technical specifications, hopes to appease Defective by Design and other critics concerned about threats to the Web's security posed by Encrypted Media Extensions (EME), a proposal to enshrine Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) in Web standards. We urge the universities, nonprofits, and companies that make up the W3C membership to pledge to block the advancement of EME, and Web users to make sure the W3C knows they disapprove of its willingness to normalize DRM. * ### Freedomvote.nl helps voters compare party positions on digital freedom in upcoming Dutch election *From March 2nd by Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE)* FSFE Netherlands, NLnet, ISPConnect, and Open Source & Overheid launched Freedomvote.nl to help inform voters in the Dutch general election, which was held on March 15th 2017. Freedomvote.nl provides guidance to voters on the topic of digital freedom, based on eight questions. * ### March Free Software Directory meeting recaps Check out the great work our volunteers accomplished at the March Free Software Directory meetings. Every week free software activists from around the world come together in #fsf on irc.freenode.org to help improve the Free Software Directory. *March 3rd meeting* * *March 26th meeting* * ### Join the FSF and friends in updating 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. Meetings take place in the #fsf channel on irc.freenode.org, and usually include a handful of regulars as well as newcomers. Everyone's welcome. The next meeting is Friday, April 7th from 12pm to 3pm EST (16:00 to 19:00 UTC). Details here: * ### LibrePlanet featured resource: Software Freedom Activism Guide 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 Activism Guide, which provides information about how to participate in free software activism. 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 . ### GNU Spotlight with Brandon Invergo: Twenty-two new GNU releases! (as of March 24, 2017) * [8sync-0.4.2](https://www.gnu.org/software/8sync/) * [apl-1.7](https://www.gnu.org/software/apl/) * [autoconf-archive-2017.03.21](https://www.gnu.org/software/autoconf-archive/) * [binutils-2.28](https://www.gnu.org/software/binutils/) * [coreutils-8.27](https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/) * [denemo-2.1](https://www.gnu.org/software/denemo/) * [gdbm-1.13](https://www.gnu.org/software/gdbm/) * [gnuhealth-3.0.7](http://health.gnu.org/) * [gnupg-2.1.19](https://www.gnu.org/software/gnupg/) * [gnutls-3.5.10](https://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/) * [guile-2.2.0](https://www.gnu.org/software/guile/) * [icecat-45.7.0-gnu1](https://www.gnu.org/software/icecat/) * [jacal-1c4](https://www.gnu.org/software/jacal/) * [linux-libre-4.10.5-gnu](https://www.gnu.org/software/linux-libre/) * [mailutils-3.2](https://www.gnu.org/software/mailutils/) * [octave-4.2.1](https://www.gnu.org/software/octave/) * [parallel-20170322](https://www.gnu.org/software/parallel/) * [scm-5f2](https://www.gnu.org/software/scm/) * [screen-4.5.1](https://www.gnu.org/software/screen/) * [slib-3b5](https://www.gnu.org/software/slib/) * [units-2.14](https://www.gnu.org/software/units/) * [wb-2b3](https://www.gnu.org/software/wb/) For announcements of most new GNU releases, subscribe to the info-gnu mailing list: . To download: nearly all GNU software is available from , or preferably one of its mirrors from . You can use the URL to be automatically redirected to a (hopefully) nearby and up-to-date mirror. A number of GNU packages, as well as the GNU operating system as a whole, are looking for maintainers and other assistance: please see if you'd like to help. The general page on how to help GNU is at . If you have a working or partly working program that you'd like to offer to the GNU Project as a GNU package, see . As always, please feel free to write to us at with any GNUish questions or suggestions for future installments. ### GNU Toolchain update *From March 21st by Nick Clifton* 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. * ### 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 . So far, Richard Stallman has the following events this month: * April 11, 2017, East Lansing, MI, USA, ["A free digital society"](https://www.fsf.org/events/rms-20170411-eastlansing) * April 13, 2017, Lock Haven, PA, USA, ["A free digital society"](https://www.fsf.org/events/rms-20170413-lockhaven) * April 15, 2017, Philadelphia, PA, USA, ["Free software and your freedom"](https://www.fsf.org/events/rms-20170415-philadelphia) * April 18, 2017, St. Louis, MO, USA, ["Free software and your freedom"](https://www.fsf.org/events/rms-20170418-stlouis) * April 28, 2017, Potsdam, Germany, ["Ethical principles for service-oriented computing"](https://www.fsf.org/events/rms-20170428-potsdam) ### Thank GNUs! We appreciate everyone who donates to the Free Software Foundation, and 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: * 悟 高田 * Ben Abrams * Kyohei Moriyama * Valerio Poggi * Steve Sprang You can add your name to this list by donating at . ### 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: * Vincent Belaïche (gawk) * Cade Brown (MPFR) * Wojciech Gac (Emacs) * Nicolas Koenig (GCC) * Freja Nordsiek (Guile) * Juraj Oršulić (GCC) * Xi Ruoyao (GCC) * Fabian Wiget (Emacs) Want to see your name on this list? Contribute to GNU and assign your copyright to the FSF. ### Take action with the FSF! Contributions from thousands of individual members enable the FSF's work. You can contribute by joining at . 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! The FSF is always looking for volunteers (). From rabble-rousing to hacking, from issue coordination to envelope stuffing -- there's something here for everybody to do. Also, head over to our campaigns section () and take action on software patents, Digital Restrictions Management (DRM), free software adoption, OpenDocument, Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and more. ### Copyright © 2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit .