Welcome to the Free Software Supporter, the Free Software Foundation's (FSF) monthly news digest and action update -- being read by you and 183,019 other activists. That's 23,952 more than last month, thanks in part to an increase in support, and in part to an email problem we've found and fixed!

LibrePlanet 2018: Let's talk about Freedom. Embedded.

From September 19th

Celebrate TEN YEARS of LibrePlanet and meet free software developers, advocates, and users at our yearly free software conference, on March 24th-25th, 2018 in Cambridge, MA! This year's theme is "Freedom. Embedded." The Call For Sessions is open from now until Wednesday, November 2th, 2017 at 10:00 EST (14:00 UTC). Submit your proposals here!

• https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/libreplanet-2018-lets-talk-about-freedom-embedded

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Why hackathons should insist on free software: a new article by RMS


• New FSF membership benefit: LibreOffice certification


• Explore free software and libre culture at the Coliberator conference in Bucharest, Romania


• The Apple is still rotten: Why you should avoid the new iPhone


• Support the Talos II, a candidate for Respects Your Freedom (RYF) certification


• A new Replicant 6.0 release


• August 2017: RMS at FOSS4G, in Boston


• World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) appeal fails, votes kept secret


• DRM will unravel the Web


• With the W3C captured by the copyright industry, who will step up to lead Web development next?


• Project adapts GNU Guix reproducibility software for high performance computing (HPC) environments


• Silicon Valley has been humbled, but its schemes are as dangerous as ever


• Hewlett Packard (HP) back to bricking third-party ink


• GNU Press spotlight: The Bison Manual, on sale!


• September Free Software Directory meeting recaps


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


• LibrePlanet featured resource: LibrePlanet Rapid Responders


• GNU Spotlight with Brandon Invergo: 22 new GNU releases!


• GNU Toolchain update: Support GNU Toolchain


• Richard Stallman's speaking schedule and other FSF events


• Thank GNUs!


• GNU copyright contributions


• Take action with the FSF!

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Why hackathons should insist on free software: a new article by RMS

From September 12th

Richard Stallman's latest article explains how free software, by its very nature, is the only software suited for hackathons.

• https://www.fsf.org/blogs/rms/why-hackathons-should-insist-on-free-software

New FSF membership benefit: LibreOffice certification

From September 19th

Using LibreOffice gets many people started down the path of free software. People who are certified in LibreOffice migrations and trainings are able to help companies and government offices make the switch away from proprietary office suites, and that raises the value of a deep understanding of LibreOffice. Thanks to The Document Foundation, FSF members can now apply for that certification, gaining valuable skills and helping to spread the use of free software around the world.

• https://www.fsf.org/news/new-fsf-membership-benefit-libreoffice-certification

Explore free software and libre culture at the Coliberator conference in Bucharest, Romania

The fifth edition of the Coliberator conference is upon us -- October 7th and 8th, in Bucharest, Romania! FSF founder and president Richard Stallman is going to be delivering the keynote speech. This year's talks will cover issues of software freedom in mobile, hardware, business, public administration, privacy, net neutrality, libre culture, and localization of libre software, and there will be both a Replicant and a Libreboot workshop. Register today!

The Apple is still rotten: Why you should avoid the new iPhone

From September 12th

As they usually do every September, Apple announced the arrival of several new iPhone models and other updated gadgets. As usual, the phones were revealed with great fanfare -- but from the glass exterior down to its guts, the new iPhone is just another freedom-restricting trap for unsuspecting users.

• https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/the-apple-is-still-rotten-why-you-should-avoid-the-new-iphone

Support the Talos II, a candidate for Respects Your Freedom (RYF) certification

From September 8th

The Talos II comes in a variety of forms to meet your needs, from a workstation to rack-mounted to the board by itself. This system is great for any hacker who needs a powerful machine, perfect for developing even more free software. Pre-orders closed on September 15, but there are still ways to support this important project, by supporting our work on the RYF project.

• https://www.fsf.org/blogs/licensing/support-the-talos-ii-a-candidate-for-respects-your-freedom-certification-by-pre-ordering-by-september-15


• https://www.fsf.org/blogs/licensing/only-a-short-time-left-to-pre-order-the-talos-ii-pre-orders-end-september-15th

A new Replicant 6.0 release

From September 17th by Wolfgang Wiedmeyer

This release more than doubles the number of devices supported by this fully free Android distribution, and contains a few important fixes and improvements. The latest changes from LineageOS 13.0 are included. They are mostly security fixes, so updating is recommended!

• https://blog.replicant.us/2017/09/a-new-replicant-6-0-release/

August 2017: RMS at FOSS4G, in Boston

From August 31st

On August 17th, RMS was at the International Conference for Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial (FOSS4G) this month, in Boston, MA, to give his speech “Free software: Freedom, privacy, sovereignty” to an audience of about a thousand academics, businesspeople, government employees, and, mostly, developers.

• https://www.fsf.org/blogs/rms/photo-blog-2017-august-boston

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) appeal fails, votes kept secret

From September 18th by Brian Lunduke

The W3C’s decisions to keep votes about Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) secret and to censure the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) for “disclosing even vague sense of a vote” raises serious concerns. The W3C is the exact opposite of open: a closed cabal (with a high price tag for participation) that decides, in secret, what the future of the “free and open Web” will be. Every human being on the planet should be concerned about this.

• https://www.networkworld.com/article/3225456/internet/w3c-drm-appeal-fails-votes-kept-secret.html

DRM will unravel the Web

From September 18 by Christopher Allan Webber

The W3C has allowed DRM to move forward on the Web through the Encrypted Media Extensions (EME) specification (which is, to paraphrase Danny O'Brien from the EFF, a "DRM shaped hole where nothing else but DRM fits"). This threatens to unravel the Web as we know it. How could this happen? How did we get here?

• https://dustycloud.org/blog/drm-will-unravel-the-web/

With the W3C captured by the copyright industry, who will step up to lead Web development next?

From September 20th by Rick Falkvinge

The W3C, which used to develop standards for the Web, has been captured by the copyright industry. In a doubly controversial vote, the W3C decided that media companies and not the user should be in control, ending their longstanding commitment to openness and the Internet’s core values. The open question is what new body Web developers will choose to follow for future generations of standards.

• https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/blog/2017/09/with-the-world-wide-web-consortium-captured-by-the-copyright-industry-who-will-step-up-to-lead-web-development-next/

Project adapts GNU Guix reproducibility software for high performance computing (HPC) environments

From September 5th by HPCWire

Reproducing experiments and results is a cornerstone of science, but researchers acknowledge that actually achieving this feat can be tricky. GNU Guix -- a free software program that is used to fully reproduce computational environments -- might be part of the solution, says Ludovic Courtès of Inria, the French National Institute for computer science and applied mathematics in Bordeaux.

GNU Guix is one of the projects funded through our Working Together for Free Software Fund. If you want to help GNU Guix expand its reach, you can donate specifically to this project here!

• https://www.hpcwire.com/off-the-wire/free-software-helps-tackle-reproducibility-problem/

Silicon Valley has been humbled, but its schemes are as dangerous as ever

From September 2nd by Evgeny Morozov

The Silicon Valley backlash is on. These days, one can hardly open a major newspaper without stumbling on passionate calls that demand curbs on the power of what is now frequently called “Big Tech,” from reclassifying digital platforms as utility companies to even nationalizing them. Their insistence on proprietary software and Service as a Software Substitute is tied up with many of these abuses.

• https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/02/silicon-valley-humbled-schemes-dangerous

Hewlett Packard (HP) back to bricking third-party ink

From September 14th by Sam Rutherford

It came as a bit of a surprise when HP actually made some concessions after pushing out an update that bricked unofficial ink cartridges last year. Unfortunately, it seems HP has now returned to its iron-fisted ways, once again locking down the use of third-party ink with a software update.

• https://gizmodo.com/one-year-after-bricking-third-party-ink-with-update-hp-1809073739

GNU Press spotlight: The Bison Manual, on sale!

Bison is a general-purpose parser generator that can help the C programmer develop a wide range of language parsers, from those used in simple desktop calculators to complex programming languages. The Bison Manual provides a quick overview of the theory behind context-free grammars and semantic values. It has both an introductory tutorial section with examples and a reference section which explores parts of Bison in detail. Normally $25, this valuable resource is now available for only $13!

• https://shop.fsf.org/books-docs/bison-manual-v-1875-discounted

September Free Software Directory meeting recaps

Check out the great work our volunteers accomplished at the September 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.

September 1st meeting

• https://www.fsf.org/blogs/directory/free-software-directory-meeting-recap-for-september-1st-2017

September 8th meeting

• https://www.fsf.org/blogs/directory/free-software-directory-meeting-recap-for-september-8th-2017

September 15th meeting

• https://www.fsf.org/blogs/directory/free-software-directory-meeting-recap-for-september-15th-2017

September 22nd meeting

• https://www.fsf.org/blogs/directory/free-software-directory-meeting-recap-for-september-22nd-2017

Join the FSF and friends in updating the Free Software Directory

Tens of thousands of people visit https://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. Freenode is accessible from any IRC client -- Everyone's welcome!

The next meeting is Friday, October 6th, from 12pm to 3pm EDT (16:00 to 19:00 UTC). Details here:

• https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Free_Software_Directory:Meetings

LibrePlanet featured resource: LibrePlanet Rapid Responders

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 LibrePlanet Rapid Responders, which is a network of activists who aim to spread the free software philosophy in the press, blogs, forums, and social media. You are invited to adopt, spread and improve this important resource.

• https://libreplanet.org/wiki/Group:LibrePlanet_Rapid_Responders

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

GNU Spotlight with Brandon Invergo: 22 new GNU releases!

• coreutils-8.28


• emacs-25.3


• gdb-8.0.1


• gnuastro-0.4


• gnucash-2.6.18


• gnucobol-2.2


• gnuhealth-3.2.3


• gnupg-2.2.1


• help2man-1.47.5


• icecat-52.3.0-gnu1


• libffcall-2.0


• libgcrypt-1.8.1


• libidn2-2.0.4


• lightning-2.1.2


• linux-libre-4.13.3-gnu


• mpfr-3.1.6


• nano-2.8.7


• parallel-20170922


• pspp-1.0.1


• texinfo-6.5


• unifont-10.0.06


• xorriso-1.4.8

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.

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-at-gnu.org with any GNUish questions or suggestions for future installments.

GNU Toolchain update: Support GNU Toolchain

Donate to support the GNU Toolchain, a collection of foundational freely licensed software development tools including the GNU C Compiler collection (GCC), the GNU C Library (glibc), and the GNU Debugger (GDB).

• https://my.fsf.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=57

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:

• 
  

  October 7th, 2017, Bucharest, Romania, Keynote speech for the Coliberator conference

  
  


• October 9th, 2017, Ia?i, Romania, To be determined


• October 10th, 2017, Timi?oara, Romania, To be determined


• 
  

  October 17th, 2017, Boston, MA, "Free software and your freedom"

  
  

Other FSF and free software events

• 
  

  October 6th, 2017, SeaGL 2017, Seattle, WA, Donald Robertson, III - "History of control: The past and future of Digital Restrictions Management"

  
  


• 
  

  October 6th, 2017, SeaGL 2017, Seattle, WA, Molly de Blanc - "A division of labor: Attempting to measure free software"

  
  


• 
  

  October 23rd-24th, 2017: All Things Open 2017, Raleigh, NC, Molly de Blanc - "Fundraising (and spending) for diversity"

  
  


• 
  

  October 23rd-24th, 2017: All Things Open 2017, Raleigh, NC, John Sullivan - "Copyleft all the things!"

  
  


• 
  

  October 28th-29th, freenode #live, Bristol, United Kingdom, John Sullivan, TBD

  
  


• 
  

  November 24th-26th, 2017, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain, "GNU Health Con 2017"

  
  

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.

• https://www.gnu.org/thankgnus/2017supporters.html

This month, a big Thank GNU to:

• Trevor Menagh

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:

• Eric Danan (Emacs)


• Liu Hao (GCC)


• Nikita Leshenko (Emacs)


• Petr Ovtchenkov (GCC)


• Stig Brautaset (Emacs)


• Thorsten Glaser (glibc)

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 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 campaigns section (https://www.fsf.org/campaigns) and take action on software patents, Digital Restrictions Management (DRM), free software adoption, OpenDocument, Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and more.

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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 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.