Sun Microsystems has purchased MySQL and released Java under the GPL. Chief executive Jonathan Schwartz has also speculated that there could be a future release of Solaris under the GPL, but what would be the implications of such a move?
Read more »GNU/Solaris - When the fun begins...
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RMS & Free Software Movement in India...
"...Stallman has a soft spot for India because he thinks people here are more inclined to free software — in fact, the first chapter of FSF outside the US was set up in this country — and because he sees similarities between India’s struggle against colonialism and the struggle against proprietary software. [...] He does not approve of what Linus Torvalds and Linux now stand for. [...] Stallman’s vision embraces larger concepts like human rights and ethical values, terms which make a lot of people uncomfortable..."
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Hard facts on free software with RMS
RMS: "...My advice is don’t make the mistake of thinking about software only in terms of practical convenience. Don’t forget about freedom. Don’t forget about social solidarity. Anyone trying to stop you from sharing information, is trying to tax society. Don’t let them get away with it. If you develop software, respect the freedom of the user. Don’t try to subjugate other people and don’t let anybody subjugate you. You deserve to be free."
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Sacrificing ideals for sake of reaching goals faster
Rigo Camens of BinaryFreedom makes an excellent analogy of sacrificing ideals for reaching goals faster "Purely speaking, if we sacrifice our ideals then we will accomplish our goals faster. For instance, it would take much less effort for somebody who wants an anarchist or socialist revolution to go in and kill every important member of government. The problem is that they are sacrificing their
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Video of Keynote from KDE 4.0 Release Event at Google Headquarters
On Friday, January 18th, Aaron Seigo, President of the KDE e.V. gave the keynote at the KDE 4.0 Release Event in Mountain View, California about KDE 4, presenting KDE to the world and the world to KDE. Aaron started with an introduction to KDE 4, beginning with the history of the project and expressing how far KDE has come in the last 11 years. Then, Aaron explored what KDE is, and what the community is based on - freedom and openness. Freedom to do work, have fun, and connect with others. Further, Aaron moved on to KDE 4, and discussed the near-future plans and ideas. The vision of KDE 4 is based upon three principles: beauty, accessibility, and functionality. He ventured into the many areas that KDE has improved upon, and pointed to the roadmap for the KDE 4 cycle.
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RMS in Sri Lanka
"The week ended was a great week for Sri Lankan FOSS community, as the father of Free Software Movement, Richard M. Stallman (RMS) paid a visit to the country. Yesterday, I got the opportunity not only to listen to a live speech of the legend, but also to grab a picture with him..."
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SFLC Provides Ongoing GPLv3 Legal Support to FSF
"Earlier this week, the Free Software Foundation (FSF) released a document that explains and clarifies the meaning of the term “Program” in the GNU General Public License, version 3 (GPLv3). This document is an outcome of an ongoing collaboration between SFLC and the FSF..."
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Interview with Richard M. Stallman
"Mr. Stallman, creator of the GPL, FSF and GCC, shares his thoughts on a number of topics..."
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GNU/Linux naming controversy - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"The GNU/Linux naming controversy is a dispute among members of the free and open source software community relating to the normative branding of the computer operating systems commonly referred to as Linux.
GNU/Linux is the term promoted by the Free Software Foundation (FSF), its founder Richard Stallman, and its supporters, for operating systems that include GNU software and the Linux kernel.[1] The FSF argues for the term GNU/Linux because GNU was a longstanding project to develop a free operating system, of which the kernel was the last missing piece..."
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Free software conference in Colombia
"The first International Conference on Free Software, Technological Literacy and Solidarity Economy took place in Bogotá (Colombia) from 13th to 15th of November. More than 80 speakers and 600 assistants attended at the the Tequendama Hotel, a traditional meeting point in the city..."
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Love your bugs: a zen guide to keeping your sanity while managing a free software project
"Over the last few years, I’ve come to accept the fact that regardless of my attempts to quit this job, I am fundamentally a programmer. I wrote a book about security, I am the Editor In Chief of Free Software Magazine, but in the end I am still just a programmer. A lucky one, I must admit. Until last month, I had been blessed by the fact that either the software I wrote was owned by somebody else after a short contract (and therefore it didn’t matter to me once I had completed it: somebody else eventually took it over), or that what I programmed had been created just for myself (I was the only user of the software… bliss!). This changed when I became a free software programmer. I have recently released what I consider an important project: Drigg.
Read more »Free Knowledge & Free Technology Conference 2008
"The Free Knowledge & Free Technology Conference (FKFT) is the first international event that focuses on the production and sharing of free educational and training materials about Free Software. It aims to..."
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You can support software freedom in 2008!
Mako: "Dear free software supporter, Now is the time to join and give to Free Software Foundation. 2008 is going to be extraordinarily important year for free software. Eben Moglen likes to quote Gandhi's "first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win" progression when describing the free software movement. As I pointed out when I joined the FSF board, we're beginning to see powerful interests fighting free software. It's going to increase in the next few years. Things will probably get a lot uglier for free software before they get better. We can win but things are far from settled. The FSF is the front-line organization in this fight and we need a robust and proactive foundation, and an active and involved membership, if we're going to win.
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Why schools should exclusively use free software
"...Teaching the students to use free software, and to participate in the free software community, is a hands-on civics lesson. It also teaches students the role model of public service rather than that of tycoons. All levels of school should use free software." -- via edte.ch http://edte.ch/2008/01/13/why-schools-should-exclusively-use-free-software/
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Software Patents in Europe
" The future of software patents in Europe is uncertain. The Software Patent Directive was rejected by the European Parliament on the 6th of July 2005, after seven years of campaigning by people in FSFE and other organisations - most notably, one of our associate organisations, FFII. This was a monumental victory and displays the legislative competence of the Free Software community. However, the struggle is not over. Information about the current status of software patents in the EU can be found in this November 2007 blog entry: Do software patents exist in the EU?
The software patent issue is likely to return via initiatives such as the Community Patent or the European Patent Litigation Agreement (EPLA)..."
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