Discussion August 2007

discussion@lists.fsfe.org

16 participants
8 discussions

Re: does a free license make software free?
by Diogo Santos 17 Oct '07

17 Oct '07

> ps: i have not modified the wp article yet as of awaiting the outcome of > this thread, but describing core force as Free software is definitely > wrong (contradicting the preconditions of freedom #1) lman/listinfo/discussion FSF considers Apache License 2.0 a Free Software License. I consider that Apache license (and others), can be used in Free Software. But due too it's weaknesses, using Apache License to license the software, isn't by itself enough to consider the software under that license to be Free Software. Maybe FSF sees it also this way, but calls it a Free Software licence, to simplify. Does anyone from FSF wants to comment this? Is this it? I belive that althoug not intentional this is misleading. Maybe FSF should say that Apache License (and other similar in that terms), maybe used to license software copyrights, of Free Software, but isn't enough to consider it Free Software. «Free software is a matter of the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software.» So maybe Free Software isn't just about copyright licensing, but also about author practices that may actually grant that freedom. with my cumpliments Diogo Santos --

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microsoft on trial-article request
by abla kandalaft 20 Sep '07

20 Sep '07

Hello! My name is Abla Kandalaft. I am a both a student and a journalist for European current affairs and online magasine cafebabel.com. I am currently researching an article on associations or groups in Europe that are opposed to microsoft's monopolistic tendencies and have worked to offer alternatives. All this in the light of the european commission court case against microsoft and its upcoming verdict on 17th september. I have found your name upon brousing the internet for boycott and campaign groups. I would be very grateful if you would agree to answer a couple of questions via email. This should not take more than 10 mins of your time. It's just to have an overview of the alternatives there are to microsoft, how campaign groups have delt (if they have) with pressure from microsoft, and your opinion on the ongoing trial. Thank you for replying to this mail Best regards Abla _________________________________________________________________ The next generation of Hotmail is here! http://www.newhotmail.co.uk

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Re: Fwd: Help - Voting open source into e-govemernment
by Guillaume Yziquel 31 Aug '07

31 Aug '07

This might be of interest to someone... A person wanting us to promote "open source" on a short notice, with a website asking to fill out a form to get registered to vote for this stuff. Guillaume Yziquel a écrit : > Xavier Heymans a écrit : >> Dear Mrs, Mr, >> >> I received an automatic reply suggesting to send you this email. >> >> Thanks for your help, >> >> Xavier Heymans > > Dear Xavier Heymans, > > your message has made it to office(a)fsfeurope.org. I am the assistant of > Georg Greve, president of the Free Software Foundation Europe. > > I am not in a position to answer your request for now. I simply wish to > point out a few informations: > > We have an office in Brussels, for our Brussels representative, Ciáran > o'Riordan <oriordan(a)fsfeurope.org>. But our organisation is essentially > based in Zürich, Switzerland, and in Göteborg, Sweden. > > If Misters Greve and o'Riordan fail to answer you in a timely manner, > you can also try to contact Mister Jonas Öberg, vice-president of the FSFE. > > Please be aware that the recent turmoil around the ISO process about the > MS OOXML file format is taking much of our energy these days. Please > bear on us, and feel free to contact me back if you're impatient. I'll > do my best to get you in contact with the relevant persons. > > I've got a few questions below however: > >> ----- >> Xavier Heymans, CEO >> Zea Partners >> Avenue Maeterlinck 18 >> 1348 Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium >> Phone : +32-(0)10 45 99 02 >> Mobile : +32-(0)478 516 777 >> www.zeapartners.org >> >> >> Begin forwarded message: >> >>> From: Xavier Heymans <xavier(a)zeapartners.org> >>> Date: Thu 30 Aug 2007 12:20:13 GMT+02:00 >>> To: ciaran(a)fsfe.org, greve(a)fsfeurope.org >>> Cc: Nicolas Bossut <nicolas(a)zeapartners.org> >>> Subject: Help - Voting open source into e-govemernment >>> >>> Dear M. Riordan and Greeve, >>> >>> I’m contacting you to evaluate if it would be possible to get support >>> from the FSF Europe to promote the article below and doing so, having >>> an open source project winning an Award at the EU e-Gov awards >>> organized by the EU Commission. >>> >>> PloneGov, a project in which Zea Partners (non-profit) is involved, >>> has all the chances to win the award. As far as we know, PloneGov is >>> the only truly open source and international project that was selected >>> among the 53 finalists. The project results of a close collaboration >>> between the public sectors and an open source community. > > You are using the expression "open source". This term covers a lot of > different licences. Could you please detail the licence under which the > sotware is distributed. > > I also wish to make clear that we do not endorse the use of the > expression "open source", because of the confusion it can create: some > interpretations of "open source" are not fully compatible for the 4 > freedoms typically applicable to Free Software. > > We therefore do attach importance to PloneGov's licensing terms. Could > you provide that to us? > >>> Developing open source in the public sector is strategic for the >>> future of OS in Europe, for the impact in term of OS adoption but also >>> for the political support. > > Apart from the "OS" wording, we do endorse this vision. > >>> For example, Philippe Busquin is supporting >>> PloneGov (mayor of Seneffe, member of PloneGov), former EU >>> Commissioner for Research and member of the European Parliament >>> (member of the Committee of Industry, Research and Energy). >>> www.zeapartners.org/events/may07/plone-egov-workshop >>> >>> I would also be interested to have a contact with you to evaluate >>> possibilities of collaboration to promote OS at European level. I >>> understand that your offices are based in Brussels, I'm also based in >>> Belgium. > > You can perhaps contact Ciáran o'Riordan, as he's our Bruxelles lobbying > representative. He's however fairly busy, but the name and title of > Philippe Busquin might therefore ring a bell for him. > >>> Don’t hesitate to call me if you have any question. >>> >>> With my best regards, >>> >>> Xavier Heymans >>> >>> ======================================================== >>> Last days of a unique opportunity to vote Open Source into eGovernment >>> ======================================================== >>> Your vote for the “Most innovative good practice” award is a unique >>> opportunity to reach politicians and decision makers. Winning this >>> award will highlight the maturity achieved by the Open Source >>> collaborative model as a pragmatic way to tackle IT challenges in >>> society. You may vote until Friday, September 7th. >>> >>> www.zeapartners.org/articles/vote-egov007 >>> >>> >>> ----- >>> Xavier Heymans, CEO >>> Zea Partners >>> Avenue Maeterlinck 18 >>> 1348 Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium >>> Phone : +32-(0)10 45 99 02 >>> Mobile : +32-(0)478 516 777 >>> www.zeapartners.org > -- Guillaume Yziquel, Assistant of Georg Greve, president of yziquel(a)fsfeurope.org the Free Software Foundation Europe. greve-assist(a)fsfeurope.org http://www.fsfeurope.org/

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does a free license make software free?
by chrysn 31 Aug '07

31 Aug '07

i recently stumbled upon a piece of software [1] a wikipedia article [2] tells the following about: > The actual code of Core Force is not publicly available; however, due > to its Apache license 2.0 > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_license>, the software is > completely free for commercial or noncommercial use and can be freely > reverse engineered <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_engineering>, > disassembled <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disassembly> or decompiled > <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decompiler>. (core force is described as "free software" throughout the article) as far as i know (or read [3]), the apache license is a non-viral free software license, which allows using code in a proprietary application. now it seems the core force team has done so (it is based on another piece of free software) and decided to stick to the apache license. as i understand the license, it does not require the author (core force) to release the source code, it just gives permission to users to re-distribute it ("in Source or Object form"), although the source is not provided by the author, so the users would be allowed to re-distribute the source /if they received it/. all together, it seems to me that corelabs are not strictly violating the license, they are just using it unusually, but if this was possible, the usual assumption "it is released under a Free license, so it has to be Free software" would not hold. what am i wrong about? chrysn ps: i have not modified the wp article yet as of awaiting the outcome of this thread, but describing core force as Free software is definitely wrong (contradicting the preconditions of freedom #1) [1] http://force.coresecurity.com/ [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_force#License [3] http://www.apache.org/foundation/licence-FAQ#WhatDoesItMEAN

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stupid.domain.name - MS buys Swedish ISO vote?
by MJ Ray 30 Aug '07

30 Aug '07

Not sure whether fsfe.org has this already, as I can't connect. This site accuses Microsoft of sock-puppetry in the Swedish standards body in two posts: http://stupid.domain.name/node/382 http://stupid.domain.name/node/385 Is this for real? Regards, -- MJ Ray - see/vidu http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html Experienced webmaster-developers for hire http://www.ttllp.co.uk/ Also: statistician, sysadmin, online shop builder, workers co-op. Writing on koha, debian, sat TV, Kewstoke http://mjr.towers.org.uk/

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NUMBER ONE Success System
by Tommy Lee 23 Aug '07

23 Aug '07

http://www.noss123.com Equitable Charge A fixed equitable charge confers a right on the secured party to look to a particular asset in the event of the debtor's default, which is enforceable by either power of sale or appointment of a receiver. It is probably the most common form of security taken over assets. An equitable charge is also a non-possessory form of security, and the beneficiary of the charge (the *chargee*) does not need to retain possession of the charged property. Where security equivalent to a charge is given by a natural person (as opposed to a corporate entity) it is usually expressed to be a bill of sale, and is regulated under applicable bills of sale legislation. Difficulties with the Bills of Sale Acts in Ireland, England and Wales have made it virtually impossible for individuals to create floating charges. Floating Charge *Main article: Floating charge* Floating charges are similar in effect to fixed equitable charges once they crystallise (usually upon the commencement of liquidation proceedings against the chargor), but prior to that they "float" and do not attach to any of the chargor's assets, and the chargor remains free to deal with or dispose of them.

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FSFE Newsletter
by Free Software Foundation Europe 09 Aug '07

09 Aug '07

1. Mythbusting MS-OOXML 2. First Swedish Fellowship meeting held in Gothenburg 3. Free Software on Exit festival 2007, Novi Sad, Serbia 4. Freedom in the hills: the Bergtagung 5. GNU GPL licence confirmed once again in a court of law 6. Submit Free Software projects to the Trophées du Libre 7. Ongoing work of spreading GNU GPLv3 understanding 8. Tell a friend about the Fellowship, share this newsletter 1. Mythbusting MS-OOXML Microsoft has been busy trying to spin the debate on its proprietary office format Microsoft Office OpenXML in ways to suggest that it was open, accessible, good for archival and enrolled the help of several of its partners to make it seem like there was no danger of lock-in. FSFE has engaged in mythbusting the archival myth, the conversion myth and the myth of openness and accessibility in the past month(s). The links below provide a solid initial reference for you to explain why MS-OOXML should be avoided by companies and especially governments. http://fsfeurope.org/documents/msooxml-questions-for-ms http://fsfeurope.org/documents/msooxml-converter-hoax http://fsfeurope.org/documents/msooxml-questions 2. First Swedish Fellowship meeting held in Gothenburg The first Swedish Fellowship meeting was held at ITUniversitetet in Gothenburg on the 4th of July. FSFE representatives presented the Fellowship, GPLv3, SELF, EU and Richard Stallman's activities in Sweden for 2007. Many of the participants wanted to engage more in FSFE activities, and it was agreed that it would be useful to have a public mailing list for communication. Immediate future plans are to run a workshop in Gothenburg with a focus on GPLv3. 3. Free Software in Exit Festival 2007, Novi Sad, Serbia Members of the Serbian team participated in a public event related to Free Software and Open Standards at the Exit 2007 music festival in Novi Sad. Ivan Jelić participated in the "Free and Open" discussion on MyExit stage, the MyExit social network gathering. He spoke about the four freedoms and the social impact of Free Software, with participation from representatives of other active organizations related to Free Software and the regional representative of Red Hat. A day after MyExit stage performance, Ivan Čukić delivered a speech on the Agora stage, a place dedicated for Serbian and regional NGO sector. Ivan introduced the basic principles of Free Software to the audience, speaking about Free Software Network Serbia, FSFE and current projects and activities. http://www.fsfe.org/en/fellows/attitude/escape_to_freedom/free_software_on_… 4. Freedom in the hills: the Bergtagung Between the 20st to the 22nd of July 2007 FSFE Fellows Ramon Cahenzli and Alex Antener organised an event called Bergtagung in the Swiss alps. In a small village called Siat, hackers, media artists and geeks met for hiking, drinking beer, discussing conspiracies and grilling in a beautiful landscape. This is the second time this event has taken place, with a third planed for next summer. For more information check the website: http://bergtagung.org 5. GNU GPL licence confirmed once again in a court of law The terms of the GNU GPL licence have been confirmed as binding once again, with a German court ruling that VoIP company Skype was failing to uphold its obligations as a distributor. Skype had been selling a Free Software-based telephone without meeting the terms of the GNU GPL licence. Harald Welte of gpl-violations.org, the Freedom Task Force's partner project, was the plaintiff in the case. Shane Coughlan, FTF coordinator, pointed out in a press release that this case showed the important of adhering to the terms of the GNU GPL, and stressed that companies cannot ignore their obligations. The FTF offers personal assistance for businesses using Free Software. http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/press-release/2007q3/000182.html http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/press-release/2007q3/000180.html 6. Submit Free Software projects to the Trophées du Libre FSFE President Georg Greve has been invited to preside over the jury of the fourth Trophées du Libre, an award for the most innovative and promising Free Software projects from numerous countries. This important event promotes emerging technologies, thus encouraging greater adoption, and has a clear focus on the professional promotion of Free Software. If you feel that your favourite projects have not yet achieved the fame they deserve, now is the time to spread the word and to get them involved! http://www.tropheesdulibre.org/IMG/pdf/Trophees_du_libre_EN.pdf http://www.tropheesdulibre.org/-Inscrivez-votre-projet-.html?lang=en http://www.cetril.org/ 7. Ongoing work of spreading GNU GPLv3 understanding Since the publication of GPLv3 a month ago, FSFE has been replying to questions from free software projects and legal experts. Questions range from how projects can migrate from other licences to GPLv3, to how specific clauses of GPLv3 work and how they benefit the free software community. Some work has also been required to rebut misleading articles, but the number of such articles has been pleasantly low. http://fsfeurope.org/projects/gplv3/ 8. Tell a friend about the Fellowship, share this newsletter You can help FSFE and the Fellowship by making sure more people know about the Fellowship. Please consider spreading the word at your local user groups and with your friends in the technology world. Don't forget to let them know about our Fellowship crypto card! Maybe a good way to start is by sharing a copy of this newsletter with people who might be interested. http://fsfe.org/en/about https://fsfe.org/en/fsfeuser/register https://fsfe.org/en/card You can find a list of all FSFE newsletters on http://www.fsfeurope.org/news/newsletter.en.html Copyright (C) FSFE. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium, provided this notice is preserved.

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BBC DRM protests in London and Manchester
by Matt Lee 02 Aug '07

02 Aug '07

Today the BBC made it official -- they have been corrupted by Microsoft. With today's launch of the iPlayer, the BBC Trust has failed in its most basic of duties and handed over to Microsoft sole control of the on-line distribution of BBC programming. From today, you will need to own a Microsoft operating system to view BBC programming on the web. This is akin to saying you must own a Sony TV set to watch BBC TV. And you must accept the Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) that the iPlayer imposes. You simply cannot be allowed to be in control of your computer according to the BBC. http://defectivebydesign.org/blog/BBCcorrupted Coming? Sign up below. London: http://www.defectivebydesign.org/BBCSignUp Manchester: http://www.defectivebydesign.org/BBCSignUpManchester Also, if you can digg, that'd be great! :) matt

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Discussion August 2007