FSFE-IE November 2007

fsfe-ie@lists.fsfe.org

7 participants
5 discussions

IFSO Meeting: TUESDAY 20th November, 20h00, White Horse Inn
by Malcolm Tyrrell 22 Nov '07

22 Nov '07

Hi all. We've decided to move the meetings back to Tuesdays which means this months meeting is TOMORROW!!! Sorry about the short notice. The White Horse Inn is, roughly, here: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&time=&date=&ttype=&q=Burgh+Quay,+Irel… Alternatively, the OpenStreetMap version is here (caution: there's a side street that hasn't been mapped yet): http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=53.34678&lon=-6.25653&zoom=17&layers=B0F Note: we may be upstairs in the pub. Good luck, Malcolm Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com

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IFSO Meeting - change of day?
by Glenn Strong 19 Nov '07

19 Nov '07

Hi Folks, One of the committee members has requested that we try to meet on Tuesday (not Wednesday). This is really just a return to our old meeting time, by the way. Can we made that effective as of this week (tomorrow)? I appreciate this may be very short notice for everyone, so please do email me if it means you cannot attend this meeting. (I observe that it would also have the advantage of helping us avoid the Wednesday night football that has made some of the meetings bothersome). -- Glenn Strong

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2nd draft of GNU Affero GPL
by Ciaran O'Riordan 19 Nov '07

19 Nov '07

FSF have published the 2nd discussion draft of the Affero GPL. That's the GPL with an additional clause about software as a service, so if you allow others to use the software via a public server, you have to offer them access to the source code. For a bit of background, here's what I just put in my blog: ===== FSF have just published the 2nd draft of the GNU Affero GPL: http://gplv3.fsf.org/agplv3-dd2-guide.html The GNU Affero GPL will be a modified version of GPLv3. The difference, very roughly, is that it includes a requirement that if the software is used on a public server, users must be able to get the source code. This issue was discussed a lot during the GPLv3 drafting process. Some software developers thought that this requirement should be in GPLv3. However, the majority of software developers who commented strongly disagreed. The topic was controversial because there is a privacy issue. All versions of the GPL allow people to use modified version of the software privately without being obliged to make their modified source code available to anyone. When people put software on a public server, the question is less clear: is that private use or public use? This was called the "software as a service" issue, or "SaaS". FSF decided that developer unhappiness was enough of a reason not to add this requirement to the standard GPLv3. If developers didn't like GPLv3, they wouldn't use it, and if people don't use it, it can't do it's job of protecting software freedom for computer users. Instead, FSF will publish a separate version, called the GNU Affero GPL, which does include this requirement and each project can choose if they want a GPLv3 with that requirement or without. So, that's the background. The second draft is online and comments are being accepted via the same system used for GPLv3. If you might have something to say, go take a look! ===== -- Ciarán O'Riordan __________________ \ Support Free Software and GNU/Linux http://ciaran.compsoc.com/ _________ \ Join FSFE's Fellowship: http://fsfe.org/fellows/ciaran/weblog \ http://www.fsfe.org

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FSFE Newsletter
by Free Software Foundation Europe 07 Nov '07

07 Nov '07

Welcome to FSFE's October newsletter. This month, issues of interoperability, sustainable ICT and Free Software in education have been receiving attention. There are also changes inside FSFE, with the Fellowship reviewing its infrastructure and long-term projects like the FTF European Legal and Technical networks continuing to expand. Exciting times indeed. You may notice that the newsletter has a slightly different format this month. We would appreciate any feedback or comments you have. They can be sent directly to coughlan(a)fsfeurope.org. - Shane, FSFE Zurich Office 1. European Commission vs. Microsoft decennial battle is over 2. FSFE at Free Software information event in Austrian school 3. FSFE's German deputy coordinator discusses Sustainable-IT in Berlin 4. Sun donates T1000 server to FSFE 5. Fellows plan the future of the Fellowship portal 6. FSFE's European Legal and Techincal Networks grow 7. Brussels meetings and Free Software awareness Forthcoming events: 8. Strategic implementation of Free Software, Stockholm, Sweden 1. European Commission vs. Microsoft decennial battle is over The European Commission and Microsoft have agreed that Microsoft is finally in compliance with the obligations contained in the 2004 Commission ruling against the Seattle company. The Commission had ruled that Microsoft distorted the market by failing to provide interoperability information for their products. Microsoft subsequently appealed against the Commission's decision and lost at the European Court of First Instance. Part of the ruling requires reasonable and non discriminatory terms for interoperability information and related patents. One reason for this was the intention to enable Free Software projects like Samba to access the information, and our legal experts are currently assessing whether the agreed conditions meet these requirements. What is certain is that Microsoft will not appeal against the judgment of the Court of First Instance, which has become final and definitive. Please visit fsfeurope.org for updates. http://www.fsfeurope.org/ 2. FSFE at Free Software information event in Austrian school As reported in an earlier newsletter, the "BG Rechte Kremszeile" public school in Austria has switched to Free Software. Recently the school organised an event to report their experience with the switch. Three speakers from the FSFE and the Vienna Fellowship group were invited to talk about the general concepts of Free Software. A number of teachers and decision-makers from other schools attended the event and showed interest in the adoption of free solutions for their own schools. https://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/press-release/2007q3/000181.html 3. FSFE's German deputy coordinator discusses Sustainable-IT in Berlin, Germany Matthias Kirschner, FSFE's German deputy coordinator, took take part in a panel discussion at the Sustainable-IT conference on the 18th of October. The topic was "IT sustainability -- international. How can software contribute to resource protection and a fair distribution of knowledge." http://www.sustainable-it.org/ 4. Sun donates T1000 server to FSFE Sun has donated a T1000 server to FSFE's Fellowship. "The work that the Free Software Foundation Europe undertakes is important for all of us. Sun is honoured to have donated a Sun Fire(TM) T1000 server, based on the GPL licensed OpenSPARC(TM) chip, to power the FSFE Fellowship site," said Simon Phipps, Chief Open Source Officer, Sun Microsystems, Inc. Thanks to this new hardware FSFE is able to refocus the Fellowship's on-line presence and provide new services to all our supporters. http://www.fsfe.org/supporters/ 5. Fellows plan the future of the Fellowship portal The Fellows of FSFE are discussing the future of the Fellowship portal. Since 2005, the fsfe.org portal has sought to provide tools for Fellows to communicate and collaborate. The current discussion is about what services are most important to the Fellows today and what tools would be useful for the future. The discussion is covering the use of forums, calenders, mailing lists and other services. You can add your view by joining the list: https://lists.fsfe.org/mailman/listinfo/discussion 6. FSFE's European Legal and Techincal Networks grow FSFE's Freedom Task Force has been busy building pan-European legal and technical networks. The goal is to strengthen the legal foundation of Free Software through building connections between professionals and researchers active on the continent. The networks now have 45 legal experts and 25 technical specialists, and contain contacts in Canada, the USA, Singapore and Taiwan. To learn more visit the website: http://fsfeurope.org/projects/ftf/network.html 7. Brussels meetings and Free Software awareness Ciaran O'Riordan has been busy in Brussels. Along with the usual meetings about ODF, O'Riordan has been to Helsinki and Florence to talk about GPLv3 and has been writing about this in his blog. http://fsfe.org/en/fellows/ciaran/ciaran_s_free_software_notes Forthcoming events: 8. Strategic implementation of Free Software, Stockholm, Sweden On the 8th of November, the FSFE and its Freedom Task Force (FTF), in collaboration with the Internet Academy in Sweden, will give a course on Strategic implementation of Free Software in businesses. The course will take place in Stockholm, Sweden and given predominantly in Swedish. http://www.internetacademy.se/strategi.html 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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Jonathan Parr presents www.libeldefense.com
by Tommy Lee 01 Nov '07

01 Nov '07

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FSFE-IE November 2007