Hello all, this Saturday Free Software activists will determine the easiest
ways of chatting using Free Software audio and video programs. We'll be
testing out a variety of applications, including Pidgin, Empathy, and Kopete.
The core group of testers will be in Madlab Hackerspace in Manchester, but
*anyone can participate* - join the #FSFE IRC channel on Freenode to find
people to test chatting with, and see what still needs testing (email
manchester(a)lists.fsfe.org if you need help getting access to IRC).
The aim is to publish the results as a compatibility chart that will show at a
glance the easiest way to chat. As many Free Software users still use Skype
due to confusion surrounding Free Software alternatives, our research will
hopefully be very useful to a variety of individuals and organisations.
*Activity outline*
- Testing takes place on 15.09.12 at 14.00-17.00 UK time (15.00-18.00 CEST)
- Use a grid of Free Software chat programs for collecting our findings
- Test as many chat clients as possible (eg. Pidgin, Psi)
- For each combination of programs test whether voice chat and video
works (people without webcams can still test voice chat)
*Optional additional tests*
- Try connecting to other people at madlab, and also try
connecting to people in other countries
- Test the Free Software clients with different operating
systems if people bring them installed on laptops
- Test different versions of chat clients (not just the latest release)
*Requirements*
- Bring your own laptop (some older laptops will be available to borrow)
- Your laptop should have either a built in microphone, a separate microphone,
or mic headset
*Optional Requirements*
- Built in, or stand-alone webcam
Three separate Free Software and GNU/Linux groups will be meeting in MadLab on
Saturday: Manchester FSFE Fellowship Group, Manchester Free Software, and
ManLUG. Other activities will likely be available in addition to chat testing,
so feel free to come along and see what you fancy.
MadLab event page: http://madlab.org.uk/content/fsfe-manchester-free-software-
and-manlug/
"See" you there (one way or another :) ),
Sam.
--
Sam Tuke
Campaign Manager
Free Software Foundation Europe
IM : samtuke(a)jabber.fsfe.org
Latest UK Free Software news: uk.fsfe.org
Is freedom important to you? Join the fellowship.fsfe.org
Been pondering this rather interesting 1998 paper by Prof. Ron Rivest (the 'R' in RSA) - "Chaffing and Winnowing: Confidentiality without Encryption". It bends the definition of encryption somewhat - but introduces a couple of (possibly) useful concepts.
Text Version: http://people.csail.mit.edu/rivest/Chaffing.txt
PDF Version: http://people.csail.mit.edu/rivest/pubs/Riv98a.pdf
In it, Rivest says:
"Novel techniques for confidentiality are interesting in part because of the current debate about cryptographic policy as to whether law enforcement should be given when authorized surreptitious access to the plaintext of encrypted messages."
He goes on to say:
"Winnowing does not employ encryption, and so does not have a 'decryption key.' Thus, the usual arguments in favor of 'key recovery' don't apply very well for winnowing. As usual, the policy debate about regulating technology ends up being obsoleted by technological innovations. Trying to regulate confidentiality by regulating encryption closes one door and leaves two open (steganography and winnowing)."
There is another summary on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaffing_and_winnowing
[”THE]
Hi everyone,
Is there a theme for tomorrow's meeting? I should be able to get to this one (unlike last month). Will be coming over on the train from Hudds again.
David