FSFE: Raffle of handheld computer with GNU/Linux to a lucky Fellow
Xtops.DE and Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) to offer SL-C1000 handheld computer with GNU/Linux to a lucky Fellow.
Berlin based mail order company Xtops.DE has become what FSFE hopes is the first of many hardware vendors to support FSFE's Fellowship program by offering a hardware prize to reward those who join.
The SL-C1000 up for grabs runs GNU/Linux on a 416MHz processor, with 64MB RAM and 128MB of Flash memory for the Free Software you want, and has a 3.7-inch full colour screen and QWERTY keyboard for easy use.
The lucky fellow will be chosen at random at 14h00 on June 25th from all Fellows whose contribution has been received before that date. The draw will take place at GNU/LinuxTag in Karlsruhe, Germany.
Xtops.DE manager Werner Heuser comments: "We are happy to help FSFE to come up with its fellowship. As we are part of the Free Software community, we want to make a contribution where we know it will make a difference. Being the first is nice too, we get to be trend setters here."
President of FSFE, Georg Greve, adds: "Offering one of our supporters this cool hardware running GNU/Linux is great. As well as encouraging people to sign up to the Fellowship, we get to show that Free Software can operate state-of-the-art handheld computers. This has been true for a long time, but not everyone knows it."
Greve continues, "We're greatful to Xtops.DE for their pro-active support. 300 Fellows have already signed up and paid their dues, and we've only started. We are also condidering talking to to companies that benefit from software freedom, to discuss having them finance Fellowship membership for their employees. For this, the OpenPGP compatible smartcard that all Fellows receive might prove to be a valuable incentive. Organised by Werner Koch, the main author of GNU Privacy Guard, these smartcards make encryption convenient and even harder to circumvent, so people can make their data secure."
For people wanting more specifics about the SL-C1000, it has an XScale PXA270 416 MHz processor, 64 MB SDRAM + 128 MB Flash, 3.7-inch 640x480 screen with 64k colours, headphones and microphone socket, IrDA 1.2, USB, mini QWERTY Keyboard, CF Card Slot Typ II, SD/MMC Card Slot, Lithium-Ion battery, and 100-240V Power-Adapter. It measures 4.9 x 3.4 x 1 inches (124 x 87 x 25mm) and weighs 10 oz (278 grams).
Of course, when people see that FSFE is involved, they can be sure that the software on the device respects their freedom.
Instructions for becoming a Fellow, and more information about the goodies available to Fellows, can be found at the Fellowship website: http://fsfe.org/
About the Free Software Foundation Europe:
The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a charitable non-governmental organisation dedicated to all aspects of Free Software in Europe. Access to software determines who may participate in a digital society. Therefore the Freedoms to use, copy, modify and redistribute software - as described in the Free Software definition- allow equal participation in the information age. Creating awareness for these issues, securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving people Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central issues of the FSFE. The FSFE was founded in 2001 as the European sister organisation of the Free Software Foundation in the United States.
Further information: http://www.fsfeurope.org