Older blog entries for mattl (starting at number 674)

Free Google Earth Replacement

Accessing Google's data may not be possible, so any client should work with various other data sources, including free map data projects such as Open Street Maps.

Ways to help.Develop or improve a 3D rendering engine that reads KML files on par with Google Earth. Contribute to free map data services such as the Open Street Maps project, and contribute to geographical map programs such as Marble.

Syndicated 2012-03-02 20:51:51 from Free Software Foundation

GNU Octave, free software Matlab replacement

GNU Octave is a high-level language, primarily intended for numerical computations. It provides a convenient command-line interface for solving linear and nonlinear problems numerically, and for performing other numerical experiments using a language that is mostly compatible with Matlab.

Donate to this project

Visit http://www.gnu.org/software/octave for more information on downloading, installing, using, and getting involved in the GNU Octave project.

Ways to help. We encourage you to create high-level packages in GNU Octave with the goal of creating replacement functions for packages provided by Matlab. You can learn more about getting involved in GNU Octave by joining their mailing list and checking the "help wanted" page.

Syndicated 2012-03-02 20:51:51 from Free Software Foundation

Gnash, the free software Flash player

Although Gnash handles many popular sites and media (such as YouTube), much work is needed to be a full replacement for Adobe's Flash player. Visit http://www.gnu.org/software/gnash/ for more details about installing and using Gnash.

Ways to help. The easiest way to start helping the Gnash project is to use the program and to file bug reports. If you want to find out how to become a contributor to the Gnash project, consider joining the Gnash developers mailing list (gnash-dev@gnu.org), the Gnash discussion mailing list (gnash@gnu.org), or dropping by #gnash channel on irc.freenode.net.

Syndicated 2012-03-02 20:51:49 from Free Software Foundation

Coreboot, the campaign for a free BIOS

In many cases the BIOS is the only thing standing in the way of a person running their system using exclusively free software (learn more about the FSF's Campaign for a Free BIOS). Visit http://www.coreboot.org to learn more about the development of Coreboot, supported systems, and how you can get started running a free BIOS.

Ways to help. One of the biggest ways you can help the Coreboot project is to encourage vendors to release their specifications so that the Coreboot software can be made to run on those systems. If you wish to learn more about becoming a Coreboot developer, visit the #coreboot channel on irc.freenode.net, or join the Coreboot mailing list to talk with the current developers. One additional area where there is a need for development and attention is in the development of a free software VGA BIOS on graphics cards. We encourage you to pressure graphics card manufacturers to release their VGA BIOS as free software. If you'd like to begin development on a free software VGA BIOS, a good starting point would be the Geode LX chipset by AMD, for which full documentation is available.

Syndicated 2012-03-02 20:51:49 from Free Software Foundation

Free software replacement for Skype

Donate to this project

The Chinese government, for example, was found to have been spying on Skype conversations already, and they are probably not the only ones. We do not want to encourage the creation of a Skype compatible client, but instead, we want to encourage you to create, contribute to, or promote the use of free software replacements for Skype, such as Ekiga, and to encourage adoption and use of free VoIP, video, and chat protocols such as SIP and XMPP/Jingle.

Ways to help. The easiest way to help is to not use Skype and to encourage the use of a free software replacement instead. There are a number of programs, such as Ekiga, Twinkle, Coccinella, QuteCom, and Jitsi that are working replacements for Skype. The Mingle project builds on Jabber to provide multiparty calling, and is supported by a grant from the NLnet Foundation. NLnet also supports the openMSRP project in this area. Users of such programs should file bug reports and feature requests to the projects. If you are not a developer, you can consider contributing to documentation and tutorials for such projects, as well as filing feature and bug requests. Developers should consider helping free software VoIP and video, chat, and multimedia communications projects.

Syndicated 2012-03-02 20:51:49 from Free Software Foundation

Free software video editing software

More and more everyday computer users are becoming amateur videographers, and we need to make sure that their operating systems come complete with free software to meet their needs.

Ways to help.There are a number of quality, free software video editing programs, such as Kino, Cinelerra, AVIDemux, Kdenlive, LiVES, Lumiera, as well as PiTiVi, Blender, and the Open Movie Editor. Along the way, the easiest way to help is to use these editors and to encourage others to do the same. You can help these projects directly by submitting bug reports, adding features, improving usability, and creating tutorials, guides, and documentation.

Syndicated 2012-03-02 20:51:49 from Free Software Foundation

LibrePlanet 2012 registration is now open!

LibrePlanet 2012 -- March 24th/25th at the University of Massachusetts, Boston

  • Don't delay, registration is now open, and as always, FSF associate members can attend for no extra charge as part of their membership -- excluding food and t-shirt costs.

    http://libreplanet.org/wiki/LibrePlanet2012/Registration

  • Registration closes on March 7th. Anyone who wants to come after that can come on the day and pay, but we can't guarantee a shirt will be available and there might not be any lunch for you.

  • We have all the information you need about hotels, getting to Boston and getting around Boston on the LibrePlanet wiki. There's also a mailing list for coordinating room sharing and carpooling.

    http://libreplanet.org/wiki/LibrePlanet2012

The conference so far...

  • Everything starts at 9am, on Saturday March 24th at the University of Massachusetts, Boston -- a stunning campus on the waterfront, with glorious views of the Massachusetts Bay.

  • We're going to have a dedicated space on Saturday afternoon for Lightning Talks -- these will be limited to people who aren't otherwise speaking at the conference, so if you fancy talking for a few minutes about absolutely anything related to our community, this is your opportunity.

  • If you're looking to get some work done while you're here, we have a dedicated space for collaboration and hacking on projects -- the ideal place to hang out with your laptop and relax between talks.

Confirmed speakers

We're still putting the finishing touches to the schedule, but you'll be pleased to see the following speakers are already confirmed:

  • Richard Stallman
  • Eben Moglen (Freedom Box Foundation, Software Freedom Law Center)
  • Karen Sandler (GNOME Foundation)
  • Evan Prodromou (StatusNet, identi.ca)
  • Matthew Garrett (Linux)
  • Allison Chaiken
  • Eben Upton (Raspberry Pi Foundation)
  • Richard Fontana
  • Bradley Kuhn
  • Mike Linksvayer
  • David Sugar
  • ginger coons
  • Chris Webber

All speakers will be listed on our website: http://libreplanet.org/wiki/LibrePlanet2012/Speakers

Food at LibrePlanet 2012

Lunch is available for a reasonable $10 on both days -- we have healthy options for everyone. We all benefit from having everyone together at lunchtime, so we've done our best to make food options as cheap as possible. Breakfast and coffee/tea/soft drinks will also be provided on both days.

The LibrePlanet 2012 t-shirt

We have a new shirt for this conference, incorporating the conference logo, in stylish yellow print on a dark-grey shirt. We've also made it easier to find staff at the conference -- we'll all be wearing off-yellow shirts with black print, with the same design. If you want one of these limited-edition yellow shirts, we're looking for a small number of volunteers during the conference who'll also get one for each day they volunteer.

But that's not all

For those of you in town a day early, there's a small open house at the Free Software Foundation office, so you can come meet the staff and the volunteers working behind the scenes to make the conference into a success. Come see where we work, and have your photo taken with the GNU Project mascot! Details will be posted on the wiki.

If you're hanging around after the conference, we're also planning a post-conference lunch at the office on Monday, a chance to reflect on the conference.

And with social events on Saturday and Sunday evening already up on the wiki, there's plenty to do outside of the conference.

http://libreplanet.org/wiki/LibrePlanet2012/SocialEvents

Looking forward to seeing you at the conference, and we hope you'll bring a friend and introduce them to free software!

Matt, Jasimin, Donald, Brett, Josh, John, Peabo and Ward Your friends at the Free Software Foundation

Syndicated 2012-02-22 23:03:27 from Free Software Foundation

18 Feb 2012 (updated 27 Feb 2012 at 21:10 UTC) »

Tell the US Trade Representative that strong-arming countries into US law isn't what you want

Recently, as they do every year, the US Trade Representative compiles a list called the "Special 301 Report" -- essentially a list of other countries who aren't trying hard enough when it comes to enforcing American copyright laws locally.

Where does this list come from? Well, the big media companies and trade organizations such as the RIAA and MPAA tell the USTR which countries they think should be added, and why, and the USTR seems to take these comments at face value, despite opposing comments from not-for-profit organizations that seek to redress the copyright balance.

We've seen recently what laws like SOPA and PIPA would do to a free internet, and if passed, documents like the "Special 301 Report" could be used to enforce those kinds of regulations on other countries.

Take action, sign the petition!

Syndicated 2012-02-17 23:24:54 (Updated 2012-02-27 21:10:31) from Free Software Foundation

European ACTA protests this weekend

We alerted you to this last week. This weekend is when all the protests are taking place.

Syndicated 2012-02-10 21:33:04 from Free Software Foundation

Posters

                 

Download Stallman design pack version 1.0

Made a poster for a Stallman event using free software? Email your SVG or other source files to info@fsf.org for inclusion here.

Posters can be modified using Inkscape, and SVG sources are provided.

Poster designs (and cartoon RMS) under Creative Commons License, thanks to Lojoco for Stallman cartoon.

Richard Stallman photograph under Creative Commons License

Syndicated 2012-02-03 21:43:15 from Free Software Foundation

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