[free-software-melb] Setting up services for community organisation: Discourse, Jitsi Meet, Nextcloud, …
Howdy all, What is the recommended way to deploy a set of services to some simple hosting, like a Debian host, for community organisation? I want to help a few community organisations. An example: there is a board game with a big following and we're trying to make a community-operated set of services for people to discuss and share and plan events and teleconference, etc. There are guides online for deploying Discourse and Jitsi Meet and Nextcloud. but these seem to assume that Docker is available, and/or that we are comfortable running unverified install scripts from the same software developers, as root. Is there a way to get Docker working using only Debian packages? It seems the “docker machine” needs to be got directly from Docker, and isn't available for install from the Debian repository. Is there a way to deploy these services (let's start with Discourse) directly from Debian packages? It seems a lot of them are not yet fully packaged in Debian. What can a sensible, security-conscious, but time-starved, Debian host administrator do to get these services up quickly for a little community organisation? -- \ “A lie can be told in a few words. Debunking that lie can take | `\ pages. That is why my book… is five hundred pages long.” —Chris | _o__)Rodda, 2011-05-05 | Ben Finney signature.asc Description: PGP signature ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au https://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] Free-software tablet computer
Josh Lilly writes: > After lots of cross checking the LineageOS supported device list with > store catalogues, we ended up going for a Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 plus. Both > wifi and LTE models are supported with official builds of LOS 16.0. > This device is from late 2016, and the hardware is quite capable. > Installation went perfectly, the bootloader is very easily unlocked > and all hardware features are functional. Great to hear. I will try to find one second-hand if I can. > Sorry if it comes across like an advertisement, heh. But I highly > recommend this tablet if you can find one, as someone who was in the > same situation last year. No apology needed, this is exactly what I was looking for. We can certainly discuss free-software-supporting hardware in this forum. -- \ “… a Microsoft Certified System Engineer is to information | `\ technology as a McDonalds Certified Food Specialist is to the | _o__) culinary arts.” —Michael Bacarella | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au https://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] Free-software tablet computer
Howdy all, My tablet computer has started to fail (Samsung products apparently just normally have crappy batteries) so I'm looking to replace it. When I chose this tablet computer, I did so by browsing the supported devices at https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/> and using the (small) list of product models as a shopping list. Now, over a year later, the set of devices supported by a current LineageOS release has *shrunk* and there don't appear to be any tablet computers younger than 2015 there! Am I screwed, and if so how badly? How do I get a tablet computer which will last a good number of years (implying the hardware must be quite recent) and runs a free-software operating system? -- \ “Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything | `\that's even remotely true!” —Homer, _The Simpsons_ | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au https://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] Mastodon
Ben Sturmfels writes: > I'm getting into this Mastodon thing, but it'd be much more interesting > if I could follow a few more people I know. Anyone care to reply with > their Mastodon address? I'm not completely committed to https://fosstodon.org/@bignose> (still toying with accounts on different instances) but that seems to be the one I'm posting to more often. -- \ “Capitalism has destroyed our belief in any effective power but | `\ that of self interest backed by force.” —George Bernard Shaw | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au https://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] Classic ThinkPad chassis, modern components
Howdy all, Many in the free-software community know that a ThinkPad (made while they were still IBM's design and standards) were a good choice for both hardware quality and software freedom. That's been less true for a long time now; the actual freedom-respecting ThinkPads are now ageing and relatively low-powered. What if modern components got installed into a ThinkPad chassis? This article reviews a “ThinkPad X210”, an unofficial model name that means “a ThinkPad X201 chassis with modern components”. (An earlier model from the same vendor is named the “ThinkPad X62” because it is in a ThinkPad X61 chassis.) Linux worked out of the box. I had to install non-free drivers for the Broadcom wireless card, then tweak a few module options to get better power saving. […] I managed to get PC7 idle by upgrading my kernel to 4.18 and replacing the r8168 module with r8169. Battery life has increased significantly. I now get 6 hours with the flush battery and 10 hours with the extended battery. […] The X210 isn’t perfect. It’s made by a group of enthusiasts, not a big company. With that comes some disadvantages: […] https://geoff.greer.fm/2019/03/04/thinkpad-x210/> It's a damned shame that we still can't get freedom-respecting Bluetooth on a modern motherboard. Does anyone know of any other issues with software freedom in these computers? -- \“It is always a silly thing to give advice, but to give good | `\ advice is absolutely fatal.” —Oscar Wilde, _The Portrait of Mr. | _o__) W. H._, 1889-07 | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au https://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] Purism Librem 5 update: Unexpected good news!
Howdy all, The free-software handheld product from Purism, the Librem 5, is on track for delivery again after an unexpected resolution of the heat issues they were experiencing. […] So a lot of research was made, and our development team started evaluating the i.MXM8 Mini to see if it could be used within our requirements–free software only, no binary blobs, mainline based software stacks. And then the month of February began, and something else unexpectedly happened: NXP released a new software stack for our first CPU choice, the i.MX 8M–and all of the power consumption and heating issues suddenly disappeared! https://puri.sm/posts/massive-progress-exact-cpu-selected-minor-shipping-adjustment/> The post also gives a good progress update and a video of a hardware prototype. Looking forward to receiving a handheld designed with modern hardware, entirely free drivers, and full communication features! -- \ “Faith, n. Belief without evidence in what is told by one who | `\ speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel.” —Ambrose | _o__) Bierce, _The Devil's Dictionary_, 1906 | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au https://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] Help Save Australia's Computing history
Michael Verrenkamp writes: > To that regard, the Australian Computer History Museum (based in > Sydney) need any spare space for their collection while they find a > new location. > > You can help save a piece of nearly forgotten history while getting > close and personal with it as well. Thanks for drawing attention to this. I don't see in the article (maybe I missed it?) the duration that volunteers would be required to store these items. How many weeks/ months commitment are people volunteering for? -- \“When in doubt tell the truth. It will confound your enemies | `\ and astound your friends.” —Mark Twain, _Following the Equator_ | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au https://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] Debian Games: Learn more about free software games in Debian (presentation at DebConf 2018)
Howdy all, Given the past success of FSM's free-software games events, I think this presentation from this year's DebConf will be of interest: Debian Games: Learn more about free software games in Debian This talk is aimed for an audience who wants to learn more about games in Debian. How many are there, how can I find them, what kind of games are available and who maintains them? This presentation will give you a broad overview of the current state of Debian Games. It should give you some ideas what free software games are, who creates them, how they differ from commercial titles and why we should care about them. While the main focus of this talk will be on free software games, I will also discuss tools and programs that make it possible to play commercial games on Linux that were released for different platforms, some of them long forgotten. https://debconf18.debconf.org/talks/122-debian-games-learn-more-about-free-software-games-in-debian/> -- \ “I must say that I find television very educational. The minute | `\ somebody turns it on, I go to the library and read a book.” | _o__)—Groucho Marx | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au https://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] Flux party software testing
PuZZleDucK <puzzled...@gmail.com> writes: > I've just received a message from Andrew Heath who came along and talked > about the Flux Party last month... They're looking for volunteers to get > involved! Check out the message below and get in touch if interested. A note of caution: The project (as of today) seems to rely heavily on non-free silo services. Google Drive, Facebook, Slack, all seem to be expected of people who want to collaborate. -- \“Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so | `\ why should they care about it?” —Thomas Hesse, Sony BMG, 2006 | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au https://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] Internet Freedom Hack: Defending Truth, Fri 2018-04-20 – Sat 2018-04-21
Howdy folks, Internet Freedom Hack <URL:https://internetfreedomhack.org/> is a community event that brings technologists with a passion for digital rights together for a weekend to build things that advance the cause of internet freedom. Registrations are open now, and the event is hosted at my employer (ThoughtWorks in Melbourne) on Friday 2018-04-20 and Saturday 2018-04-21. The hack takes place during the day, with evening talks from prominent speakers on internet freedom. It's definitely in line with the purpose of Free Software Melbourne! -- \ “Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does | `\ knowledge.” —Charles Darwin, _The Descent of Man_, 1871 | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au https://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] Open Source event in Moreland and More!
Ben M <puzzled...@gmail.com> writes: > There is a fantastic looking event coming up in Moreland on Thursday the > 2nd of November at 8pm: > http://www.moreland.vic.gov.au/libraries/library-events-and-activities/readmore-project/-Margaret-Gordon-discusses-open-source-and-collaborative-platforms-/ > > […] Even more exciting we may get the opportunity to do a short > presentation or lead a discussion group... get in touch if you can > make the event and want to get involved and we'll keep you updated > with developments (including a sneak preview of the videos being > presented... Exciting!). I can attend, and would be happy to lead a discussion group. Whom should I contact? -- \ “What do religious fundamentalists and big media corporations | `\ have in common? They believe that they own culture, they are so | _o__) self-righteous about it …” —Nina Paley, 2011 | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au https://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] [CryptoParty] Marcy Wheeler - PRISM and effects on 5EYES countries
Gabor Szathmari <gszathm...@gmail.com> writes: > *Join us for an exciting talk on PRISM (702), surveillance and Five Eyes > with Marcy Wheeler* > > *When:* 27 July (Thursday), 6:00 pm > *Where:* ThoughtWorks, Level 23, 303 Collins St, Melbourne How did this event go? What was the turnout like? Any good discussions from the audience? -- \ “If nothing changes, everything will remain the same.” —Barne's | `\ Law | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au https://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] puri.sm: Neutralizing the Intel Management Engine on Librem Laptops
Damien Zammit <dam...@zammit.org> writes: > I helped write me_cleaner specifically to remove the remaining huffman > encoded modules such as its kernel and network stack. Thank you for working on ‘me_cleaner’! > The truth is, nobody currently knows the consequences of writing 0xff > over these specific regions […] But it is an important step forward in > the process of removing the ME. I've had a private conversation with the ThinkPenguin folks, who had a view that Intel is a dead end for making computers that respect user freedom. So I'm glad to see you say that last sentence with more optimism :-) -- \ “In prayer, it is better to have a heart without words than | `\ words without heart.” —Mohandas K. Gandhi | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] puri.sm: Neutralizing the Intel Management Engine on Librem Laptops
Howdy all, (This is a few months old, but I haven't seen it discussed here.) The Librem notebook computers from Purism are reportedly running with an *entirely quarantined* Intel Management Engine: Bring out the Champagne! The ME is not only quarantined, it is now officially neutralized and the Librem remains working beyond the 30 minutes time limit that Intel had put in place! […] And so we removed plenty of stuff, but most importantly, we completely removed the ME kernel as well as the network stack. <URL:https://puri.sm/posts/neutralizing-intel-management-engine-on-librem-laptops/> They did this with the work that went into the ‘me_cleaner’ tool <URL:https://github.com/corna/me_cleaner>. This is part of Purism's work to port Coreboot to their computers <URL:https://puri.sm/posts/librem-13-coreboot-report-february-25th-2017/>. The Intel Management Engine is hostile to user freedom: […] there is a growing cryptographic bond between proprietary non-free signed binaries and the hardware that they run on. This bond renders it mathematically impossible to give each user control. Cryptography is superb when in the hands and control of each user, but it is nasty when it strips the users’ control. […] While finishing our first coreboot port, we have successfully neutralized the Intel ME thanks to the great work of the “me_cleaner” project, removing its kernel, network stack, and about 92% of the Intel ME binary. There remains a little over 7% before complete removal. <URL:https://puri.sm/learn/intel-me/> -- \ “I must say that I find television very educational. The minute | `\ somebody turns it on, I go to the library and read a book.” | _o__) —Groucho Marx | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] WiFi vulnerability on mobile devices
Andrew McGlashan <andrew.mcglas...@affinityvision.com.au> writes: > On 05/05/17 15:08, Ben Finney wrote: > > Another example is the ZeroPhone, which is a hell of a lot more open > > than most Android phones because it's built on a Raspberry Pi Zero. > > > > <URL:https://www.crowdsupply.com/arsenijs/zerophone> > > The Raspberry Pi has binary blobs, does the Zero have none? I don't know. Given the number of devices in most smartphones that require binary blobs, I would think it safe to say what I did: that the ZeroPhone is a hell of a lot more open. > Oh and I agree with the rest of your post, but we need the better > alternatives to go close to what is available otherwise in features, > specs and performance; or at least enough to make the devices still > useful. Yes. Those alternatives only get better by sustained, widespread, vocal demand and funding, from people who say in public they're demanding and funding a device *because* it is more open. Waiting for them to get better *before* deciding whether to support them, is just leaving it to the existing market. Which is what gets us where we are today, so is not a solution. -- \“The problem with television is that the people must sit and | `\keep their eyes glued on a screen: the average American family | _o__) hasn't time for it.” —_The New York Times_, 1939 | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] WiFi vulnerability on mobile devices
Alex Fraser <a...@phatcore.com> writes: > Sorry for the rant. Is anyone else as frustrated by this as I am? Certainly. The situation is terrible, and we essentially have as much work to do as we did when free software first got started; except this time, the entrenched players are not going to be caught unawares like in the 1980s. > A user on Slashdot said to "vote with your wallet". But there doesn't > seem to be a good option: iPhone, which isn't remotely open but at > least seems to get patched, or Android, which claims to be open but is > closed where it really counts. Is there a practical third option that > I'm missing? The only practical option is to ensure that a more open option is commercially viable on an ongoing basis. We need to demand, with enough persistence and volume and funds, a more open alternative. And we need to organise enough support so that manufaturers will clearly see that people *want* a more open alternative. Anything short of that simply isn't practical; manufacturers can cut costs by making no promises about user access to the device. So, find projects that have a chance of pushing in the right direction, and fund them. And identify when a friend or colleague is having an issue that, at root, you know is made worse by the fact the platform isn't open, and convince them to fund these projects also. That's a broad interpretation of the “vote with your wallet” advice. One example is the FairPhone, but we have to be patient and wait for them to support it in Australia. <URL:http://fairphone.com/> Another example is the ZeroPhone, which is a hell of a lot more open than most Android phones because it's built on a Raspberry Pi Zero. <URL:https://www.crowdsupply.com/arsenijs/zerophone> -- \ “It is the integrity of each individual human that is in final | `\examination. On personal integrity hangs humanity's fate.” | _o__) —Richard Buckminster Fuller, _Critical Path_, 1981 | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] Intel security platform crack
Michael Verrenkamp <jabj...@fastmail.com.au> writes: > While details are a little light at the moment, it looks like some of > the low-level Intel management systems have been cracked and ready for > both local and online exploitation. The remote exploit vulnerability is bad. Usually, the Intel ME squats like a troll between the CPU and the rest of the world, stopping the user (via lying to the CPU) from having free access to their machine. The remote exploit doesn't help that situation at all; the troll remains blocking the user, but a remote attacker can trick the troll into giving them remote control, *still* without knowledge or authority of the user. Matthew Garrett has a more measured post describing the boundaries of the vulnerability <URL:http://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/48429.html> as currently understood from public information. I didn't read about local exploits of this vulnerability. Does that have any benefit for users wanting to circumvent the ME for gaining better control over their machine? > This is why we need projects like Librecore. Definitely. This is also why AMD should be avoiding going down the same path with PS <URL:https://libreboot.org/faq.html#amd>. -- \“It's all in the mind, you know.” —The Goon Show | `\ | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] crowdsupply: a Proclamation of User Rights
Howdy all, Crowd Supply have been busy in the past twelve months <URL:https://blog.crowdsupply.com/2017/01/24/a-new-years-proclamation/>, organising the funding of many user-respecting hardware projects. They have also mooted a Proclamation of User Rights in hardware <URL:https://www.crowdsupply.com/about#user-rights>, asserting the rights of hardware users and the limitation of the power of creators to impose restrictions on users. What do you think? They're looking for feedback, so go ahead and let them know your thoughts on hardware user rights. -- \ “Repetition leads to boredom, boredom to horrifying mistakes, | `\ horrifying mistakes to God-I-wish-I-was-still-bored, and it | _o__) goes downhill from there.” —Will Larson, 2008-11-04 | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] Positions available: Developers, Django + Python
Howdy all, My employer [0] is seeking Python + Django developers for an expanding list of projects. You will have demonstrable experience working with: * Python 2 and 3. * Django. * Git, with collaborative workflows. There are several positions available, and we can accommodate junior and senior developers. Pointing to some of your Python + Django code and projects online will be appreciated, as will pointing to your history of working in diverse teams. Other skills that will help: * JavaScript UI frameworks. * Agile development techniques, and when they are/aren't applicable. * Reliable effort estimation, learning from actual results. We have a mixture of text editors in use, and you can expect healthy debate about which is best :-) The position is full time, on site at our Southbank office. I am one of the developers here, but you won't be applying via me. Please send your cover letter and résumé to: Matthew Gallaugher <matthew.gallaug...@wspdigital.com> We are seeking to fill the position with a suitable applicant ASAP. [0] WSP Digital: http://www.wspdigital.com/ -- \ “I got an answering machine for my phone. Now when someone | `\ calls me up and I'm not home, they get a recording of a busy | _o__) signal.” —Steven Wright | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] Software Freedom Day, Saturday 2016-09-17 at Electron Workshop
lots of happy faces (you don't have to be happy I guess) at the event. For more information in regards to Software Freedom Day, please see the links below. http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/ https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/user-liberation-watch-and-share-our-new-video https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_Freedom_Day -- \“My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four. | `\ Unless there are three other people.” —Orson Welles | _o__) | Ben Finney <b...@benfinney.id.au> signature.asc Description: PGP signature ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] Crowd-funding ethical, modular computers: the EOMA68 standard
Howdy all, Further to our recent discussions of the EOMA68 standard for modular computers allowing ethical construction, the crowd funding campaign is close to finishing <URL:https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop>. Here is an article from Paul Boddie answering a bunch of questions people commonly have about the EOMA68 computers. “Why pay more for ideological purity?” Firstly, words like “ideology”, “religion”, “church”, and so on, might be useful terms for trolls to poison and polarise any discussion, but does anyone not see that expecting suspiciously cheap, increasingly capable products to be delivered in an almost conveyor belt fashion is itself subscribing to an ideology? […] Anyway, people pay for more sustainable, more ethical products all the time. While the wilfully ignorant may jeer that they could just buy what they regard as the same thing for less (usually being unaware of factors like quality, never mind how these things get made), more sensible people see that the extra they pay provides the basis for a fairer, better society and higher-quality goods. <URL:https://blogs.fsfe.org/pboddie/?p=1314> -- \ “The great thing about science is we can test our ideas.… But | `\ until we do, until we have data, it is just one more proposal.” | _o__) —Darren Saunders, 2015-12-02 | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] Free Software Melbourne, Thu 2016-07-12: Scientific Hooliganism
Howdy all, “Are you a good witch, or a bad witch?” —Glinda the Good Witch; The Wizard of Oz In the drive to bring software quickly to our devices, and to lock it down so its users have no legitimate access to it, who is motivated to verify the security of the software we rely on for our communication and identity? In 1903, Guglielmo Marconi prepared to unveil his world-first, long-distance wireless communication technology to the Royal Institution in London. He was looking forward to roaring success — but he didn't count upon falling victim to the first crack in history. Over a century later, the tech industry is still repeating Marconi's mistakes. Lilly Ryan, a software developer and digital rights activist, joins us at this month's Free Software Melbourne meeting, with the topic of Scientific Hooliganism: What we can learn from the first hack in history. Come to talk with Lilly about claims of security, software freedom, and what security cracking means for the technology we all use. We will also discuss the latest Gnews, and our involvement in the recent City of Casey budget for software. Then we'll head out for dinner and continued chatting in North Melbourne. Electron Workshop, 31 Arden Street, North Melbourne <URL:https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/2556615434#map=19/-37.80118/144.95071> on Thursday 2016-07-21, 18:00 (6p.m.) until dinner at 20:00. Bring a friend, bring a question or three. See you all there! -- \“I'd take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance | `\ any day.” —Douglas Adams | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] Fairphone: The smartphone with social values
On 03-Jul-2016, Sven@GMX wrote: > I had my Fairphone 1 ordered and shipped to Germany and then sent to > Australia back in 2014. But for now I am back in Germany. So, let's > talk about your idea, Ben. So far, no-one else has said they want to get in on an order of Fairphone 2 and share delivery cost. I plan to make an order this month, if Sven is willing to relay for us. Who is with me? -- \ “If you ever teach a yodeling class, probably the hardest thing | `\ is to keep the students from just trying to yodel right off. | _o__) You see, we build to that.” —Jack Handey | Ben Finney <b...@benfinney.id.au> signature.asc Description: PGP signature ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] Audio from last night's meetup, new committee
Ben Sturmfels <b...@stumbles.id.au> writes: > Congrats to our new 2016-2017 committee, Ben Minerds (Pres), Michael > Verrenkamp (Vice Pres), Damien Zammit (Secretary) and Ben Finney > (Treasurer)! Congratulations and thanks to the new committee. > Again big thanks to the other members of our previous committee Scott > Junner, Ben Minerds and Ben Finney. It's been a very productive year. > :) And to you also for serving as President, Ben S. New committee, be sure to get yourselves subscribed to the mailing list for committee correspondence. Chat with Ben M. for details. -- \ “As soon as we abandon our own reason, and are content to rely | `\ upon authority, there is no end to our troubles.” —Bertrand | _o__)Russell, _Unpopular Essays_, 1950 | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] Email Self Defence: Following through
On 09-Mar-2016, Scott Junner wrote: > Actually, we'll be working through the Email Self Defence course > <https://emailselfdefense.fsf.org/en/> created by Free Software > Foundation. Thank you to everyone who attended, everyone who helped us prepare this event, and especially those who helped people new to email encryption at the workshop. The Email Self-defense course led us through setting up and demonstrating the tools. Here are some important next steps: * Reflect on the security implications. Defending online communications from unwanted eavesdropping is not a set-and-forget add-on. It is a brute fact that the issues need to be understood in order to stay secure. We went some way to that at the workshop. The course material <URL:https://emailselfdefense.fsf.org/en/> has a brief section “Use It Well” with major points, and a link to the “Next Steps” article. * Use a passphrase. XKCD 936 <URL:https://xkcd.com/936/> “Password Strength” explains that what makes a passphrase effective is not a short jumble of arbitrary unmemorable characters, but *length* (a handful of actual words), and *randomness* (don't choose those words yourself). No punctuation or garbled text needed. I am the Debian maintainer for the XKCD Passphrase Generator as the ‘xkcdpass’ package <URL:http://packages.debian.org/xkcdpass>. You can also use a site like <URL:http://useapassphrase.com/> that is a useful reference for why to do this, and how to do it yourself if you choose. * Store your passphrases securely and conveniently. Each passphrase you use for each service should be unpredictable, unique, and different on each service. This means you need a program to help you track which passphrase gets you into which service. The same store of your credentials needs to be available and up-to-date on each device you might need to access those passphrases. Adam Bolte taught us about <URL:https://www.passwordstore.org/> Password Store a while ago. Since then it has grown clients to help you track the same database of credentials across all your devices. Now go forth and communicate freely and securely! -- \ “If we listen only to those who are like us, we will squander | `\ the great opportunity before us: To live together peacefully in | _o__)a world of unresolved differences.” —David Weinberger | Ben Finney <b...@benfinney.id.au> signature.asc Description: PGP signature ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] Viewing YouTube videos with free software
Brian May <br...@microcomaustralia.com.au> writes: > Tim Hamilton <hamilton@gmail.com> writes: > > > Another option for viewing YouTube with Free Software is Minitube which > > provides a GUI frontend for YouTube without the need for a browser. > > I think I come into this discussion late. What is the problem with > watching YouTube with a open source browser such as FireFox? The website won't operate properly without non-free code running in the browser. If you don't trust YouTube to run programs on your computer, that's a bad option. Using VLC to view the video from its URL, or downloading the video with ‘youtube-dl’, avoid executing any of the non-free code. -- \ “Oh, I realize it's a penny here and a penny there, but look at | `\ me: I've worked myself up from nothing to a state of extreme | _o__) poverty.” —Groucho Marx | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] The JavaScript Trap (was: Viewing YouTube videos with free software)
Brian May <br...@microcomaustralia.com.au> writes: > Ben Finney <ben+freesoftw...@benfinney.id.au> writes: > > > The website won't operate properly without non-free code running in > > the browser. If you don't trust YouTube to run programs on your > > computer, that's a bad option. > > What non-free code is this? Non-free programs downloaded by your browser, from the website and other third-party websites as specified by the page. <URL:https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/javascript-trap.html> Enabling HTML5 video on YouTube means you avoid non-free Flash programs. It still requires you run non-free JavaScript programs. <URL:https://documentfreedom.org/rmflash/html5-how.en.html> The LibreJS effort is the beginning of a way out of this; we're not out yet. <URL:https://www.gnu.org/software/librejs/> -- \ “The cost of a thing is the amount of what I call life which is | `\ required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long | _o__) run.” —Henry David Thoreau | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] Viewing YouTube videos with free software (was: Tor onion services: more useful than you think)
Andri Effendi <fusionman...@gmx.de> writes: > To watch [a video at a YouTube URL] with exclusively Free Software, > you can use VLC Media Player. Another option, which I make use of, is the ‘youtube-dl’ program <URL:https://rg3.github.io/youtube-dl/> which simply parses the page, finds the video, and downloads it with an appropriate file name. Packaged in many systems; in Debian it is ‘youtube-dl’. One caveat: the program essentially is a clever web scraper, so it is vulnerable to the site changing how its pages are put together. YouTube itself is notorious for changing frequently such that scrapers break. You need to keep a program like ‘youtube-dl’ up to date to ensure you can continue to download videos. -- \“Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so | `\ why should they care about it?” —Thomas Hesse, Sony BMG, 2006 | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] [free-software-melb-announce] Thu 2015-11-19, 18:00
On 12-Nov-2015, Ben Sturmfels wrote: > Look forward to seeing you there! Have I used enough exclamation > marks? I think so! Yes! > Thursday 15 October, 6-8pm (followed by dinner at nearby restaurant) > VPAC Head Office Training Room > Level 1, Building 91, 110 Victoria Street I won't be able to attend, I'm sorry to say. Someone else with an access card (Brian May?) will need to let the group into the building and from there into the room. -- \ “Technology is anything that wasn't around when you were born.” | `\ —Alan Kay | _o__) | Ben Finney <b...@benfinney.id.au> ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] EFA: Final Leaked TPP Text is All That We Feared
Howdy all, As discussed at this month's FSM meeting, the Trans-Pacific Partnership has been signed by many countries including Australia — all prior to any of those countries's citizens get to discuss what's in the agreement. The Electronic Frontiers Foundation analysed the final leaked text of the TPP, in particular its section on so-called “intellectual property”. Electronic Frontiers Australia has the story: Today [2015-10-09]'s release by Wikileaks of what is believed to be the current and essentially final version of the intellectual property (IP) chapter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) confirms our worst fears about the agreement, and dashes the few hopes that we held out that its most onerous provisions wouldn't survive to the end of the negotiations. <URL:https://www.efa.org.au/2015/10/12/final-leaked-tpp-text/> We still can stop this coming into effect in Australia. The agreement is international, but it only touches the ground when signatory countries convince their governments to enact laws. Our federal government needs to hear from all of us, and be convinced of the harms this awful deal with have for all citizens. If we don't make our voices loud, then the US Trade Representative, and the transnational corporations it represents, will be dominating our government's view on this. Stay tuned to the EFA as they rally for Australian citizens to stand against the undemocratic corruption of our freedoms. -- \ “A free society is one where it is safe to be unpopular.” | `\—Adlai Ewing Stevenson | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] Making a contribution: The Aftermath
Scott Junner scott.jun...@gmail.com writes: I'd like to share my experience of the Free Software Melbourne, Contributing to Free Software workshop, and more importantly what has happened since then. Because, it's kinda cool. It's not what I expected. […] Eventually Veronica and I settled upon a small task we figured we could handle […] Submitting code and *having it merged* into the project was awesome. It felt like being a Débutante at the ball. But the best part of the whole experience wasn't that. It was when the project devs added me as a member of their organisation on github, and listed me as a contributor. […] Well, that's what I wanted to share. That's an uplifting story. What a great day! Thank you to all who made it happen. -- \“A free press is one where it's okay to state the conclusion | `\ you're led to by the evidence.” —Bill Moyers | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] Mozilla respond to drm issue
Ben Minerds puzzleduck+softwarefree...@gmail.com writes: Hi all, Jumping the gun a little on the Gnews, but exciting to see some response from Mozilla (no doubt from community pressure like ours). https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2015/05/12/update-on-digital-rights-management-and-firefox/ Concrete actions in response: […] we’ve also introduced the ability to remove the CDM from your copy of Firefox. We believe that these are important security and choice mechanisms that allow us to introduce this technology in a manner that lessens the negative impacts of integrating this type of black-box. We also recognize that not everybody wants DRM, so we are also offering a separate Firefox download without the CDM enabled by default for those users who would rather not have the CDM downloaded to their browser on install. Assuming those work as advertised, how does that affect our position? Is that a sufficient response from Mozilla? -- \ “A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me | `\ at kick boxing.” —Emo Philips | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] Podcast recommendation reaction
Michael Verrenkamp jabj...@fastmail.com.au writes: Can I retract my recommendation? :P Best if you do so by replying to the original message, so threading is preserved. -- \ “… a Microsoft Certified System Engineer is to information | `\ technology as a McDonalds Certified Food Specialist is to the | _o__) culinary arts.” —Michael Bacarella | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] Citizenfour at Cinema Nova, Monday 2015-03-16 midday session
Howdy all, I'm going to see the documentary Citizenfour at Cinema Nova, tomorrow afternoon (Monday 2015-03-16), arriving around 11:30 for the 12:05 session URL:http://www.cinemanova.com.au/movies/9374.php. Late notice, during the day on a weekday; yeah, but I happen to have the day off, and Monday afternoons are the cheap tickets :-) Who's in? -- \“Odious ideas are not entitled to hide from criticism behind | `\ the human shield of their believers' feelings.” —Richard M. | _o__) Stallman | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] Defending Free Software Against Privatizers
Patrick Sunter patdeve...@gmail.com writes: Interesting article about the Software Freedom Conservancy planning to sue VMWare VMWare have since issued a statement denying any wrong-doing URL:http://lwn.net/Articles/636132/ and claiming “disappointment” with Christoph Hellwig and the Software Freedom Conservancy. -- \ “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision that | `\ something else is more important than fear.” —Ambrose Redmoon | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] Nomination for committee
Howdy all, At risk of flodding the ballot with nominees named Ben, I hereby nominate myself for Treasurer of the FSM committee in 2015. -- \ “From the moment I picked your book up until I laid it down I | `\was convulsed with laughter. Someday I intend reading it.” | _o__)—Groucho Marx | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] Disable digest mode, unless you know why you need it (was: Free-software-melb Digest, Vol 53, Issue 7)
Michael Verrenkamp jabj...@fastmail.com.au writes: At least if we elect another Ben then there will be no need to change anything on any paper work, if there is any :P Heh, thanks for promoting the Ben-opoly :-) As an administrative aside, to all readers: Please subscribe with digest mode turned *off*, if you think you might ever want to reply to a message. Replying to digest postings is not helpful, and by the time the digest is in your mailbox it's too late to receive the individual post. So, digest mode should only be chosen for cases where you're *certain* you will never want to participate in any discussion. -- \ “The fact that I have no remedy for all the sorrows of the | `\ world is no reason for my accepting yours. It simply supports | _o__) the strong probability that yours is a fake.” —Henry L. Mencken | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] Nomination for committee
Ben M puzzleduck+softwarefree...@gmail.com writes: Just announcing my intention to run for the position of Secretary in the committee elections coming up this month. I second Ben M's nomination for Secretary. And I anticipate the purging of the phrase “going forwards” from statements about the future :-) -- \ “It is clear that thought is not free if the profession of | `\ certain opinions makes it impossible to earn a living.” | _o__) —Bertrand Russell, _Free Thought and Official Propaganda_, 1928 | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] Mozilla launches WebRTC-based video chat, Firefox Hello
Howdy all, What would be the software freedom requirements for a video chat system? Does “Firefox Hello”, included in recent versions of Mozilla Firefox URL:https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/hello/, satisfy the requirements? The protocol WebRTC URL:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebRTC has an open specification URL:http://www.webrtc.org/ with free-software reference implementations. Are there patent holders who could threaten users and/or implementors? So long as the communication is using standard WebRTC, any conformant client can communicate with any other. The Mozilla Firefox and Google Chromium browsers are licensed under free-software conditions. Both are a WebRTC client by default if I understand correctly URL:https://wiki.mozilla.org/WebRTC URL:http://www.webrtc.org/blog/seeyouontheweb. What's also needed is a WebRTC server to receive client connections, and to manage sessions. The WebRTC project has a demonstration server at URL:https://apprtc.appspot.com/, but I think it's not meant to be a full-fledged service for public use. That also requires users to understand that there's a third party involved: the WebRTC service provider, mediating the connection between the parties who want to communicate. That's a significant learning barrier for many people. Firefox Hello appears to be a way of hiding the fact that a third-party server is involved, in order to make the user experience simpler: it has already chosen the WebRTC server and you don't need to understand that in order to use it. It's in Mozilla Firefox version 35 or later, which I don't have (I'll wait for it to enter Debian Jessie), so I haven't tested it. What software-freedom implications are there? Can the client easily choose to use any WebRTC server? Do the connections get logged by some third party? Are the Terms of Use problematic for software freedom URL:https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/legal/terms/firefox-hello/? Does using it require the running of any non-free code (e.g. JavaScript without a free software license)? -- \ “I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too | `\ much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it.” | _o__)—Thomas Jefferson, 1791-12-23 | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] GNews notes for Thursday, 2015-02-19
Howdy all, This month's GNews was discussed from a collection of links I had in a document. Those notes are now posted online at the FSM blog URL:http://freesoftware.org.au/blog/gnews-for-thursday-2015-02-19/. Subscribe to the Free Software Melbourne blog with any feed reader URL:http://freesoftware.org.au/blog/feeds/atom/. Thanks again to everyone at the meeting, we had lots of lively discussion! -- \ “DRM doesn't inconvenience [lawbreakers] — indeed, over time it | `\ trains law-abiding users to become [lawbreakers] out of sheer | _o__)frustration.” —Charles Stross, 2010-05-09 | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] “Librem 15”, crowd-funded libre notebook computer
Howdy all, The “Librem 15” is a notebook computer built with respect for user freedom as the primary consideration. The organisation, Purism, says they aim to improve the hardware manufacturers's awareness that this is important to end-users: There are many laptops that run Linux. The Librem 15 laptop is better in two main ways: 1. The hardware used in the Librem 15 laptop was specifically selected so that no binary blobs are needed in the Linux kernel that ships with the laptop. All other Linux pre-installed devices include binary blobs in the Linux kernel. 2. The Librem 15 is the first concrete step toward changing computer manufacturing in a fundamental way. We believe in users’ rights, and will continue to push upstream to free the BIOS and component firmware. The crowd-funding campaign has already reached its goal of US$250 000 URL:https://www.crowdsupply.com/purism/librem-laptop. An initial run of 500 units will be ready by 2015-04. -- \ “The most common way people give up their power is by thinking | `\ they don't have any.” —Alice Walker | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] Mandatory ipads in schools
Noah O'Donoghue noah.odonog...@gmail.com writes: You are [by deploying Android tablets in a public school] still being locked in to google ecosystem, (to access Google Play) The advantage of Android, as contrasted with iOS, is that it's quite straightforward to never use Google Play, and there are plenty of apps available from non-Google app stores. This is certainly an increase in software freedom for the owner of an Android device, as compared with iOS device owners. -- \“Program testing can be a very effective way to show the | `\presence of bugs, but is hopelessly inadequate for showing | _o__) their absence.” —Edsger W. Dijkstra | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] ThinkPenguin Wireless Router: Excellent CCS
Howdy all, Tonight I shared the news that ThinkPenguin have put together URL:https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-linux/free-software-wireless-n-broadband-router-gnu-linux-tpe-nwifirouter2 a wireless router with all free software (the operating system is LibreCMC URL:http://librecmc.org/). I also referred to the news that ThinkPenguin's work has earned them a chapter in the GPL Tutorial and Guide at copyleft.org: Too often, case studies examine failure and mistakes. Indeed, most of the chapters that follow herein will consider the myriad difficulties discovered in community-oriented GPL enforcement for the last two decades. However, to begin, this is a case study in how copyleft compliance can indeed be done correctly. This example is, in fact, more than ten years in the making. Since almost the inception of for-profit corporate adoption of Free Software, companies have requested a clear example of a model citizen to emulate. Sadly, while community-oriented enforcers have vetted uncounted thousands of “Complete, Corresponding Source” (CCS) candidates from hundreds of companies, this particular CCS release described herein is the first ever declared a “pristine example”. URL:https://copyleft.org/guide/comprehensive-gpl-guidech22.html This is a good example to trumpet for increasing software freedom in a field (currently-available consumer electronics) where such examples are few and far between. -- \ “Skepticism is the highest duty and blind faith the one | `\ unpardonable sin.” —Thomas Henry Huxley, _Essays on | _o__) Controversial Questions_, 1889 | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] [free-software-melb-announce] Jon Lawrence on Trans-Pacific Partnership, Thu 2014-07-17
Howdy all, Jon Lawrence has sent his apologies, he is unwell and not able to make it to our Free Software Melbourne meeting tonight. We will have a discussion about the Trans-Pacific Partnership; hope you've all done your homework :-) -- \ “I cannot conceive that anybody will require multiplications at | `\ the rate of 40,000 or even 4,000 per hour …” —F. H. Wales, 1936 | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] [free-software-melb-announce] Jon Lawrence on Trans-Pacific Partnership, Thu 2014-07-17
On 14-Jul-2014, Adam Bolte wrote: This coming Thursday the 17th is the next scheduled meet-up for our Free Software discussion group. Meeting notes for the topics we discussed are now online at URL:http://freesoftware.org.au/wiki/meetingNotes/20140717. Thanks to everyone who attended. Please get in touch with the committee, or here on the discussion forum, with suggestions for guests and/or topics for future meetings. -- \ “Killing the creator was the traditional method of patent | `\protection” —Terry Pratchett, _Small Gods_ | _o__) | Ben Finney b...@benfinney.id.au signature.asc Description: Digital signature ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] BitCoin data continually triggering Microsoft malware alert
Howdy all, Apropos the BitCoin discussions, here is a Microsoft Windows user raising the issue that Microsoft's “Security Essentials” is continually flagging a user's BitCoin data as matching a 25-year-old defunct virus. Since this is only the virus signature and not the virus itself, there apparently is no danger to users in any way. However, MSE recognizes the signature for the virus and continuously reports it as a threat, and every time it deletes the file, the bitcoin client will simply re-download the missing blockchain. It appears to be a joke or prank, simply because this particular virus does nothing more than periodically show YOUR COMPUTER HAS BEEN STONED on one out of every eight computer boot-ups, and is over 25 years old. URL:https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/protect/forum/mse-protect_updating/microsoft-security-essentials-reporting-false/0240ed8e-5a27-4843-a939-0279c8110e1c What are the chances Microsoft will address this correctly? What incentives would they have to make BitCoin more convenient / less scary for their users? -- \ “Every man would like to be God, if it were possible; some few | `\ find it difficult to admit the impossibility.” —Bertrand | _o__)Russell, _Power: A New Social Analysis_, 1938 | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] Meet up Thu 15 May: Bitcoin - the intro and demo, meet Les Kitchen
On 08-May-2014, Ben Sturmfels wrote: Free Software Melbourne --- Thursday 15 May (3rd Thursday of month) 6-9pm (inc. dinner at nearby restaurant) My apologies for the late notice: I won't be able to attend tonight. It sounds like a great line-up, please enjoy! -- \ “You can never entirely stop being what you once were. That's | `\ why it's important to be the right person today, and not put it | _o__) off until tomorrow.” —Larry Wall | Ben Finney b...@benfinney.id.au signature.asc Description: Digital signature ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] MS Windows alternative
Sven@GMX sven_andri...@gmx.net writes: Though in an early stage it's a great idea with huge potential. http://www.reactos.org/ Their front page describes the project: = ReactOS® is a free open source operating system based on the best design principles found in the Windows NT® architecture (Windows versions such as Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows Server 2012 are built on Windows NT architecture). Written completely from scratch, ReactOS is not a Linux based system, and shares none of the UNIX architecture. The main goal of the ReactOS® project is to provide an operating system which is binary compatible with Windows. This will allow your Windows® applications and drivers to run as they would on your Windows system. Additionally, the look and feel of the Windows operating system is used, such that people accustomed to the familiar user interface of Windows® would find using ReactOS straightforward. The ultimate goal of ReactOS® is to allow you to use it as alternative to Windows® without the need to change software you are used to. = Hmm. So I guess this addresses the problem of MS Windows being non-free. But it doesn't address the highly buggy nature of MS Windows. I mean, if they implement ReactOS so that it exhibits fewer MS Windows bugs, then ReactOS wouldn't be binary-compatible any more, right? (To my sigmonster: Good monster, have a cookie.) Still it would be good to have a project like this to compare notes with the Wine project and see what new ideas come up for replacing MS Windows. -- \“The reason we come up with new versions is not to fix bugs. | `\ It's absolutely not.” —Bill Gates, 1995-10-23 | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] Data freedom for everyone: the Document Liberation Project
Howdy all, Last week, the Document Liberation Project announced their existence. = The Document Liberation Project is a home for the growing community of developers united to free users from vendor lock-in of content. […] What happens when not just an individual, but an entire organization such as a government is unable to read or access digital data from past years? […] Going forward, the obvious solution to this problem is to use true open standards that are duly and fully documented. But as things stand today, we must face a daunting reality: a significant amount of our legacy digital content is encoded in proprietary, undocumented formats. The Document Liberation Project was created in the hope that it would empower individuals, organizations, and governments to recover their data from proprietary formats and provide a mechanism to transition that data into open file formats, returning effective control over the content from computer companies to the actual authors. = The project URL:http://www.documentliberation.org/ builds on the great success of the Document Foundation in making Open Document Format, and the LibreOffice tools for converting from legacy to open formats. How should Free Software Melbourne respond? -- \ “If you define cowardice as running away at the first sign of | `\ danger, screaming and tripping and begging for mercy, then yes, | _o__) Mr. Brave man, I guess I'm a coward.” —Jack Handey | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] Public Transport Not Traffic: Tech Volunteers Needed
Dan Peade dan.pe...@gmail.com writes: In addition to my day job, I am currently trying to assemble a volunteer tech team to help with execution of the online strategy for the Public Transport Not Traffic Campaign (http://www.publictransportnottraffic.org/). Sounds like a good cause. We're looking for technical professionals […] We'll definitely be focused on using open source as much as we can. More relevant to the purposes of this group: Will the resulting work be released under free software terms? The initiative is sponsored by Common Code, my employer, so all volunteers will have access to our office (organic fruit and beer often available!) as well as the chance to meet and network with other technical professionals in the industry. Thanks again. -- \“The whole area of [treating source code as intellectual | `\property] is almost assuring a customer that you are not going | _o__) to do any innovation in the future.” —Gary Barnett | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] Celebrations from MediaGoblin [Fwd: Join us at GNU 30th! Also, Monster Liberation!]
Howdy all, The MediaGoblin project, to which Free Software Melbourne is a proud donor, continues strong this year. Here's a message from Chris Webber on what they'll be doing for the GNU 30th Birthday. -- \“My house is made out of balsa wood, so when I want to scare | `\ the neighborhood kids I lift it over my head and tell them to | _o__) get out of my yard or I'll throw it at them.” —Steven Wright | Ben Finney b...@benfinney.id.au ---BeginMessage--- Heya all, GNU 30th is right around the corner... this weekend in fact!... and we're having a MediaGoblin hackathon. You're invited to join us if you're in Boston! Quite a few of us will be there: https://www.gnu.org/gnu30/celebration If you can't make it, we'll also be doing a hackathon online... you're welcome to join us in #mediagoblin on irc.freenode.net! We've got more news to give shortly around the Summer of Awesome wrapup. In the meanwhile, maybe you remember this amzing MediaGoblin fanart Justin Nichol did during the MediaGoblin campaign? http://mediagoblin.org/news/mediagoblin-fanart-justin-nichol.html Justin Nichol and Johnathan Williamson are now doing an awesome campaign to release free culture fantasy monster artwork... both in 2d and 3d using only free software! Well, as you may know, I'm kind of a sucker for monsters... maybe you are too! If so, consider pitching in to help with monster liberation! http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/free-the-monsters That's it for now... more updates very shortly! - Chris -- Follow us on identi.ca at http://identi.ca/mediagoblin/ Contribute to GNU MediaGoblin at http://mediagoblin.org/pages/campaign.html Sent on behalf of GNU MediaGoblin by the Free Software Foundation, 51 Franklin Street Fifth Floor Boston, MA 02110-1335 United States You can unsubscribe to this mailing list by visiting the link https://crm.fsf.org/civicrm/mailing/unsubscribe?reset=1jid=128536qid=5406952h=6374cf2b611c9312. To stop all email from the Free Software Foundation, including Defective by Design, and the Free Software Supporter newsletter, click this link: https://crm.fsf.org/civicrm/mailing/optout?reset=1jid=128536qid=5406952h=6374cf2b611c9312---End Message--- ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] No FSM meet-up in September, SFD instead
Adam Bolte abo...@systemsaviour.com writes: Instead, we'll be busy preparing for Software Freedom Day! This is on Saturday, 21 September, 09:30-17:00, at the Melbourne Unitarian Church hall in East Melbourne. Sadly I'll be unable to attend. I'm recuperating from a fall from my pushbike (doing well, thanks for everyone's well-wishes). I'm on analgesics that are working but cause me to get tired quickly. Hope it's a great day — looking forward to reports and photos! -- \ “I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I | `\ prayed with my legs.” —Frederick Douglass, escaped slave | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] Keysigning party
Adam Bolte abo...@systemsaviour.com writes: As the meet-up is only a few days away, it's probably not reasonable to expect everyone will have time to send me keys prior to the event. Happy to do this if people want, but I agree with your assessment that leaning towards ad hoc might be the way to go. Depending on how we go for time, how many people turn up (and interest levels), I'd even be happy to continue keysigning while waiting on dinner - if there are no objections, anyway. It's also worth noting that a keysigning party has a misleading name: The purpose of the party is not to sign keys at the party :-) Rather, the purpose of the keysigning party is to organise everyone to perfom all the necessary prior steps to key signing. Some (create one's own keypair, send the public key to a network or central coordinator, print out copies of fingerprints) are done before the party where feasible, and some (meet the person, verify photo ID, check their fingerprint with them) need person-to-person interaction so are done at the party. The actual signing of keys is usually done at one's leisure *after* the party. -- \ “Guaranteed to work throughout its useful life.” —packaging for | `\ clockwork toy, Hong Kong | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] GnuPG key management (was: Free software discussion group this Thursday 15 August)
Adam Bolte abo...@systemsaviour.com writes: Also note on the strip if you want your signed key returned to you or published directly to a public keyserver. For the benefit of all participants, I strongly recommend all signed public keys get sent back to the public keyserver network. Remember, we're signing your key not only for your benefit, but also for ours: we want our public keys to be associated in the Web of Trust. So I think it's impolite to make use of a keysigning party, then decline to put one's public key in the public keyserver network. What good reasons are there to abstain? -- \ “A thorough reading and understanding of the Bible is the | `\ surest path to atheism.” —Donald Morgan | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] GnuPG key management
Brian May br...@microcomaustralia.com.au writes: Otherwise, how can you be sure that the email address you just signed is correct? You don't need to know that it's correct. The purpose of your signature is not to say “this is a correct email address”, since that can change at any point in the future. Rather, the purpose of your signature is to say “I met this person, verified they are who they say they are, and this person tells me this is their email address and public key”. You're recording a historical fact, true for a point in time, not guaranteeing that any particular thing will work in future. -- \“Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it | `\ correct, not tried it.” —Donald Knuth, 1977-03-29 | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] Use of the term “pirate” (was: Debate event: “Copyright Is Dead, Long Live The Pirates”)
Patrick Sunter patdeve...@gmail.com writes: Sounds like you should start an Aus pirate party Ben if you're going to use the scare quotes around all possible uses of the word ;) As already noted, there is a Pirate Party Australia URL:http://pirateparty.org.au/. We are looking forward to a visit from a representative of the party, Ben McGinnes, at our next Free Software Melbourne meeting 2013-08-18. But it's a mistake to think I'd use scare quotes around all possible uses of the word “pirate”. That word is entirely appropriate for some uses. I would describe violently attacking a vessel, kidnapping or killing those aboard and depriving them of what the vessel carried, as piracy. Real pirates exist today, their actions are physically harmful to their victims and damaging to society, and it is right to criminalise their actions and seek to restrain them. We correctly feel moral outrage at (non-fictional, especially modern-day) pirates. Copyright infringement is not an attack, is not violent, does no harm to the physical safety of anyone, and deprives no-one of any goods. To call that “piracy” is a canard. It plays directly into the hands of “intellectual property” maximalists who seek public moral outrage against, and extreme criminalisation of, the sharing of information. URL:https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html#Piracy Sharing information – whether with the consent of the copyright holder or otherwise, even if it might be considered morally wrong – is never theft and is never a violent act. So it's at best confusing, and at worst deliberately misleading, to use the term “piracy” for that. So no, I won't be starting or joining a Pirate Party. I do support the general aims of civil liberty, free culture, government transparency, etc. that the Pirate Party Australia espouse; but I don't think it helps these aims to use a term that already – and rightly – denotes a violent society-harming property thief for someone with those aims. It further entrenches and empowers that canard. I look forward to meeting members of the Pirate Party Australia again when they visit our next Free Software Melbourne meeting! We have many goals in common and a lot to discuss, I'm sure. -- \“Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists in | `\ choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable.” —John | _o__)Kenneth Galbraith, 1962-03-02 | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] Keysigning party
Howdy all, We have been discussing the idea of regular GPG keysigning parties for our group. A keysigning party is an opportunity to efficiently use a gathering of people to perform the necessary steps in verifying the identity of GPG key holders URL:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_signing_party. There is a good site URL:http://keysigning.org/ which is a repository of information on what a keysigning party is and, importantly, what people need to know in order to prepare and participate. I think we will use some middle ground between the “Sassaman” URL:http://keysigning.org/methods/sassaman-efficient and “Ad hoc” URL:http://keysigning.org/methods/adhoc. Specifically, I think the party will be small enough to use Ad hoc, but the central point of contact to co-ordinate the participating keys will be helpful. Adam Bolte has offered to give more information and co-ordinate, but I'm happy to answer questions here too. -- \ “By instructing students how to learn, unlearn, and relearn, a | `\ powerful new dimension can be added to education.” —Alvin | _o__)Toffler, _Future Shock_, 1970 | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] GNU FDL and software freedom
Adam Bolte abo...@systemsaviour.com writes: Thinking about it logically, it would be quite silly if it were true. When it comes to copyright law, the sad fact is that it behaves extremely *illogically*. So “that would be illogical if it behaved that way” is, if anything, a hint that it may indeed behave that way :-) We have to deal with the law as it is, and copyright law is not logical. Expecting it to be logical is going to lead to delusion about how the law actually is. -- \“Don't worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas | `\ are any good, you'll have to ram them down people's throats.” | _o__)—Howard Aiken | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] GNU FDL and software freedom
Adrian Colomitchi acolomit...@gmail.com writes: 1. there is a distinction between documentation and application software, even if the distinction is not located in the bitstreams. Consequence: I cannot agree with the assertion of one can treat documentation the same way as one can treat application (source) code; therefore, why does one need FDL when GPL is already there? That's not an assertion, it seems to be phrased as an assertion. Nevertheless, it *is* incumbent on those proposing the FDL to show why a more restrictive license is appropriate. I've shown that “because the copyright holder decrees that this work won't be used as anything but a document” is not a justification for those restrictions. In other words, I see the assertion of FDL is not as free for documentation as GPL is for application software as irrelevant The point is rather that the *self-same work* can be both program and documentation – either right now, or in some future derived work. And the copyright holder can't decree when that might be the case in some derived work, so shouldn't be making that decision for future recipients in order to restrict their freedoms. -- \“Choose mnemonic identifiers. If you can't remember what | `\mnemonic means, you've got a problem.” —Larry Wall | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] GNU FDL and software freedom
Adrian Colomitchi acolomit...@gmail.com writes: On Tue, 2013-07-23 at 23:09 +1000, Ben Finney wrote: I've shown that “because the copyright holder decrees that this work won't be used as anything but a document” is not a justification for those restrictions. The way I see the things: the protection of the copyright are supporting the restrictions imposed by the author *only when* the work is used as a document(ation), and not *because* the author decrees it has to be used as a documentation. Then the FDL is a terrible tool for that, because it applies to the work no matter how the recipient wants to interpret the work. This is support for avoiding such restrictive licenses (such as FDL), and sticking to licenses (such as GPL) that maintain all the software freedoms for the work regardless how the work is interpreted by the recipient. But any other works derived from the said documentation that are used *for other purposes* won't be restricted by copyright law, no matter the license under which the original documentation is published. That seems flatly false. Copyright applies (or does not apply) to a work regardless of the purpose the recipient has for it. If you receive a work under the FDL, it applies whether you want to use it as documentation or music or a program or whatever. So if the FDL is too restrictive for some valid interpretations of *any* work, then restricting any work that way is unjust because it's unjust for the copyright holder to rule out otherwise valid interpretations of the work. The copyright law will not protect the original documentation again a whole heap of actions. One can freely: All these examples don't seem relevant to the point I was making, so I don't know why you raise them in response. Now, you may say the above examples are far fetched and quite distant from scenarios in which the freedom of the reader is *unfairly* constrained, and you are likely to be right (except maybe points a. and b.). In each of your examples, either the action is restricted by copyright law and those restrictions should be considered for software freedom; or they don't and the action is neutral for this consideration. The copyright holders in a work have, under the law, unilateral and superior power to any recipient. What matters for software freedom is whether that power is used to unjustly restrict, through choice of license terms, the freedom of any recipient of the work. If the choice of license terms restricts freedoms based on how the work is to be interpreted, I'm arguing that is an unjust use of the power of the copyright holder. -- \ “Software patents provide one more means of controlling access | `\ to information. They are the tool of choice for the internet | _o__) highwayman.” —Anthony Taylor | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] GNU FDL and software freedom
Adrian Colomitchi acolomit...@gmail.com writes: On Mon, Jul 22, 2013 at 3:15 PM, Ben Finney ben+freesoftw...@benfinney.id.au wrote: Adam Bolte abo...@systemsaviour.com writes: Once again, your definition conflicts with what the legal Free Dictionary appears to be (linked above). A PDF is generally a product of a computer program - not a computer program itself. You're aware that PDF data is an executable program in (a limited subset of) the PostScript programming language? Every PDF document is rendered by *running the program* in an interpreter. Every PDF is both a document and a program. I suppose that next you're going to say that this e-mail is an executable program as well? No, because it is not normally executed in order to render it. A PDF *must* be executed to render it. Every PDF is both a program and a document. Yes, it is. Reading an email (or any text) is conceptually in no way different than reading a PDF. (that is: unless you chose to read it straight from the storage media). Rendering a PDF involves executing the program written in the PDF programming language (a PostScript subset). Rendering an email message does not involve executing the message. A PDF embodies a program. An email message does not. Take for instance an HTML mail - isn't there need to be an HTML interpreter to read the email? Yes. HTML is not a programming language (though it can contain and/or reference programs in the ECMAScript language, this is distinct from HTML). Rendering an HTML document does not entail executing the document as a program. Mind you: while PS/PDF is formatted as scripts in an imperative programming language (a Forth derivative), it doesn't make any scripts in a descriptive programming language a non-program (that is: data only). Righht. A PostScript document or a PDF document is always a data stream *and* a program *and* a document. It's futile to pretend one can say it is exactly one of those and thereby exclude it from the other categories. I argue that, in essence, the read an ASCII text on the display, there need to be an ASCII interpreter to transform the ASCII/ANSI bytes of the text in the groups of lit pixels which make the sense to you (a human) as readable glyphs. Not all interpreters are interpreting executable programs as input. Your “ASCII interpreter” is not treating the input document as a program. It is parsing the document's structure and content, but not executing the result as a program. A plain-text email message is data, and is a document, but is not a program. This is distinct from a PDF renderer, which takes the input document and parses its structure and content, but then must go further and execute the result as a program in order to render to output. A PDF data stream is data, and is a document, but is not a program. Your argument attempts to erase the distinction between program and non-program. I don't accept that; “program” has a useful definition, and some data streams are not normally programs while others are. Where does it let the FDL issue at hand? I don't know... but my point is: probably one need to abandon the track of what you technically need to consume those bytes and substitute it with (or, at least, supplement it with) considerations based on the nature of the intended consumption to deal with the documentation vs application differences. Whose intention? Does the intent of the recipient count? I argue so. If so, the copyright holder is not justified in unilaterally foreclosing some interpretations of the work. -- \ “Crime is contagious… if the government becomes a lawbreaker, | `\ it breeds contempt for the law.” —Justice Louis Brandeis | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] Conflict between software freedom and trademark restrictions
Glenn McIntosh neonsig...@memepress.org writes: Ben, I'd be interested in your (and others) opinion on the way Trisquel have given guidelines for the use of their trademark (http://trisquel.info/en/wiki/trademark-guidelines). Though I'm not sure what the legal status of such guidelines are. As I wrote in the article which started these threads, I question the legal status of these also (my example was the openSUSE “trademark guidelines”). I don't have an answer there. I do note that the Trisquel “trademark guidelines” includes the trademark license terms itself, set off in a distinct section. This is thereby acknowledging that the guidelines are not coterminus with the license. -- \ “There's a certain part of the contented majority who love | `\anybody who is worth a billion dollars.” —John Kenneth | _o__)Galbraith, 1992-05-23 | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] GNU FDL and software freedom
Adrian Colomitchi acolomit...@gmail.com writes: On Tue, Jul 23, 2013 at 11:30 AM, Ben Finney ben+freesoftw...@benfinney.id.au wrote: From that it follows that it's unjust to deny the freedoms that accrue for functional use of a work, merely because the copyright holder doesn't think it has functional use. My argument is: since one cannot make a clear distinction between it's a program or it's just data, then what the computer does to render/obtain the desired result should NOT be a criterion in judging the copyrights (or, for the matter at hand, copylefts - still based on copyright laws), or at the very least *should not be the sole or even the main criterion in balancing the rights of the copyright holder and the rights of the consumer*. This quote from Eben Moglen is relevant: “We can't depend for the long run on distinguishing one bitstream from another in order to figure out which rules apply.” —Eben Moglen, _Anarchism Triumphant_, 1999 I'm arguing, and it appears you agree, that we can't depend on some fixed decision about which purposes are valid for a bitstream in order to determine which freedoms apply indefinitely for future recipients of it. -- \ “Airports are ugly. Some are very ugly. Some attain a degree of | `\ugliness that can only be the result of a special effort.” | _o__) —Douglas Adams, _The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul_, 1988 | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] GNU FDL and software freedom (was: Conflict between software freedom and trademark restrictions)
Adam Bolte abo...@systemsaviour.com writes: Given that the Debian project rejects the GNU Free Documentation License from main - a stance which I strongly disagree with I'm surprised by that. Both because that gets the facts wrong, and because you support the non-free FDL. The FDL is not a free license: it contains restrictions on modification and redistribution that violate the four freedoms. So any software work (using the full meaning of “software”, i.e. any digitally-encoded information) licensed under the FDL is not a free work. The name “Free Documentation License” is thereby a misnomer. The FSF's official position is that the four freedoms only apply to programs, despite the fact that this is dictating how a work will be used by the recipient and choosing what freedoms they deserve. But the way a software work is used doesn't change what freedoms the recipient deserves. A PDF is a program *and* a document; a font is a program *and* a data file; many programs contain documentation, and vice versa. Moreover, there's no justification for the copyright holder to dictate how any recipient will interpret the data stream, in order to deny some freedoms on that basis. The Debian project had a long debate on this in the first half of the previous decade. The resolution of the project in 2006-03 URL:http://www.debian.org/News/2006/20060316 is that works are free under the FDL *only* if the license grant doesn't exercise the restrictions on modification. So there are many FDL-licensed works in Debian. I happen to disagree with the Debian project on this; I think there are other clauses (e.g. the restriction on distributing a work without a copy of the license, the restrictions nominally to prevent DRM-enabled distribution) that make any FDL-licensed work non-free. -- \“There was a point to this story, but it has temporarily | `\escaped the chronicler's mind.” —Douglas Adams | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] Debian social contract and software freedom (was: Conflict between software freedom and trademark restrictions)
Adam Bolte abo...@systemsaviour.com writes: Given that the Debian project rejects [some works under] the GNU Free Documentation License from main - a stance which I strongly disagree with - I'm surprised they consider trademarks at all for the same kind of reasoning. As for the Debian project considering trademark restrictions for software freedom, why does that surprise you? All the works in Debian are software, and all of them must be freely licensed by the Debian project's social contract. It doesn't matter whether the restrictions come from patent, copyright, trademark, contract, trade secret, or any other branch of law that limits the freedom of ideas. They all matter if they would impact the freedom of recipients of Debian. So it seems natural to me that the Debian project would consider a restriction based in any of those laws to be important for the freedom of a work. Why does that surprise you? -- \ “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” | `\ —Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943 | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] PyCon AU 2013 roundup on Byte Into It, 2013-07-10
Howdy all, On Melbourne 3RRR's technology show, Byte Into It, last night (Wednesday 2013-07-10) I gave a breathless summary of PyCon AU 2013. Have a listen URL:http://rrrfm.libsyn.com/byte-into-it-10-july-2013. -- \ “Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever in a | `\finite world is either a madman or an economist.” —Kenneth | _o__) Boulding | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] Recommendations for XMPP servers
Howdy all, What are good recommendations for people to set up a hosted XMPP account? XMPP URL:http://xmpp.org/ is an open-specified, federated, standard URL:http://xmpp.org/xsf/press/2004-10-04.shtml real-time messaging protocol. Consequently there are numerous free-software XMPP services and clients that can talk with each other. As we discussed briefly at this month's Free Software Melbourne meeting (2013-06-20), Google Talk uses XMPP. But existing accounts are now URL:https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/05/google-abandons-open-standards-instant-messaging being migrated from Google Talk to Google Hangout, which uses a proprietary non-standard protocol and operates only on Google servers. There are no free-software clients, and obviously no services provided by anyone other than Google. So in order for XMPP to continue we need to have clear recommendations for good servers to switch to. What servers are good to recommend to our friends who are Google Talk refugees? -- \ “Why should I care about posterity? What's posterity ever done | `\for me?” —Groucho Marx | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] Recommendations for XMPP servers
Ben Finney ben+freesoftw...@benfinney.id.au writes: So in order for XMPP to continue we need to have clear recommendations for good servers to switch to. What servers are good to recommend to our friends who are Google Talk refugees? I wasn't specific enough here: I mean “which services are good to recommend”, i.e. recommendations to give to people who aren't going to set up their own server softweare but want an existing, hosted service where they can get an XMPP account. -- \ “Those who write software only for pay should go hurt some | `\ other field.” —Erik Naggum, in _gnu.misc.discuss_ | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] Software freedom discussion on 3RRR Byte Into It, 2013-06-12
Howdy all, On Melbourne's 3RRR radio show Byte Into It last night (2013-06-12), we had quite a lot of discussion about software freedom and other internet freedom topics. * An international coalition has been formed, aiming to get a fair deal out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. * It appears Microsoft have begun monitoring users' Skype communications. Disappointing? Yes. Surprising? Well... * The US Government is under intense pressure, after it was revealed that the National Security Agency has been monitoring worldwide online communications: * The program, known as PRISM, taps into the servers of Google, Apple and Facebook among others. * The NSA whistleblower, Edward Snowden, has fled to Hong Kong, and doesn't expect to see his family again. Some see him as a hero. Others don't. * Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr believes that this is nothing to worry about, while Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Ludlam have voiced concerns. * In the end though, is it possible to exist online without casting a digital shadow? * Bookings open for the 2013 Intelligence Squared debates: Copyright is Dead: Long Live the Pirates - The Wheeler Centre, Tuesday September 24, 6:30pm. Audio is at URL:http://rrrfm.libsyn.com/byte-into-it-12-june-2013. -- \“Members of the general public commonly find copyright rules | `\implausible, and simply disbelieve them.” —Jessica Litman, | _o__) _Digital Copyright_ | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
[free-software-melb] Software freedom discussion on Byte Into It, 2013-04-10
Howdy all, On this week's Byte Into It we had a number of items related to free software. * Facebook has released “Facebook Home”, an app layer which turns your phone into an entire Facebook interface. Never check Facebook again — it checks you. * Reading the fine print has revealed that the only way to delete an AppleID account may be to provide Apple with a death certificate. * GNOME has released version 3.8, including a new interface and a whole bunch of new features. * Drupal Melbourne are holding a Drupal mentoring group at the State Library of Victoria, Saturday April 20. URL:http://rrrfm.libsyn.com/byte-into-it-10-april-2013 -- \ “When I get new information, I change my position. What, sir, | `\ do you do with new information?” —John Maynard Keynes | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb Free Software Melbourne home page: http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/
Re: [free-software-melb] Barbeque this Thursday at Birrarung Marr
Ben Sturmfels b...@stumbles.id.au writes: The forecast is 39 degrees in Melbourne today. We're still planning to go ahead ahead with the barbeque, so should be a good night to sit under a tree on the side of the Yarra. We'll have some drinks, but I'd suggest bringing some extra water. And a hat, if possible. The sun will still be shining strong on us for hours. If you haven't yet RSVP'd and would still like to come, please pop me an email before midday. See you all there! -- \ “Dare to be naïve.” —Richard Buckminster Fuller, personal motto | `\ | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb
Re: [free-software-melb] FSM donation to GNU MediaGoblin
Ben Finney ben+freesoftw...@benfinney.id.au writes: Today I made a donation of US$240 to the campaign, hooray! It was a little complicated; I'm still trying to declare the donation in the name “Free Software Melbourne” instead of my name. John Sullivan of the FSF has belatedly notified me that the name was changed per my request. Our group's name is nor acknowledged as the donor. -- \ “It's my belief we developed language because of our deep inner | `\ need to complain.” —Jane Wagner, via Lily Tomlin | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb
Re: [free-software-melb] Fwd: [MLUG] Sir Tim Berners-Lee Down Under
Bianca Gibson bianca.rachel.gib...@gmail.com writes: [Tim Berners-Lee in Melbourne on 2013-02-14] Good one, Bianca. Tim is a person strongly in alignment with software freedom. Not only did he release the World Wide Web itself as free software (by dedicating it to the public domain, as is healthy for scientific research), he continues to be a vocal advocate of abolishing software idea patents and preserving the freedom of people on the internet. It's not clear from URL:http://tbldownunder.org/ what his public lecture will be about in particular. But this is certainly someone of special interest to members of Free Software Melbourne. -- \ “Oh, I realize it's a penny here and a penny there, but look at | `\ me: I've worked myself up from nothing to a state of extreme | _o__) poverty.” —Groucho Marx | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb
Re: [free-software-melb] GNU Media Goblin crowd-funding campaign
Alex Fraser a...@phatcore.com writes: Would you be comfortable making the payment on behalf of the group? Sure, so long as people trust me to do so. Please pay into my bank account via Australian bank transfer: BSB:733065 Account:602502 Amount: (be generous!) Description:MediaGoblin * The description is important! Without that, I won't know what the money is for. * Any donations will be anonymous unless you also send me an email telling me which receipt number is yours. If you do that, I'll thank you by name when I make the announcement of the aggregate donation. * All money transferred as above and received before close of business 2012-10-31 will be in the aggregate donation. In other words: Get the money to me before the end of this month and I'll donate it to MediaGoblin in the name of Free Software Melbourne. -- \“There was a point to this story, but it has temporarily | `\escaped the chronicler's mind.” —Douglas Adams | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb
Re: [free-software-melb] GNU Media Goblin crowd-funding campaign
Ben Sturmfels b...@stumbles.id.au writes: GNU MediaGoblin is a free software media publishing system for images, video, and audio. I've found it very useful for hosting my own photos. The goblins are running a crowd-funding campaign to add some advanced features like decentralisation as well as simpler installation and administration. I've just made a donation and thought you might like to to: http://mediagoblin.org/pages/campaign.html Would it be a good idea for us to pool a bunch of money and sponsor GNU MediaGoblin, with a single large donation in the name of Free Software Melbourne? We could aim for $1000 or some other impressive figure. -- \“Only the educated are free.” —Epictetus | `\ | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb
[free-software-melb] Software freedom discussion on Byte Into It, 2012-08-15
Howdy all, On last night's Byte Into It, we had whole lot of software freedom discussion, and Vanessa even gave a shout-out to Free Software Melbourne for tonight. * LibreOffice 3.6 released, and people can upgrade or stay with the previous release as it's still supported. * CyanogenMod 9 released as stable for dozens of smartphones and tablets. * A new TV-connected game console based on Android, the Ouya has been funded with over US$8mn and will be hackable from day one. * Adobe cautiously joins the free-software font movement with Source Sans Pro released under free software terms, treading ground blazed by foundries like Arkandis and Bitstream and The League of Moveable Type. * User rights online are championed by the Terms Of Service; Didn't Read and Data Protection announcements. * Codecademy adds Python courses to their online training. * Ben is excited leading up to this year's PyCon AU convention for Python programmers, in Hobart this weekend. * Tor Books, who earlier this year participated in the Day Against DRM by going completely DRM-free, is being targeted by a book publisher who wants authors to pressure Tor to DRM-encumber their books and bends the truth of DRM in the message. * We discuss how DRM is an anti-feature, that (unlike a feature) customers are willing to go to significant effort to avoid having in the product, as more people (in the USA) read e-books, more often than dead-tree books. * Music and book publishers release bundles of DRM-free, pay-what-you-want works. * Google announce they will make search rankings worse for sites targeted by takedown notices. * Monthly tech meetups in Melbourne: DrupalMel mentoring session, Melbourne Raspberry Jam, and Free Software Melbourne. At URL:http://rrrfm.libsyn.com/webpage/byte-into-it-15-august-2012 you can download the audio for the show. ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb
[free-software-melb] software freedom discussion on Byte Into It, 2012-08-01
Howdy all, On last week's Byte Into It on 3RRR, a good chunk of the time was devoted to a software freedom discussion: * Valve Software are working on a Steam client for Ubuntu; Ben won't be using it because DRM and non-free games are both to be avoided even for games. * Gabe Newell, Valve's founder, acknowledges their success is very much due to free and open platforms, and it is evident that Valve and Intel programmers collaborating understand the need for software freedom. We discuss the benefits and barriers around these issues. Download the audio at URL:http://rrrfm.libsyn.com/webpage/byte-into-it-1-august-2012. -- \ “The power of accurate observation is frequently called | `\cynicism by those who don't have it.” —George Bernard Shaw | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb
[free-software-melb] Free software discussions on Byte Into It, 2012-06-20
Howdy all, On last night's Byte Into It (2012-06-20) on 3RRR, we discussed free software in programmable helmets and robot camera planes. Also, prompted by the introduction of conversation-interrupting adverts in Skype, I had a bit of a rant about the need for software freedom in our communication technology. You can download the audio of the show at URL:http://rrrfm.libsyn.com/webpage/byte-into-it-20-june-2012. -- \“The right to search for truth implies also a duty; one must | `\ not conceal any part of what one has recognized to be true.” | _o__) —Albert Einstein | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb
[free-software-melb] Incentives for corporations to protect consumer freedom (was: Draft Fedora plan to cope with Secure Boot on x86 hardware)
Dennis K denn...@netspace.net.au writes: I think it is a given that companies which sell products, are going to place profits above the data security of their users. Therefore, what matters is not whether secure boot works, but whether it can be perceived as working by customers. It only becomes critical for the company whether it works or not, when the successful implementation of the technology enables them to secure and hold captive their market (ie, Apple). That's a succinct way of showing how the incentives operate differently to produce different behaviour from corporations. Shoddy security from the ones who only need it as a customer-facing checklist item; effective security from the ones who are protecting their own interests. People are talking about the death of the PC, maybe secure boot will hasten the demise? It hastens the demise of general-purpose computing; or, at least, it is a significant front in the ongoing war being waged against it URL:http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111231/01431617249/ongoing-war-computing-legacy-players-trying-to-control-uncontrollable.shtml. It certainly seems to me that the American corporate model is hell bent on self destruction. Wait till China or India or another nation which doesn't so much care about this provide better freer alternatives. Not hard to do given the shoddy treatment that users are given from current IT providers. What makes you think China or India will actually produce organisations (corporations?) that have better incentives to support customer freedom? Yes, the US's corporate model has failed to do this. But I don't see how merely being a different country would necessarily make it produce better organisations; there are reasons to think they would be even worse in the field of people's freedom. Then the US computer hardware industry will become what their car industry has become, an expensive, anachronistic, uncompetitive drain. With that I agree. -- \ “A thing moderately good is not so good as it ought to be. | `\Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in | _o__) principle is always a vice.” —Thomas Paine | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb
[free-software-melb] Software freedom discussions on Byte Into It, 2012-06-06
Howdy all, On last night's Byte Into It (2012-06-06) we discussed some free software topics, including developments in the Australian Attorney-General having secretive talks on copyright law, new releases of Fedora and GIMP, and VLC passes a biion downloads. URL:http://rrrfm.libsyn.com/webpage/byte-into-it-6-june-2012 -- \“The idea that He would take his attention away from the | `\ universe in order to give me a bicycle with three speeds is | _o__) just so unlikely that I can't go along with it.” —Quentin Crisp | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb
[free-software-melb] Byte Into It speaking about software freedom, 2012-05-30
Howdy all, I have been reminded to let this forum know when 3RRR's Byte Into It URL:http://www.rrr.org.au/program/byte-into-it/ features discussions of interest to free software advocates. On Wednesday 2012-05-30, the show included discussion about ownCloud URL:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OwnCloud, its latest release URL:http://owncloud.org/owncloud-4-release-annoucement/, and further exploring how software freedom is affected by cloud computing. We had an interview with Senator Scott Ludlum. He is a Greens senator who has been vocal about the need for Australian federal government to protect the legal rights of Julian Assange, whose extradition hearing was yesterday – yet Assange wasn't even in the court for any of it! (Rallies this afternoon have been arranged around the world, including in Melbourne URL:http://justice4assange.com/Action.html.) We also talked about the resurrection of the Internet Underground Music Archive, by scraping the web to find traces of it – which couldn't be done if people respected current copyright restrictions. The show is available for download at URL:http://rrrfm.libsyn.com/webpage/byte-into-it-30-may-2012. -- \ “[Entrenched media corporations will] maintain the status quo, | `\ or die trying. Either is better than actually WORKING for a | _o__) living.” —ringsnake.livejournal.com, 2007-11-12 | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb
Re: [free-software-melb] Next meeting: Thursday the 17th of May
Patrick Sunter patdeve...@gmail.com writes: Is there a phone-number for the training room I can call at the VPAC entrance if so, and what's the #? I rather doubt mobile reception will work inside that room. There should be a sign with a number to call if you turn up late. (It didn't work last month, but Alex is now aware of that and has hopefully made a working arrangement this month.) -- \ “I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I | `\ like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.” —Bilbo | _o__) Baggins | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb
Re: [free-software-melb] Free-software-melb Digest, Vol 20, Issue 13
Matt Giuca matt.gi...@gmail.com writes: The most annoying thing for the rest of the participants is that when someone replies to a digest, the subject line suddenly changes to Free-software-melb Digest, Vol 20, Issue 13 and we lose track of the conversation topics. Yes. The “Subject” field is set to something useless, *and* the “References” field refers to a message we can't see, which breaks the thread. So that's two significant reasons why replying to a list digest message is a hindrance to the other participants in the conversation. But I was primarily highlighting the benefits to the person replying, and leaving implicit my complaints :-) -- \ “Anyone who puts a small gloss on [a] fundamental technology, | `\ calls it proprietary, and then tries to keep others from | _o__) building on it, is a thief.” —Tim O'Reilly, 2000-01-25 | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb
Re: [free-software-melb] ZaTab from ZaReason - a fully open Android tablet
Chris Samuel ch...@csamuel.org writes: Sorry for being so quiet recently and missing meetings, a combination of lots of work and some timetable clashes.. No-one is obligated to be chatty or quiet, so no apology necessary :-) http://zareason.com/shop/zatab.html […] Chris, are you ordering one? I get annoyed with online stores that insist I create an account in order merely to buy something, and ZaReason appears to be yet another one of those. Timely given the interest in free software Android devices! Very much so. I've resisted the urge to buy a tablet hoping that someone would realise the market for a free-software-friendly one. This may be the first. But, CyanogenMod isn't free software, remember; it has a higher proportion of free software, but is still very much a non-free operating system and AFAIK has all the non-free drivers as Android. Have ZaReason made the device so that all the hardware works without any non-free software (programs, firmware, whatever) at all? -- \ Rommel: “Don't move, or I'll turn the key on this can of Spam!” | `\ —The Goon Show, _Rommel's Treasure_ | _o__) | Ben Finney pgp1kKzmpes0u.pgp Description: PGP signature ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb
Re: [free-software-melb] Follow-up and minutes from last night's meeting
Brian May br...@microcomaustralia.com.au writes: Am a bit confused here - does this mean it is not possible to distribute iOS apps outside Apple's market? Some people have said yes, others have said no. You may be getting inconsistent answers because the question is vague. What do you mean by “possible”? Is it possible to distribute iOS apps outside Apple's store? Of course; the internet can carry any stream of bits to any device. But if you mean something other than “possible”, the answer will be different. The only way, TTBOMK, that Apple will distribute a program through its store is under a Developer Program License Agreement. One of the terms of that agreement is: Applications developed under this Agreement can be distributed in two ways: (1) through the App Store, if selected by Apple, and (2) on a limited basis for use on Registered Devices (as defined below). […] “Registered Devices” means iPhone or iPod touch devices owned or controlled by You, or owned by individuals who are affiliated with You, that You have specificallt registered with Apple under this Program. URL:https://www.eff.org/files/20100302_iphone_dev_agr.pdf Hence, as a condition of distributing through the Apple store at all, the above agreement requires the distribution be exclusively through that store (with a limited exception for “Registered Devices”: the developer's machine and various other machines for developing the work, each one of which must be approved and registered with Apple). So, distributing a program under the above agreement would make it a violation of the agreement to distribute the program in any other way. -- \ “Religious faith is the one species of human ignorance that | `\ will not admit of even the *possibility* of correction.” —Sam | _o__) Harris, _The End of Faith_, 2004 | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb
Re: [free-software-melb] apps messaging
Jean Elchinger jean.elchin...@gmail.com writes: I'm looking for an apps we could leave a text, photos or video message that the friend will see later. Leave it where, though? That would depend on the capabilities of the recipient's SIP service, no? -- \ “If we listen only to those who are like us, we will squander | `\ the great opportunity before us: To live together peacefully in | _o__)a world of unresolved differences.” —David Weinberger | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb
Re: [free-software-melb] CyanogenMod 7 on SGS2
Matt Giuca matt.gi...@gmail.com writes: I'm under the understanding that if you don't use the official Android, then you can't use the Android Market (or Google Play now). Is this correct? I don't know. I've never used that, I use only the F-Droid repository URL:http://f-droid.org/ which provides all the apps I've installed, and they're all free software. Perhaps other stores are able to be used also, but the Android Market likely has artificial restrictions on who can connect. -- \ “In any great organization it is far, far safer to be wrong | `\ with the majority than to be right alone.” —John Kenneth | _o__)Galbraith, 1989-07-28 | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb
Re: [free-software-melb] CyanogenMod 7 on SGS2
Jean Elchinger jean.elchin...@gmail.com writes: If you got this reboot loop problem too, after trying to install CyanogenMod 7 on SGS2 the solution exists, read carefully this topic: http://forum.cyanogenmod.com/topic/38096-boot-loop-sollution/ Thank you for passing this on. Sorry you had to spend your weekend discovering it! Thank you, especially, for not responding to a list-digest post, and instead correctly starting a new thread for a new topic. Then I finally succeeded to install cm_galaxys2_full-116.zip and the update-cm-7.2.0-RC1-galaxys2-signed.zip I hope this means you now have a computer in your pocket running CyanogenMod? -- \ “A ‘No’ uttered from deepest conviction is better and greater | `\ than a ‘Yes’ merely uttered to please, or what is worse, to | _o__) avoid trouble.” —Mohandas K. Gandhi | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb
Re: [free-software-melb] Free Software Tablet
Russell Coker russ...@coker.com.au writes: I am after a Tablet device that runs Free Software. It is to be used for web browsing, reading ebooks, and probably some games (as with all computers). […] I'm not going to use a locked down device, so most Android tablets are unsuitable due to being locked down or the fact that they simply lack a build of CyanogenMod or similar. Also be aware that a device running CyanogenMod is almost certainly still running non-free software: they use the same non-free drivers as Android, and include some of the same non-free applications. The only free-software Android port I know of is Replicant, but (for the same reason, i.e. non-free drivers) is not available for many devices yet since they depend on re-implementing drivers as free software. -- \ “I used to be an airline pilot. I got fired because I kept | `\ locking the keys in the plane. They caught me on an 80 foot | _o__)stepladder with a coathanger.” —Steven Wright | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb
Re: [free-software-melb] Free Software Tablet
Russell Coker russ...@coker.com.au writes: Basically I'm after something like an iPad2 that can run free software. You will have to compromise significantly on that, I fear. One or more of: * It won't be running free software (e.g. you'll run CyanogenMod). * It won't be like the iPad (e.g. you'll get one of the few tablet devices that do support free software). * It won't be any time soon (you'll wait for one of the free-software OSen to support an iPad-like tablet). -- \ “[The RIAA] have the patience to keep stomping. They're playing | `\ whack-a-mole with an infinite supply of tokens.” —kennon, | _o__) http://kuro5hin.org/ | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb
Re: [free-software-melb] Fwd: Interested in possible FSF events in Melbourne? - mystery event.
Bianca Gibson bianca.rachel.gib...@gmail.com writes: Here's the mystery event (I'm guessing). IIUC, that invitation was to you specifically, and not for general distribution :-/ -- \“The difference between religions and cults is determined by | `\ how much real estate is owned.” —Frank Zappa | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb
Re: [free-software-melb] Fwd: Interested in possible FSF events in Melbourne? - mystery event.
Adrian Colomitchi acolomit...@gmail.com writes: On Sun, Feb 26, 2012 at 7:03 PM, Ben Finney ben+freesoftw...@benfinney.id.au wrote: IIUC, that invitation was to you specifically, and not for general distribution :-/ Ben, Bianca, how do you explain: a speech, *open to the public*, ? That was only one part of the invitation, and clearly that's not what I was referring to. There was also an invitation to a more private event, which in that message was an invitation intended only for the recipient and not for wider distribution. -- \ “I must say that I find television very educational. The minute | `\ somebody turns it on, I go to the library and read a book.” | _o__)—Groucho Marx | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb
[free-software-melb] EFF: If the Eolas software patent ruling had gone the other way
Howdy all, Relevant for our ongoing fight against software idea patents: The Electronic Frontier Foundation rightly uses the recent ruling in the ongoing Eolas patent debacle to point out that, despite a not-insane decision in this particular instance, this is not a good situation to have occurred: That's the good news. The bad news: it came after the patents already caused plenty of damage. Companies large and small have taken licenses from Eolas rather than pay millions to fight in court. Many, such as Tim Berners-Lee (who testified during trial), warned about the dangers of the Eolas patents […] We couldn't agree more, but let's go a step further. What the Eolas patents make clear is that the system isn’t working. We’ve been saying it for years, yet both Congress and the courts have failed to fix the problem. In the now infamous Bilski case, the Supreme Court gave the green light to business method patents, and, consequently, to software patents. But the patent system, which is largely a one-size-fits-all program, simply stops making sense when we start to talk about software. URL:https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/02/why-patent-system-doesnt-play -- \ “I prayed for twenty years but received no answer until I | `\ prayed with my legs.” —Frederick Douglass, escaped slave | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb
Re: [free-software-melb] Cory Doctorow talk on 'Free Computing'
Bianca Gibson bianca.rachel.gib...@gmail.com writes: http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Encourage-Women-Linux-HOWTO/- it would also apply to FLOSS in general. As some of the people in Melbourne Free Software have accidentally (all with good intent) done some things that are advised against I thought it would be good to post here, just some stuff to bear in mind :). Thanks, Bianca. It is worth pointing those guidelines out. Have they been violated in this thread? I'm not sure why you're replying on the “Cory Doctorow talk on 'Free Computing'”, thread, rather than starting a new one. -- \ “If you do not trust the source do not use this program.” | `\—Microsoft Vista security dialogue | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb
Re: [free-software-melb] Encouraging women
Matt Giuca matt.gi...@gmail.com writes: What I took as particularly demeaning was the notion that women, in particular, need more of this style of compliment (which I took as condescending). What if that turns out to be true though? That, because of many pressures and influences in specific groups and society broadly, some people need a higher level of recognition and support if they are not to feel excluded from a community? If that turns out to be true, I think it is significant for those of us who want to level the field. And there are women, such as the author of the document Bianca directs us toward, who are telling us that *is* the case to some extent. It behooves us all to listen carefully when women tell us about the experience of being a woman in our community, especially so because the nature of what they're describing makes it difficult for me to perceive directly. Perhaps I'm going about it the wrong way, but I feel that the best way to make women feel more included is to treat all people, male or female, with the same respect. Yes. That respect, though, must include respect for the qualitatively different upbringing of the sexes in our society, and acknowledging the effects those have on what people need from each other. I would find it humiliating and excluding if I was a woman Be very, very careful about starting any sentence this way. The nature of what's being described – a woman's experience as a newcomer in a particular primarily-male community – is not something you nor I, as men raised in this society, can expect to thought-experiment ourselves into with “if I were a woman”. -- \“The right to search for truth implies also a duty; one must | `\ not conceal any part of what one has recognized to be true.” | _o__) —Albert Einstein | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb
[free-software-melb] Contributing To Debian slides online
Howdy all, The slides I used for last night's talk, Contributing To Debian, are at URL:http://rasputin.madmonks.org/~bignose/presentation/free-software/contributing-to-debian/. The work is licensed to all under CC-BY-SA 3.0 AU terms. The above URL has the reStructuredText source document, and the rendered S5 presentation. (More on reStructuredText and S5 at their homepages URL:http://docutils.sourceforge.net/rst.html URL:http://meyerweb.com/eric/tools/s5/.) I don't know how long it will remain at the above URL. Anyone who wants to put it somewhere more permanent can do so, of course, under the terms of its license. -- \ “… one of the main causes of the fall of the Roman Empire was | `\that, lacking zero, they had no way to indicate successful | _o__) termination of their C programs.” —Robert Firth | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb
[free-software-melb] Byte Into It 2011-11-30: Australian ISPs propose compromise on copyright enforcement
Howdy all, For the Byte Into It program on 3RRR 2011-11-30 I was a host URL:http://rrrfm.libsyn.com/byte-into-it-30-november-2011. We spoke about some software freedom topics: * Australian ISPs propose a compromise on copyright enforcement. I compared it to the violence against “pirates” in South Africa and the excellent European Court of Justice constitutional ruling against a Belgian copyright maximalist. * Free software colour management gets a boost with ColorHug, a free software device for calibrating colour output on a monitor. -- \ “We must find our way to a time when faith, without evidence, | `\disgraces anyone who would claim it.” —Sam Harris, _The End of | _o__) Faith_, 2004 | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb
[free-software-melb] Buying or building a computer in Melbourne
Howdy all, I want to get some machines for the home network, and I want them to be fully supported by only-free software. I would be happy to pay some business in Melbourne to build it from parts and test it, and ideally be available for warranty support. The big trouble is finding people who can meet the free-software requirements. Saying “free software only” doesn't ring any bells with vendors, for the familiar reasons that nobody thinks about software freedom. Saying “only hardware supported by Linux without binary blobs” just gets boiled down in their head to “Linux”, and reliably leads to disappointment when they recommend hardware that doesn't meet what I described. There are some resources to help with this. But pointing a vendor at URL:http://www.h-node.com/ and asking them to choose only hardware that gets an okay in that database is not much of an option; my money is likely not worth it to the shop to spend their time on that site. There are also efforts to put together computers and sell them URL:http://open-pc.com/; but they're patchy and poorly-available and the store interfaces are average-to-terrible. Needless to say none of them are in Melbourne, so delivery costs are a huge factor. Worst of all, those well-researched complete machines are almost never specified in detail, so I can't just say to a Melbourne shop “build me one of these, test it with this USB stick, sell it to me, and give me warranty support”. The information just isn't there for me to take to the shop. Where can I get satisfaction here? I need some or all of these functions: * a machine to act as ADSL + wireless router and DNS + DHCP + HTTP proxy * a machine to act as grunty software development workstation * a machine to act as thin desktop client * a machine to act as home theatre for video audio It's not 2000 any more; even Debian now has an entirely free-software kernel. Now all I need is to know exactly what good-quality parts to buy to have the above functions. Surely I don't have to individually compile all these specifications myself? -- \“Human reason is snatching everything to itself, leaving | `\ nothing for faith.” —Bernard of Clairvaux, 1090–1153 CE | _o__) | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb
Re: [free-software-melb] Free software discussion group this Thursday
Ben Sturmfels b...@stumbles.id.au writes: Some suggestions for discussion: - Gauging interest in a your first free software bug-fix session I've suggested perhaps broadening interest in such an event: many people may be more familiar with, for example, fixing an error on a Wikipedia page. Don't forget to listen in to Triple RRR's Byte Into It show at 7pm to see how much free software Ben Finney can slip into the discussion! Thanks, Ben. To be clear, the show is on Wednesday nights. I'll be on this week, 2011-07-20 from 19:00–20:00. Finally, any ideas for alternative meeting places? I'd love to have some talks or tutorial sessions, but I don't think the librarians would be too excited about that. Any suggestion would be much appreciated. I think Alex has suggested booking a meeting room at his workplace? -- \ “[F]reedom of speech does not entail freedom to have your ideas | `\accepted by governments and incorporated into law and policy.” | _o__) —Russell Blackford, 2010-03-06 | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb
[free-software-melb] Raising awareness: The Apple refrigerator analogy
and the groceries you're used to aren't available, and it all involves a lot more work. You've seen and tasted a lot of the great meals she's produced as a result. Why is she making this more difficult than it needs to be, you ask? Surely if the farmer's market doesn't work with the Apple refrigerator, the obvious solution is just to use the same standard Apple interface all the multinational chain supermarkets use, and everything will work fine. Your friend starts talking now about proprietary interfaces, and restricted protocols, and other topics she's bored you with before. She says that Apple makes the interface, and they refuse to make it for farmer's markets or any place that isn't one of the few multinational chain supermarkets. Okay, but you've seen your friend getting around restrictions like that before. Can't she use her clever farmer's market skills to get it working? Your friend repeats that the problem isn't with the farmer's market. She now demonstrates by putting some farmer's market food into the refrigerator directly: it looks a bit awkward the way she does it, since you're used to the Apple refrigerator interface. But it's there; or at least, that's what it looks like until you try to use the refrigerator. Though she shows you the food is there in the refrigerator, she's right: the refrigerator acts like the food isn't even there, so it won't work with that food. This is obviously no good; that food is inaccessible, making it pointless to put the food in there. Your friend goes further and makes some fairly frightening suggestions, about *modifying* your Apple refrigerator and making it behave differently from everyone else's! She also points out that your refrigerator is deliberately restricted, and Apple is treating you like a prisoner or a slave by limiting what you can do; even though you bought it, you effectively don't own it. At this point you regret raising the topic at all, and you excuse yourself from the discussion, taking your Apple fridge to a chain supermarket where you know it will work. So, with this information from your friend, there are a few options: * You can dismiss your friend's claims as paranoid conspiracy delusion. Everyone else with an Apple refrigerator encourages you to do this; she clearly thinks Apple is some kind of evil mastermind corporation controlling the world through refrigerators, which can't be right. * You can forever keep your Apple refrigerator separate from farmer's markets, or any market that isn't one of the multinationals approved by Apple. This, you admit, probably means you'll stop shopping at farmer's markets. There are some nice aspects of farmer's markets, but you can come up with lots of rationalisations for why it would be good to avoid them: they're difficult to use, nothing seems the way you expect, things are inconsistent between each one, they lack the professional polish of the multinational chains, and so on. * You can learn more from your friend about modifying your Apple refrigerator to remove these restrictions she talks about. This seems to involve losing some of the things you like most about how it works, and definitely involves voiding the Apple warranty. * You can decide maybe all this trouble *is* because Apple has built those restrictions into the device. Perhaps sell it – but nobody else is making anything nearly nice enough as a replacement. (Your ask your friend what she uses, and she shows you an *ice box* for her refrigeration, and you certainly don't want to go back to that!) -- \ “I'm beginning to think that life is just one long Yoko Ono | `\ album; no rhyme or reason, just a lot of incoherent shrieks and | _o__) then it's over.” —Ian Wolff | Ben Finney ___ Free-software-melb mailing list Free-software-melb@lists.softwarefreedom.com.au http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/mailman/listinfo/free-software-melb
