Re: [libreplanet-discuss] censorship or technical issues in FSF lists?

[Daniel Pocock]

On 23/09/2019 11:02, Federico klez Culloca wrote:

>> list.  If anybody wants to know they are receiving every message at
>> this
>> crucial time, please come and join us there, it can be your canary in
>> the coal mine.
>>
>> https://lists.fsfellowship.eu/mailman/listinfo/discussion
>>
>> Personal invitations to subscribe have already been sent to many people
>> I correspond with.  It is hosted in Switzerland so any censors promise
>> to be neutral.  Nonetheless, I would draw your attention to the bigger
>> question: Any list admin eventually becomes tempted to censor things,
>> which free software technology provides the best way to eliminate the
>> risk of censorship?
>>
>> https://lists.fsfellowship.eu/pipermail/discussion/2019-May/00.html
>>
> 
> Yes, and this resulted in electing Garfield (yes, the cat) as a community 
> representative. Please, let's not do this again here.
> 

Electing Fellowship councillors/reps is not the same as electing an FSF
president, nobody is planning a vote like that.  Having more than one
channel of communication appears to make the community stronger and
protect a diversity of voices.

Garfield is well equipped to comment on the late Mr Epstein.

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/garfield/images/f/fc/1990-04-08.gif/revision/latest?cb=20171202190642

I wonder how long Garfield will last in the free software movement

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUPwdH-cKlE

I hate Mondays.  For every other day, there is the fsfellowship list

Regards,

Daniel

___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] membership confusion, FSF way forward

[Daniel Pocock]

On 23/09/2019 05:18, Leah Rowe via libreplanet-discuss wrote:
> 
> I take issue with this: there is the issue of vetting regular members.
> What if a bunch of members are present who do not share the FSF's
> hardline stance on free software?

If I understand correctly, RMS was always true to the philosophy and he
may well be the gold standard.  His resignation coincided with vocal
pressure from certain donors and partners.  So the importance of money
is already getting an edge over the importance of philosophy.

What you describe is a problem that is well understood and shared by
many organizations.  There are many articles and books about it, for
example:

https://sheilamargolis.com/core-culture-and-five-ps/the-five-ps-and-organizational-alignment/philosophy/

Going forward, do you think FSF will be more successful with a
fear-based approach or by exploring and consulting more widely on how to
ensure an enduring philosophy?

With 1500 voting members, RMS may have had a third option: calling for a
vote of confidence in his leadership.  Sometimes a vote carried by the
silent majority can be a powerful buffer against the loud criticism that
appeared recently.

Regards,

Daniel


--
Debian Developer
https://danielpocock.com

___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

[libreplanet-discuss] censorship or technical issues in FSF lists?

[Daniel Pocock]

Hi all,

I received the reply below personally

It includes CC: libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org but the message
didn't appear through the list

Is this because of list settings (requires the list address in the To
header) or because of some moderation policies or because some people
are censored?  Can FSF tell us if any people are currently censored on
this list and if so, how many?

Some people contacted me given the way I have raised concerns about
censorship in other communities recently.  A rushed change of the
president appears to be a vulnerable time for any organization.

After FSFE started censoring communications from elected community
representatives (myself), the discussion was migrated to a parallel
list.  If anybody wants to know they are receiving every message at this
crucial time, please come and join us there, it can be your canary in
the coal mine.

https://lists.fsfellowship.eu/mailman/listinfo/discussion

Personal invitations to subscribe have already been sent to many people
I correspond with.  It is hosted in Switzerland so any censors promise
to be neutral.  Nonetheless, I would draw your attention to the bigger
question: Any list admin eventually becomes tempted to censor things,
which free software technology provides the best way to eliminate the
risk of censorship?

https://lists.fsfellowship.eu/pipermail/discussion/2019-May/00.html

Regards,

Daniel


 Forwarded Message 
Subject: Re: [libreplanet-discuss] membership confusion, FSF way forward
Date: Mon, 23 Sep 2019 11:19:50 +0530
From: Nishant Sharma 
To: Leah Rowe , Leah Rowe via libreplanet-discuss
, Daniel Pocock 
CC: libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org



On 23 September 2019 8:48:42 AM IST, Leah Rowe via libreplanet-discuss
 wrote:
>
>I take issue with this: there is the issue of vetting regular members.
>What if a bunch of members are present who do not share the FSF's
>hardline stance on free software?
>

I agree. The governance and other decisions should remain with the core
members who believe and support the hardline stance.

In comparison to democratic governance of a nation, a government doesn't
ask for views / vote from every citizen on every matter. We trust our
representatives to speak for us and take decisions in the best interest
of the nation.

Let's have faith in the board members of the FSF and at the same time
keep a check on them. It is our responsibility to keep writing/talking
to them to not let them deviate from the principles and ethics it was
founded on and for.

Regards,
Nishant
-- 
https://unmukti.in - Embedding FOSS
https://hopbox.in - Networking with Free Software & Open Hardware
http://charcoal.io - URL redirector for distributed squid proxies

___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] membership confusion, FSF way forward

[Daniel Pocock]

On 23/09/2019 01:54, Adrienne G. Thompson wrote:
>On Sun, Sep 22, 2019 at 6:19 PM Will Hill <[1]will.hillno...@gmail.com>
>wrote:
> 
>  On Sunday 22 September 2019, Daniel Pocock wrote:
>  >  all the 1466 volunteers, associate members and any new volunteers
>  who
>  > joined recently must be given equal voting rights.
>  The next day, Bill Gates would have 20,000 Microsoft employees join
>  as voting
>  members.  For the low price of $40,000/month, Bill Gates would own
>  the FSF
>  and I'd vote by dropping my membership.
> 
>They wouldn't just be Microsoft employees either. All the corporate
>empires could participate. There would be no need to take down the FSF
>President in the manner in which they've done. The era of Free Software
>(as we know it) would be over.


Having been a member of a number of organizations outside the free
software space, I feel these problems are over-exaggerated and can be
easily mitigated with the right strategies.

These problems are not new by any means.

The big problem for free software organizations is a DIY-culture: people
refuse to get outside help and insist on re-inventing the wheel.  Other
organizations in other fields of endeavour have solved these problems
before and FSF can learn from them.

I agree with your concerns, I simply don't agree that they are an
insurmountable barrier.

Regards,

Daniel

___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

[libreplanet-discuss] membership confusion, FSF way forward

[Daniel Pocock]

Recent discussions show a lot of confusion about FSF (associate) membership.

The FSF publishes[1] copies of the financial statements

The 2018 filing[2] shows that FSF has only registered 7 people as voting
members and the other 1466 people only registered as volunteers.  Why
the distinction?

Given the scale of the recent problems, a change of leadership is not
just about changing the president.  The existing board have supported
the president through many years.  Any of them could have resigned at
any time if they didn't agree with his leadership.

Therefore, it is my personal view that:

1. all the 1466 volunteers, associate members and any new volunteers who
joined recently must be given equal voting rights.

2. the entire board resigns and the entire organization is then engaged
in the election of both a new board and president.

The actual resignation date could be deferred until LibrePlanet so there
is time for reasoned decision making.

A new president alone doesn't mean much if the existing board or staff
carry on doing different things.  It may take time to see just what
success the president really has.  People may want to know who the
president will be and what their platform is before deciding to renew
membership or make further donations, it is too early to decide right now.

Given the extent to which recent discussions demonstrate
misunderstandings about membership status, it doesn't feel correct for
the FSF to continue using the term "associate member", as this term and
the marketing around it (phrases like "Renew your membership!") appear
to be giving people an inaccurate understanding of their status.

Regards,

Daniel


1. https://www.fsf.org/about/financial
2. https://static.fsf.org/nosvn/financial-statements/Form990-FY2018.pdf

___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

[libreplanet-discuss] exposure to lynchings in free software communities

[Daniel Pocock]

Does anybody keep an index of all the lynchings in free software
communities?

Whether RMS did something wrong or not, the
trial-by-social-media-and-email process is abusive.  Such processes are
rigged against just outcomes in many ways.

These lynchings have many downsides that are not visible online.  See
some of my recent blogs[1] about exposure to bullying: anybody who
witnesses the lynching is weakened.  Just a few weeks after the Debian
Christmas lynchings, one contributor died, Lucy Wayland, age 46.  The
coroner hasn't reported the official cause of death so far, the
hearing[2] is on 25 September.  It is ironic that Debian's
announcement[3] about the death emphasises Wayland's commitment to
diversity when what we see today is people using diversity as an excuse
to silence people they can't relate to.

How did the community respond to blogs about abusive leadership?
Censoring my blog from various Planet sites.  Maybe this email will even
be censored, I BCC'd a few other users of the mailing list in the hope
that somebody will forward it if the original doesn't appear.

Why does RMS get lynched, but Chris Lamb and Molly de Blanc can't be
held to account for their conflicts of interest[4] when in leadership
positions?

Regards,

Daniel



1. https://danielpocock.com/codes-of-conduct-and-hypocrisy/
2.
https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/residents/births-deaths-and-marriages/deaths/coroner-and-inquests/
3. https://www.debian.org/News/2019/20190308
4. https://danielpocock.com/mollamby-conflict-of-interest-privacy/

___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] libreplanet-discuss Digest, Vol 103, Issue 1

[Daniel Pocock]

On 12/09/18 19:45, Adrienne G. Thompson wrote:
>> The FSF has a well known name associated with a distinctive philosophy.
>> Whether people agree with that philosophy or not, they usually know what
>> FSF believes in.  That is the power of a brand.
>>
>> When people see the name FSFE, they often believe it is a subsidiary or
>> group working within the FSF.  ...
>>
> 
> 
>> FSFE leadership have sometimes diverged from FSF philosophy
> 
> 
> 
>> FSF people have also produced vast amounts of code (the GNU Project) and
>> some donors appear to be contributing funds to FSFE in gratitude for
>> that or in the belief they are supporting that...
>>
> 
> 
> 
>> In fact, FSFE was set up as a completely independent
>> organization with distinct membership and management and therefore a
>> different president.
>>
> 
> You are right in that the FSF has been far too generous. An organization
> that is completely independent and that diverges from FSF philosophy should
> have not just a different president - but a different name. Your post may
> have outlined a case of infringement. Where an organization accepts money
> knowing that the donor intends that the funds should be for the benefit of
> another - the acceptance and use of that money may be fraud.
> 


Please be careful, if they started out with the right intentions and
drifted apart (organizations do change over time) then it is not a
deliberate fraud.

My email was only written to highlight the current state of play, being
the personal perspective of a concerned FSFE e.V. member (myself) and
the FSFE contributors represented in my capacity as Fellowship
representative.  It is not intended to be an accusation.

Regards,

Daniel


___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] The FSF / FSFE sister relationship

[Daniel Pocock]

On 11/09/18 17:09, bill-auger wrote:

> im not taking any position on whether there should or should not be an
> official affiliation; but AFAIK there is no official co-operation today
> among any of them


In FSFE's case, I suspect this is FSF's fault for being to generous and
patient with them but everything else is FSFE's fault.

As a member of the FSFE and in my role as representative, I am deeply
ashamed of the way FSFE e.V. has behaved towards FSF.

FSFE e.V. has basically taken the FSF name, used it to build a community
and collect donations, use volunteers to build their infrastructure and
now they are sidelining the community and becoming something else.

Regards,

Daneil



signature.asc
Description: OpenPGP digital signature
___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

[libreplanet-discuss] The FSF / FSFE sister relationship

[Daniel Pocock]

Hi everybody,

Ever since I started blogging about my role in FSFE as Fellowship
representative, I've been receiving  communications and queries from
various people, both in public and in private, about the relationship
between FSF and FSFE.  I've written this post to try and document my own
experiences of the issue, maybe some people will find this helpful.

Being the elected Fellowship representative means I am both a member of
FSFE e.V. and also possess a mandate to look out for the interests of
the community of volunteers and donors (they are not members of FSFE
e.V).  In both capacities, I feel uncomfortable about the current
situation due to the confusion it creates in the community and the risk
that volunteers or donors may be confused.

The FSF has a well known name associated with a distinctive philosophy.
Whether people agree with that philosophy or not, they usually know what
FSF believes in.  That is the power of a brand.

When people see the name FSFE, they often believe it is a subsidiary or
group working within the FSF.  The way that brands work, people
associate the philosophy with the name, just as somebody buying a
Ferrari in Berlin expects it to do the same things that a Ferrari does
in Boston.

To give an example, when I refer to "our president" in any conversation,
people not knowledgeable about the politics believe I am referring to
RMS.  More specifically, if I say to somebody "would you like me to see
if our president can speak at your event?", some people think it is a
reference to RMS.  In fact, FSFE was set up as a completely independent
organization with distinct membership and management and therefore a
different president.  When I try to explain this to people, they
sometimes lose interest and the conversation can go cold very quickly.

FSFE leadership have sometimes diverged from FSF philosophy, for
example, it is not hard to find some quotes about "open source" and
one fellow recently expressed concern that some people behave like "FSF
Light".  But given that FSF's crown jewels are the philosophy, how can
an "FSF Light" mean anything?  What would "Ferrari Light" look like, a
red lawnmower?  Would it be a fair use of the name Ferrari?

Some concerned fellows have recently gone as far as accusing the FSFE
staff of effectively domain squatting or trolling the FSF.  When
questions appear about the relationship in public, there is sometimes a
violent response with no firm details.

The FSFE constitution[1] calls on FSFE to "join forces" with the FSF and
sometimes this appears to happen but I feel this could be taken further.

FSF people have also produced vast amounts of code (the GNU Project) and
some donors appear to be contributing funds to FSFE in gratitude for
that or in the belief they are supporting that.  However, it is not
clear to me that funds given to FSFE support that work.  As Fellowship
representative, a big part of my role is to think about the best
interests of those donors and so the possibility that they are being
confused concerns me.

Given the vast amounts of money and goodwill contributed by the
community to FSFE e.V., including a recent bequest of EUR 150,000 and
the direct questions about this issue I feel it is becoming more
important for both organizations to clarify the issue.

FSFE has a transparency page[2] on the web site and this would be a good
place to publish all documents about their relationship with FSF.  For
example, FSFE could publish the documents explaining their authorization
to use a name derived from FSF and the extent to which they are
committed to adhere to FSF's core philosophy and remain true to
that in the long term.FSF could also publish some guidelines about
the characteristics of a sister organization, especially when that
organization is authorized to share the FSF's name.

In the specific case of sister organizations who benefit from the
tremendous privilege of using the FSF's name, could it also remove
ambiguity if FSF mandated the titles used by officers of sister
organizations?  For example, the "FSFE President" would be referred to
as "FSFE European President", or maybe the word president could be
avoided in all sister organizations.

People also raise the question of whether FSFE can speak for all
Europeans given that it only has a large presence[3] in Germany and
other groups are bigger in other European countries.  Would it be fair
for some of those other groups to aspire to sister organization status
and name-sharing rights too?  Could dozens of smaller FSF sister
organizations dilute the impact of one or two who go off-script?

Even if FSFE was to distance itself from FSF or even start
using a new name and philosophy, as a member, representative and also
volunteer I would feel uncomfortable with that as there is a legacy of
donations and volunteering that have brought FSFE to the position the
organization is in today.

That said, I would like to emphasize that I regard RMS and the FSF, as
the original FSF, as 

[libreplanet-discuss] joining forces with the FSF

[Daniel Pocock]

Hi everybody,

The FSFE constitution[1] makes an explicit call to "join forces" with
the FSF

Is anybody aware of other groups, whether they are local groups,
national groups or anything else, that have been founded and operated
under a a similar pledge and how they carry that out in practice?
Specifically, I'm looking for positive examples about this topic.

Regards,

Daniel

1. https://fsfe.org/about/legal/constitution.en.html

___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

[libreplanet-discuss] choosing hackable home appliances

[Daniel Pocock]

A lot more home appliances have some kind of software in them, including
toasters, fridges, bluetooth toilets, etc.

Has anybody started cataloguing which of these devices are more hackable?

Are there any lists of such products where the vendor openly supports
hacking the product or releases GPL code?

Are there any articles, blogs, wikis or How-to documents which might
help people who are new to hardware hacking and want to take a look
inside their device, share information about the chipset and any
connectors, extract a firmware dump, etc?

Regards,

Daniel


___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] helping newcomers start blogs - but where?

[Daniel Pocock]

On 20/08/17 06:59, Mike Gerwitz wrote:
> On Thu, Aug 17, 2017 at 19:52:51 +0200, Daniel Pocock wrote:
>> blogger.com
> 
> Blogger requires non-free JS to even begin to render a page.  I've never
> been able to read any blogs hosted on that site, unfortunately.
> 
> Unless things have since changed.
> 
>> Github pages have also become popular with developers recently.
> 
> While static pages hosted on github.io do not carry the same problems as
> GitHub itself (non-free JS), you'd be encouraging users to use GitHub to
> do so.
> 

This is even more important with the recent announcement about Github
being sold to Microsoft

Is there any wiki page summarizing the options given in this thread or
could anybody suggest a good place to create a wiki page?

Some people mentioned Wordpress, the biggest concern I have with
Wordpress is that some Wordpress blogs are not correctly syndicated[1]
by Planet sites.  If anybody knows what Wordpress users need to do to
make their blogs appear that would be helpful.

Some people mentioned options that require payment/credit cards.  For
the vast majority of students outside the wealthy countries, they either
don't qualify for a credit card or they struggle with cost.  For
example, they won't pay $10/year for a .com domain, they find some
really cheap alternative TLD.  For somebody like that, if they have a
choice between a free blog on Github Pages and paying for something
non-Github, more than 90% of them will choose the option that costs $0.

Regards,

Daniel


1. https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel/2018/07/msg4.html

___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] LIbre routers ?

[Daniel Pocock]

On 18/01/18 09:00, al3xu5 / dotcommon wrote:
> Il giorno mercoledì 17/01/2018 18:33:39 +0100
> Daniel Pocock <dan...@pocock.pro> ha scritto:
> 
>> On 17/01/18 18:11, Fabián Rodríguez wrote:
>>>
>>> I am looking for a good router with 802.11ac and 802.11n support. I'd
>>> like both its hardware and software to be free as in Freedom.
>>>
>>> It seems the Turris Omnia fits that description:
>>> https://project.turris.cz/en/
>>>
>>> [...]
> 
>> I'm using one and I'm happy with it.  I've used it with gigabit fibre in
>> Zurich (with an SFP module inserted in the router) and also with an
>> external VDSL router attached through the WAN (copper) socket.
> 
> 
> 
> Hi
> 
> Daniel, which SFP module are you using?

TP-Link TL-SM321B

> 
> Has it support for VDSL2 (17,6MHz and 35MHz) G.INP protocol (which is being 
> used
> in Italy)?
> 

I don't know, that is a function of the modem/bridge device, not the router.

The Turris Omnia doesn't have a built-in DSL modem.  The modem takes the
PPPoE frames from the telephone line and puts them into the Turris Omnia
over ethernet.  The pppd process on the Turris Omnia then extracts the
IP packets and routes them.

I use a Swisscom Piccolo (which is otherwise known as Motorola / Netopia
7640-47) configured as a bridge/modem from VDSL to ethernet and then the
Turris Omnia as the router.  I wrote a blog[1] about putting the Piccolo
into bridge mode and removing the Swisscom backdoors.

Regards,

Daniel


1.
https://danielpocock.com/adapting-the-swisscom-piccolo-router-for-bridging-and-other-isps

___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] LIbre routers ?

[Daniel Pocock]

On 17/01/18 18:11, Fabián Rodríguez wrote:
> 
> I am looking for a good router with 802.11ac and 802.11n support. I'd
> like both its hardware and software to be free as in Freedom.
> 
> It seems the Turris Omnia fits that description:
> https://project.turris.cz/en/
> 
> Is anyone here using this device? What are your impressions? I am
> wondering why it's not
> 
> Are there any other similar ones available commercially?
> 
> Thanks in advance for any comments, advice or suggestions.
> 

I'm using one and I'm happy with it.  I've used it with gigabit fibre in
Zurich (with an SFP module inserted in the router) and also with an
external VDSL router attached through the WAN (copper) socket.

Regards,

Daniel

___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

[libreplanet-discuss] helping newcomers start blogs - but where?

[Daniel Pocock]

Hi all,

blogger.com and wordpress are well known platforms for people to create
free blogs.  Github pages have also become popular with developers recently.

What are the recommended alternatives for people who want to adhere to a
more free / libre approach?

In particular, I'm looking for solutions I can recommend to students
getting into Outreachy and GSoC.  They often have a lot of things to
think about at the start of their project and need to start blogging
quite quickly.

For now, I'm tempted to recommend github pages with Jekyll static
content generation because at least the git repository (and full
history) behind these sites can be easily migrated to any other hosting
platform.  Are there other alternatives people recommend?

Regards,

Daniel




___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

[libreplanet-discuss] The Intel ME/AMT/vPro vulnerability, mitigation and airport scans

[Daniel Pocock]

The recent AMT/vPro exploit[1] has helped shine a light on this
problem.  Has anybody seen any evidence that anything is changing
though, either in what vendors are offering or in terms of how companies
buy technology?

Over the last few years, people have been trained to separate their
laptops for security scanning at airports.  More recently, some airports
are opening/waking the laptops before they go through the x-ray: while
ME doesn't require a computer to be on, maybe some
vulnerabilities/back-doors can only be exploited while it is awake?

It is not hard to imagine some of these x-ray machines may be designed
to exploit vulnerabilities like that which was recently acknowledged by
Intel.

Has anybody seen any evidence that this is taking place systematically?

Then again, would there be anything special about exploiting them at
airports?  Would a chain of fast food or coffee stores "enhance" their
wifi access points to access the ME capabilities of laptops brought into
their premises or has anybody noticed if that is already happening?

Regards,

Daniel


1.
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/intel-amt-vulnerability-announcement.html



___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

[libreplanet-discuss] dual FSF and FSFE membership

[Daniel Pocock]

Does either organization (FSF or FSFE) have a position on dual
membership, being a member of both organizations?

Was this contemplated when the relationship between the two
organizations originated?

Has there been any discussion about a reduced membership fee or offering
a single joining procedure for people to join both organizations in one
go?  For example, on the membership form for one organization, people
could tick a box to join the other at the same time for some additional
fee that is potentially less than the outright fee for the other
organization.



___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] Streaming and recording software used at LibrePlanet conference

[Daniel Pocock]

On 07/07/17 03:20, Bob Jonkman wrote:
> Thanks Paulo! That's the one.
> 
> And thanks to someone who replied to me off-list, here's that blog
> post I was thinking of:
> 
> http://www.fsf.org/blogs/sysadmin/free-software-video-streaming-hubangl-powered-libreplanet-2017
> 
> And also:
> 
> https://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/hubangl


You may also be interested in looking at the solution used by the
DebConf video team for various events including DebConf and Mini
DebConfs, it is documented on the wiki:


https://wiki.debian.org/Teams/DebConf/Video/VideoTeamDocs

https://wiki.debian.org/Teams/DebConf/Video/UserDocuments


We also had some discussions with the Jitsi team about using Jitsi Meet
for remote participation.

https://meet.jit.si

Regards,

Daniel

___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

[libreplanet-discuss] resources about mailing lists vs. forums (e.g. Discourse)

[Daniel Pocock]

I've seen various communities having debates about whether to adopt
Discourse of similar forum software instead of a mailing list.

Has anybody already prepared any objective wiki pages or blogs comparing
mailing lists to forums and itemising each of the issues to be considered?

Rather than repeating the same discussions in many places, it would be
useful to link to something that covers it comprehensively.

With Discourse in particular, each time it comes up somebody comments
that it has a "Mailing list mode" option in the settings and suggesting
it is a drop-in replacement for a mailing list.  In practice, I've
observed that the mailing list mode is better than what other forums
offer but I feel it is somewhere between alpha and beta quality when
compared to established mailing list software.  If the developers really
wanted to they could make it a full replacement for mailing lists but
that doesn't appear to be a priority for them.

Regards,

Daniel

___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

[libreplanet-discuss] cataloguing free software events globally and locally

[Daniel Pocock]

One of the biggest concerns people have about leaving platforms like
Facebook and Meetup is that they fear they will miss out on events.  I
just put up another blog[1] about this topic in fact.

What tools do we have for sharing data about events in other ways?

For example, are there any free software tools that make it easy to send
birthday invitations using iCalendar (.ics) email attachments and is
this an option for mainstream use?

For larger or more public events, what could be done to gather and
distribute data effectively in iCalendar HTTP feeds, similar to the way
that Planet software aggregates and distributes RSS?  If we could use
such techniques effectively for events in the free software world (and
the IT industry in general), it would provide a useful model for other
communities.

I recently used search engines to try and find out about events and
dragged up a bunch of sites, some local, some international:

http://freie-termine.ch/
https://www.ch-open.ch/events/aktuelle-events/
http://www.ossroadmap.ch/
https://fsfe.org/events/events.en.html
https://opensource.com/resources/conferences-and-events-monthly?month=2017-07
https://lists.debian.org/debian-events-eu
https://lists.debian.org/debian-events-na
https://lists.debian.org/debian-events-apac
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Events?rd=FedoraEvents

but clearly there are far more events out there, just in the free
software world, that don't appear in any of these sites.

Regards,

Daniel


1. https://danielpocock.com/how-did-the-world-ever-work-without-facebook

___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] Replicant or LineageOS or ???

[Daniel Pocock]

On 14/06/17 17:31, Adam Van Ymeren wrote:
> On Wed, Jun 14, 2017 at 10:03 AM, Daniel Pocock <dan...@pocock.pro> wrote:
> 
>> Is there anything like GTA04 in the pipeline that supports LTE / 4G
>> though?  I saw it was discussed[4] for GTA04 but it is not clear.
>>
> 
> Not that I know of.  I think the project is almost dead.  While the latest
> revision GTA04A5 is currently being manufactured, there appears to be
> dwindling interest in the project.  There were barely enough pre-orders to
> do the current production run, I doubt there will be a GTA04A6 which is
> disappointing.
> 

The lack of pre-orders could be because users are waiting for a device
with LTE / 4G

___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] Replicant or LineageOS or ???

[Daniel Pocock]

On 14/06/17 15:53, Adam Van Ymeren wrote:
> On June 14, 2017 9:00:35 AM EDT, Daniel Pocock <dan...@pocock.pro> wrote:
>>
>> With CyanogenMod gone, more and more people are looking at which OS to
>> use next.
>>
>> LineageOS[1] is the most well known successor, but how does it compare
>> to Replicant[2] when it comes to security and privacy?
>>
>> Are there other alternatives people should consider?  Various articles
>> have popped up[3] with comparisons.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>>
>> 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LineageOS
>> 2. https://www.replicant.us/
>> 3. https://www.maketecheasier.com/cyanogenmod-alternatives-for-android/
>>
>> ___
>> libreplanet-discuss mailing list
>> libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
>> https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss
> 
> Lineage includes binary blobs and firmware that many peripherals in phones 
> require.  Replicant does not.  So that is  +1 on Replicant side.
> 
> However the bigger problem with both is that on many phones the cellular 
> modem has direct read/write access to the system memory and is running 
> proprietary firmware that shipped with the device which can contain backdoors 
> and tracking software, some of which can even be activated when the cellular 
> modem claims to be "off"
> 
>  The best defense against this while still having a smartphone is something 
> like the GTA04 project, where the schematics are public and designed to 
> isolate the cellular modem such that it does not have full memory access and 
> the power is literally cut when you turn off the cellular.
> 
> Smartphone privacy is more than a software problem at this point, you also 
> need to be careful about the hardware you run it on.
> 

Yes, a device that you carry on your person does have unique privacy
risks as well and some people prefer not to have any (smart)phone at all.

Is there anything like GTA04 in the pipeline that supports LTE / 4G
though?  I saw it was discussed[4] for GTA04 but it is not clear.

Regards,

Daniel


4. http://lists.openmoko.org/pipermail/community/2012-April/066708.html

___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

[libreplanet-discuss] Replicant or LineageOS or ???

[Daniel Pocock]

With CyanogenMod gone, more and more people are looking at which OS to
use next.

LineageOS[1] is the most well known successor, but how does it compare
to Replicant[2] when it comes to security and privacy?

Are there other alternatives people should consider?  Various articles
have popped up[3] with comparisons.

Regards,


1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LineageOS
2. https://www.replicant.us/
3. https://www.maketecheasier.com/cyanogenmod-alternatives-for-android/

___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

[libreplanet-discuss] making open hardware projects feasible

[Daniel Pocock]

Hi all,

There are some interesting innovations in open hardware, whether it is
the NAS[1], the router[2] or something big like the food computer[3]

Looking at the food computer, however, I see that people are still
making up kits one at a time and the cost is therefore quite steep (one
kit maker[4] advertises $4,350).

For any given project, assuming finance is available to build an initial
order in bulk (e.g. 100 or 1000 units of whatever), how can a project
take the step into mass production?

Can anybody make any suggestions about:

- is China the way to go?  I frequently hear success stories from
companies who moved production there and I assume many of the parts
originate in that region anyway even if a device is assembled elsewhere.

- are there any companies that people have worked with to source things
like this in China or elsewhere?

- can anybody share any links to any reading material or other advice on
this topic?

Regards,

Daniel



1. https://www.crowdsupply.com/gnubee/personal-cloud-1
2. https://omnia.turris.cz/en/
3. https://danielpocock.com/hacking-the-food-chain-in-switzerland
4.
https://www.openagriculturesupply.com/product-page/open-agriculture-food-computer-2-0-kit-complete-except-panels-leds-chiller

___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] OpenAg: Open Agriculture Initiative

[Daniel Pocock]

On 12/05/17 04:32, Aaron E-J wrote:
>
> In terms of solving world hunger – this is not a technological problem
> but a socio-political one.  We can produce many times the necessary
> nutrients to sustain life using century's old technology plus crop
> diversification.  Not that innovation in agriculture is a bad thing, but
> let's not lose sight of the fact that the reason millions of people are
> starving is because of politics and lack of educational and financial
> resources.

It has been pointed out elsewhere that if the world was a fair place,
natural food supplies would feed all of humanity.

The fact is, the world is not a fair place right now (as Mr Comey found
out the hard way this week) and so we have to do the best we can.

Caleb Harper's TED talk is titled "This computer will grow your food in
the future" but I think that is also a bit over the top.  In reality,
Australia and California grow far more food than they need for domestic
consumption while countries like Saudi Arabia don't even have enough
water to grow crops, let alone livestock.  Some countries will "need"
this technology more than others.

If there is a silver bullet to solve poverty, injustice and world hunger
it may well be in the form of education.  Educating the poor so they can
make better choices and educating the rich so they don't get suckered by
people like Donald Trump and Nigel Farage.  Devices like the food
computer can educate people and give them a sense of empowerment.  The
entry-level food computer is unlikely to put food on your plate more
than 3-4 times per month, but if it empowers people, it is not losing
sight of the big picture.

Regards,

Daniel


___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] OpenAg: Open Agriculture Initiative

[Daniel Pocock]

Thanks for sharing this on the LibrePlanet list, I'm also subscribed
here too.  I started a topic[1] on the OpenAg forum suggesting that
LibrePlanet 2018 (and some other events) might be really good places to
promote their work with people who will take a hands-on attitude to
building these devices and sharing the philosophy in their local
communities.

Would anybody want to extend a more formal invitation for them to speak
or exhibit at LibrePlanet or any other events?

Could anybody suggest any other events where this would fit and post the
links on the forum topic[1]?

As well as the TED talk, Caleb Harper recently did a talk about this at
Red Hat Summit, did anybody attend that last week?

Regards,

Daniel

1.
http://forum.openag.media.mit.edu/t/collaboration-with-other-communities-especially-free-open-source/1801



On 10/05/17 23:29, willi uebelherr wrote:
>
> Open Agriculture Initiative
> https://www.media.mit.edu/groups/open-agriculture-openag/overview/
>
> Wiki Open Agriculture Initiative
> http://wiki.openag.media.mit.edu/
>
> GitHub Open Agriculture Initiative
> https://github.com/OpenAgInitiative
>
> Dear friends,
>
> this is a initiative from people from MIT/Boston. It is new for me and
> i received this information on the FSF (Free Software Foundation)
> Europe mail list.
>
> It seems it is a combination of client computers, servers and
> datacenters. But how they work i don't know in this time. Also it is
> not clear for me, is that a good way.
>
> many greetings, willi
>
>
> QueridAs amigAs,
>
> esta es una iniciativa de gente del MIT/Boston. Es nuevo para mí y he
> recibido esta información en la lista de correo FSF (Free Software
> Foundation) Europa.
>
> Parece que es una combinación de equipos cliente, servidores y centros
> de datos. Pero cómo funcionan no sé en este tiempo. También no está
> claro para mí, es que una buena manera.
>
> con muchas saludos, willi
>
>
>  Weitergeleitete Nachricht 
> Betreff: Open Agriculture / Free (as in Freedom) Food
> Datum:   Wed, 10 May 2017 17:54:14 +0200
> Von: Daniel Pocock <dan...@pocock.pro>
> An:  FSFE Discussion <discuss...@fsfeurope.org>
>
> If you are not comfortable putting non-free software in your computer,
> have you ever thought about the non-free nature of the food you put in
> your body?
>
> A group at MIT's Media Lab have started the Open Agriculture (OpenAg)
> initiative and there was a TED talk (video[1]) about it in Geneva that
> makes it really clear what they are doing and why.
>
> The documentary Food, Inc[2] also helps understand what is at stake.
>
> Has anybody else looked at this or any similar projects already?
>
> A group has been formed[3] in Zurich to try and build one or more of the
> food computers collaboratively.  A venue is to be announced shortly.  I
> already raised this on the Zurich mailing list, but would anybody else
> want to come to Zurich to participate, be part of this remotely or
> replicate the idea in their own location?
>
> One challenge for us in Zurich is to try and find an efficient way of
> ordering all the parts, the list[4] includes over 100 items from about
> various suppliers.  Making up orders would be rather tedious, so
> grouping the orders together could help lower the hurdle for people to
> get started.
>
> One significant opportunity with this initiative is the outreach to
> other groups with environment, sustainability, urban agriculture and
> culinary interests.  OpenAg provides a way to developed a shared
> philosophy about what free really means and how free software is part of
> the solution to social problems like food security.
>
> Regards, Daniel
>
> 1.
> https://www.ted.com/talks/caleb_harper_this_computer_will_grow_your_food_in_the_future
> 2. http://www.takepart.com/foodinc/
> 3. https://www.meetup.com/openag-zh/events/239207170/
> 4. https://github.com/OpenAgInitiative/openag_pfc2/tree/master/BOM
>
>
> ___
> libreplanet-discuss mailing list
> libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
> https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss




___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] joint merchandise production between projects (t-shirts, stickers, Swiss army knives, ...)

[Daniel Pocock]

On 01/05/17 21:38, Markus Fischer wrote:
> 
> 
> Am 01.05.2017 um 21:02 schrieb Daniel Pocock:
> 
>> I feel it is dangerous to mix too many different political causes with
>> free software.
> 
> I feel it is dangerous not to care about our own economical decisions.
> Why should we care about the software we use then...
> 

I didn't suggest "not to care", just that "too many" different causes
can be dangerous.

I agree that there should be some minimum standards, but even if you say
"no child labour", which sounds sensible, for example, it becomes
complicated because the children just go back to trawling through
rubbish dumps, a job that is far more dangerous than sewing together
t-shirts.  There are plenty of great forums online where we could
discuss the details further.

If you want to provide a concrete example of a minimum standard that can
be used that would be useful.

> 
>> I would like to know that people were paid for the work they did to
>> produce the clothes I wear.  However, on the question of the rate their
>> employer pays them, if they agree to accept that salary and it is better
>> than any other salary offer in their region then is it really any of our
>> business to ask questions about it?
> 
> I did not mention anything about the effective salaries paid. We should
> care about where and by whom this merchandising items are produced.
> Would you like to wear a shirt out of a production where sewers are hold
> like slaves to promote free software? And it is not about clothing in
> general, but clothing that is a statement itself.
> 

My point was that people were freely agreeing to accept the salary, so
wouldn't that exclude slavery?

Would it be disturbing to overpay for things so that some workers who
took out excessively big mortgages and car loans can keep up their
western salaries while denying opportunities to workers in other countries?

> Why not to buy from small companies in several countries who really
> support the idea themselves -- and pay some swiss franc more...
> This would be far better, than concentrate on large scale effects like
> any other purchase manager at an international retail giant.
>

Did I ever exclude such possibilities?

Regards,

Daniel

___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] joint merchandise production between projects (t-shirts, stickers, Swiss army knives, ...)

[Daniel Pocock]

On 01/05/17 20:20, Markus Fischer wrote:
> Hi all
> 
> I read only about price and cost cutting. What's about sustainability,
> working conditions, clean production etc. ?
> 

I feel it is dangerous to mix too many different political causes with
free software.

I would like to know that people were paid for the work they did to
produce the clothes I wear.  However, on the question of the rate their
employer pays them, if they agree to accept that salary and it is better
than any other salary offer in their region then is it really any of our
business to ask questions about it?

Regards,

Daniel

___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] joint merchandise production between projects (t-shirts, stickers, Swiss army knives, ...)

[Daniel Pocock]

On 01/05/17 18:49, John Sullivan wrote:
> Daniel Pocock <dan...@pocock.pro> writes:
> 
>> Hi all,
>>
>> There has been some discussion on debian-project about merchandise
>> production, mainly t-shirts and clothing[1] and one thing that came up
>> is the question of collaboration between multiple projects.
>>
>> Can people from any other communities share comments on how they
>> produce, store, distribute and account for merchandise like this?
>>
>> Is anybody aware of opportunities to reduce costs, for example, getting
>> stickers for some smaller projects made up at the same time that a
>> larger project or event makes stickers?
>>
>> Is anybody aware of non-profit-friendly organizations that may be good
>> to partner with to outsource merchandising?
>>
>> A few years ago Debian even made up some Swiss army knives[2], I think
>> there may still be a small number left with debian.ch
> 
> We're happy to share what info we have that might be useful -- you
> should send questions to sa...@fsf.org.
> 
> Discounts / cost reductions normally come from larger quantities of the
> same product/design. But of course we could try negotiating with vendors
> as a group, to say that our business comes together or not at all.
> Probably in some cases that would get us better pricing. We haven't
> tried it.
> 

I think one good example where sharing would work is in stickers and
business cards.

The printing company usually cuts them out of an A4 or A3 sheet with a
guillotine.  If one sheet can fit 5 x 4 = 20 stickers, then the printing
company can produce 2000 sheets with 40,000 stickers divided up with the
guillotine for each organization.

Doing a larger run like 2000 or 5000 sheets would clearly bring down the
cost.

For screen printing t-shirts, such efficiencies are unlikely to be found
as they have to make up the screens individually for each design
although there could be some savings in administration and shipping
charges if many are done in one place.


> For projects that match up especially well with the FSF mission, we
> could consider mutually beneficial arrangements to sell and ship their
> merchandise from shop.fsf.org. We don't have an existing defined
> framework for doing that, but we have done it from time to time.
> 

That would be an interesting way to collaborate as well.

Do you keep inventory in a single country/location or could this work
well globally?

Regards,

Daniel


___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] free and libre tax software

[Daniel Pocock]

On 25/03/17 04:59, Greg Knittl wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I'm interested in writing free and libre income tax software for Canada.
> https://libreplanet.org/wiki/Group:LibrePlanet_Ontario/FLCTPSP
> 
> Technically it's a challenge because of the shear quantity of
> calculations. It has to be easy for different people to add and maintain
> different pieces of the calculations because there's no chance I can do
> it all. This all has to mesh together somehow. It would be nice if
> accountants would pick it up and maintain it so the calculation engine
> and the data need to be well separated.
> 

It may be sensible to start with one of the systems for double-entry
accounting, such as PostBooks or Tryton, see my comparison blog[1] for more.


> There are political obstacles that are probably more unique to Canada
> but it wouldn't surprise me if the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will
> argue that they don't want to expose the electronic tax submission
> interface for security reasons.
>


Tax authorities have the primary goal of collecting tax.  This means
they usually want to collect as much data as possible from people to
help them maximize the tax collected.  Therefore, I can't imagine why
they would not want to make their API public.

Even better, they should provide public XML schemas or other resources
that may help developers.

Regards,

Daniel

___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] a question to developers (not packagers) re. systemd vs. sysvinit

[Daniel Pocock]

On 15/03/17 16:57, Miles Fidelman wrote:
> Hi Folks,
>
> The systemd vs sysvinit topic has popped up again on the Debian list
> (and a few other places), and it occurs to me to wonder what's going
> on from a developer perspective (rather than a distro or packager
> perspective).
>
> Our own systems are pretty stable, so I haven't looked lately, but my
> sense was that through it all DEVELOPERS were basically ignoring
> systemd and continuing to ship traditional init scripts in tarballs -
> followed by, either (or both):

As a developer, I don't "ignore" systemd specifically.  Writing a unit
file and testing it takes time and every other enhancement takes time
too.  Developers typically spend their time on the most critical things
they need to change for customers or things that they feel excited about
for some reason.

>
> a) things just run, because systemd recognizes traditional init
> scripts (sort of), and/or,
>
> b) packagers create systemd scripts
>
> Which leads me to wonder the current state of the practice.  So two
> questions to software developers & maintainers (not packagers):
>
> i. What kind of init scripts do you typically include in your code?
The same init scripts that have been in the projects for a long time
already.  If I was starting a new project I may be tempted to include a
unit file instead of an init script.

>
> ii. To what extent do tooling & libraries support preparing each kind
> of init script?
>
> Inquiring minds want to know!
>
> Thanks much,
>
> Miles Fidelman
>
>


___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: WIKILEAKS, Vault 7: CIA Hacking Tools Revealed

[Daniel Pocock]

On 07/03/17 16:12, Andri Effendi wrote:
> Hi Everyone,
> 
> Urgent call to keyboard arms!
> 
> Shocking new revelations of CIA hacking tools in software used by 
> everyone, including us Free Software folk.
> 

What do you mean "everyone"?

Surely the American leadership will only use these things against you
if you come from a Muslim country or Mexico?

Does anybody know if they are going to change the text on US banknotes
from "In God We Trust" to "In Trump We Trust"?

Regards,

Daniel

___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

[libreplanet-discuss] free/secure IoT device shopping

[Daniel Pocock]

There are more and more IoT devices, such as webcams, light bulbs, home
automation controls and sensors and such things appearing.

Is anybody keeping a shortlist of those that are suitable for use in an
environment where freedom and security requirement are not laughed at?

There are four disturbing trends in this space:

- no source code

- proprietary protocols

- doing everything through a cloud server

- crowdfunding the devices, which implies some community involvement,
but only making a token effort to release the code or API and only for
the first few months

Even where source code is available, such as the Foobot[1], it appears
hard-coded (without[2] HTTPS!) to submit data to their own cloud server
and the developer API involves polling the cloud server rather than the
actual device.

Regards,

Daniel


1. https://github.com/airboxlab
2.
https://github.com/airboxlab/Firmware/blob/master/User_firmware/post.c#L156

___
libreplanet-discuss mailing list
libreplanet-discuss@libreplanet.org
https://lists.libreplanet.org/mailman/listinfo/libreplanet-discuss

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] talos

[Daniel Pocock]

On 13/01/17 22:20, Arthur Torrey wrote:
> I looked at the Talos and thought that it was really nice in concept, but WAY 
> out of my price range...
>
> Alex is right about the cost factors and scale, etc., and that the target 
> price isn't unreasonable for the scope of the project...  But at the same 
> time, I will say "Not My Problem" - as my issue is how much money is in MY 
> wallet, and the bottom line is what can *I* afford...  Even the EOMA68 is 
> marginal, especially given what I've read about it's performance


There are a couple of other issues that come to mind with any of these
projects:

- how many developers will have one?  If the hardware is available free
or at low cost to developers of major free software projects (e.g.
Debian, Fedora, GNOME) then platform-specific bugs will be noticed and
fixed much more quickly.  If not, then you will frequently find yourself
on your own troubleshooting new bugs that nobody has seen before

- warranty and spare parts: if you shell out $3700 for the Talos
mainboard and it fails at some point in the future, how long does it
take to get a replacement?  At that price, can you (or your local
supplier) afford to keep spares in stock for rapid replacement?

Regards,

Daniel

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] talos

[Daniel Pocock]

On 12/01/17 17:37, Adam Van Ymeren wrote:
> On Thu, Jan 12, 2017 at 11:20 AM, Daniel Pocock <dan...@pocock.pro> wrote:
>>
>>
>> On 12/01/17 15:22, Adam Van Ymeren wrote:
>>> On Thu, Jan 12, 2017 at 7:31 AM, Fabián Rodríguez
>>> <magic...@member.fsf.org> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 12/01/17 03:12 AM, Catonano wrote:
>>>>> Today, january 12, only 454 pledges have been made to the Talos proect
>>>>> crowdunding campaign page.
>>>>>
>>>>> https://www.crowdsupply.com/raptor-computing-systems/talos-secure-workstation
>>>>>
>>>>> This is not just a missed target. This is something more, as if there
>>>>> was a reection of the proect.
>>>>>
>>>>> The freedom sensble community is small, yes, but not this small.
>>>>>
>>>>> What's going on ?
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I'll share my impressions since you asked:
>>>>
>>>> * Give $10 or $250 - no options in-between
>>>> * No T-shirts, no stickers
>>>> * 6 months shared SSH-access for 250$?
>>>> * Absurd amount of information to digest in every update (even for me)
>>>>
>>>> Setting up a smaller goal, usable rewards and easier-to-digest updates
>>>> would have helped a lot. Now this only looks like another failed
>>>> out-of-touch-with-reality project.
>>>>
>>>> As it is, I didn't even contribute $10 as I had the distinct impression
>>>> the project would fail. How can I ever advocate this?
>>>
>>> You were convinced they would fail if they got funding? Or convinced
>>> they would fail to get their desired funding?
>>>
>>>>
>>>> I have given / donated generously to many Free software projects and
>>>> organizations (including the FSF) and have often convinced others to do
>>>> so (even refering new people to join
>>>> http://www.fsf.org/associate/referrers/referrerlist ) but honestly Talos
>>>> was outside of anything I could refer, in any way.
>>>
>>> I really wanted Talos to succeed, but I think the core issue is the
>>> pieces were just too expensive  $3700 just for a mainboard not
>>> including the CPU.
>>>
>>
>> They probably need to try and offer similar pricing to other high-end
>> workstations such as HP Z series.
>>
>>
>>
>>> They raised over twice as the EOMA68 project which was also freedom
>>> respecting. (https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop).
>>>
>>> $3.7 million was just too big of a target.
>>>
>>
>>
>> Not necessarily - to raise significant sums like that, projects may need
>> to plan some pitches to larger institutions and not simply rely on
>> anonymous private donors to spontaneously materialize.
> 
> I guess that's true.  I wonder if part of the problem is the market
> for high performance workstations like the HP Z you mentioned doesn't
> really overlap with the highly privacy conscious, freedom/privacy
> concerned crowd.
> 

It is a question of requirements

As a developer, a powerful CPU and lots of memory is useful for me as I
can compile large projects more quickly or perform more complicated
database queries in real-time.

For a privacy-conscious user who wants to browse the web with Tor, any
workstation (Talos, HP, or whatever) is overkill.

Regards,

Daniel

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] talos

[Daniel Pocock]

On 12/01/17 15:22, Adam Van Ymeren wrote:
> On Thu, Jan 12, 2017 at 7:31 AM, Fabián Rodríguez
>  wrote:
>>
>>
>> On 12/01/17 03:12 AM, Catonano wrote:
>>> Today, january 12, only 454 pledges have been made to the Talos proect
>>> crowdunding campaign page.
>>>
>>> https://www.crowdsupply.com/raptor-computing-systems/talos-secure-workstation
>>>
>>> This is not just a missed target. This is something more, as if there
>>> was a reection of the proect.
>>>
>>> The freedom sensble community is small, yes, but not this small.
>>>
>>> What's going on ?
>>>
>>
>> I'll share my impressions since you asked:
>>
>> * Give $10 or $250 - no options in-between
>> * No T-shirts, no stickers
>> * 6 months shared SSH-access for 250$?
>> * Absurd amount of information to digest in every update (even for me)
>>
>> Setting up a smaller goal, usable rewards and easier-to-digest updates
>> would have helped a lot. Now this only looks like another failed
>> out-of-touch-with-reality project.
>>
>> As it is, I didn't even contribute $10 as I had the distinct impression
>> the project would fail. How can I ever advocate this?
> 
> You were convinced they would fail if they got funding? Or convinced
> they would fail to get their desired funding?
> 
>>
>> I have given / donated generously to many Free software projects and
>> organizations (including the FSF) and have often convinced others to do
>> so (even refering new people to join
>> http://www.fsf.org/associate/referrers/referrerlist ) but honestly Talos
>> was outside of anything I could refer, in any way.
> 
> I really wanted Talos to succeed, but I think the core issue is the
> pieces were just too expensive  $3700 just for a mainboard not
> including the CPU.
> 

They probably need to try and offer similar pricing to other high-end
workstations such as HP Z series.



> They raised over twice as the EOMA68 project which was also freedom
> respecting. (https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop).
> 
> $3.7 million was just too big of a target.
>


Not necessarily - to raise significant sums like that, projects may need
to plan some pitches to larger institutions and not simply rely on
anonymous private donors to spontaneously materialize.

Regards,

Daniel

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] What does the tech setup look like in your grade school?

[Daniel Pocock]

On 14/10/16 17:26, Rudolf wrote:
> I would recommend finding out who has the buying power at a local
> school, that's the person you're going to have to convince to deploy
> your system not to mention whoever runs IT at the school department.
> 

That is the #1 task in any sales process


> From my highschool days I remember we only ran Windows and they were
> locked down to particular programs and web browsers. The best demo is
> showing what can be done with existing hardware.
> 


Q. What does the tech setup look like in your grade school?

A. If any proprietary software is involved, it probably looks something
like this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four

[libreplanet-discuss] bounties for reporting GPL violations?

[Daniel Pocock]

If I understand the reports about the Hellwig vs VMware case correctly,
the case failed[1] (in the first stage) because Hellwig didn't have (or
didn't submit to the court) enough evidence of the GPL violation.
Obviously it can be hard for people to produce such evidence if they are
not inside a company and can't see the code.

The BSA (representing proprietary software) offers rewards for
anonymously reporting[2] license violations in corporations.  Presumably
they are hoping that there is somebody with a conscience inside every
company that is not compliant and willing to provide evidence against
their employer in exchange for the reward.

Would it be worthwhile for the FSF or producers of GPL software to have
their names in the list on that site, alongside other victims of license
violations such as Microsoft and Adobe?

Or has anybody contemplated a parallel scheme to gather evidence of
violations?

Regards,

Daniel


1. https://opensource.com/law/16/8/gpl-enforcement-action-hellwig-v-vmware
2. https://reporting.bsa.org/r/report/add.aspx?src=us=en-us

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] suggestion/help. GPL enforcement.

[Daniel Pocock]

On 06/06/16 17:14, Joshua Gay wrote:
> On 06/05/2016 11:39 AM, Adonay Felipe Nogueira wrote:
>> Free software activists shouldn't sue people right from the start, they
>> should instead enforce it through collaboration, first by private
>> communication with the violator, then after series of negligencies done
>> by the violators, the original project can express their disappointment
>> publicly, then wait for the violators to apologize and accept the
>> suggestions or collaborations done, and only after series of
>> negligencies, it must be thought on suing the violator. This might take
>> years, but the most immediate advice you can deliver to a possible
>> violator is to cease redistribution temporarily until the issue is
>> resolved or proven to be false by all the parties involved.
>>
> 
> 
> The Principles of Community-Oriented GPL Enforcement agree with this
> general principle that legal action should be a last resort. See:
> 
> 
> 

That same principle goes on to read: "Occasionally, violations are
intentional or the result of severe negligence, and there is no duty to
be empathetic in those cases. Even then, a lawsuit is a last resort;
mutually agreed terms that fix (or at least cease) further distribution
and address damage already done are much better than a battle in court. "

So, the law suit is still a last resort but it remains an option.
Waiting years to start a lawsuit means that the violator may enjoy
significant benefit in the meantime

E.g. imagine a startup company who makes a successful app and sells the
company in 2 years for $10,000,000.  The original owners of the company
violate the GPL but they are long gone by the time the violation is
prosecuted.  Is that fair?  If the lawsuit had been made immediately,
buyers of the company would have backed off and the developers would
have sought to comply with the GPL somehow to have the lawsuit withdrawn.

Regards,

Daniel

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] suggestion/help. GPL enforcement.

[Daniel Pocock]

On 05/06/16 20:46, Aaron Wolf wrote:
> On 06/05/2016 11:23 AM, Daniel Pocock wrote:
>>
>> If copyright law didn't exist, then developers would not be able to use
>> the GPL to place copyleft conditions on derivative works
>>
> 
> (preface: I acknowledge this wording as slightly snarky)
> 
> Repeat after me: "We can abolish copyright law if we just also mandate
> source release for published works and prohibit DRM"
> 

>From a practical perspective, thought, I suspect that an outcome
combining all the things in that sentence is extremely unlikely any time
soon and so using copyright law to serve a useful purpose is the way to
go for many people

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] suggestion/help. GPL enforcement.

[Daniel Pocock]

On 05/06/16 20:27, Pen-Yuan Hsing wrote:
> On 05/06/16 19:23, Daniel Pocock wrote:
>> On 05/06/16 19:46, al3xu5 / dotcommon wrote:
>>> Il giorno domenica 05/06/2016 17:16:29 CEST
>>> Daniel Pocock <dan...@pocock.pro> ha scritto:
>>>> [...]
>>>
>>>>> We need a GPL compatible license that acknowledges the problems of
>>>>> globalization.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Or maybe we need to think about how copyright and intellectual property
>>>> law should work at a global scale, regardless of whether the subject
>>>> matter is GPL or not.
>>>
>>> Agree.
>>> And raising: we need to think about how to completely eradicate
>>> any copyright and (so called) "intellectual property" institutions at
>>> a global
>>> scale!!!
>>
>> If copyright law didn't exist, then developers would not be able to use
>> the GPL to place copyleft conditions on derivative works
> 
> That is true, but if copyright law doesn't exist, then wouldn't
> proprietary software also not be possible? If so, then copyleft wouldn't
> be needed anyway. But please let me know if I'm wrong.
> 

Without copyright, you could copy closed-source binary code but you
would have to do extra work to reverse engineer it

Having copyright law + GPL ensures that you are entitled to original
source code.

Copyright also lets you put other conditions on your code, for example,
the condition that derivative works can only be used for good and not evil.

[libreplanet-discuss] a free income for software developers?

[Daniel Pocock]

Switzerland has just had a referendum on giving all citizens a free
basic income of about CHF 2,500 per month (equivalent to USD 2,500 per
month)

Should countries consider a similar scheme, but exclusively for software
developers who create things at their own discretion under a free
license for the benefit of the whole economy?

Is anybody aware of any scheme or employment that approximates this
concept?  e.g. Google gives their staff 20% of their time to code a
project of their own choosing.

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] suggestion/help. GPL enforcement.

[Daniel Pocock]

On 05/06/16 17:46, Patrick wrote:
> On 06/05/2016 11:16 AM, Daniel Pocock wrote:
>>
>> On 05/06/16 16:57, Patrick wrote:
>>> Hi Everyone
>>>
>>> This is a horrible post and will probably trigger some very negative
>>> reactions. I am trying to help and I am being honest so please don't get
>>> too angry at me.
>>>
>>> I've tinkered with the BSD world and I really believe GPL and the Free
>>> Software foundation are the way to go. I have frustrations with the FSF
>>> in that it seems to focus too much on all the bad things others are
>>> doing and not enough on what good is being done but overall I don't
>>> think there is much of a choice and I want to make things work.
>>>
>>> So to the point!
>>>
>>> I have spent quite a bit of time thinking about how to circumvent the
>>> GPL.
>>>
>>> The GPL puts people like me in a bad situation. I work with scientific
>>> instrumentation. It's a corner-case market but world-wide.
>>>
>>> I would never just take GPL code and mis-license it. I will obey it.
>>> However the people that use the software in my corner-case market are
>>> spread across the world. I can't sue these people if they violate the
>>> GPL and so many of their Governments don't care about the GPL.
>>>
>> Enforcing the GPL is like playing whack-a-mole.  It may not be feasible
>> to sue every violator
>>
>> More likely, it will be about suing violators who are somehow successful
>> and taking a share in their profits and recycling that money to sue
>> other big violators.
>>
>>> I am in Canada and I don't have the money to sue a company in Brazil but
>>> the Brazilian Government respects the GPL and there may be many
>>> countries outside of Europe/Australia/New Zealand/Korea/Japan and the
>>> Americas that do too. I just might not be aware of them.
>>>
>> You may be able to buy a legal insurance policy or assign your
>> intellectual property rights (for any software you create) to some
>> non-profit organization that has legal insurance.
>>
>> The legal insurers will then look at each copyright violation and if
>> they believe the long term chance of legal success is sufficient and if
>> they find the violator has assets worth seizing, they will gladly jump
>> in to fight for you.
>>
>>
>>> Would it be possible for a GPL compatible license to be created that
>>> would forbid GPL software from being distributed to countries were the
>>> GPL was weakly/not enforced?
>>>
>> That is a tricky question
>>
>> Many people may be tempted to question whether that would be a free
>> license any more.
>>
>> In a practical sense, such a modified license would be no more effective
>> than the existing GPL because violators just don't care.  Everybody else
>> would suffer a huge burden trying to stop distribution.
>>
>> The actual number of countries where there is no viable copyright system
>> is not so large.
>>
>>> What is the point of granting the user the rights to freely distribute
>>> the code under the terms of the GPL if the code is distributed to
>>> locations were the GPL is not enforceable? It just becomes public domain
>>> code.
>>>
>> The point is that it is a good strategy and what you are proposing is
>> less practical.
>>
>>> Chinese people do not call China, China, they call it Zhongguo. It means
>>> centre of the world or middle kingdom. It's an arrogant name but can you
>>> really blame them or ask them to change it. Everyone was crazy 3000
>>> years ago.
>>>
>>> I think that we in the "west" (including Japan/Korea/Australia etc) are
>>> arrogant too and have a mentality "centre of the world" too.
>>>
>>> Who cared about China and India 20 or 30 years ago. If people there
>>> stole software, it didn't matter, they weren't important economically.
>>>
>>> They are now and we need to update our views so that software licensing
>>> makes sense. We in the "west" are not the centre of the world anymore.
>>> We need a GPL compatible license that acknowledges the problems of
>>> globalization.
>>>
>> Or maybe we need to think about how copyright and intellectual property
>> law should work at a global scale, regardless of whether the subject
>> matter is GPL or not.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Daniel
>>
>>
> Hi Daniel
> 
> Tha

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] suggestion/help. GPL enforcement.

[Daniel Pocock]

On 05/06/16 17:39, Adonay Felipe Nogueira wrote:
> Free software activists shouldn't sue people right from the start,
> they should instead enforce it through collaboration, first by
> private communication with the violator, then after series of
> negligencies done by the violators, the original project can
> express their disappointment publicly, then wait for the violators
> to apologize and accept the suggestions or collaborations done, and
> only after series of negligencies, it must be thought on suing the
> violator. This might take years, but the most immediate advice you
> can deliver to a possible violator is to cease redistribution
> temporarily until the issue is resolved or proven to be false by
> all the parties involved.
> 

The strategy is correct, but giving them years to comply is not.

The timescale for enforcing GPL compliance should probably be
comparable to the timescale for enforcing a claim for unpaid wages or
any other civil debt, after all, the violator is effectively using
somebodies work without paying for a license that permits them to use
it in closed-source software.

[libreplanet-discuss] telling friends when you stop using facebook

[Daniel Pocock]

I'm starting a separate thread for this because the other thread was
intended for the technical process of killing a facebook account

One issue that a few people have commented on is getting the contact
details of friends before closing the facebook account and telling your
friends you are no longer on facebook.

I'd like to be more specific about that and suggest that they only
passively gather the contact details of friends from facebook.  Look at
each friend's profile and copy those things that are public, like email
address, phone or birthday.  Don't click the "request phone number"
button: if the friend has never put their phone number in facebook,
clicking that button encourages them to do so.

What if there are some friends on facebook who you have no other contact
details for?  Well, this is a great problem because it forces you to
think and thinking helps you become independent.  If you chat to them
through facebook to ask for any more details then you are actually
asserting that you depend on facebook and you haven't really got enough
faith that you can survive without it.  If they are really your friend
and you can't find their contact details there is every chance that they
will try to find you somehow, this can be a good test to help identify
the stronger friendships.

In the same way, I feel that asserting you are leaving facebook is also
a bad thing as it gives facebook more status.  Leaving silently is much
better as it creates curiosity: some people will wonder where you went
and look for you in the real world (as a bonus, displacing online
contact with real-world contact improves the quality of those
relationships).  Some will actually ask you if you unfriended them or if
you left facebook and you can respond very concisely "why do I need
facebook?  If something important is happening somebody always tells me".

If they ask "why didn't you tell me you were leaving facebook?" you
could reply "why would I need to do that?".

So, don't even tell your spouse or closest friends when you close the
account, wait and see if they notice.

For those who feel this is too hard-line, maybe one final step is to
simply send each of the more remote/uncontactable facebook friends a
private message with a link to your blog or something else that is
already public about you just before closing the facebook account, with
a note saying "I don't feel social media is completely reliable, please
save this in case you can't contact me here".  That gives people
something tangible to start looking for you outside facebook without
really giving up more specific things like phone numbers and it also
avoids making direct statement that you are leaving.

Regards,

Daniel

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] helping friends kill their facebook accounts

[Daniel Pocock]

On 28/04/16 09:47, Fabio Pesari wrote:
> On 04/28/2016 09:30 AM, Daniel Pocock wrote:
>> Is it better for people to go through their profile more vigorously
>> though, messing up all the data?  For example, changing their date of
>> birth to something random (if they actually used their real DoB to begin
>> with), deleting the groups used to classify friends, deleting photos,
>> deleting things like their relationship status, maybe even deleting all
>> their posts and comments one by one?
> 
> That's useless: any decent algorithm can guess what's the right birth
> date by looking at past "happy birthday" messages, personal chats or
> classmates even without AI.
> 

That applies to day and month, but not year

Some people have their date of birth completely private too, so they may
not have a lot of happy birthday messages, if any.

Also, while an algorithm may be able to sniff that out, a casual
intruder who finds a way to get a megaleak of facebook's user list won't
necessarily have all that other data to play with.

> Also I'm not sure it's possible to delete stuff from their servers
> permanently.
> 

It wouldn't surprise me if they keep everything archived, but even so,
"deleting" things may reduce the possibility they are exposed by gaps in
the front-end security and privacy mechanisms.

For example, there have been various hacks that allowed people to see
photos that were "private".  If the same photos were completely
"deleted", facebook may still have them archived but they may not be
accessible with that hack.

> The best thing to do is to close ("deactivate", really) the account and
> forget about it.
> 

[libreplanet-discuss] helping friends kill their facebook accounts

[Daniel Pocock]

One of the issues that comes up when helping people get off proprietary
social media is the amount of data retained even if they close their
account.

It is easy enough for somebody to take a backup of their Facebook
account and then click to delete it.

Is it better for people to go through their profile more vigorously
though, messing up all the data?  For example, changing their date of
birth to something random (if they actually used their real DoB to begin
with), deleting the groups used to classify friends, deleting photos,
deleting things like their relationship status, maybe even deleting all
their posts and comments one by one?

Should they do it all in one go, or stagger it over 2 - 3 months so that
it is not so obvious that they were putting in false data before account
deletion?

Are there any existing articles or blogs that are recommended for people
going through this process?

Are there any tools that can help people?

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] New Group

[Daniel Pocock]

On 26/04/16 21:59, felix_poss...@openmailbox.org wrote:
> Interesting.
> Of course it would make sense to merge our resources instead of
> building two groups, however, i don't understand, why they were splitting
> from the fsf by founding a eurpean version.
> Thanks for the info.
> 

I don't understand either, I've never asked actually, but FSFE members
have similar interests and do a lot to pursue them.  There are many
examples of people forking projects in the free software world (that is
one of the fundamental freedoms we want, isn't it?), so is it really
unusual that anybody would fork or compete with FSF too?

Regards,

Daniel

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] New Group

[Daniel Pocock]

On 26/04/16 19:46, felix_poss...@openmailbox.org wrote:
> I am creating a Wikipage right now, taking several group pages as role
> model
> Projects like the Ontario goup will be created in the process.

There may be an FSFE group in Munich, you may initially find it easy to
collaborate with them:

https://fsfe.org/about/localteams.en.html

https://wiki.fsfe.org/LocalGroups/Muenchen

[libreplanet-discuss] home / small office servers with free hardware

[Daniel Pocock]

Can anybody comment on strategies for building a home or small office
server using entirely free hardware?

The earlier thread (here[1] and on the FSFE list[2]) about Intel and AMD
never being truly free identifies platforms like ARM and other low power
chips as alternatives that can be 100% free.  For home and small office
servers where people typically want low power consumption and low noise
levels rather than raw performance, using ARM is probably quite
agreeable, a compromise they may already have been willing to make for
other reasons.

Are there any particularly good examples of off-the-shelf solutions  or
how to make such servers from components?

Even if CPU power is limited, can such solutions be designed for
IO-intensive workloads, such as hosting NFS home directories or
Maildirs?  These tend to do lots of small writes, just putting them on
SSDs helps a lot.

Another thing that people tend to look for these days is the ability to
have lots of storage for photos and movies.  This type of storage
doesn't need fast IO but it does generally need multiple disks for
redundancy.

A combined solution to both of those storage problems typically needs a
pair of SSDs (for home directories) and a pair of large disks (for media
collections) and if there is going to be a spare disk bay for migrations
and standby disks, it means having a box with 5 or more bays.


1.
https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/libreplanet-discuss/2016-04/msg00020.html
2. http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/discussion/2016-April/010912.html

[libreplanet-discuss] consolidating free hardware lists

[Daniel Pocock]

There are various lists of free hardware being maintained in different
places, e.g.

https://libreplanet.org/wiki/Group:Hardware/Freest
http://wiki.fsfe.org/Migrated/Hardware%20Vendors
https://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox/TargetedHardware

Can anybody think of an efficient way to consolidate all this and make
it easier to browse or query?

Please feel free to share other links too.

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] We need a Great campaign To tell the programmers to improve their programs To work well with the screen Reader

[Daniel Pocock]

On 21/03/16 19:20, Ali Abdul Ghani wrote:
> hi
> A lot of programs do not work with screen readers
> and Now, the problem has become much Larger
> And its became a problem in the web after the appearance of html5
>
> now aMany Web applications do not work with screen readers
> Most programmers do not care for the  screen reader when writing programs
> This makes the blind use computers with difficulty
> and They can not use a lot of programs
>
>
> We need a Great campaign To tell the programmers to improve their
> programs To work well with the  screen  Reader

I agree this is important but simply "telling programmers to improve
their programs" does not sound sufficient

Ultimately, programmers need to feed their families and this often means
prioritizing the work their employers or clients demand

Each time some new requirement is imposed on free software developers
(e.g. the requirement for Debian Developers to write the
debian/copyright file in a machine-readable format), it appears that the
net outcome is people actually produce (or share) less code rather than
more.  For people who do free software development on a voluntary basis,
having a checklist of 1001 rules that have to be observed takes out all
the fun.

I don't believe your goal is unworthy, nor do I believe it is
unachievable, but I feel that you need to be more creative.  Think about
creating economic incentives, helping programmers receive grants from
charities and creating awards to recognize programmers who do what you
feel is correct.  There are probably many more things that can be done
too.  It is no secret that bosses of some disability charities and
medical professionals who serve people with disabilities are receiving
more than reasonable compensation for their work, do you agree
programmers deserve the same?

Regards,

Daniel

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] Proposal for "FUD responses" wiki pages

[Daniel Pocock]

On 29/02/16 12:05, Fabio Pesari wrote:
> On 02/29/2016 11:18 AM, Daniel Pocock wrote:
>>
>> Very good, but not every person will respond like that
> 
> One should be prepared for the worst case scenarios: that includes
> taking into consideration emotional, irrational and ignorant arguments.
> 
> Those are very common among both professional developers and casual
> GNU/Linux users, and it's very easy for people to agree with them
> because they feel good and don't require any introspection.
> 
> For example, even if it seems downright childish and ridiculous, this is
> the most commonly used counter-argument to GNU/Linux:
> 
> "But I want to play videogames!"
> 
> I still haven't found an answer for that because it's true that most
> libre games are crap and decades behind mainstream titles, and
> suggesting that freedom is more valuable than entertainment never
> convinced any of those people.
> 


That actually contains a big clue

We need to focus on identifying each person's values and not expect
everybody to have values.

E.g. some doctors will want to keep their patient data private because
it is the right thing to do.  Some will do it because of the commercial
incentive (not wanting a rogue employee of the IT company to sell a
customer list to a rival).  Some will only want to keep patient data
private because of the big penalty fines that doctors now face for data
breaches.

The first step is to use questions to identify the person's values.
Then match the argument to their values

While it sounds trivial, salespeople are usually trained to identify one
of these things that each customer values most: career, family, hobby.
Once they identify the most important one, they may try to talk about it
or even relate their message to it (e.g. "do you think you might have a
third child?  Have you seen this larger model car...")

Even if this only helps for 1 out of 5 discussions, just forget the
other 4 and don't be demotivated, you can't win every time.

> We're talking about a society that is eagerly waiting for Oculus Rift (a
> Facebook product) to engage in virtual "sex". The problems at the root
> of proprietary software adoption are very, very deep, and completely
> unrelated to rationality - I would say moral, but I know some people
> here don't like that word or its connotations, so I think we can safely
> agree that most people want to be comfortable more than they want to be
> free, and few give a crap about things like ethics, security and privacy.
> 
>> Do you feel that the idea of making up questions like this is useful in
>> comparison to just having statements to use as responses?
> 
> I think one should imagine every possible response and
> counter-response. Right now shutting up a free software supporter is
> very easy, as we get easily frustrated by arguments like the ones I
> shared before and quit.
> 

This is just a matter of training and practice

For example, lawyers often spend hours with their clients practicing
questions and answers for court cases.  That is how they look so
convincing and respond so effortlessly in the heat of the moment.

Regards,

Daniel

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] Proposal for "FUD responses" wiki pages

[Daniel Pocock]

On 29/02/16 10:33, Fabio Pesari wrote:
> On 02/29/2016 10:10 AM, Daniel Pocock wrote:
>>
>> Back to the theme of making the rebuttals conversational, another good
>> one could be:
>>
>> "Companies don't like the GPL"
>>
>> "Isn't that a good sign that the GPL is good for you as a user of
>> technology?  Would you really expect companies to like a license that
>> gives you choice and control?"
> 
> "No, what's good for me as a user is a program that just works,
> regardless if it's GPL or not."
> 

"Have you ever had a program that didn't just work exactly the way you
wanted though?"

"If a program appears to `just work' but has a data leak, is it really
working?"


> Also, your answer assumes companies to be inherently evil, a position
> which most people don't share (most people actually _love_ Apple and
> Google).
> 

It is not an "answer", it is just a way to engage in discussion by using
questions

I agree that directly attacking brands or companies is not helpful,
unless the user has already said something to indicate they don't like
the company.

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] Dealing with blind hatred for the GPL

[Daniel Pocock]

On 27/02/16 13:44, Fabio Pesari wrote:
> Many people (especially in the open source community) hate the GPL more
> than they hate proprietary software, especially the GPLv3. I never found
> an approach that works with those people.
> 
> Mention "freedom" and they'll say the GPL is "restrictive" and "viral".
> 

Facebook is viral, many people consider that to be a reason for its
success (whether you like it or not)

> Mention practical advantages and they'll say "corporations don't touch
> anything GPL".
> 

People say that, but it is a bit like people telling you that house
prices will go up forever, it is something they got in their head but
can't prove and is ultimately false (if house prices go up forever,
nobody will be able to buy them at some point).


> Mention the dangers of proprietary software and they'll say it doesn't
> matter if the program in question is practically better.
> 
> Mention existing famous GPL projects and they'll argue that some of them
> didn't switch to GPLv3 (like Linux and Blender).
> 
> Actually, mentioning the GPL at all will get you covered with insults
> and accusations of zealotry.
> 
> Showing them articles from GNU.org doesn't work, and will only result in
> ad hominem attacks against their author, Richard Stallman.
> 
> This reminds me of Two Minutes Hate from 1984.
> 
> How to reason with those people? They tend to gang up and it's very hard
> to get your point across when everybody is agreeing with one another on
> how stupid and brainwashed you are!
> 


Start with yourself, do what you feel is correct and some people will
follow your example.

There are hundreds of thousands of young developers around the world
today, especially in places like India and China, who are still forming
their own opinions about what is right and wrong.  Don't waste time on
people who have already convinced themselves with nonsense, there are
plenty of other people you can talk to about software freedom.  GSoC is
just getting under way again soon and that provides a great opportunity
to help students understand licensing choices as they start projects.

I typically tell the students to use GPL as a default but if somebody
fully pays for their work and tells them to use another license then
they are obliged to use that license or work for somebody else.

Regards,

Daniel

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] Free Software Games for babies

[Daniel Pocock]

On 17/02/16 01:14, Lori Nagel wrote:
> Hi, I have a just turned 2 year old and I would like to find some simple
> press any key game geared for babies and young toddlers that are free
> (as in freedom) software.  I tried a web search but I've only seen
> things geared for older children.  My son likes to press keys and see
> what happens but some of the other stuff is just a bit to advanced for
> him yet.
> 


There is nothing wrong with giving non-free products to children at that
age.

I once saw a baby, probably about 1 year old, pick up his mother's
iphone from a table in a restaurant and the way he threw it and smashed
it on the floor was smarter than anything I've ever seen an adult do
with an iphone.

Regards,

Daniel

[libreplanet-discuss] funding opportunities for speaker travel

[Daniel Pocock]

I've been having some discussion with organizers of an event in Asia
recently and I understand that their ticket revenue doesn't raise enough
money to cover speaker travel costs this year.  I've also heard from
organizers of a couple of other events over the next year who are
contemplating the same challenge.

Is anybody aware of other opportunities for speakers to obtain travel
grants, especially to ensure speakers with a commitment to Free and
Libre values have a presence at events like this outside Europe and the US?

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] What do you think about the FSF using/endorsing nonfree cultural works?

[Daniel Pocock]

On 11/02/16 15:11, Fabio Pesari wrote:
> On 02/11/2016 01:29 PM, Daniel Pocock wrote:
>> Somebody else may take 90% of the slides and just change 10% of them and
>> start using them to promote a similar point of view (e.g. Open Source)
> 
> If the free software philosophy is indeed the strongest one (and I
> believe so), then this should not even be a concern but aside from that,
> those who create derivative works must credit the original authors, so
> the FSF in this case would get mentioned anyway.
> 

Actually, it depends a lot on exposure.  That is why companies spend so
much money on repetitive advertising of brands for running shoes and
soft drinks, they wouldn't spend that money if it didn't have an impact.

If the FSF can't afford to run "Free Software means ..." advertisements
during the Olympics then other viewpoints take mindshare.

20 years ago it was considered obnoxious to use a mobile phone in a
restaurant.  How easily society can change its views.

So, in the absence of large cash reserves to constantly remind people
about the real meaning of Free, organizations may be tempted to use
non-free licenses to control use of materials they have invested time
and money to create.

>> Is the FSF using nonfree licenses as a tactic to prevent that?
> 
> That would be pretty hypocritical so I doubt it.
> 

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] Updating the High Priority List

[Daniel Pocock]

On 11/02/16 12:04, Fabio Pesari wrote:
> On 02/11/2016 11:13 AM, Daniel Pocock wrote:
>> As suggested in my earlier email, I feel the list should be reserved for
>> things that just about everybody needs to use.
> 
> In general, I would agree, but those specific programs which haven't yet
> been replaced can be an obstacle to GNU/Linux adoption in general, and
> that can only lead to a chain effect.
> 

Not quite - if we make GNU/Linux the best platform for general-purpose
use cases, some of those commercial vendors may be tempted to release
niche products like AutoCAD on GNU/Linux.

It already happens in some industries, I spent some time working for a
vendor of treasury software who originally developed for Solaris and AIX
and then decided to offer the customers the option to use Red Hat.

AutoCAD on GNU/Linux is not a 100% free solution: but in relative terms,
it would be better than AutoCAD on Windows 10 by a long shot.  It would
not stop motivated people from making a 100% free solution, just as the
existence of a Skype binary for GNU/Linux doesn't prevent people seeking
an alternative.

If Autodesk felt their support costs would be reduced and customer
experience improved or if they felt customers would use some of the
financial savings from ditching Microsoft to pay more for AutoCAD, they
would probably release for GNU/Linux.


http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/autocad-2010-2011-2012/autocad-support-for-linux-becoming-a-major-management-decision/td-p/3051192

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] Updating the High Priority List

[Daniel Pocock]

On 11/02/16 11:04, Fabio Pesari wrote:
> On 02/10/2016 08:54 PM, al3xu5 / dotcommon wrote:
>>
>> Also if we had a very good 2D/3D CAD libre software but missing a full DWG
>> support, CAD users still would not use it.
>> But having a full DWG support is really hard... I think quite impossible: DWG
>> is closed and Autodesk change it often (i.e. to support new "feature" for its
>> CAD programs) just, I think, to force users to pay for new releases and to
>> avoid libre full DWG implementations.
> 
> Autodesk is doing the same for 3D modelling with the FBX format. They
> are no better than Adobe (PSD), in this regard.
> 
> By the way, for people who know about CAD, I found out about BRL-CAD:
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRL-CAD


CAD is important, but why should it be on the high-priority list?

To put that another way around, what is the criteria for things going on
the high-priority list?

As suggested in my earlier email, I feel the list should be reserved for
things that just about everybody needs to use.

[libreplanet-discuss] how would an activist start with Free Software?

[Daniel Pocock]

Some of you may have seen my recent blog about another group starting up
to "democratize" Europe[1], with a heavy reliance on undemocratic
platforms like Facebook that seems contrary to their aims.

If people from this campaign or any other like it wanted to bootstrap
themselves in a Free manner, do we have solutions for them?  Has anybody
ever written a guide or anything else to get people started?

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] how would an activist start with Free Software?

[Daniel Pocock]

On 07/02/16 10:03, Fabio Pesari wrote:
> On 02/07/2016 09:49 AM, Daniel Pocock wrote:
>>
>> Some of you may have seen my recent blog about another group starting up
>> to "democratize" Europe[1], with a heavy reliance on undemocratic
>> platforms like Facebook that seems contrary to their aims.
>>
>> If people from this campaign or any other like it wanted to bootstrap
>> themselves in a Free manner, do we have solutions for them?  Has anybody
>> ever written a guide or anything else to get people started?
> 
> Hello Daniel,
> 
> it seems you forgot a link (which you referred to as "[1]").

Oops, added below

> 
> Can you please explain in better detail what do you mean by
> "bootstrapping"? Do you mean installing GNU/Linux from scratch or...?
> 

I mean how would they start their organization, "movement", campaign,
party or whatever form their group chooses, e.g.

a) install GNU/Linux on personal computers

b) extract all contact data and other essential things from iPhones and
then smash them with a hammer

c) setup email and web server using Postfix, Apache, etc

d) use (what?) for building online community, registering volunteers,
raising funds, organizing meetings, sharing documents/multimedia, etc

The points (a) - (c) are well documented in various places, covering (d)
and beyond, with an emphasis on Libre solutions, could be really helpful


1. http://danielpocock.com/giving-up-democracy-to-get-it-back

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] Updating the High Priority List

[Daniel Pocock]

On 04/02/16 19:31, John Sullivan wrote:
> We have a much-delayed update ready to publish (see
> https://www.fsf.org/news/fsf-commences-review-of-high-priority-free-software-projects-list-your-input-is-needed).
> After that's published, we will revisit our updating process and
> announce the next opportunity for feedback or what the revision process
> will be going forward.
> 

The recent change in funding strategy at Software Freedom Conservancy
could also provide some inspiration for the strategy around this high
priority list.

Without a strategy, it is just as effective as a list for Santa.

Conservancy appear to be putting a stronger focus on the individual
developer+user of free software.  What would such a focus mean in terms
of this list?

It could be broken down into three things:

a) software for the home and work environment: basic things like helping
people manage their ever increasing collection of music, photos, movies,
contact data and other things like the ever increasing volume of
non-personal email (travel bookings, bank statements, etc), all these
things need to just work other developers are always becoming frustrated
with stuff that is a distraction from their own area of development

b) development tools and related things (e.g. alternative to Github)

c) business tools that are somewhat universal, e.g. double-entry
accounting is just as important whether you are running a single rental
property or a multinational corporation

Being able to do all of these things efficiently on a free software
platform would enable developers and small business to focus on the more
exotic things they really want to be doing.  On the other hand, if the
platform doesn't do those things well, it frustrates people, they are
nagged by users and they don't do productive development or we lose them
completely.

[libreplanet-discuss] rewards for crowdfunding Free Software projects

[Daniel Pocock]

A lot of crowdfunding sites emphasize giving some rewards back to donors.

While most developers would rather just get on with coding, the rewards,
small things like T-shirts and bigger things too, are hard to avoid.

Has anybody looked at this in detail?  Does anybody have any ideas about
what type of strategy to use with rewards, especially for software projects?

Obviously, the best reward is finishing the project itself.  Unlike
other types of crowdfunding projects, software projects typically end up
open sourcing everything they produce so everybody is automatically
getting a copy of that work, regardless of how much money they
contributed or any other rewards that entitles them too.  This is a big
distinction from projects like films or comic books or hardware products
funded by crowdsourcing.

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] libreplanet-discuss Digest, Vol 70, Issue 14 FS & Disabilities

[Daniel Pocock]

On 15/12/15 03:28, arthur_tor...@comcast.net wrote:
> Speaking as a person with a disability, though fortunately not one that 
> affects my ability to use software, it seems to me that this is a prime area 
> where the classic Unix mantra of "don't do all things, instead do individual 
> things well and string them together" is really the way to go...  
>
> While disabilities vary greatly in their effects on people's ability to use 
> software / computers, it is a pretty safe assumption that a problem with one 
> sort of software is going to apply to all of it, and that there are some 
> relatively broad categories of issues that almost ALL fall into the category 
> of Input / Output...  (IMHO it is not really practical to address cognitive 
> issues)
>
> People with visual impairments will need some form of display modification, 
> be it larger images, different color schemes, screen readers, etc...
>
> Similarly people with motor function issues need alternative input methods - 
> replacements for mice, keyboard alternatives, possibly gaze-tracking, and so 
> on...
>
> In each case, what the developer of a software program really needs is NOT to 
> address any of the above, but simply to provide a (hopefully standardized) 
> way of supporting alternative I/O methods.

This is where people run astray.  There are a lot of developers who want
to "innovate" or be different in their UI.  That is the beginning of the
end for disability support (and sometimes bad for i18n and other reasons
too).

I've seen some striking examples of this from web / JavaScript
developers, many seem to have an urge to do visual things even when it
is not necessary.  In every company that I've worked in there has been
some horrendously overcomplicated JavaScript page just for querying the
company phone book.  It continues to amaze me that people don't simply
place the data in LDAP and allow users to choose the most suitable
client software for their device, disability or whatever.

Many traditional UNIX programs can work the way you describe (think of
how different UI programs can control a command line utility like sox). 
The problems can be in the politics of the projects or companies and not
hurting the feelings of people who already decided to spend time on
their own UI.

Regards,

Daniel

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] Free software and disabilities

[Daniel Pocock]

On 16/12/15 00:19, John Sullivan wrote:
> Daniel Pocock <dan...@pocock.pro> writes:
>
>> One thing we should be more conscious of is that there are funding
>> programs and grants available to make the world better for people with
>> disabilities.  It would be very interesting to try and ensure that some
>> of that money is going to free software rather than proprietary
>> software.  Developers don't typically have a disposition for filling out
>> application forms so if there are other volunteers who would like to
>> help look for such programs and match them to relevant free software
>> projects and help with paperwork it could give interesting results and
>> it may indirectly benefit other parts of the free software ecosystem.
> The FSF certainly has people and willingness to help with such
> grant/funding applications, if someone can bring them to our attention.

This one is pretty big

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-15/gillard-cries-while-introducing-disability-legislation/4690692

They promise "security and dignity" for people with a disability.  That
should include the choice to use free software shouldn't it?

I'm not sure exactly how the money trickles down in practice but there
is a lot of it to be spent.  If I understand correctly, it is not really
something for nothing, they hope it will enable more of these people to
work and pay tax in the long term so it may be applicable to some types
of business software.

E.g.
http://www.ndis.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/accessibility_strategy_plan.docx

and commercial software vendors are already getting on the bandwagon:

http://atmac.org/ndis-apple-events-2015

Regards,

Daniel

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] Free software and disabilities

[Daniel Pocock]

On 13/12/15 15:09, Andrés Muñiz Piniella wrote:
> El 10 de diciembre de 2015 23:50:42 GMT+00:00, John Sullivan  
> escribió:
>> amunizp  writes:
>>
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> Speaking to someone the other day they mentioned that there wasn't a
>>> central place to go get disability supported solutions. Short from
>>> putting 'disability' in a package manager, is there any central place
>>> where one can look for faif supporting people with disabilities?
>>>
>>> Sadly my search only brought this article from 9 years ago [1].
>>>
>>> BTW I heard about sonar Gnu/Linux [2] which is an incredible project
>> a
>>> project and Jasper and Mycroft could be used as well. What I was
>>> looking for is where all these options are listed as well as the
>> stand
>>> alone faif packages that can be used in proprietary platforms.
>>>
>> You can try the categories/properties at https://directory.fsf.org. If
>> they aren't sufficient, then I'm sure directory-disc...@gnu.org would
>> like to hear suggestions for improving them. :)
>>
>> -john
> Yes, this is great! Extactly what me and my friend where discussing. I had 
> heard about the directory and the hard work of people behind it but I kept 
> forgetting about it.
> Using disabity search term
> https://directory.fsf.org/wiki?search=disability=Special%3ASearch
>
> Brings me to two projects that seem to be incredible: ATK and skipper. But 
> Sadly both project links go to 404.
>
> I have ccd directory-disc...@gnu.org but I guess I will need to subscribe to 
> it first.
>
> Hopefully I can find where the projects are now.
>
> PS: Thanks for #fsfbulletin


There was some discussion about this on a FOSDEM list recently. 
Somebody expressed an opinion that if software doesn't support users
with disabilities then the developers are discriminating against those
people.

It is not so simple though.  Developers don't actively discriminate, we
simply don't have time to do everything we would like to do if time and
money were unlimited.

One thing we should be more conscious of is that there are funding
programs and grants available to make the world better for people with
disabilities.  It would be very interesting to try and ensure that some
of that money is going to free software rather than proprietary
software.  Developers don't typically have a disposition for filling out
application forms so if there are other volunteers who would like to
help look for such programs and match them to relevant free software
projects and help with paperwork it could give interesting results and
it may indirectly benefit other parts of the free software ecosystem.

Regards,

Daniel

Re: [libreplanet-discuss] GNU ethical repository criteria: Should privacy issues really be extra credit?

[Daniel Pocock]

On 19/11/15 19:52, anonymiss wrote:
>> Daniel Pocock:
>> --snip--
> this part:
>> I think the FSF approach (ranking each provider) is a good step but it
>> is not the complete solution.  The real solution needs to look at how
>> to encourage free-software-minded sysadmins to volunteer time and
>> energy to run things to the highest standard on the FSF criteria, not
>> just for repository hosting, but for everything else, including email,
>> SIP, XMPP, etc
>>
> While I think this could be good for people who still think that it
> matters that much where you have your email hosted, where you
> participate in that other federation service (xmpp), you can't copy
> those ethical repository criteria 1:1 to federation or client-server
> based message systems.
> (Leaving out all the facts which should tell people not to use those
> technologies anymore and fade them out (as soon as we have easy enough
> to use alternatives accessible for everyone),) I'm still curious how
> your list for those technologies would look like.
> 

I'm not suggesting the criteria for those things would be identical.

What is identical is the need for somebody (paid or volunteer) to do the
tedious stuff like keeping out spam (whether it is email spam, blog
spam, wiki spam or Github pull request spam), security updates on the
servers, managing DoS attacks and other sysadmin responsibilities.

Some communities try to do things but do them badly and in cases like
that I think it is better that people just say they don't have the time.
 A volunteer silently doing nothing or not giving any updates undermines
the reputation of the community and the free software concept in
general.  These types of situations can be a distraction, they can be
de-motivating and many developers who are really keen to just get on
with what they are developing simply give up and go somewhere else -
like Github, Skype, Telegram, Hangouts or whatever.

When somebody is taking care of stuff though, developers can then get on
with developing free software.