Group: Defective by Design/Ideas

This is a page inspired by a conversation on Diaspora about the DBD 2011 Holidays page. In it there are very few alternatives presented for those wishing to partake in ethical consumer choices during this season.

The following list are not suggestions. Instead they are ideas which need to be reviewed to decide whether or not they should be added to the Holiday Buying Guide on defectivebydesign.org.

Promotional material / advocacy

• Blog / write about this list. Choose a few items from this list and elaborate on why and how you'd like people to contribute/buy/give using such items. Here is an example.
• Show your colors! Help promote software and technological freedom by getting or giving out FSF campaigns stickers.
• Visit your favorite free software project and get their merchandise (T-Shirts, stickers, etc.)
• Make your own! Remix existing artwork and print your own T-Shirts, stickers, mugs, etc.
• Consider joining or sponsoring a membership to one of the many organizations out there - why not start with the Free Software Foundation ? Sponsoring a student membership is U$60.

Books

• Try to always get your ebooks in an open, standard format, without DRM - ePUB being the preferred format
• Don't miss [Free Software, Free Society (2.0) Free Software, Free Society, 2nd edition] by Richard M. Stallman en ePub format
• Project Gutenberg offers over 36,000 free ebooks to download
• http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Free_eBooks has an endless collection of links to free ebooks. Remember to always choose DRM-free, epub formats.
• A quick search for keywords such as "non-DRM epub ebook gpl cc" should turn up more options
• Give an online subscription to 2600 magazine (DRM -free)

Media players, Music

• Before buying a media player check Xiph.org's lists of audio and video players
• Keep in mind all Android devices running CyanogenMod can play FLAC, Ogg Vorbis and Ogg Theora media
• OurProject.org - Free Software & Free Knowledge for a Free Society (mostly in Spanish).
• Mutopia - collects and distributes free sheet music and information about free music.
• http://openpandora.org/ <- this doesn't exist yet!
• When buying music online, always try to get Ogg Vorbis or FLAC formats. Here are a few examples of online formats that provide such formats:
  • http://www.analekta.com/ (Canada, Classical, FLAC & MP3)
• Avoid DRM-able online stores. Here are a few examples of stores that sell without DRM:
  • http://www.archambault.ca/musique-mp3-zik-ZIK-fr-ct (Canada, MP3-only)
  • ...
• Liste to free music online with Libre FM
• Explore Archive.org huge music and audio collection

Movies

• Beofre buying a media player check Xiph.org's lists of audio and video players
• Keep in mind all Android devices Ogg Theora media although battery time will be impacted as this does not currently use hardware acceleration
• Record your own free Off-the-air (OTA) digital broadcasts or record from any analog source using hardware like the HD Homerun
• Archive.org Moving image archive has a huge collection of classic and recent movies and videos. From timeless classics like The Boy in the plastic bubble to recent videos like The Story of Stuff including full feature movies like The Yes Men and Home, there is always something new to discover
• The Miro free, open source music and video player lets you view, convert and share your media - and gives access to thousands of video feeds
• Creative Commons Films

Video Games

• List of Open Source Video Games at Wikipedia
  • Take the subset of that page which is both Free Software and the content is also a Free Cultural Work (some on that list aren't)
• Review these sites to see if they have free software games:
  • Hanako Games (http://www.hanakogames.com/) - uses python and ren'PY for their visual novels, so it may be possible to run them on the Pandora
  • Gaslamp Games
  • The Humblebundle (http://www.humblebundle.com/)

Computers and Laptops

• Buy your next computer or netbook pre-installed and including support for Gnu/Linux at one of the following manufacturers:
  • System76
  • ZaReason
  • Los Alamos Computers
• Ask your local non-chain store to build your own computer from compatible parts & compomnents
  • Choose a motherboard that supports a free BIOS
  • Check your hardware against H-Node for compatibility.
  • Ask to have hardware from companies that provide free, open source drivers for them. Some notable examples:
    • Hewlett-Packard printers
    • Intel video chipsets
    • Atheros wireless cards & radios

Smart Phones and Tablets

Although Android is often described as being "open source", current devices include non-free drivers and software that implement many restrictions making such devices essentially non-free.

However, several devices can use alternative firwmare (also referred to as "ROM") like CyanogenMod which combined with the following simple advice brings as much control as you can have today on such devices:

• Choose a device from the CyanogenMod devices
• Do not use the Android marketplace - use F-Droid instead and encourage app developers to publish their apps without DRM.
• Do not install Google Apps

Current source code for CyanogenMod can be used to build such ROMs for Nexus S, with other devices coming up. The Replicant project also aims to have a 100% free implementation of Android, watch its site for compatible devices.