Free Software News
News surrounding the free software world.
Contents
July 2009
July 6
Microsoft’s Anti-competitive Dumping of Software Faces Challenges in Africa and in Indiana
"Microsoft has been criticized for committing African governments into purchasing its software, denying them the chance to explore other alternatives...Arizona has just been concluded with more coverage here, in addition to a press release. Last week we wrote about Illinois and Indiana falling victim to Microsoft's dumping and there is more new coverage from Illinois, as well as vocal resistance in Indiana." Full Story
July 4
I Met Richard Stallman=
An amusing blog post written by a person who was very excited to meet Richard Stallman. "Yes, I seriously did have the opportunity to meet him personally, and listen to his speech on the Free Software Movement. Let me attempt to explain the experience, and how it came to be." Full Story
July 3
Really, anyone can use GNU/Linux
One users' account of the relative simplicity in using GNU/linux has an interesting look at copyright and the idea that an author is the originator of a new work. Instead, the piece suggests that all works are in some way based on the works of others (even our own copyright law), and the system should be much more encouraging of "remixing" work into new, unique experiences. ne/ Full Story
Source Code of Several Atari 7800 Games Released
"Remember Dig Dug or Centipede or Robotron? They used to be favorites when Atari's 7800 series was still around. Since the era of those consoles is over, and a different world of interactive reality gaming has taken over, Atari has unofficially released source code of over 15 games for the coders and enthusiasts to admire the state-of-the-art (because this is what it was back then). During those times, nobody would have imagined in their wildest dreams the games that Atari's developers floated into the gaming thirsty market and instantly swept across continental boundaries. But things changed soon after that and a company once regarded as one of the most successful gaming console manufacturers and developers faded away in the pages of our technology's hall-of-fame." Full Story
Your Rights Online: Copyright Should Encourage Derivative Works
"Techdirt has an interesting look at copyright and the idea that an author is the originator of a new work. Instead, the piece suggests that all works are in some way based on the works of others (even our own copyright law), and the system should be much more encouraging of "remixing" work into new, unique experiences." Full Story
New Release of Wine
Wine 1.1.25 was released. Read the details.
July 2
Fellowship interview with Smári McCarthy
"Smári McCarthy is a thoughtful anarchist and practical chaos technician - with a deep interest in Free Software and democracy. Currently serving as project manager for the Icelandic Innovation Center, Smári works on digital fabrication and peer-to-peer education, while spending his spare time breaking the fundamental assumptions of how we organise society. I sat down for an interesting interview with Smári, in which he explained his projects and how they can contribute towards a more sustainable world." Full Story
Why don't more people know about GNU/Linux?
If you ask random people on the street about Linux they will say that they have never heard of the company or the project. Then, if you do explain something short about this great project then they ask how come Linux does not advertise. Linux is free for the most part and there is very little money to fund the development of GNU/Linux and its software. Majority of people who are working on open source software are volunteers or part time. However, some do get paid to work on GNU/Linux and its software full time but there are very few of them. The sad truth is that because GNU/Linux does not have a lot of money to advertise to the masses most people have never heard of it. Full Story
July 1
More people say No to Mono
In an essay last Friday entitled Why free software shouldn’t depend on Mono or C#, RMS argued a key point that I agree with: the software freedom community should minimize its use of programming language infrastructure that comes primarily from anti-software-freedom companies, notwithstanding FaiF (Free as in Freedom) implementations. I’ve been thinking about an extension of that argument: that language infrastructure created in a community process is likely more resilient against attacks from proprietary software companies. Full Story
GNU/Linux is...amazing
All too often people concentrate on what GNU/Linux isn't .... they look for anything lacking and make a huge big deal about it, and in doing so miss the simple fact that GNU/Linux - this little community project (when compared to big dollar proprietary software) - can so so much. Full Story
June 2009
Free software news for June 2009
May 2009
Free software news for May 2009
April 2009
Free software news for April 2009
Also check
