Mise à jour de la base de données, veuillez patienter...

As part of his explanation of the early history of free software, Richard Stallman (RMS) often tells a story about his frustration with the locked-down software on a laser printer. If you're not familiar with the printer story, you can read it in RMS's own words here. It's an early, easy-to-understand example of how proprietary software deprives users of control over their lives.

In today's testimonial, an anonymous supporter details a much more recent incident that made it concrete to him how unjust, cruel, and arbitrary the restrictions imposed by software manufacturers can be. Because the writer is not a native English speaker, we've clarified his words a bit for readability.

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I’ve always supported free software, but never felt the concrete importance of it until proprietary firmware threatened to cause a big problem, in terms of money, time, and environmental impact, for the company where I work. It’s a mid-sized company, employing about one thousand people. It’s highly production-oriented, and we need to print about two or three thousand paper sheets per week only for the production plans, on a special kind of paper. This number doesn’t include any reprints or further needs, so the total printed pages can be even higher.

We used to print everything with an old printer, which worked fine, but it didn't have an integrated stapler, and required a lot of human time to staple all the sheets as needed. After a production increase and the consequent increase in printing of orders, we asked for a new printer with an integrated stapler.

After some weeks of testing and a lot of work to try and make the printer handle our production orders, we faced a big problem: the printer couldn’t do what we needed. If we tried to print on the special paper, the printer printed perfectly but automatically disabled the stapler, because it’s developed to not work with a thicker sheet of paper. We would need a more complex (and expensive) stapling system. If we modified the paper settings to “normal paper,” the stapler would work fine, but the printing came out faded.

We requested technical support, and after some tests, the technician said that the printer is capable of printing on the special paper, and it's capable of stapling, but it can't do both at the same time. Why doesn’t it work? Because the firmware doesn’t foresee this particular instance of use, and it can’t be modified. We need to use a thinner paper.

What about the 80 thousand paper sheets we already had in the warehouse? We managed this problem for months by printing different production orders with the old printer and hand-stapling, but this was a waste of time for us. It would have saved time to just throw away the extra paper and buy new paper, but this would have an unacceptable environmental and monetary impact.

There was absolutely no reason that the new printer couldn't print and staple the old paper, but the firmware developers simply wouldn't let us do it. Instead, we have had to adapt ourselves to the printer software. In a just and fair society, software could be adapted to people's needs, and people wouldn't have to adapt instead to the software. This is why free software is necessary.

Help improve the Free Software Directory by adding new entries and updating existing ones. Every Friday we meet on IRC in the #fsf channel on irc.freenode.org.

Tens of thousands of people visit directory.fsf.org each month to discover free software. Each entry in the Directory contains a wealth of useful information, from basic category and descriptions, to providing detailed info about version control, IRC channels, documentation, and licensing info that has been carefully checked by FSF staff and trained volunteers.

When a user comes to the Directory, they know that everything in it is free software, has only free dependencies, and runs on a free OS. With over 16,000 entries, it is a massive repository of information about free software.

While the Directory has been and continues to be a great resource to the world for many years now, it has the potential to be a resource of even greater value. But it needs your help! And since it's a MediaWiki instance, it's easy for anyone to edit and contribute to the Directory.

It was during this week, back in 1993, that the first browser to render text and pictures on the Web was released. To commemorate this event, the Directory meetup will look at browsers, plugins, and other Web renders. One area that is behind in this field is our browser plugins. The central listing is on the unapproved program pages. It would be great to lower this number a bit this week, and get some other relevant programs updated.

If you are eager to help, and you can't wait or are simply unable to make it onto IRC on Friday, our participation guide will provide you with all the information you need to get started on helping the Directory today! There are also weekly Directory Meeting pages that everyone is welcome to contribute to before, during, and after each meeting.

Help improve the Free Software Directory by adding new entries and updating existing ones. Every Friday we meet on IRC in the #fsf channel on irc.freenode.org.

Tens of thousands of people visit directory.fsf.org each month to discover free software. Each entry in the Directory contains a wealth of useful information, from basic category and descriptions, to providing detailed info about version control, IRC channels, documentation, and licensing info that has been carefully checked by FSF staff and trained volunteers.

When a user comes to the Directory, they know that everything in it is free software, has only free dependencies, and runs on a free OS. With over 16,000 entries, it is a massive repository of information about free software.

While the Directory has been and continues to be a great resource to the world for many years now, it has the potential to be a resource of even greater value. But it needs your help! And since it's a MediaWiki instance, it's easy for anyone to edit and contribute to the Directory.

On April 20, 2008, 26-year-old Danica Patrick entered the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Montegi in Montegi, Japan -- and became the first woman to win an Indycar race. This week's Directory meetup will honor this milestone by focusing on programs that involve races and racing.

If you are eager to help, and you can't wait or are simply unable to make it onto IRC on Friday, our participation guide will provide you with all the information you need to get started on helping the Directory today! There are also weekly Directory Meeting pages that everyone is welcome to contribute to before, during, and after each meeting.

Meet Private Internet Access

Private Internet Access (PIA) was a generous supporter of LibrePlanet 2018 and the Free Software Foundation as a patron. As one of the largest VPN services available, they have customers all around the world. Their VPN works with free software VPN clients like OpenVPN. They recently announced their intention to release some of the software they produce under a free license.

I had a conversation with Christel Dahlskjaer, their director of sponsorships and events, about their views on free software, digital rights, and user freedom. She emphasized that PIA uses their resources for the defense of free software, digital rights, and civil liberties, which are among their greatest concerns.

Through partnerships, PIA educates and helps people learn about and work towards better safety online and the mitigation of privacy risks. They bring this support to "activists, dissidents, journalists, whistleblowers, and digital nomads," in addition to everyday users of their VPN services, Dahlskjaer said in identifying their user base.

PIA is built on free software -- literally and ideologically. "We are acutely aware that free software is at the foundation of the vast majority of the technology that we rely on, and indeed founded our business on," said Dahlskjaer. "We believe that software freedom goes hand in hand with civil liberties and digital rights, and it is natural for us to support the development and use of free software."

"The digital landscape is changing and, as individuals, we are facing real risk from the monetization of data, surveillance, privatization, and risk of potential bad actors. Now is the time to act when it comes to taking (back) control of our data and our digital rights," she went on.

"Draconian leaders continue to be misinformed or have an agenda separate of the people, leading to poor legislation across the board, regardless of one's jurisdiction. It continues to become clear that the greatest challenge is the legal landscape for new technology. That being said, with the continued advancements we have seen with applied cryptography, the time when technology simply transcends is drawing nigh. We will win. I assure you, we will win."

The Free Software Foundation is excited to have the support of Private Internet Access in LibrePlanet, our other work, and the greater free software community.

You can read more about Private Internet Access on their Web site, and also read job descriptions online.

What is a VPN?

A VPN is a Virtual Private Network. It "extends a private network across a public network, and enables users to send and receive data across shared or public networks as if their computing devices were directly connected to the private network" (Wikipedia). This gives users of a VPN enhanced privacy and security. While frequently used by companies and organizations to provide access to servers or an intranet to those not in the office, a VPN is also invaluable for activists, journalists, whistleblowers, and any end user looking to increase the trust they have in their networks. VPNs can be used to access any Web sites or Web services.

Help improve the Free Software Directory by adding new entries and updating existing ones. Every Friday we meet on IRC in the #fsf channel on irc.freenode.org.

Tens of thousands of people visit directory.fsf.org each month to discover free software. Each entry in the Directory contains a wealth of useful information, from basic category and descriptions, to providing detailed info about version control, IRC channels, documentation, and licensing info that has been carefully checked by FSF staff and trained volunteers.

When a user comes to the Directory, they know that everything in it is free software, has only free dependencies, and runs on a free OS. With over 16,000 entries, it is a massive repository of information about free software.

While the Directory has been and continues to be a great resource to the world for many years now, it has the potential to be a resource of even greater value. But it needs your help! And since it's a MediaWiki instance, it's easy for anyone to edit and contribute to the Directory.

This week we are improving everyone's luck by resurrecting dead entries. While we always want to keep growing the Directory by adding new entries, every now and then we need to do some spring cleaning to wipe away the detritus. Millions of users visit the Directory each year, but we want to make sure they're not stumbling into a graveyard of out-of-date information. So this Friday the 13th, we'll be hunting dead links and reviving older entries!

If you are eager to help, and you can't wait or are simply unable to make it onto IRC on Friday, our participation guide will provide you with all the information you need to get started on helping the Directory today! There are also weekly Directory Meeting pages that everyone is welcome to contribute to before, during, and after each meeting.