Our Bulletin highlights some important activities and issues in free software over the last six months, including:

It highlights some important activities and issues in free software over the last six months, including:

• an educational program we launched, together with free software activist Devin Ulibarri, where we used the program Music Blocks to teach Boston area public school youth about coding and free software, and then proceeded to donate ten fully freed laptops to the schools we visited;

• some ideas on how the free software community can do better to bring visibility to our movement, according to LibrePlanet 2019 conference speaker and free software activist Mary Kate Fain, pulled from her superb LibrePlanet talk “Sparking change: What free software can learn from social justice movements”; and

• our licensing and compliance manager, Donald Robertson, III, reports on the progress of our Respects Your Freedom program, with further explanation on the parameters needed for the certification of hardware devices that meet FSF's criteria for protecting the rights of users.

Thirty-five volunteers joined FSF staff over the course of three days to get all the Bulletins stuffed in envelopes and mailed out. This was a great opportunity to catch up on free software issues with some of our most dedicated free software enthusiasts here in Boston. We are grateful to have such a strong core of supporters that keep the movement growing, and thanks to your generous contribution, we will be even stronger.

Please be vocal about your support for free software. Read and share the Bulletin articles online using the #ISupportFreeSoftware hashtag, use our fundraiser support images, and talk to your community about why you support the FSF. It makes a difference.

Throughout our spring fundraiser, we have been enjoying both the public posts from supporters using the hashtag on social media, as well as answers to the "What inspired you to join today?" question we ask new members. Here are some of our favorites.

• We see many excited calls for user freedom and user control:
  
  • "For freedom!"
    
  • "Does the software you use grant you the freedom to redistribute copies so you can help others? #FreeSoftware does. Learn more by listening to Richard M. Stallman, on the Making Better podcast. #ISupportFreeSoftware" from @makingbetterpod
  • @mmaug shared: "There are alternatives to Facebook, Microsoft, Google, and Twitter. Take control of your privacy, and your computer! #ISupportFreeSoftware #FSF"
  • @globalspectator posted: "Software you don't control seizes control over you. Help @fsf break the chains of proprietary software for a freer future #ISupportFreeSoftware"
    

• We receive humbling thank you's from people appreciating our work, naming the LibrePlanet conference, our licensing work, and the GNU Project:
  

  • "Wanted to for a long time. Also, LibrePlanet!"
    
  • "Gratitude. And a long lasting debt feeling. Thanks so much!"
  • "As a software developer and GNU/Linux user I want to set a statement and do my part in keeping free software popular"
    
  • "I use GNU tools, and have since the beginning"
    

• And most importantly, we hear from people who have come across our activities and campaign images online, or who were informed about FSF through their on- and offline community and decided to take action -- convincing us that people inspiring each other to join the Free Software Supporter mailing list, or to become an associate member is by far the most powerful way to expand our reach and strengthen our message:
  

  • "I watched an interview with Richard Stallman"
    
  • "A friend"
    
  • "A post in the 'Victorhck in the free world' blog"
    
  • @opc_5 called for digital liberation through free software: "Software Libre para la liberación digital. #ISupportFreeSoftware"
  • @AugustinPMichel tagged his connections with: "#ISupportFreeSoftware, do you?"

Today, we have one week left in our spring fundraiser, and we are confident we will achieve our membership goal of 200 members in 28 days if we keep at it. With your help, we may engage enough people to also reach 400 donations before the 15th of July. Your support helped get us where we are, in position to succeed. Your generosity and outspokenness fuel our message, increase our reach, and will allow us to continue to advocate on your behalf.

Thank you for your contribution to free software.