Free Software Foundation

Screenshot of gnewSense

The Free Software Foundation or Free Software Foundation is an organization created in October 1985 by Richard Stallman and other free software enthusiasts with the purpose of spreading this movement.

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a non-profit organization with the global mission to promote the freedom of computer users. We defend the rights of all software users.

FSF focuses its work fundamentally on legal, organizational and promotional matters for the benefit of the free software user community.

History

The Free Software Foundation was founded in 1985. It continued existing GNU projects, such as selling manuals and tapes, and recruiting free software system developers. Since then, it has continued these activities, as well as advocating by the free software movement. The FSF is also the administrator of various free software licenses, which means that it publishes them and has the ability to make revisions as necessary.

The FSF owns the copyright to many pieces of the GNU system, such as the GNU Compiler Collection. As the owner of these copyrights, you have the authority to enforce the copyleft requirements of the GNU General Public License (GPL) when copyright infringement occurs in that software.

From 1991 to 2001, GPL enforcement was done informally, usually by Stallman himself, often with the assistance of FSF attorney Eben Moglen. In the interest of promoting copyleft assertiveness by software companies to the level that the FSF was already doing, in 2004 Harald Welte launched gpl-violations.org.

GPL enforcement and educational campaigns about GPL compliance were a major focus of the FSF's efforts beginning in this period.

From 2003 to 2005, FSF held legal seminars to explain the GPL and surrounding law. Usually taught by Bradley M. Kuhn and Daniel Ravicher, these seminars were the first effort to provide formal legal education on the GPL.

In 2007, the FSF published the third version of the GNU General Public License after a significant external contribution.

Activities

GNU Project

The original purpose of the FSF was to promote the ideals of free software. The organization developed the GNU operating system as an example of this.

GNU Licenses

The FSF develops, maintains, and defends the GNU General Public License (GNU GPL), the most widely used free software license, the latest version of which is GPLv3, which was finally published in June 2007. Besides the FSF is also responsible for the [GNU LGPL|GNU Lesser General Public License] (GNU LGPL) and the GNU Free Documentation License (GNU iFDL). The FSF has the resources and will to enforce the licenses it makes. But you can only file lawsuits, about software to which you own the copyright. The foundation deals with about 50 GPL violations each year and always tries to avoid going to court.

Project hosting

The FSF hosts free software projects on its Savannah website. It offers a web interface for hosting and maintaining project web pages, bug tracking, CVS, FTP, and mailing lists. Hosts more than 2800 projects.

Malcom Bain Talk, FSF Attorney

Legal training

The FSF organizes seminars on the legal aspects to consider when using the GPL license.

Free Software Directory

It is a directory with more than 5000 programs that have been verified to be software free. Unesco helps finance this project.

Awards and recognitions

FSF Award for the Advancement of Free Software (FSF Award for the Advancement of Free Software) given by the foundation to a person who has made a significant contribution to the progress of software Free Software Award for Projects of Social Benefit (Free Software Award for Projects of Social Benefit).

GNU Press

The FSF's publishing department is responsible for publishing affordable books on computer science using free distribution licences.

Definition of free software

It maintains many documents that clearly define and explain what free software is.

Campaigns

FSF campaigns point to important opportunities for free software adoption and development, empower people against specific threats to their freedom, and move us closer to a free society:

• High-priority free software projects: The list of high-priority projects of the FSF and the list of reverse engineering tasks serve to encourage the development of projects that are important to increase the adoption and use of free software and free software operating systems.
• Free JavaScript: FreeJS The Campaign Free JavaScript is a continuous effort to persuade organizations to make their websites work without requiring users to run any non-free software.
• Safe Start vs Restricted Start: Implementation Secure boot causes in certain cases that computers will not boot unauthorized operating systems, including the initially authorized systems that have been modified without being approved again.
• Update from Windows: the most used operating system in the world takes advantage of its dominant position on its users, denying freedoms of use.
• Monitoring: If we want to run surveillance programs like PRISM, we must stop using centralized systems and join in building a decentralized, reliable and free Internet "as in freedom".
• DefectiveByDesign: Campaign to eliminate DRM.
• PlayOgg.org: To promote Ogg, an alternative to proprietary formats such as MP3 and AAC.
• Free BIOS"Free BIOS." Campaign to support the project of creating a free BIOS.
• Hardware devices that support free software: Campaign to Promote Buying «hardware to support software free».
• Encourage governments to adopt OpenDocument': To "promote in governments the adoption of OpenDocument".

• End of Software Patents: FSF campaigns for formats that are free of software patents, we also work on the most fundamental task of completely completing software patents, through legal and legislative actions.

Organization

Board of Directors

The FSF Board of Directors includes professors at major universities, senior engineers, and founders. Some high-profile activists and software entrepreneurs are also supported.

John Sullivan is the current executive director of the FSF. Previous members holding the position were Peter T. Brown (2005-2010) and Bradley M. Kuhn (2001-2005).

Current board members:

• Geoffrey Knauth, Senior Software Engineer at SFA, Inc. (since 23 October 1997)
• Henry Poole, founder of CivicActions, a government digital service firm (with service since 12 December 2002)
• Gerald Jay Sussman, a computer science professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (from its inception)
• Alexander Oliva, Vice-President (served from August 28, 2019) [39]
• Kat Walsh, author and technology rights lawyer, free culture advocate and free software, and former president of the Wikimedia Foundation [40]

Previous board members include:

• Hal Abelson, founding member, computer science professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (he worked from the beginning until March 5, 1998, and rejoined around 2005)
• Robert J. Chassell, founding treasurer, as well as founding director (served from the beginning until June 3, 1997)
• Miguel de Icaza (served from August 1999 to 25 February 2002)
• Benjamin Mako Hill, assistant professor at the University of Washington (attended from 25 July 2007 to October 2019)
• Matthew Garrett, software developer (served since 16 October 2014)
• Bradley Kuhn, executive director of Freedom Conservancy Software and former executive director of FSF (served from March 25, 2010 to October 13, 2019)
• Lawrence Lessig, professor of law at Stanford University (he served from 28 March 2004 to 2008)
• Eben Moglen (served from 28 July 2000 to 2007)
• Len Tower Jr., founding member (served until 2 September 1997)
• Richard Stallman, founder president, launched the GNU project, author of the GNU General Public License (he served as president from the beginning, until September 16, 2019)

Sister organizations

• Free Software Foundation Europe. Founded in 2001
• Free Software Foundation of India. Founded in 2003
• Free Software Foundation Latin America. Founded in 2005

Criticism and detractors

The FSF has played and still plays a very important role in the development of free software, for this reason it enjoys much sympathy among the users of said software and has many enemies. in the proprietary software industry.

Apart from this fact, within the community not everyone fully shares the philosophy or actions of the FSF, with the Open Source Initiative (OSI) being the main alternative line of thought to the FSF.