FSF adds speakers for LibrePlanet conference on GNU/Linux: March 21st-22nd
BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Wednesday, March 4, 2009 -- The Free Software Foundation (FSF) today announced additions to the speaker lineup for its March 21st-22nd LibrePlanet 2009 conference.
The conference, to be attended by GNU/Linux users, free software activists, and programmers from around the world, stresses three themes: strengthening global free software activism, addressing the threats posed to free software users by moves toward "cloud computing" and "software as a service," and advancing the projects on the FSF's High Priority Projects list.
The current list of speakers is available at http://groups.fsf.org/index.php/LibrePlanet2009/aboutspeakers.
Jeremy Allison, lead developer of Samba, will be giving a talk entitled, "The Elephant in the Room. Free Software and Microsoft." Allison said, "Free software is going mainstream, but there are still many threats to the ideals that are changing the face of the software industry. I'm delighted to be able to speak at LibrePlanet, and encourage anyone interested in the future of free software to attend."
Microsoft's recent patent aggression toward TomTom's use of the kernel Linux also sets the stage for Ciaran O'Riordan, executive director of the End Software Patents campaign, to update free software activists on the aftermath of the landmark in re Bilski decision in the United States, as well as other related international political activity.
Evan Prodromou, member of the autonomo.us working group and founder of the identi.ca free software microblogging service, will be sharing lessons learned from his experience bringing free software concepts to web services. Concerned about user autonomy, he warns, "If you decide that Google Docs doesn't work the way you want, you can't tinker with the software and fix it. If you want to share a map on your Web site, you need Yahoo!'s permission. If you want to use a new social networking site, you have to re-enter all your personal data and re-invite all your friends. The data and code belong to someone else, and they're hidden behind servers that you, the user, aren't allowed to touch."
John Sullivan, FSF operations manager, said, "We're excited to feature FSF president Richard Stallman and other well-known speakers in these three major areas -- but this isn't going to be a lecture series. The second day will be scheduled in collaborative style with rooms and resources provided for activists, users and programmers to work together, with breakout sessions happening on the first day as well."
LibrePlanet 2009 attendance is free to FSF associate members, with nonmembers paying a $60 fee to cover conference costs. Space is limited, so the FSF is requesting RSVPs to membership@fsf.org by March 14th. Further details and the conference wiki can be found at http://www.fsf.org/associate/meetings/2009. The list of High Priority Projects is at http://www.fsf.org/campaigns/priority.html. Organizers and participants are also congregating in the #libreplanet IRC channel on irc.freenode.org.
About the Free Software Foundation
The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free software. The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites, located at fsf.org and gnu.org, are an important source of information about GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at http://donate.fsf.org. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.
Media Contacts
Matt Lee
Campaigns Manager
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942
campaigns@fsf.org
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