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Fwd: Licence compliance with GFDL audio recordings?
by David Gerard 22 Apr '08

22 Apr '08

to list as well ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: David Gerard <dgerard(a)gmail.com> Date: 22 Apr 2008 09:56 Subject: Re: Licence compliance with GFDL audio recordings? To: MJ Ray <mjr(a)phonecoop.coop> On 22/04/2008, MJ Ray <mjr(a)phonecoop.coop> wrote: > "David Gerard" <dgerard(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > We already have spoken versions of Wikipedia articles on Wikipedia. > > These would presumably be a copyright violation if not right there on > > Wikipedia [...] > Not in England if done to allow access by visually impaired people in > certain circumstances (Copyright ... Act 1988 sections 31A-31F). > There's probably other special cases too. Ooh, yes. That is in fact very useful. Thank you! Hopefully there are similar provisions in other legal systems, particularly the US. - d.

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Writing a secure client/server with open source
by edA-qa mort-ora-y 20 Apr '08

20 Apr '08

I am writing a score server for client/server games such that various games can talk to one server. Each game would thus register for a name/password and use that in their code to send data to the server. Now, putting aside all the problems with cheat detection found in closed source software, it seems my problem is exacerbated by the need to distribute full code to make the client (this will be the AGPL so server code is also included). Does anybody have some good references, or good ideas, on how this can be accomplished, such that each game client can uniquely identify itself with the server? That is, how can I adequately protect some "keys" in a completely AGPL project? NOTE: I already understand the problem with detecting cheaters, and I realize this is a part of the same problem. I'm just hoping that somebody has an idea that the most basic identity of a game client can be protected. -- edA-qa mort-ora-y http://disemia.com/ -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- The dis-Emi-A haXe Library -- all you'd ever need to make Flash games http://wiki.disemia.com/The_dis-Emi-A_haXe_Library -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Sign: Please digitally sign your emails. Encrypt: I'm also happy to receive encrypted mail.

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Fwd: Writing a secure client/server with open source
by David Gerard 20 Apr '08

20 Apr '08

to list as well. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: David Gerard <dgerard(a)gmail.com> Date: 20 Apr 2008 12:25 Subject: Re: Writing a secure client/server with open source To: edA-qa mort-ora-y <eda-qa(a)disemia.com> On 20/04/2008, edA-qa mort-ora-y <eda-qa(a)disemia.com> wrote: > Andy wrote: > > The general consensus is "The attacker already knows the algorithm" thus > > revealing the source should not be a problem. Compilation is NOT a > > secure way of hiding something anyway. > I agree, but at least it prevents casual abuse of the server. That is, > a bit of obfuscation is likely enough to rid the game of the majority > of cheaters or abusers. I agree it does nothing to deter the hardcore > attacker. It does nothing to stop them either, because their code can be copied and used by others. "Secure client" is fundamentally an oxymoron. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trusted_client (which I rewrote a while ago to try to explain this simple point which nevertheless consistently evades people). You can't give people the secret and also keep it from them - it's *impossible*. If you want this to work, you have to make the *protocols* proof against cheats, e.g. only allowing a certain number of actions per time or whatever. Come up with a protocol that would still work if every single player had a copy of the protocol and could implement an optimal bot client for it ... because that's what they can do anyway. - d.

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Re: Open Parliament petition
by Carsten Agger 19 Apr '08

19 Apr '08

David Picón Álvarez wrote: >> On the other hand, I've never much liked the EU as a project, and I >> always opposed my own country's membership. A recent trip to visit the >> Parliament in Brussels did little to convince me of its fundamental >> democratic credentials (although I recognize some people there are doing >> good work, like apparently the Spanish parlamentarian David Hammerstein). > > The fact is the European Union isn't waiting for you to support it in order > to exist. The EU is a reality on the ground, and we have to live with it. We > can take political action to try to get rid of it, or change it into > something we prefer, from the understanding that, if we ignore it, it > doesn't go away. > That is of course true; a third alternative would be to agitate for our own country to leave the EU, which is common in some country, which would make EU legislation irrelevant in that country - still, I think the petiition has merit: if the EU Parliament was to shift to free software and open standards and do it for political reasons, this would be a significant victory. > > Without wanting to go into OT, if someone is sufficiently childish to think > that their "recognition" of an actually existing institution such as > Europarl matters, or that by withdrawing it they can somehow better take > charge of their future, they deserve as much political influence and power > as they get, zero. Without going too far into OT, this misses the mark of how modern institutions work and uphold their power. Institutions in countries like the European ones thrive on recognition - if they didn't have it, they would lose their power and become irrelevant. If (to take a contemporary example) the Basque parliament were to declare independence tomorrow, this would mainly be an assertion of not recognizing the Spanish government's sovereignty over the area. The American declaration of independence, likewise: An assertion of lack of recognition followed by a struggle which ended with British loss of control over the area. And, in practically all revolutions and similar upheavals, things have started with people not "recognizing" the authorities' right to control them in certain ways. Power *begins* with recognition: If nobody recognized the government, it would be unable to govern; it can only uphold its power by force as long as the vast majority *does* recognize it as the reality on the ground - if a vast majority didn't and consequenctly didn't obey the laws, no police force in the world could save it. So recognition *is* a very important political currency (thus also the hairsplitting on both sides over "recognition" in the Israel/Palestine conflict). br (and I better get back on topic), Carsten -- http://www.modspil.dk

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Re: Open Parliament petition
by Carsten Agger 18 Apr '08

18 Apr '08

Ciaran O'Riordan wrote: > Free Software Foundation Europe <press(a)fsfeurope.org> writes: >> 5. FSFE co-launches Open Parliament initiative > > I've put more information in a blog entry: > http://fsfe.org/en/fellows/ciaran/ciaran_s_free_software_notes/the_open_par… > > I'm not entirely sure what to think of this petition, like in whether to sign or distribute it: On one hand, I'm in favor of free software and think its distribution and adoption in Europe would be a good thing. On the other hand, I've never much liked the EU as a project, and I always opposed my own country's membership. A recent trip to visit the Parliament in Brussels did little to convince me of its fundamental democratic credentials (although I recognize some people there are doing good work, like apparently the Spanish parlamentarian David Hammerstein). So, how can I sign or recommend the petition without fundamentally recognizing the Parliament, when actually I don't? This might actually limit the petition's potential appeal in many countries, at least in "Euro-sceptical" quarters (which in Denmark tend to be the left, and some nationalists - the pattern might be different in other countries). br Carsten -- http://www.modspil.dk

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FSFE Newsletter
by Free Software Foundation Europe 17 Apr '08

17 Apr '08

It has been another busy month for software freedom. Open Standards have continued to dominate discussions in ICT with the MS-OOXML proposal being accepted by ISO as a standard. FSFE and numerous other parties have observed this process from the beginning and have reason to be concerned about the state of international standardisation. You could read more about this in our lead story below. Document freedom, open access and software licensing are increasingly important topics of discussion. Awareness of these issues has never been higher but at the same time the challenges faced have never been so difficult. As Free Software becomes more accepted, so too do the attempts by those supporting restrictions and constraint to undermine our movement. We need your help to ensure that logic, fairness and decisions for the benefit of all continue to be heeded by decision-markets in Europe and beyond. If you have some free time, please visit http://fsfeurope.org/contribute/ and see how you can contribute to our success. Shane, FSFE Zurich Office 1. MS-OOXML approved by ISO, FSFE concerned about standardisation process 2. FSFE context briefing: Interoperability woes with MS-OOXML 3. Document Freedom Day - young but strong 4. Keynote at Chemnitzer Linux-Tagen, Germany 5. FSFE co-launches Open Parliament initiative 6. Speech on Free Software licensing and the GPLv3 at OSiM USA 7. FTF delivers licensing courses in Zurich, Switzerland FORTHCOMING EVENTS 8. (2008-04-19) Linuxwochen, Krems, Austria 9. (2008-04-19) Linuxwochen, Graz, Austria 10. (2008-05-15 to 2008-05-17) Linuxwochen, Vienna, Austria 1. MS-OOXML approved by ISO, FSFE concerned about standardisation process Microsoft received Ecma's approval for the partial documentation of its Office 2007 file format in December 2006 as Ecma-376. Ecma then filed Ecma-376 for ISO approval as DIS29500. This raised concerns that in spite of claims to the contrary this would turn out to be a strategic move to get ISO approval at all cost for pure marketing purposes. FSFE's own experience in some countries and the reports about various irregularities around the world confirmed that concern. These concerns also overshadow the final approval of MS-OOXML as an ISO standard. ISO certification was never a seal for Open Standards, as demonstrated by patent-encumbered formats like MPEG. But if technically deficient documentation gets ISO approval, it questions ISO on a much more fundamental level. http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/press-release/2008q2/000206.html http://www.fsfe.org/fellows/ciaran/ciaran_s_free_software_notes/what_s_wron… http://www.fsfe.org/fellows/greve/freedom_bits/re_enacting_the_parrot_sketch 2. FSFE context briefing: Interoperability woes with MS-OOXML FSFE released a context briefing on interoperability problems caused by Microsoft's Office OpenXML format: "The proposed MS-OOXML/DIS29500 specification raises serious technical and legal concerns. This context briefing highlights three examples of how the proposed specification and its practical implementation in MS Office 2007 hinders interoperability, fosters vendor dependence and results in market distortion." http://fsfeurope.org/news/2008/news-20080305-01 3. Document Freedom Day - young but strong We are happy to announce that the first Document Freedom Day was a complete success. Great response we received from the teams during the preparations and registration process, resulted with lots of activities on March 26th all over the globe. DFD Teams did their best to pass the message of document freedom and importance of Open Standards. DFD flags were hoisted around the world in Africa, Australia, Asia, Europe, North and South America. Events and activities of more than 200 DFD teams ranged for street events and speeches to an award for the German governmental body that adopted good policies in the field of Document Freedom and Open Standards. We are expressing our biggest gratitude to all DFD teams for being part of the community and contribution in making DFD08 successful. http://documentfreedom.org/ 4. Keynote at Chemnitzer Linux-Tagen, Germany Shane Coughlan, the coordinator of FSFE's Freedom Task Force, delivered the keynote speech at Chemnitzer Linux-Tagen at 13:00 on the 1st of March. The title of the keynote was 'Free Software in the ICT mainstream' and covered issues ranging from licensing through to Free Software on the desktop. The key message of the speech was that we have come a long way, and now that we are a mainstream technology we can accomplish even more. The big question remaining for each individual is simply "what will I contribute to this?" http://chemnitzer.linux-tage.de/2008/vortraege/detail.html?idx=223 5. FSFE co-launches Open Parliament initiative The Open Parliament petition was launched in March to initiate a review of the European Parliament's policies regarding internal software use and file formats for published information. If this petition gathers enough support to launch a review, FSFE will have a guiding role in the process. The official petition is an internal matter for the European Parliament, but there is also an online petition where FSFE asks free software supporters to show their support. This petition was co-launched with OpenForum Europe and ESOMA. More information on this will be published soon on the fsfe.org blogs. http://www.openparliament.eu/ 6. Speech on Free Software licensing and the GPLv3 at OSiM USA Shane Coughlan, FTF coordinator, delivered a speech entitled 'Analysing Whether GPLv3 Has Improved Free Software Licensing' at OSiM USA on Tuesday the 12th of March in San Francisco. The speech covered topics ranging from the creation of GPLv3 and its place in licensing through to examining the place of GPLv3 in tomorrow's market. Reaction was positive and productive discussions with telecommunications companies took place afterwards. 7. FTF delivers licensing courses in Zurich, Switzerland Shane Coughlan, FTF coordinator, delivered two training courses in Zurich, Switzerland as part of the Free Task Force programme to increase awareness and understanding of software licensing issues. On the 7th of March a half day session entitled 'Free Software in the public sector' was delivered, and on the 21st of March another half day session entitled 'Introduction to Free Software licensing' was presented to an audience of local Free Software advocates and activists. If you are interested in helping the FTF with its outreach programme and would like to have training sessions in your area, please contact the FTF as soon as possible: http://fsfeurope.org/projects/ftf/contact FORTHCOMING EVENTS 8. (2008-04-19) Linuxwochen, Krems, Austria On Tuesday 15 April 2007 at 16:15, Reinhard Müller gives a speech about open standards and free document formats at a Linuxwochen event at the Danube University Krems. The FSFE also has a booth at the event where it informs about its work and about Free Software in general. Admission is free for the whole event. http://lug.krems.cc/linuxtag2008/ 9. (2008-04-19) Linuxwochen, Graz, Austria On Saturday 19 April 2007 at 12:00, Reinhard Müller gives a speech about open standards and free document formats at Linuxwochen event at the University of Applied Sciences "Johanneum" in Graz. The FSFE also has a booth at the event where it informs about its work and about Free Software in general. Admission is free for the whole event. http://www.linuxtage.at/ 10. (2008-05-15 to 2008-05-17) Linuxwochen, Vienna, Austria >From 15 to 17 May, an event of the Linuxwochen Austria will take place in the building of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, Rudolf-Sallinger-Platz 1, 3rd district, Vienna. A group of Fellows will be present with a booth where they inform about FSFE, the Fellowship, and Free Software in general. Admission is free for the whole event. http://www.linuxwochen.at/ You can find a list of all FSFE newsletters on http://www.fsfeurope.org/news/newsletter.en.html Copyright (C) FSFE. Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium, provided this notice is preserved.

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3D printer to be able to duplicate itself
by David Gerard 16 Apr '08

16 Apr '08

http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/tech/2F5C3C5D68A380EDCC257423006E71CD A 3D duplicator called RepRap, released under GPL, aiming to make a version that can replicate itself. This will be the point at which hardware patents become as damaging to innovation as software patents are. We really need to get the hard thinking about our rights in regard to such devices now rather than later. Has RMS had anything to say on the subject? (cc'd to Mr Stallman for his attention) - d.

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[promotional ideas] Symbiosis between Free Software and Free Culture
by Bogdan Bivolaru 12 Apr '08

12 Apr '08

also sent to info arond fsf.org --- Hello, My name is Bogdan Bivolaru (surname Bogdan). I write for some time to support free software, but some of my ideas seemed to be underpromoted. So I thought why should these ideas lie lonely on my websites/blogs - I should offer them to the wider world, so that these ideas get promoted, gain traction and who knows? maybe one of them turns into a real project. So here I publish them, to the home of the free software definition and the home of free software concept and the home of the GNU Project. In this message I present my ideas on collaboration between non-programmers in the land of freedom and in the new software economy. I have so far written several articles/ideas on promoting Free Software using Free culture. I'll attempt to summary these ideas here and provide links for further reading. Please do send comments and questions (also send negative comments). What I believe Free Culture needs to grow: * free software tools for sharing artwork and their integration into creational tools - GIMP, OpenOffice, Blender, Audacity need versioning capabilities; * a tool to find others work according to different criteria - free software "coders" have http://krugle.org, artists need something similar to the proprietary "Goo gle" Image Labeler - or semantic search engine for artwork, such as http://nepomuk.semanticdesktop.org/; * making artwork files formats more modular so that artists can work in parallel (autonomously) of each other; * lots of marketing targeted to artists. I believe there is empirical evidence that people appreciate freedom as long as they experience it directly. Likewise, I believe artists will best experience freedom in software not by filing bugs and writing documentation, but by submitting their own work to a common pool of artwork an see it being improved by others who either have more time or are more experienced. I see these two concepts, free software and free culture, as symbiotic because: * Free software is an enabler for Free Culture (free culture is impossible in the absence of free software); * Free Culture creates test cases that can be used to promote Free Software (allows us to say "look what can be done with Free Software!"); * Free Culture enlarges our user base with active, participative users; * Free Cultural works can be included (embedded) in Free software - for icons, themes, examples. What else means promoting Free Software through Free Culture? It means we need to start advertising the collaboration tools in our software. We have to enable and encourage artists to share their work with other artists and with the world - just as our programmers do. Go out there and tell student/young artists how they can work more efficient as a collective. Show them examples of "free cultural projects' that are successful and which they can contribute to. Examples include: 1. Wikipedia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page> 2. Students for Free Culture <http://freeculture.org/> 3. Mutopia Project - sharing free music sheets <http://www.mutopiaproject.org/> 4. Project Gutenberg, the first producer of free electronic books <http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page> I consider as part of the free culture any reproducible work: * accounting exercises for teaching in schools; * office templates (there are already several office templates projects); * 2D images; * 3D models with textures; * psychology questionares; * music sheets. Should we have a community that goes by the principles of "free software" for each or most fields of human activity, we shall achieve far greater success than what we got by now. A sizable, realistic objective for free culture: add versioning support to the "The Blender 3D Model Repository" http://e2-productions.com/repository/modules/PDdownloads/ Last, but not the least I should remark that supporting free culture does not deny proprietary culture artists to use our free software tools - that's why they are free software, so that one can use them for any purpose they wish. Other thoughts of mine on this matter: * Promoting Free software [kind of agressive]https://www.fsfe.org/en/fellows/vadania/my_ideas_on_how_to_improv… * Non software contributors in Free Society https://www.fsfe.org/en/fellows/vadania/my_ideas_on_how_to_improve_free_sof… * Promoting Linux as a tool for a participative community https://www.fsfe.org/en/fellows/vadania/my_ideas_on_how_to_improve_free_sof… * Workspace for Colaborative Development in Different Domains http://thetuxproject.com/node/263 * Freedomware calls for artists, end users http://thetuxproject.com/node/286 All materials are CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted. Please do contact me if you find any material that is not under a free license.

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playing catch up with proprietary Direct X featuritis
by Bogdan Bivolaru 10 Apr '08

10 Apr '08

I have learnt about some ray-tracing features in the new DirectX library (version 11) http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=526 This would, again, let the OpenGL library as lagging behind and playing catch up with the proprietary library DirectX. This would again turn away game developers and gamers from our free software operating systems. As said in the article at TechARP, on the hardware side, AMD and Intel would have no problem making their devices compatible with the new library. But Nvidia, is said to be in trouble. Completely unofficial and unrelated (after all, of all companies said to be involved only AMD recognizes it is working on this raytracing thing for DirectX), I see this as an oportunity to gain the support of Nvidia to add such features to OpenGL - and make them compatible with Nvidia cards. With Nvidia financing and their marketing muscle we could get financial support to run a fund raising campaign - similar to the "Free Blender" fund raising one - to add something like Blender engine ray-tracing features to OpenGL. What I think about Nvidia: I find they do bad not to release their Linux drivers under a free license, but I have no problem using their commercial interests for the advancement of freedom - this time in OpenGL. Here's about "Free Blender" campaign: http://www.blender.org/blenderorg/blender-foundation/history/ Here are some ray tracing rendering engines: Blender rendering options in Blender v. 2.3 http://www.blender.org/development/release-logs/blender-232/rendering-optio… Blender itself is available under the GPL license see http://www.blender.org/documentation/htmlII/a11911.html Another free as in freedom ray tracing engine (LGPL) http://www.yafray.org/ Here is more about OpenGL library http://opengl.org/about/licensing/ Direct X: I intentionally left out of the message the name of producer of the Direct_X library. This is also part of a personal campaign not mention their name in posts - as they are not worthy of it. -- "The best way to predict the future is to invent it.", 1971, Alan Kay: http://www.smalltalk.org/alankay.html

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ThinkFree on why it isn't supporting ODF despite wanting to: Microsoft
by Stefano Spinucci 09 Apr '08

09 Apr '08

on ThinkFree Blog [1], the ThinkFree's marketing manager, replying to a customer asking if ThinkFree (a multiplatform office suite) 'll support ODF, replied [2]: I'm marketing manager Benedict from ThinkFree. Thanks for your suggestion ! We are also considering the ODF support in ThinkFree. By the way, There is one obstacle for solving the problem… That is MS Policy for ODF, Because of interoperability with MS Office in ThinkFree, We still need the MS cooperation that support OOXML,,, I think you can understand this situation & MS policy strategy… But we plan to solve this political problems, and also We will make the detour. Anyway, We feel your kind mind… Thanks Please, could someone from FSFE contact ThinkFree [3] to understand what *MS policy for ODF* are they talking about and what kind of *MS cooperation* they need to be interoperable with MS Office ??? Maybe those information 'll be interesting for the EU's Anti-Trust Investigation of OOXML... bye --- Stefano Spinucci FSFE Fellow [1] http://blog.thinkfree.com/2008/03/24/quantum-leap-thinkfree-will-launch-the… [2] the Benedict comment was posted on April 8, 2008 @ 12:43 am [3] http://company.thinkfree.com/views/jsp/user/etc/contact.jsp

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