Massive privacy intrusions like this are to be expected when people shift from storing their media locally and using local software, to storing them on other people's servers and using hosted (Web) applications. Giants like Microsoft, Facebook and Google are vulnerable to government requests for user data, and there are better, more secure ways to share information online. Free software projects like GNU MediaGoblin, StatusNet, Diaspora, pump.io, Tahoe-LAFS, FreedomBox and SparkleShare are hard at work creating a less centralized world where users retain control over both their media and the software used to access it, while still getting the social and convenience benefits of the giant centralized — and compromised — services.

The software listed above is just a short list of many free software programs that people can use and support. The FSF maintains the Free Software Directory in order to provide an up to date and continually maintained archive that lists detailed information about free software packages. We use categories, semantic properties, and dynamically generated lists to help people find and discover free software programs. We need your help to in organizing and categorizing free software projects so that users can more easily find software that gives them greater control over their computing and data.

So, I ask you, please join the FSF and friends Friday, June 14th, from 2pm to 5pm EDT (19:00 to 22:00 UTC) to help improve the Free Software Directory by adding new entries and updating existing ones. We will be on IRC in the #fsf channel on freenode.

If you are looking to get started, we have created a placeholder page, http://directory.fsf.org/wiki/PRISM, where you can begin adding "related projects" or by editing the talk page. On Friday, after we create new category pages and semantic properties, we will create a search results page similar to those linked to from the front of the site.

About the Free Software Directory

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.

While the Free Software Directory has been and continues to be a great resource to the world over the past decade, it has the potential of being a resource of even greater value. But it needs your help!

If you can't find something in the store but think we should offer it, please add your suggestion to our Ideas page. And remember, associate members of the Free Software Foundation get a 20% discount on all purchases made through the GNU Press store, so if you are not a member already, join today!

To keep up with announcements about new products available in the GNU Press store, subscribe to the mailing list.

The "small system distributions" designation is new category in our endorsed distributions list. One of the criteria for inclusion on the list of fully free systems has been that the system must be self-hosting. That means that you must be able to build all the software on the system using free tools included with it. That doesn't really work for small systems such as LibreWRT, which are stripped-down in order to fit the limited device capacities. While not all of the software can be built on the target device itself, you can still build the entire system using free tools available on other fully free endorsed distributions like Trisquel GNU/Linux. LibreWRT is the first fully free small system distribution, but hopefully there will be more in the future.

A beta of version 2.0 was recently released, and the project is looking for more people to test it out. In addition to becoming a tester, there are other ways to get involved with the project, such as joining the mailing list or IRC channel. So jump in, join the fun, and help us welcome the newest addition to our list of fully free GNU/Linux distributions.

To get announcements of most new GNU releases, subscribe to the info-gnu mailing list: http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-gnu. Nearly all GNU software is available from http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/, or preferably one of its mirrors (http://www.gnu.org/prep/ftp.html). You can use the URL http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/ to be automatically redirected to a (hopefully) nearby and up-to-date mirror.

Last month I erroneously gave Jeffrin Jose as the author of the new GNU package guile-sdl. Its author is actually Thien-Thi Nguyen, who also maintains GNU RCS and GNU Alive. Sorry, Thien-Thi! However, I can now welcome Jeffrin as the new maintainer of GNU Gleem, so no one is left out :). I'd also like to welcome Michael Petch as a new co-maintainer of gnubg (GNU Backgammon).

I'd also like to mention the GNU Hackers Meeting for 2013, scheduled to take place from August 22 to August 25 in Paris, France. More information at http://www.gnu.org/ghm/2013/paris/.

A number of GNU packages, as well as the GNU operating system as a whole, are looking for maintainers and other assistance. Please see http://www.gnu.org/server/takeaction.html#unmaint if you'd like to help. The general page on how to help GNU is at http://www.gnu.org/help/help.html. To submit new packages to the GNU operating system, see http://www.gnu.org/help/evaluation.html.

As always, please feel free to write to me, karl@gnu.org, with any GNUish questions or suggestions for future installments.

Because both Web users and Web site operators are largely unaware of these issues with JavaScript, the first steps are to inform more users about the problem and for all of us to join in a campaign to contact site operators about the issue. Since feedback like this will have more of an impact when it's concentrated, the campaign will highlight particular sites to contact.

The US government is currently considering a new regulation that would change which technology could be used to screen passengers on mass transportation. As required by law, they've created a public comment form at Regulations.gov where, up until June 24th, Americans can leave their feedback about the proposed regulation. Unfortunately, doing so requires nonfree JavaScript.

We're launching our Free JavaScript campaign by demanding Regulations.gov make their site work without proprietary JavaScript, so that Americans can participate in this important regulatory decision without sacrificing their freedom. We're also asking the site to extend the deadline for comments once they've made this change, so that people who don't use nonfree software will have time to make comments.

Regulations.gov hasn't responded to our initial private email, so it's time to step it up a notch. Can you join us in requesting they make their site work without proprietary JavaScript, and extend the comment period? To take action, use the general Regulations.gov feedback page to send a them a message. We recommend you write your own message based on our sample text. Even if you're from somewhere other than the United States, you still have good reason to do this; this site's actions will set an example for other governments.

To amplify the effect of your action, post about it on your microblogging system or social network. Use the hashtag #freejs and link to this blog post. We also welcome you to send us a copy of the message at campaigns@fsf.org, so that we can track the success of the campaign to make sure the pressure stays on Regulations.gov. If you'd like to take action without running the nonfree JavaScript on Regulations.gov (and protest even more effectively), you can call the site's help desk at 1-877-378-5457.

Regulations.gov is just the beginning for this campaign. We'll demand that prominent sites stop requiring proprietary JavaScript, either by switching to a free program to do what they need, or by making the JavaScript unnecessary. The plan is to maximize impact by having as many people as possible focus on one site at a time. Join the low-volume mailing list if you'd like to receive updates and hear about the next site we'll focus on. You can also get more involved with the campaign by building up the list of sites to target and exploring the rest of the campaign area on LibrePlanet.

So, if you've been dying to play around with SBCs but are concerned about their software freedom shortcomings, you won't want to miss this new resource!

Please send feedback on this list to hardware@fsf.org.

While "use it on a space station" wasn't listed as one of RMS's "Measures Governments Can Use to Promote Free Software", the announcement that the International Space Station is switching its laptops from Windows XP to GNU/Linux is exciting news. It's especially important for governments to use free software, because everything they do is paid for by the citizens of their countries. To ask citizens to pay for software that they cannot use, study and modify is especially unjust.

Along with increased reliability, NASA said they chose GNU/Linux because they could modify it to fit their needs. This is one of the core ideas behind free software, and we're glad the space agency values it.

Unfortunately, both NASA and the media writing about the decision have been calling the operating system "Linux" instead of "GNU/Linux." The kernel Linux is an important part of the operating system known as GNU/Linux, but the vision of the system and the framework on which the system is made were developed by the GNU Project, a community of developers that care deeply about free software ideas. Because of this, it is inaccurate to refer to the OS as "Linux," and doing so covers up the fact that this space-worthy operating system is the result of a decades-long commitment to ethical values.

That's why we ask that, when you talk or write about the operating system (in space or otherwise), you help us by referring to it as "GNU/Linux," and encourage your friends to do the same. There are gnus up there in space, along with the penguins.

Ironically, even though NASA calls the operating system by a misleading name, the distribution they chose, Debian, gets this right -- its official name is Debian GNU/Linux.

To learn more about this naming problem, see "Linux and GNU", the GNU/Linux FAQ or the history of the GNU Project on GNU.org.

The GNU Hackers Meetings are a friendly and informal venue to discuss technical, social and organizational issues concerning GNU and free software.

Following the success of the 2011 edition, we will be again generously hosted by IRILL (http://www.irill.org), the Center for Research and Innovation in Free Software. We have set up an official meeting page containing practical information at http://www.gnu.org/ghm/2013/paris/.

As we are still in the process of defining the program, we welcome your talk proposals. We are particularly interested in new GNU programs and recent developments in existing packages, plus any related topic. In our experience the audience tends to be technically competent, so feel free to propose very technical topics as well; we will try to schedule all such talks together in the same morning or afternoon session, for the public’s sake.

Registration is free of charge, but in case you want to contribute to the organization of future meetings, we are glad to accept a small donation.

The FSF has kindly set up a small fund to help finance (documented) travel expenses for GNU maintainers and contributors, past and present. In case you qualify and you need financial assistance to attend, please mention this fact in your registration e-mail, along with all the relevant details including the minimum amount that would permit you to attend the event, no later than June 24 2013.

You are welcome to join the public mailing list ghm-discuss@gnu.org (https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/ghm-discuss). Talk proposals and registration e-mails should also be directed to the public list ghm-discuss@gnu.org, or directly to Luca Saiu's personal address positron@gnu.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.

While the Free Software Directory has been and continues to be a great resource to the world over the past decade, it has the potential of being a resource of even greater value. But it needs your help!

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!

The Free Software Foundation is looking for a summer intern to work with the campaigns team to promote and defend free software. As an intern, you'll develop your own unique project that matches your skills and interests to complete during the internship. You will also have opportunities to participate in online outreach, grassroots organizing, communications, Web development, and event planning alongside the campaigns team.

Interns will end the summer knowing what it's like to run issue advocacy campaigns, from the planning stage through creative petition delivery.

Summer internships begin on or about June 4th and run through August 31st. We prefer candidates who can work out of our offices in Boston, MA. The deadline to apply for a summer internship at the Free Software Foundation has been extended to May 15th.

To apply, send a letter of interest and resume with two references by email to hiring@fsf.org. Make sure that your materials are in free software-friendly formats (PDF, ODT and plain text work well), and include "Internship" in your subject line. If you can, please include links to sites you've worked on (personal blogs are okay!) designs or code you've done, and--most of all--things you've written. Please include these as URLs, though email attachments in free formats are acceptable too. More information is available on fsf.org.

Please direct any questions about the program to info@fsf.org.

To get announcements of most new GNU releases, subscribe to the info-gnu mailing list: http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-gnu. Nearly all GNU software is available from http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/, or preferably one of its mirrors (http://www.gnu.org/prep/ftp.html). You can use the url http://ftpmirror.gnu.org/ to be automatically redirected to a (hopefully) nearby and up-to-date mirror.

This month, we welcome Arjun E as the new co-maintainer of GNU Ferret, H.S. Rai as the new maintainer of libredwg, and Jeffrin Jose as the author and maintainer of the new package GNU guile-sdl (in addition to already maintaining GNU rcs and GNU alive).

A number of GNU packages, as well as the GNU operating system as a whole, are looking for maintainers and other assistance. Please see http://www.gnu.org/server/takeaction.html#unmaint if you'd like to help. The general page on how to help GNU is at http://www.gnu.org/help/help.html. To submit new packages to the GNU operating system, see http://www.gnu.org/help/evaluation.html.

As always, please feel free to write to me, karl@gnu.org, with any GNUish questions or suggestions for future installments.

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.

While the Free Software Directory has been and continues to be a great resource to the world over the past decade, it has the potential of being a resource of even greater value. But it needs your help!

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!