We often get asked where people can buy complete systems with GNU/Linux preinstalled on them. People want to avoid paying the Microsoft tax, but they do want the convenience of their operating system already being installed and working with all the hardware they're paying for.

While large vendors like Dell and Lenovo have made commendable steps toward offering systems preinstalled with GNU/Linux, they have stopped short of offering fully free distributions as an option.

Fortunately, a smaller company has stepped up to fill this need. Los Alamos Computers is now offering laptops, desktops and servers preinstalled with gNewSense. Additionally, they are donating a portion of each sale of one of these systems to the FSF.

These systems are not yet available with a free BIOS, but LAC is very interested in making that happen, and we'll be doing what we can to help make that a reality.

We need more companies to follow in their footsteps. Please show your support for the steps they have made and continue encouraging other vendors to do the same!

You can do your shopping at http://laclinux.com/gnu, and drop them a note to say, "Thank GNU!"

Canadian citizens in Ottawa please attend the Public Policy Forum symposium, tomorrow, Monday April 28. The event is being hosted at Chateau Laurier, Ottawa, Ontario.

Register and attend the symposium.

Cory Doctorow writes, "The lobby for US-style copyrights in Canada has gone into overdrive, recruiting a powerful Member of Parliament and turning public forums on copyright into one-sided love-fests for restrictive copyright regimes that criminalize everyday Canadians."

Read Cory Doctorow's blog on BoingBoing. If you can attend the symposium I suggest handing out printed copies of Corry's blog to all those in attendance.

Read Howard Knopf blog on ExcessCopyright about how he was excluded from the symposium.

Canada's Public Policy Forum promotes itself as a non-profit dedicated to promoting, "constructive dialogue in support of excellence in the public service, democratic institutions and public policy. The PPF encourages civic mindedness, innovative public policy options, and constructive outcomes that impact on decision-making." Unfortunately, PPF president Jodi White seems to be taking sides in the debate and has moved to exclude the major opposition voice from this event.

Canadian Citizens who cannot attend the symposium can email or telephone Jodi White, President, Public Policy Forum and object to this exclusion (be firm but polite):
jodi.white@ppforum.ca
Phone 613-238-7858 ext. 226

To help people find good jobs they can believe in, we're launching a free software jobs directory. Free software hackers now have a new place they can look for jobs; a place that only lists jobs directly related to free software.

It's a handy service for employees, but it's also a very specialized resource for employers. They get the attention of hackers, sysadmins and developers who've been working on free software for years -- people who care about free software and are well-connected to the community.

Starting in May, ads will be available for $250 for a thirty-day run. But for the month of April, it's free (as in beer) -- No fooling!

The fees for posting jobs support the work of the FSF to promote and protect free software. In this way, employers are essentially "re-investing" their ad budget to support the community that helps make their businesses possible. If you have a job opening in free software, please send your listing along to <job-page@fsf.org> and we'll list it for thirty days.

Please help us get the word out about this new opportunity -- tell your HR department about it, and if you get a job via a posting here, please let your new employer know where you saw it!

Today marks the release of our first issue of the Free Software Supporter, a subscription based monthly newsletter that highlights the work of the foundation and features GNU project news. You can sign-up to our low-traffic mailing list to receive it each month.

I am excited about this project.

Every day I receive at least one email from a person who wishes to provide feedback on an FSF campaign, or to share with us their own experiences and work. Some of these are merely the innocuous one liner stating "Vista Sucks!!11". But many more are suggested improvements to our sites, new campaign actions we should take, links to articles, and the like. Last week: an email from an ambitious high-school student, whom in addition to trying to get his district to adopt Moodle, had also written a "free software activism guide," that he wished to share with us.

These letters, of all kind, beyond being motivational and helpful, literally build and strengthen our community. They not only shape and improve our campaigns, but they spur the collaborations that are defining the future of the free software movement.

I hope that you enjoy the Supporter. I am looking forward to reflecting each month upon the work of the FSF, the GNU project, and the global free software community. I only hope that the number of highlights I add each month will continue to grow as quickly as the community is growing. In either case, we hope to keep it short and we hope to keep you informed.

Thanks, again.

Join us and the ScriptumLibre.org Foundation in boycotting all products and services sold by Trend Micro.

The proprietary software company Trend Micro has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Barracuda Networks. They claim that Barracuda is violating their patent by distributing the free software antivirus program ClamAV.

We should avoid using any proprietary software, but companies that use software patents for aggression are the lowest of the low.

Lawsuits like this are a threat to the entire IT community, and to free software programmers in particular. There is little that can be done to stop patent trolls from exploiting the patent and legal system for financial gain, until we put a stop to the patenting of software altogether. But there is an immediate opportunity to punish and deter trolls like Trend Micro.

Let all of Trend Micro's potential customers know that by doing business with Trend Micro, they are supporting this attack on all creators of software works, including the entire free software community, and that the strongest message they can send to Trend Micro is to publicly boycott all of their products and services.