Recent blog posts
Fixing rogue printers: don't trade one security threat for another
Printers that can be reprogrammed by malicious print jobs are a security risk. So are printers that only run code signed by the manufacturer. For real security, printers should be running free software controlled by its owners.
Amazon's Kindle source code: Much ado about nothing
This week there's been a lot of fuss about Amazon releasing source code for software on its Kindle devices, including the Kindle Fire. A lot of the hype we've seen is simply unwarranted; while you can download the source code that Amazon was legally required to publish, most of the software on the device remains proprietary, and every Kindle is still Defective by Design.
Introducing the Compliance Lab's summer intern
William Theaker recently started working at the FSF as this summer's licensing intern. In this post, he writes about what brought him to free software, and the goals for his internship.
Announcing our license recommendations guide
We've compiled a single resource that guides you through the process of choosing a license for new software, documentation, and other functional data.
Parabola GNU/Linux joins the FSF list of free distributions
Parabola GNU/Linux is a full featured general-purpose distribution that's committed to only including free software.
Another High Priority Project done: The Unarchiver provides free RARv3 extraction tools
This collection of software fills an important gap in free software support for different archives.
Good news about the Novell/CPTN deal
Earlier this week the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) announced a joint decision regarding Novell's proposal to sell 882 patents to CPTN Holdings, newly formed by Microsoft, Apple, Oracle, and EMC. The authorities ultimately approved the sale, but with conditions that prevent the companies from using the patents to attack free software.
Farewell, Groklaw, and thanks!
Pamela Jones recently announced that Groklaw will stop publishing new articles on May 16. It's sad news.
Steer clear of Android Market and its DRM
Google recently made headlines after they identified some malware being distributed through the Android Market. Not only did they stop distributing those apps, but they used their "remote kill switch" to remove the apps from phones where they were already downloaded. This is a kind of Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) that all computer users should avoid.
Windows Phone 7 and Xbox ban GPL software
Recently word started getting around that the terms for getting apps on Windows Phone 7, and indie games on the Xbox, have changed. Now, programs submitted to Microsoft cannot have any code licensed under a copyleft license. Even if a single file is licensed under a weaker copyleft license like the LGPL, Microsoft will apparently reject it.