Saturday, October 3rd, 2015, 10:00 - 17:00

Lesley University, University Hall, 1815 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, a short walk from the Porter Square Red Line stop, and ADA accessible

Volunteer or Sponsor | Can't make it to Boston? | Safe Space Policy | Where to stay in Boston

Join the Free Software Foundation and friends in Boston, MA to celebrate the culmination of our 30th year fighting for computer user freedom, powered by supporters like you. The User Freedom Summit includes two tracks of two sessions each, with a closing talk by Eben Moglen.

Getting there

The Summit takes place at Lesley University's University Hall, 1815 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge. University Hall is 450 feet from the Porter Square Red Line station.

If you take the T, simply exit the station to the left-side doors -- you'll be on Massachusetts Avenue. Without crossing the street, turn left and walk down Massachusetts Avenue -- the building is on your left. Take the second entrance and the stairs to the second floor will be straight ahead, with elevators just to the right of the stairs. Follow signs to the atrium.

If you drive, there is metered street parking in the area, and a fee-based parking lot in the back of the building, accessible from Roseland Street, which is off Beacon Street.

More on the Summit

In the atrium, get information from FSF staff and volunteers, buy an FSF30 t-shirt, a copy of the new edition of Free Software, Free Society, or other FSF merchandise, and help yourself to refreshments before the first session begins. Admission to the Summit is gratis, but a $30 donation to help ensure our next 30 years would be appreciated.

There will be a break for lunch -- Porter Square has many affordable lunch options, including a food court on the first floor of University Hall (it's largely cash only, and there is an ATM in the building).

If you're heading from the User Freedom Summit to the party, you have two hours between events -- it's the perfect time to go to dinner with free software friends!

Register

Schedule

10:00–12:15: Two sessions

Community Licensing Education & Outreach

Our work in free software is motivated by the idealistic goals of spreading freedom and cooperation. Strong copyleft licenses like the GNU General Public License (GPL) allow us to spread this freedom and cooperation by ensuring that our software only to be distributed as part of free software programs, and not as part of proprietary ones. However, this only works if we, as a community, know how to properly license our code and understand how licensing compliance works. This is why community driven licensing and compliance education and outreach is so important. Join the FSF's Licensing & Compliance Team along with Karen Sandler of the Software Freedom Conservancy for a brief intro to our work in free software education and outreach, followed by a community hacking and editing session on copyleft.org: a collaborative project to create and disseminate useful information, tutorial material, and new policy ideas regarding all forms of copyleft licensing.

Introduction to federation

This session is an introduction to decentralization on the web, and why it is important for freedom, democracy, and a non-Orwellian future.

13:35–15:50: Two sessions

Dip a toe in crypto

Encryption is one of the free software community's most widely recognized contributions -- it's personally empowering, technically fascinating, and a major political battleground in the struggle for computer user freedom.

This session, led by FSF campaigns manager Zak Rogoff, will start with an intro to crypto presentation and a facilitated discussion combining technological and social perspectives. We'll also save ample time for a workshop introduction to GnuPG email encryption based on the FSF's Email Self-Defense Guide. This is a beginner-friendly session, but experienced people are welcome, especially if they're comfortable helping newcomers.

If you're excited about a particular free crypto tool other than GnuPG, please reach out to campaigns@fsf.org. We'll talk about working it into the session or creating a breakout group.

You'll get the most out of this session if you can bring a WiFi-enabled laptop and a trustworthy form of ID (for validating your crypto key). If you can bring a flash drive, that's appreciated too.

Using a nonfree OS? You're still welcome to the session. We'd love to provide resources for switching to GNU/Linux, but unfortunately won't have time to install a new OS during this session.

Libreboot: A talk and demonstration

Libreboot is a free software BIOS/UEFI replacement for general purpose computers, including laptops and servers/workstations, and based on coreboot. The purpose of this session is to talk about the history of libreboot, why it was started, why libreboot is important and how it could benefit you. Further, the goal of this session is to show people how libreboot works, how it's developed, and show ways in which people can get involved with the project. There will also be a demonstration showing how libreboot is installed on a given system and how it is built.

16:00–17:00

FSF from 30 to 45

Eben Moglen, founder of the Software Freedom Law Center, a professor of law and legal history at Columbia University, and the Free Software Foundation's general counsel will discuss FSF's future in phase two of the free software movement over the next fifteen years. There will be an opportunity to ask questions after the talk.

Support the FSF's work

Our supporters have made our 30 wonderful years possible. Join as an associate member so that we can keep up this work for the next 30 years. Members also get special benefits, including gratis admission to our yearly LibrePlanet conference.

Become a member

Volunteer or Sponsor

In addition to setting up the venue and greeting guests, we need people with skills in free software livestreaming. All volunteers will receive a special reverse birthday gift from us to you.

The FSF is also seeking general event, beer, or food sponsors. To sponsor or recommend a sponsor, or to volunteer, email us at campaigns@fsf.org.

Where to stay

This is our by-no-means comprehensive list of lodging recommendations, listed from inexpensive ($) to expensive ($$$). The city of Cambridge, where many of these hotels are, is directly across the Charles River from Boston and very well connected via the subway's Red Line.

To get the lowest rates, check out other hostels a little farther away on HostelWorld.