Dear friends, I wanted to make sure that you and your group are aware of the Free Software Foundation's <https://brains.fsf.org/wiki/campaigns/libreplanet/2019/registration_outreach_boilerplate/> LibrePlanet 2019 conference, coming up at MIT in Cambridge, MA on March 23-24. Libreplanet is an annual conference about free software -- software that respects computer user freedom. The conference features two days of presentations by software developers, law and policy experts, activists, and more. You can learn more and catch up on the latest updates about the conference at https://www.libreplanet.org/2019.
If you think this is appropriate for your network, please pass on the news! Some more info about the event is below. Thanks so much! Dana Morgenstein Outreach & Communications Coordinator Free Software Foundation ------------------------------------------------------------------------ LibrePlanet is an annual conference for free software enthusiasts, bringing together software developers, policy experts, activists and computer users to learn skills, share accomplishments, and face challenges to software freedom. This year's conference is happening on March 23-24, at MIT, in Cambridge, MA. Newcomers are always welcome, and LibrePlanet 2019 will feature programming for all ages and experience levels. FSF members and students attend gratis. Learn more at https://www.libreplanet.org/2019; register at https://my.fsf.org/civicrm/event/info?id=79&reset=1. LibrePlanet 2019's theme is "Trailblazing Free Software." In 1983, the free software movement was born with the announcement of the GNU Project. FSF founder Richard Stallman saw the dangers of proprietary code from the beginning: when code was kept secret from users, they would be controlled by the technology they used, instead of vice versa. In contrast, free software emphasized a community-oriented philosophy of sharing code freely, enabling people to understand how the programs they used worked, to build off of each other's code, to pay it forward by sharing their own code, and to create useful software that treated users fairly. When he identified control over one's own computer as a requirement for ethical, trustworthy computing, Stallman anticipated some of the most toxic aspects of today's proprietary software-filled world, including Digital Restrictions Management (DRM), bulk surveillance, and Service as a Software Substitute (SaaSS) <https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.html>. With a new and growing generation of free software enthusiasts, we can take this conference as an opportunity to discuss both the present and the future of the free software movement. Using the Four Freedoms <https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html> as a litmus test for ethical computing, we ask, "How will free software continue to bring to life trailblazing, principled new technologies and new approaches to the world?" -- Dana Morgenstein // Outreach & Communications Coordinator Free Software Foundation +1 617 542 5942
