November 2011 - Free-software-melb - lists.softwarefreedom.com.au

Forum now available via Gmane gateway
by Ben Finney 15 Dec '11

15 Dec '11

Howdy all, This forum is now available via the Gmane gateway <URL:http://dir.gmane.org/gmane.user-groups.foss.melbourne>. As described at that page, this allows the forum to be accessed via many methods in addition to the mailing list, such as NNTP (which is how I'm now posting this message), a weblog-style interface, and syndication feeds. I have given Ben Sturmfels instructions for how to make the past messages of this forum appear as postings in Gmane; hopefully he can find the time to do that. -- \ “If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the | `\ precipitate.” —Steven Wright | _o__) | Ben Finney

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Remember that petition on software patents?
by Ben Sturmfels 26 Nov '11

26 Nov '11

Hi Folks, Remember that petition to the House of Representatives we ran this time last year? It's been a big year and I've been meaning to tell you how things went. The new developments are near the bottom. I started typing up all 1000 email addresses on the petition, but quickly gave up as there were so many and people's writing was very hard to read. So for future updates on this issue, join the End Software Patents Australia mailing list (very low traffic). ESP mailing list: http://lists.endsoftwarepatents.org/mailman/listinfo/australia-public-discu… As you'll remember, over several months, we collected 1000 signatures on paper from members of the software industry. I want to publicly thank those who put in the leg work (think 1000 times several minutes for each squiggle on paper). Thankyou! The petition: http://www.sturm.com.au/resources/patents-petition.pdf In February this year, our petition was accepted by the Petitions Committee (one big batch of signatures, plus two small batches that came in late). These were presented to the House on 21 February, 28 February and 28 May respectively. Hansard 21 February: http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;db=CHAMBER;i… Hansard 28 February: http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;db=CHAMBER;i… Hansard 23 May: http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;db=CHAMBER;i… The petition was referred to Senator Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research. Senator Carr's response: http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/petitions/petitions_43/innovation.htm The response acknowledges our petition and that much of the industry wasn't aware of the opportunity to comment (2009) in the ACIP (Advisory Council for Intellectual Property) review of patentable subject matter. The ACIP's report was released on 16 February. ACIP Review: http://www.acip.gov.au/reviews_completed.html#psm ACIP Report: http://www.acip.gov.au/library/ACIP%20PSM%20final%20report%204%20Feb%202011… You'll remember that we missed the comment period in this review, but around August 2010, we quickly organised an online letter to Senator Carr and collected over 1000 names (thanks Slashdot!). Although the final report above didn't recommend excluding computation and information processing from patentable subject matter, we did at least get a mention (search the above PDF for "software"): A recent petition to the Minister signed by members of the computer software industry argued that patents are not necessary to encourage innovation in their industry, that the term of a patent (20 years) is too long, and that the cost involved (in avoiding infringing patents, and defending against patent lawsuits) is not viable, particularly for small to medium-sized businesses. As far as I know, the government haven't yet responded to the ACIP report, though last week they did reference it in a response on Gene Patents. This Thursday I'll be representing you at a Senate Committee Hearing as the "principal petitioner". This is an opportunity for the committee to hear more (ie. beyond 250 words) about our concerns and to ask questions. If anyone is interested in watching, there is a small gallery. Email me for details. I'm told the audio will be available on the Parliamentary website and as text in Hansard. Sorry for such a long message. I felt I owed it to you all though to bring you up to date on the petition. I'll be talking more about the campaign at Linux Conf Australia on 19 January 2012. Regards, Ben PS. Although I'm mailing to two free software related lists, I should highlight that we represent the wider Australian software industry in this campaign, not just the free software movement.

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Linux Conf Au in January 2012
by Ben Sturmfels 25 Nov '11

25 Nov '11

Hi Folks, Just in case you hadn't heard, Ballarat is holding Linux Conf Au from 16-21 January next year. This is Australia's annual free software conference. I'll be attending and I'd definitely recommend coming if you can. The topics are many and varied. Despite the name, only a few talks are actually related to the Linux kernel. Most topics have some tie to free software, free culture, free standards and the hacker ("playful cleverness") movement. The conference is somewhat technical, but probably at least half of the talks aren't about computer programming directly, so there's plenty to choose from. I'll be speaking about our campaign against software patents. I'm particularly looking forward to hearing from Karen Sandler, the Executive Director of the GNOME Foundation and host of the Free as in Freedom oggcast. It's also a great way to get to know others in the community. Particularly those living interstate. Did I mention that it's in Ballarat? Not having to catch a plane is almost reason enough to come! More info here: http://linux.conf.au/ Ben

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Encryption in Thunderbird
by Ben Sturmfels 17 Nov '11

17 Nov '11

Thanks again to Matt for tonight's very interesting discussion on encryption and trust with GnuPG! On the point of OpenPGP encryption/signing in Thunderbird, Chris was quite right that a plugin (Enigmail) is still required. I certainly hope to see native support at some point, to make these tools more widespread. Don't forget to jot down 15 December for the next free software discussion group. Let us know what you'd like to talk about too. I suggest we skip January and have the first discussion group for 2012 in February. Regards, Ben

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PGP key signing on Thursday
by Matt Giuca 17 Nov '11

17 Nov '11

Hi all, Sorry I can't reply to the message Ben just sent, since I only just subscribed to the list. I'm going to kick off a discussion on Thursday about PGP (Pretty Good Privacy -- i.e., the public key signing and encryption system). I thought it would be useful to have a key signing party at the same time. I've personally got just three signatures on my key so it would be good to get some more. If you have a PGP private key, please bring along your key fingerprint to give to others. Maybe print a few copies to hand out (Ben has them on his business card, which is what started this topic in the first place) and/or bring some paper to write down other peoples'. Also bring some ID such as a drivers' license -- technically nobody should sign your key unless they see some ID. To do this, just type gpg --fingerprint <your name> For example, I typed: $ gpg --fingerprint Matt pub 2048R/17CD4540 2010-07-28 [expires: 2012-07-27] Key fingerprint = D72A 85CC E446 FBA5 99E5 C2B1 F50F BA8E 17CD 4540 uid Matt Giuca <matt.giuca(a)gmail.com> uid Matt Giuca <mgiuca(a)csse.unimelb.edu.au> sub 2048R/204479B7 2010-07-28 [expires: 2012-07-27] Write down the 40 digit string after "Key fingerprint" and bring it along. Note: That's just an example. You shouldn't trust that the above string is actually my fingerprint until you see me in person (that's the whole point of PGP). If you don't have a private key, maybe now is a good time to get one. Install GnuPG (http://www.gnupg.org/) and then type: gpg --gen-key and follow the prompts. The default settings should be fine. Use your real name (that appears on your driver's license) and a valid email address that you control. Make sure you pick a strong password which you haven't used elsewhere, and remember it. Afterwards, the contents of your ~/.gnupg directory should be considered sensitive (although nobody will be able to impersonate you unless they guess your secret password as well). Then, upload your key to a keyserver: gpg --list-keys Find your key in the list. Your key ID is the part after the slash. For me, this shows: pub 2048R/17CD4540 2010-07-28 [expires: 2012-07-27] uid Matt Giuca <matt.giuca(a)gmail.com> uid Matt Giuca <mgiuca(a)csse.unimelb.edu.au> sub 2048R/204479B7 2010-07-28 [expires: 2012-07-27] So my key ID is 17CD4540. gpg --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --send-keys <your-key-id> That's just an example keyserver. You can choose any one you like, and they should all eventually synchronise your key. Hope to see you on Thursday. Matt Giuca 0x17CD4540

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Interview with Ben Sturmfels on 3RRR's Byte Into It 2011-11-16
by Ben Finney 16 Nov '11

16 Nov '11

Howdy all, On the 3RRR Byte Into It show for Wednesday 2011-11-16, we were happy to have Ben Sturmfels in the studio to talk with us about Melbourne Free Software and the troubles of software patents. Get the downloads for Byte Into It and/or subscribe to the feed at <URL:http://rrrfm.libsyn.com/category/Byte%20Into%20It>. -- \ “Not using Microsoft products is like being a non-smoker 40 or | `\ 50 years ago: You can choose not to smoke, yourself, but it's | _o__) hard to avoid second-hand smoke.” —Michael Tiemann | Ben Finney

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Discussion group tonight, 17 November
by Ben Sturmfels 16 Nov '11

16 Nov '11

Hi Folks, Just a quick reminder of tonight's free software discussion group at 6pm: http://www.softwarefreedom.com.au/free-software-melb/ Last night, I was interviewed by Ben Finney and the team on Triple R's "Byte Into It" show. We discussed free software and software patents. It didn't seem right to campaign against software patents and then link directly to a patent-encumbered MP3 file, so here's my segment in unencumbered Ogg format: http://www.sturm.com.au/2011/interviews/triple-r-2011-11-16.ogg You can find the full show (in MP3) on the Byte Into It website: http://www.rrr.org.au/program/byte-into-it/ Cheers, Ben

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A couple of free software related talks
by Ben Sturmfels 14 Nov '11

14 Nov '11

Hi Folks, For anyone who's interested, here are recordings from two of my recent talks: Ending Software Patents in Australia http://www.sturm.com.au/2011/talks/swpat-monash/ Free Software and Activism (Software Freedom Day 2011) http://www.sturm.com.au/2011/talks/free-software-sfd/ Thanks very much to Javier Candeira and Ben Finney for providing the recordings. Ben

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Your recommended monthly intake of free software
by Ben Sturmfels 14 Nov '11

14 Nov '11

Hi Folks, Looking forward to seeing you this Thursday's for more free software chat than you can poke a stick at! Melbourne Free Software Interest Group Thursday 17 November, 6pm http://www.softwarefreedom.com.au/free-software-melb/ VPAC Head Office Training Room, Level 1 Building 91 110 Victoria Street Carlton South Map: http://www.vpac.org/about/contact Please arrive 10 mins early. Agenda ------ 1. Privacy and trust using GnuPG (Matt Giuca). If you have a gnupg key, this would be a good chance to get signatures of others. Matt can tell us a little more about how this works. 2. The state of free software social networking including Identica and Diaspora. (discussion) Cheers, Ben

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Forum - Fighting the war on patents
by Ben Sturmfels 09 Nov '11

09 Nov '11

Hi Folks, Thought you might be interested in this seminar on patents by "IP Australia" next Wednesday. I'll be attending and hopefully asking some questions relevant to our campaign. Ben ----------------------------- "Fighting the war on patents" IP Forum 16 November 2011 From the battle to capture the hearts and minds of smart-phone consumers, through to the emotive issue of gene patenting - "Fighting the war on patents" is the must attend event for 2011. Hear from industry leaders as they pour over these issues and offer insights into how the battlelines are forming across multiple sectors, as IP increasingly shapes the world we live in. The event features three guest speakers: * Mr Philip Noonan, Director General, IP Australia * Dr Trevor Davies, Partner, Allens Arthur Robinson Patent & Trade Mark Attorneys * Dr Aaron Mitchell, Manager, South Australian Research & Development Institute Followed by a panel discussion and complimentary lunch. This free forum includes the opportunity for you to network with attorneys, lawyers, industry representatives and members of IP Australia's Executive. When: 11:15am - 02:00pm Wednesday 16 November 2011 Where: Melbourne Marriott Hotel Cnr Exhibition & Lonsdale Streets Melbourne VIC 3000 Cost: The event is free to attend but registration is essential as places are limited How to register: Please RSVP by Friday 11 November 2011 to Customer.engagement(a)ipaustralia.gov.au <mailto:Customer.engagement@ipaustralia.gov.au>

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