September 2012 - Free-software-melb - lists.softwarefreedom.com.au

Chipping in for an Ouya console?
by Ben Sturmfels 30 Jun '13

30 Jun '13

Hi Folks, At the last meeting I mentioned that I might be interested in chipping in for one of the Ouya [1] consoles as a way to support the development of the project. A console with 4 controllers shipped to Australia would be $209 USD [2]. I see they've already raised $8M in pre-sales though, so perhaps there are other free software organisations that would benefit more from a donation right now. I'm thinking instead of buying a video card from Think Penguin [3]. Ben [1] http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ouya/ouya-a-new-kind-of-video-game-cons… [2] http://www.ouya.tv/buyouya/ [3] https://www.thinkpenguin.com/gnu-linux/geforce-9500gt-1gb-pci-express-20-vi…

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Games night this Thursday 20 September
by Ben Sturmfels 24 Sep '12

24 Sep '12

Hi Free Software Lovers, Hope you enjoyed Software Freedom Day as much as I did. We heard some exceptional talks and saw over 80 people in attendance at one point during the morning. A fantastic result, particularly thanks to the hard work of the Linux Users Victoria committee. Since too much free software is never enough, this Thursday is free software games night. Hope to see you there! Regards, Ben ----------------------------------- Melbourne Free Software Games Night ----------------------------------- Thursday 20 September, 6-9pm VPAC Head Office Training Room (see website) http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/ We'll be playing a wide range of games including some casual and some multiplayer action games. No gaming experience is required. We're happy to help you get started. We'll order some pizza and eat in to allow more time for gaming. You don't need a laptop, but please bring one if you have one. There will be a number of desktop computers available. Internet access is available in case you need to download and install games. The list of games and versions will be sent around by Wednesday in case you'd like to get set up beforehand.

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Github is not Git
by Ben Finney 18 Sep '12

18 Sep '12

Howdy all, I've never been much of a user of Git, but I appreciate that the most popular DVCS is free software. The worrying part is that most people who *say* they're using Git are using Github. I have heard rumblings that Github is problematic: it's non-free compared to Git being free, it's centralised where Git is federated, it requires users to use protocols that are incompatible with Git. In short, it undermines and defeats most of the benefits of a federated free-software tool. Here is an article by someone who has decided after a long usage to switch from Github, for these reasons and more. The problem is that github is most emphatically not git. If a person using git (and therefore send-email) wants to collaborate with someone using github, one of the two of them has to give in and use an interface they deliberately decided not to use. There’s no way around it: github does not supplement git, github replaces git. Deciding whether to use github versus just git is an either/or proposition. Two products with nearly identical functionality: one is open-source, and the other is closed-source and depends on the other. Not a hard choice. <URL:http://bytbox.net/blog/2012/08/leaving-github.html> -- \ “… Nature … is seen to do all things Herself and through | `\ herself of own accord, rid of all gods.” —Titus Lucretius | _o__) Carus, c. 40 BCE | Ben Finney

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Study urges CIOs to choose open source first
by Bernie Schelberg 18 Sep '12

18 Sep '12

http://www.itnews.com.au/News/315490,study-urges-cios-to-choose-open-source…

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Software freedom discussion on Byte Into It, 2012-09-12
by Ben Finney 17 Sep '12

17 Sep '12

Howdy all, On last week's Byte Into It we had two good interviews on software freedom. We interviewed organisers of Software Freedom Day, and the organisers of CryptoParty. * Interview: Deborah Henry and Lev Lafayette from Linux Users of Victoria talk about Software Freedom Day on Saturday, 2012-09-15. * Interview: Ben McGinnes on CryptoParty, happening in Melbourne on Saturday, 2012-09-22. * PostgreSQL relational database system Version 9.2 released. * FreedomBox free software for distributed communications, Version 0.1 released. * Apple App Store rejecting the Drone+ app, which gave the locations of recent drone strikes in Pakistan. <URL:http://rrrfm.libsyn.com/webpage/byte-into-it-12-september-2012> -- \ “The number of UNIX installations has grown to 10, with more | `\ expected.” —Unix Programmer's Manual, 2nd Ed., 1972-06-12 | _o__) | Ben Finney

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Re: [free-software-melb] Crypto party details
by Rhys Davies 15 Sep '12

15 Sep '12

Hello, Sounds interesting... more info please Regards, Rhys Davies 0435 570 622 "Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." ~Dr. Seuss ________________________________ From: "free-software-melb-request(a)lists.softwarefreedom.com.au" <free-software-melb-request(a)lists.softwarefreedom.com.au> To: free-software-melb(a)lists.softwarefreedom.com.au Sent: Friday, 14 September 2012 10:00 PM Subject: Free-software-melb Digest, Vol 25, Issue 5 Send Free-software-melb mailing list submissions to free-software-melb(a)lists.softwarefreedom.com.au To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-… or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to free-software-melb-request(a)lists.softwarefreedom.com.au You can reach the person managing the list at free-software-melb-owner(a)lists.softwarefreedom.com.au When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Free-software-melb digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Re: CryptoParty 2012 ? learn about secure communications (Ben Sturmfels) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2012 20:29:25 +1000 From: Ben Sturmfels <ben(a)stumbles.id.au> To: Melbourne Free Software Interest Group <free-software-melb(a)lists.softwarefreedom.com.au>, ben Subject: Re: [free-software-melb] CryptoParty 2012 ? learn about secure communications Message-ID: <87ehm4ucca.fsf(a)stumbles.id.au> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Ben Finney <ben+freesoftware(a)benfinney.id.au> writes: > Howdy all, > > A new event, the CryptoParty, is being organised for sharing and > teaching everyone about secure communications. Sounds like a great event. Shame I won't be able to make it. Ben F, would you mind making a brief mention to the attendees that the technology they're learning about is all based on free software and that they may like to come along to Free Software Melbourne? Ben

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CryptoParty 2012 – learn about secure communications
by Ben Finney 14 Sep '12

14 Sep '12

Howdy all, A new event, the CryptoParty, is being organised for sharing and teaching everyone about secure communications. This is important for people involved with activism or social causes, especially when (as is usually the case!) some of the traffic is about sensitive topics within the group. The organisers of CryptoParty invite you to come on 2012-09-22: Learn about communication, online privacy, anonymity, digital rights, and generally keeping things secure. <URL:http://www.cryptoparty.org/wiki/Melbourne> -- \ “The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold | `\ in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think | _o__) differently.” —Friedrich Nietzsche, _The Dawn_, 1881 | Ben Finney

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SFD: We need you!
by Adam Bolte 11 Sep '12

11 Sep '12

Hi all, We are all hopefully aware by now that Software Freedom Day is this Saturday, and Free Software Melbourne will be putting together a games corner. I think it would be most interesting to people if we can make the games corner as interactive as possible. People should be able to sit down at a laptop preconfigured to play a bunch of games, and try them out. There should be local game servers for multiplayer (LAN-only seems likely unfortunately), and a wireless network so people can play with laptops that they brought along with them. If somebody doesn't have a game everyone else is playing installed but want to try it on their machine, a samba server should be present so people can download a bunch of free software games for any major platform they happen to be running (complete with source code). It would also be awesome if a laptop were to be hooked up to a projector so people who don't feel confident playing at the event can at least watch somebody else. Otherwise, if everyone instead just uses their own computer to join in, the projector could be used to display some server stats or some such. Here's what we've got to work with: The location will provide 5 modular desks, but no computers. There may be extremely minimal Internet access, so it's probably best that we assume there is none for planning purposes. I will have my personal laptop, configured as a multiplayer host and samba server. I also have two old EeePC 701s, and *maybe* one HP Atom-based netbook which people could use if they didn't bring a laptop with them. That's it. These are all small low-res screens, so much so that smc won't even load on any of them (although I suspect they could run older games like Abuse just fine). If someone can help out by bringing along a few external LCDs, keyboards, mice, or better laptops, that would be terrific. Additional Kensington locks would also be appreciated if anyone has a few spare that we could borrow. Alternatively, if somebody has the capability to bring in desktops - better still! I should be able to bring in an 8-port gigabit switch (which hopefully is enough ports?), and an old wireless access point (should be 802.11n though). Unfortunately I don't have a portable projector. I may be able to borrow one, but I won't be able to find out until Thursday if that's possible - and I'll be struggling to bring everything else in without a car as it is (so we can't count on it). If anyone has one that they can bring in on the day, that would be really awesome. Ideally, people won't just walk away having had some fun with a variety of single and multiplayer games, but will also have a basic understanding about free software and why it's important. To that effect, I was thinking that maybe somebody could make some flyers or something that people could take home and read if they are interested in learning more. Alternatively, if most people are going to be downloading a bunch of games from a Samba server, perhaps we just throw a PDF in the folder along with the other files? That certainly seems the easiest and most environmentally friendly option. It would be great if somebody can take on this job of throwing something together - or lifting it from a wiki or some such where the text is licensed to allow such distribution. There's not a lot of time left to get things organised, although I don't see there being anything here as particularly challenging to take care of - especially if a few people can help out. If anyone would like to volunteer at any stage on the day to help people get their computers networked, configure their games to connect to the servers, talk about free software, maybe sell some free software stickers or just hang out on the servers to be cannon fodder, please don't hesitate to say so. :) Regardless of being able to help out or not, I hope to see you all there. Cheers, Adam

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NZ IT professionals write to NZ govt about software patent changes
by Chris Samuel 10 Sep '12

10 Sep '12

Hi all, For those of you who've not seen New Zealand are in the process of changing their legislation on software patents and (from the look of it) working to exclude software from patentability. This seems to be the latest in the push with 4 large IT organisations and New Zealands two largest exporters of software joining forces with 1024 signatories to suggest changes to the wording of the law: http://www.iitp.org.nz/files/Foss-Patents.pdf Especially interesting is: # 6. The Government’s decision to remove patentability of software # has helped promote a favourable innovation environment and a very # positive reputation for New Zealand as a technology destination. As # an indication of this, a number of overseas tech companies serious # about relocating to New Zealand as a result of this decision have # approached a number of the associations co-signing this letter. Might be useful to us.. cheers! Chris -- Chris Samuel : http://www.csamuel.org/ : Melbourne, VIC

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Software Freedom Day: Saturday September 15
by Lev Lafayette 05 Sep '12

05 Sep '12

Linux Users of Victoria and Free Software Melbourne is hosting Software Freedom Day in Melbourne! At a conference dedicated to the theme of free software in a free society, confirmed speakers include Jon Lawrence of Electronic Frontiers Australia, Chris Samuel of the Victorian Life Sciences Initiative, Alec Clews of the Melbourne Raspberry Jam, Andy Gleme of the Connected Community HackerSpace, Daniel Jitnah of GreenwareIT, and Lev Lafayette of Linux Users of Victoria. There is a possibility that Belgian social theorist Michel Bauwens ‏will be attending. Presentations will cover the recent Internet surveillance laws, the importance of free software in scientific computing, new embedded technologies and micro-computers, free software and 3D printers, free software in education, and the business of free software. Software Freedom Day will be opened by Dr. Alison Parkes, senior lecturer in business information systems at the University of Melbourne, and Greens candidate for Lord Mayor of Melbourne. Free Software Melbourne will be hosting a games area, the One Laptop per Child project will be present, as will the Raspberry Jam group. There will be plenty of free software available, as well as copies of the OpenDisc. Software Freedom Day will come with a free lunch (with open sauce!). Software Freedom Day will be held at the Melbourne Unitarian Church hall (110 Grey Street, East Melbourne). It's about 5 minutes from Jolimont Station, or a brisk 10 minute walk from Parliament station. There's plenty of parking at the site as well! Free software has changed the world! Twenty years ago, free software advocates took on the multi-billion proprietary operating systems in the server, supercomputer, and mainframe world - and we won. Ten years ago, we took on the big online encyclopaedias with a free alternative - and we won. Now we're taking on producers themselves with three-dimensional printers. We'll win that as well. Come celebrate software freedom! For more information contact Deb Henry on 0409338182 http://softwarefreedomday.org http://luv.asn.au http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/ -- Lev Lafayette, mobile: 0432 255 208 http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1855.txt

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