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

Bad DRM
by Brian May 25 Oct '12

25 Oct '12

http://www.bekkelund.net/2012/10/22/outlawed-by-amazon-drm/ "A couple of days a go, my friend Linn sent me an e-mail, being very frustrated: Amazon just closed her account and wiped her Kindle. Without notice. Without explanation. This is DRM at it’s worst." I thought Amazon was better then this and had learnt from the 1984 (George Orwell's) dramas. Obviously I was wrong :-( -- Brian May <brian(a)microcomaustralia.com.au>

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Re: [free-software-melb] Free Software discussion group this Thursday 18 October
by Ben Sturmfels 19 Oct '12

19 Oct '12

Hi Daniel, Sorry you weren't able to make it yesterday. We had an interesting discussion about E-tax, which I'll summarise in a separate email. Perhaps you could reply with a brief overview of OSIA's perspective? I'm not familiar with Zeitgeist Melbourne, but hope the evening was successful. Regards, Ben On 18/10/12 15:42, DanyJ wrote: > On Tue, 16 Oct 2012 08:52:49 +1100 > Ben Sturmfels <ben(a)stumbles.id.au> wrote:Ben Sturmfels <ben(a)stumbles.id.au> wrote: > > Hi Ben > > I'd like to come down to that meeting. > > Can I plz ask that the eTax discussion be first - as I am interested > and can fill up on OSIA stand, because I have unfortunately to go > somewhere else at 7. > > BTW I am going to another meetup in Fitzroy where they are showing a > film on Open Source Technologies - I never met this mob before and have > no idea what they are up to: > > > Zeitgeist Monthly Documentary Screening: Open Source Technologies > Zeitgeist Melbourne > Thursday, October 18, 2012 > 7:00 PM > Gertrude's Brown Couch > 30 Gertrude St, Fitzroy > Melbourne > > Do you know them? > > > Cheers > Daniel. > > >> Hi Folks, >> >> October already! Wow, this month has certainly crept up on me. I'm >> looking forward to another Free Software Melbourne discussion group >> and dinner this Thursday, same time same place. Hope to see you there! >> >> Regards, >> Ben >> >> ---------------------------------------- >> Free Software Melbourne discussion group >> ---------------------------------------- >> >> Thursday 20 September, 6-9pm >> VPAC Head Office Training Room (see website) >> http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/ >> >> Agenda: >> >> - Can crowd-funding campaigns like MediaGoblin's be the secret weapon >> for funding free software? (discussion) >> >> - Embarking on a project to reimplement the Australian Government's >> proprietary E-tax software (discussion) >> >> - Tasty dinner at a nearby restaurant >> <#secure method=pgpmime mode=sign> >> _______________________________________________ >> Free-software-melb mailing list >> Free-software-melb(a)lists.softwarefreedom.com.au >> http://lists.softwarefreedom.com.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/free-software-… >

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Games Night
by Sven＠GMX 18 Oct '12

18 Oct '12

Two very good lists of open source games, even cross-platform. That should be sufficient fuel for our next games night. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_open-source_video_games http://www.unixmen.com/gaming-on-linux1131-19-awesome-opensource-games-for-… Happy gaming, Sven

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Free Software discussion group this Thursday 18 October
by Ben Sturmfels 17 Oct '12

17 Oct '12

Hi Folks, October already! Wow, this month has certainly crept up on me. I'm looking forward to another Free Software Melbourne discussion group and dinner this Thursday, same time same place. Hope to see you there! Regards, Ben ---------------------------------------- Free Software Melbourne discussion group ---------------------------------------- Thursday 20 September, 6-9pm VPAC Head Office Training Room (see website) http://www.freesoftware.asn.au/melb/ Agenda: - Can crowd-funding campaigns like MediaGoblin's be the secret weapon for funding free software? (discussion) - Embarking on a project to reimplement the Australian Government's proprietary E-tax software (discussion) - Tasty dinner at a nearby restaurant <#secure method=pgpmime mode=sign>

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innovation patent consultation
by Bianca Gibson 06 Oct '12

06 Oct '12

Hi all, IP Australia is running an innovation patent consultation. Submissions due 25/Oct: http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/about-us/public-consultations/innovation-pate… Cheers, Bianca

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Victorian Government Intellectual Property Policy
by Brianna Laugher 02 Oct '12

02 Oct '12

Hi folks, Ran across this via the Slattery's Watch newsletter, seems it may be of interest: http://www.vic.gov.au/IPpolicy/ Press release http://www.rich-phillips.com.au/news/default.asp?action=article&ID=706 """ The Victorian Coalition Government has established a new policy for the management of the state’s intellectual property (IP). Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Technology Gordon Rich-Phillips said the policy, the first in its kind in Victoria, set out the intent and principles for use of intellectual property across the Victorian Government. “The Victorian public sector needs a more streamlined, consistent approach to its management of intellectual property,” Mr Rich-Phillips said. The policy sets out 12 core principles for the management of intellectual property relating to ownership and licensing, procurement, commercialisation, grants and funding for intellectual property development and the use of third party intellectual property. “The Victorian public sector creates, commissions, funds, owns, uses and manages a significant amount of intellectual property,” Mr Rich-Phillips said. “The majority of intellectual property generated by the state is protected by copyright which is why there is a need for a whole of government policy. “This new policy will see Victoria grant rights to its IP in a manner that maximises its impact, value, accessibility, benefit and is consistent with the public interest.” """ The second of the 12 principles is: "The State grants rights to its intellectual property with the fewest possible restrictions." which sounds pretty great! They're now developing the State's IP Guidelines which will go into more detail about how to select the right license etc, looking for input now. I suggest this could be a good opportunity to advocate for widely used licenses (GPL, CC-BY-SA) and in particular try to swerve people towards SA restrictions rather than NC. Also open standard formats and CSV before PDF/DOC :) cheers Brianna -- They've just been waiting in a mountain for the right moment: http://modernthings.org/

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Games night this Thursday 20 September
by Ben Sturmfels 23 Sep '12

23 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 17 Sep '12

17 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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