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Interview with Ben Sturmfels on 3RRR's Byte Into It 2011-11-16
by Ben Finney 17 Nov '11

17 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 17 Nov '11

17 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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My favourite games
by Ben Sturmfels 06 Nov '11

06 Nov '11

Hi Folks, I've also posted a list of my favourite free software games that I demoed at the last discussion group: http://wiki.freesoftware.asn.au/favouriteGames I wouldn't recommend installing Battle for Wesnoth if you have other things you need to do. It's an excellent game and has kept me occupied for many, many hours (which may be understating it)! I'd love to hear about your favourites, so feel free to add to the wiki. I used to try out all the new games as the entered Debian, but since moving to Trisquel I haven't kept a close eye on the games. What do you enjoy playing? Ben

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Re: [free-software-melb] My favourite games
by Bernie Schelberg 06 Nov '11

06 Nov '11

I second the warning on installing Battle for Wesnoth...! There's a couple that I like that aren't on your list: Warzone 2100: A very good RTS game, although you'll need hardware graphics acceleration for it to work properly. The cut scenes make it look a little dated, but the gameplay and in-game graphics are very good. Widelands: Another RTS, but with a much greater focus on resource management. Also has much less dependence on graphics performance. Then there's FreeCol: Turn based strategy, good gameplay, but has some performance problems which make it quite annoying at times. Bernie

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Is a GUI better? Show me!!!
by Andrew Thornton 05 Nov '11

05 Nov '11

OK. If I am a software developer then Elvis still lives. So maybe this is all reinventing the wheel. I don't know. Anyway. I find Unity in ubuntu very counter-intuitive. It feels weird. Yet it is meant to be the latest thing/fad/trend to make me happy. No evidence. No measurements. No tests. I am just meant to be a "happy" Unity user. So, what about this: 1. the distance the mouse travels across the screen to use a GUI 2. the number of mouseclicks. 3. the clock time taken to do task x. 1 + 2 + 3 = user figure for a GUI. The lower the score the better. All you guys here who make software. Do you do any measurements like this to arrive at the usability of software such as a GUI or anything else? Or is it just Macbeth Witches style chuck in eyes of newt, frog legs, pigs' blood and basil into the cauldron and hope for the best? Andrew

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Easy free software advocacy brainstorming
by Ben Sturmfels 05 Nov '11

05 Nov '11

Hi Folks, I've just posted our notes from our brainstorming session on some easier advocacy projects. Please feel welcome to add or change anything. http://wiki.freesoftware.asn.au/easyAdvocacy Cheers, Ben

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Free software versus Microsoft's “UEFI Secure Boot”
by Ben Finney 24 Oct '11

24 Oct '11

Howdy all, At the latest meeting we discussed the impacts of Microsofts plans for UEFI Secure Boot for software freedom. The statement from Free Software Foundation on this topic was referenced <URL:http://www.fsf.org/campaigns/secure-boot-vs-restricted-boot>. Matthew Garrett has a lot of experience with the Linux boot process, and has a number of posts on this topic, the most recent being <URL:http://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/6503.html>. -- \ “The way to build large Python applications is to componentize | `\ and loosely-couple the hell out of everything.” —Aahz | _o__) | Ben Finney

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