Gunnar Wolf - Nice grey life - page 70

Left to right: Me, Stefano Zacchiroli (Debian Project Leader), Moray Allan and Holger Levsen. Photo by Robert “Blars” Larson.

Cineast and Free Culture activist Nina Paley wrote some days ago a rantifesto on why the FSF has a double standard: Why are the Freedoms guaranteed for Free Software not guaranteed for Free Culture?, by not following its own very strict rules on software when it comes to culture as a whole. Her post was widely circulated, and got (at least) one reply by fellow Debian Developer Wouter Verhelst, largely agreeing with her, and an anti-rantifesto by Joe Brockmeier — Which was promptly answered again by Wouter with a very fun and inspired post, written from the right angle: From...

<h3>Software libre</h3> <p>Cada vez es más común escuchar el concepto <em>software libre</em> en medios destinados a la sociedad en general, y ya no sólo ante quienes nos dedicamos al cómputo. Pero no teman — En el presente texto, abordaré el tema enfatizando en él en tanto movimiento social, enfocándome en cómo ha comenzado a influir en la sociedad toda. <p>Desde un punto de vista meramente técnico, puede llamarse <em>software libre</em> a todo programa que no imponga un licenciamiento restrictivo a sus usuarios — Todo programa que nos permita utilizarlo con cualquier fin, comprender cómo está hecho (tener acceso a su...

We are few weeks away from the start of DebConf11. Excitement runs high in Debian-land. The two most worthy weeks of the year, every year, loom close. Our Bosnian friends have done a great job of finding and defending an amazing proposal, and are now facing the hard work and permanent adrenaline levels of being in charge of the closest I have seen to a herd of (well-behaved but wild and untamable) cats. I have organized DebConf in my country. It was hellish, but at the same time, it’s one of my most cherished experiences. And I’m sure the same...

Umh, so Google created yet-another-beta-service with yet-another-invite-only stage. Whee! And this time they choose a name yet more stupid to their previous attempts (Wave, Buzz — now it’s simply Google+). And yes, some of my friends have mailed me invites (or offered them to me by chat) so I can join the fun and love, and lose the few free time I still have. Guys, I care about you. I even love you all! But no, I don’t care the least for so-called-social-network invites. I am quite a mess managing my time as it stands. And I cannot reply this...

Second speaker at today’sseminar,Vladimir Mojica. He is talking about th legal backing for DRM and TPM as well as laws against circumvention. He quotes USA’s DMCA as one of the most complete, advanced and forward-minded laws,inviting the audience to push for such a law here. I hope he gets to my (written)question, as today is a very important day in this regard: The Senate has requested the presidency to reject signing the ACTA treaty! [Update] The Senate is sending Resolution agreeing to prompt the Federal Executive Power titular to instruct the State Secretaries and other dependencies involved in the Anti-Counterfeiting...

Excuse me in advance for any typos. itting in a dark room and posting with a Kindle has its down sides. I have been participating for about 1.5 years on a seminar about the copyright in the ediyorial ambit. This year, the focus is on digital media. Today the first speaker is Dr. Kyoshi Tsuru, General Director of BSA Mexico. He is talking about the beauties and advantages of DRM and TPM. It was interesting to hear how he began by saying how people are afraid of nice, good, protective measures and call it with derogatoey, morally charged ways:Specifically about...

It’s been a long time since I last took some time to read First Monday — A great online publication, if you are not familiar with it, that I would categorize (and no, I’m not probably well-informed in it to be authoritative) as dealing with social, psychological aspects of the cultural shifts the online world has brought upon us (often dealing with topics related to Free Software communities, the reason I first met the publication). Firstmonday is an Open Access champion from early on. It follows an approachable but academic format (this means, it is peer-reviewed, its articles give extensive...

On June 2011, we were invited to the Free Software in Mexico: Reflections and Opportunities in Mexico’s Senate. This is the presentation I used. Some photos from the panel: 1, 2, 3, 4. Attachments Presentation (LaTeX Beamer sources) (12 KB) Presentation (PDF format) (153 KB)

The discussion panel on Free Software and Society; «Free Software in Mexico: Reflections and Opportunities» forum; June 2, 2011