[SlugBug] Fwd: [frontdesk@affs.org.uk: AFFS Newsletter January 2004]

[Chris]

Hi

The AFFS is the FSF UK body (I think, more-or-less),
following is their last newsletter for info.

In case people don't know the UK FSF email list is
available via usenet in case you want to browse it and not
subscribe:

  news://news.gmane.org/gmane.org.fsf.uk

Chris

----- Forwarded message from AFFS <frontdesk at affs.org.uk> -----

From: AFFS <frontdesk at affs.org.uk>
Date: Fri, 6 Feb 2004 16:47:03 +0000
To: AFFS Members c/o <frontdesk at affs.org.uk>
List-Id: <newsletters.affs.org.uk>
Subject: AFFS Newsletter January 2004

AFFS Newsletter January 2004

Also available at http://www.affs.org.uk/newsletters/2004-01.html

Welcome to the AFFS newsletter. Topics covered this issue are:-

Editor's Note 
AFFS: London LinuxExpo Report 
AFFS: Software Patent Update
AFFS: Workgroup Introductions 
AFFS: Education Conference 
Help: LPI and the UK 
News: AFSP Update 
Help: History of Free Software
Help: BECTa TCO Survey 
Help: SICP Survey 
AFFS: Government Update 
News: RMS Lecture 
News: Creation of IFSO 
AFFS: Treasury Report 
Help: FOSSLib How-to 
AFFS: Requests for Comments 
News: Coming Events

----- 
Editor's Note (Adam Bower)

Our email newsletters have not been on the schedule we had originally
hoped for. We now have an editor in place which should help us supply
the quarterly newsletters that we had planned.

Original articles and stories submitted by AFFS members and other readers,
as well as news about relevant developments, would be a great help in
helping us to produce the newsletters.

Please send your contributions to frontdesk at affs.org.uk

----- 
London LinuxExpo Report (MJ Ray)

AFFS ran a stand at the LinuxExpo UK 2003 in Olympia 2, London, on 8 and
9 October, as part of the .ORG area.  We signed up 11 new supporters,
distributed approximately 2000 leaflets to visitors, discussed free
software issues with many visitors and participated in informal meetings
with other groups.  Our stand was shared with GNU merchandise and the
Association of Free Software Professionals (AFSP), both of which were
visitor attractions.

I would like to offer thanks to: Adam Bower, Kirsten Naylor (both AFFS),
Neil Darlow (AFSP) and Nick Hill (GNU merchandise) for being such amazing
stand staff; Paul Hedderly (donated a new AFFS sign), Brian Teeman
and UKLinux.net (donated leaflet printing and carriage), Alex Hudson
and Richard Smedley (leaflet design) for materials that helped to make
the stand work; and Steve McIntyre for transporting some of the stand.
Also thanks to all the people who stopped by, offered support, paid
membership fees and shared useful information over the two days.

http://www.huhnix.org/picture_archive/linuxexpo_olympia/index.php
http://linuxexpo2003-org-village.fotopic.net/

----- 
Software Patent Update (Alex Hudson)

AFFS Software Patent News

This last year has been a mixed one for supporters of real limits on
software patentability. Sustained pressure from specific companies
in various industries has been successfully countered by continued
campaigning, the end result of which was the 24th September Proposed
Directive on the "Patentability of Computer-implemented Inventions".
This proposal, which continues the European tradition of not allowing
patents on algorithms, methods or computer programmes, now forms the
basis for an extremely positive law which people on both sides of the
debate should be able to support.

In the meantime, the practical implications of patenting software
are becoming more and more newsworthy, especially in America. Browser
plugins, font rendering software and user interface elements are all
"technologies" that are well-known for being subjects that are heavily
patent encumbered, and it is extremely difficult - if not impossible -
to write software in these areas that is not covered by some patent or
other. Companies are now starting to litigate patent infringement cases
more often and for more money, and they are providing excellent examples
of the threat to innovation that has been predicted.

For people wanting to get involved with the opposition to software
patenting, it was previously quite a difficult task: a Europe-wide
directive would be debated and decided in Brussels, far away from
the average Brit. However, two things have happened that have given
us hope: the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII)
setup more formal operations in the UK, which has kept people over
here better informed by the troops on the ground over there. Also, the
letter writing campaign started by FFII-UK has shown that pressure can
be applied, and through our political representatives in this country
we can express our opinions at the European level.

The AFFS homepage for the Patent Workgroup is
http://www.affs.org.uk/patents/   If you're not aware of the reasons why
the AFFS opposes software patents, there are a number of links you can
follow to reasonably accessible introductions to the topic. This should be
of special concern to those people running businesses producing software
(whether free or not) in this country, as these proposals represent
greatest financial danger to entrepreneurs in this area.

If you want to be active in your opposition, or wish to continue your
activity, there are a number of things you can still do. Firstly,
we still ask people to write to their local MP and MEPs, especially is
they haven't done so already.  Every letter does count, and it's easy to
do. It also keeps the issue current; don't forgot this year is election
year for the European Parliament. Secondly, join the FFII-UK mailing
list from their website, http://www.ffii.org.uk/   This will keep you
up to date with what is happening, and is very low traffic usually.
Keeping in touch is quite important - we have found previously that
sometimes things happen quite fast. You will also find that AFFS'
previous Secretary, Dr Brian Gough, is being extremely diligent in
keeping the GNU Friends website (http://www.gnu-friends.org/ ) up-to-date,
particularly with regard to patent news. This website is also digested
to gnu.misc.discuss on a regular basis.

----- 
Workgroup Introduction (MJ Ray)

The AFFS "campaigns" have been renamed to "workgroups" to emphasise
the practical nature of their work. Some groups have moved forwards
through their hard work, with education and software patents for
example, but other areas need more help and we'd love to get offers of
new efforts. Ideally, groups should plan to encourage new projects or
coordinate AFFS activities with other groups.

----- 
Education Conference (MJ Ray)

The Free, Libre and Open Source Software In Education (FLOSSIE)
Conference will take place on 18 Feb 2004 at the Institute of
Education, London. AFFS is co-promoter, along with Schoolforge UK and
The Learning Machine. Find out how some schools are already saving
a fortune in software licenses and how future trends in development
will affect education. Initial responses have been positive, but
some delegate places remain. More details and booking form from
http://www.schoolforge.org.uk/flossie/conference200402.html

----- 
Help: LPI and the UK (MJ Ray)

There is a group working on creating a UK affiliate of the Linux
Professional Institute. LPI's main qualification programme is the LPIC,
which tests system administration skills and is taught by independent
training providers.  A number of current and potential providers and user
groups are involved already, but more are welcome. The mailing list is
at http://list.lpi.org/mailman/listinfo/lpi-uk

----- 
News: AFSP Update (Neil Darlow M.Sc)

The AFSP web site is running old forum and portal software with security
fixes but the intention is to bring it up-to-date as soon as possible. The
portal will feature better, and more, user features and the forum will
get a cleaner look and feel.

Some work has been done in assessing the AFSP's overlap with other
organisations, including the AFFS. Our emphasis on production and
publishing methodology sets us apart from advocacy organisations.
We are therefore able to complement and work with other Free Software
organisations without much duplicated effort.

The introduction of software patents, in whatever form, is certain to
harm development of Free Software. Some analysis of how the AFSP tenets
will assist developers has been done. The requirement appears to be
that the design should be formally published to prevent future patent
incursion. The AFSP encourages up-front documentation of projects and
use of IETF-mandated standards and protocols which should be compatible
with this requirement.

The AFSP is looking for individuals with expertise in GNU toolchains,
software production and publishing technology to write in-depth articles
for the AFSP documentation base. These articles will be made available
through the web site download area and referenced in the on-line
forum. Anyone interested in contributing to this effort should contact
Neil Darlow.

----- 
Help: History of Free Software (David Tannenbaum)

I am a doctoral student in Economic & Social History, and am writing my
dissertation on the history of free software.  I am currently compiling a
short history of free software use and development in the UK, particularly
in higher education, for a separate project. However, I can't seem to find
any central repository that already exists, so I'm thinking that I might
as well compile something larger and publish it somewhere accessible.

Could folks suggest events or areas of interest that I should include?
I am particularly interested in free software use and development
in higher education, but would like to include everything that's
important.  I'm interested in history going back as far as the 1950s.
E-mail david.tannenbaum at worc.ox.ac.uk

----- 
Help: BECTa TCO Survey (Richard Rothwell)

BECTa are looking for schools who are using free software, to inform
a research project about total cost of ownership. BECTa advise the
government's department for education on computing. If you are interested,
please contact Schoolforge-UK's Richard Rothwell on raroth42 at yahoo.co.uk

----- 
Help: SICP Survey (MJ Ray)

The Sussex Internet Community Project has asked for opinions and advice
about encouraging free software adoption. Please respond to their
survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=9862357645 and suggest
free software (not just open source) that they can use for their tasks.

----- 
Government Update (MJ Ray)

The government workgroup needs new promoters to monitor our governments,
summarise events and start new projects as needed.  Please contact
frontdesk at affs.org.uk with questions or offers of help.

Departments:

The Department of Trade and Industry held a follow-up session about "OSS
as a default exploitation route for Government-funded research." They
summarised responses and held a discussion. We are yet to get an official
summary. If you have one, please contact us.

The Office of the e-Envoy and Cabinet Office GovTalk seem quiet. The
Patent Office is consulting on the EU "intellectual property rights"
directive at http://www.patent.gov.uk/about/consultations/

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister funded the APLAWS project to
create a GPL content management system. I am not sure whether it runs on
a free software Java implementation. Details on http://www.aplaws.org.uk/

Parliaments:

North Norfolk MP Norman Lamb (Lib Dem) got an answer about the
Department for International Development's payments to Microsoft at
http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200203/cmhansrd/cm031006/text/31006w06.htm#31006w06.html_sbhd2

Patrick Harvie MSP asking questions about "Open
Source" got the answers listed by ScotlandIS at
http://www.opensourcescotland.org/Members/andrewv/QuestionsInParliament
including the Scottish Executive's �1.4m year spend on Microsoft licences.
If you can help in Scotland, please get in touch with us.

Microsoft have committed to producing a Language Interface Pack for
Welsh, which translates 80% or so of the English version and makes it
hard to switch between languages. AFFS members will continue to recommend
truly international free software and ask the Welsh Language Board not
to accept second-class offers. For more, see the kyfieithu press release
at http://www.kyfieithu.co.uk/item.php?lg=en&item_id=79

International:

The EU published "IDA Open Source Migration Guidelines" at
http://europa.eu.int/ISPO/ida/jsps/index.jsp?fuseAction=showDocument&parent=news&documentID=1647
and Free Software Foundation Europe is working on the
World Summit on the Information Society. More info at
http://www.fsfeurope.org/projects/wsis/wsis.en.html

----- 
News: RMS Lecture (Adam Bower)

Richard Stallman visited the UK on the 25-26th of October 2003 and gave
a lecture on the dangers of software patents in Sheffield and at the
univeristy of Westminster in London.

An Ogg Vorbis format version of the speech he gave is available here
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/audio/audio.html#WMUPAT2003

----- 
News: Creation of IFSO (Adam Bower)

Ireland now has its own Free Software organisation, "IFSO" or the "Irish
Free Software Organisation" was launched on January 4th 2004 (By no
coincidence the 20th anniversary of the beginning of the GNU project).
We wish them every success with their new organisation.

http://ifso.info

-----
Treasury Report (MJ Ray)

During October, the AFFS received 18 new or renewed subscriptions, mostly
due to work of the LinuxExpoUK 2003 team. We have had a similar boost
since a feature in Linux Format. We now have 100 paid-up members and 7 due
for renewal. I am pleased to note that we have increased our renewal rate,
but I believe that AFFS must clearly back projects to keep members. I
hope that the workgroup changes and project grants will help to do that.

We received 510 pounds in donations at the show and other small
gifts during the month. Thanks to the stand team waiving expenses,
the only costs are materials and postage. The AFFS holds over
1300 pounds, 500 of which is earmarked for project grants when
the process starts (see requests for comment elsewhere in this
newsletter). http://www.affs.org.uk/~mjr/treasury/

----- 
Help: FOSSLib HOWTO (MJ Ray)

A new version of the Free and Open Source Software in Libraries
(FOSSLib) HOWTO appeared at http://www.affs.org.uk/~mjr/libraries/ on
19 January. This is based on Bob Kerr's work in Scotland that you may
have read about. Help is wanted, particularly with improving the howto,
producing more example covers, recording coverage and successes, and
using it (of course).

----- 
Request for Comments (Adam Bower)

Comments are invited on these documents. They will be adopted in some
form in the near future.

RFC: Free software project grants

We have donations from UKFSN and Network Theory which are earmarked for
free software projects. We plan to set up a small review board which will
use the following questions to decide which proposals to fund: - is the
project original?  - does it fulfil a genuine need?  - does it represent
good value for money?  - does it have support from the community?

Full text at http://www.affs.org.uk/~mjr/treasury/rfc-grants.txt

RFC: Sponsorship

The AFFS will no longer accept donations of materials which include
advertisements. Instead, we will move to a FSF-style system, where
donors are asked to give money and are listed on a donors page. Materials
produced with donated funds will point to that page.

Full text at http://www.affs.org.uk/~mjr/treasury/rfc-sponsorship.txt

----- 
News: Coming Events

18 Feb 2004	Free/Libre/Open Source Software In Education (FLOSSIE)

FLOSSIE is a joint conference, being organised by the AFFS, SchoolForge
UK and The Learning Machine. It will take place at the London Institute
of Education.  View the FLOSSIE conference information page to view the
agenda, and for instructions on how to book your place.

20-21 Apr 2004	LinuxUser & Developer Expo 2004

LU&D Expo is back for another year, although it has now relocated
to the fashionable London district of Olympia. The main site is
http://www.linuxuser.co.uk/expo/ and there is also a (out-of-date at
the time of writing this) .ORG site at http://www.linuxexpo.org.uk/
AFFS hope to attend as part of the .ORG community.

To keep up to date with news on AFFS related events please bookmark
http://www.affs.org.uk/diary.html


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