commit: 921f64bbbf954b5fad68df40ddeba55db9e21b82 parent 8205300e68541e7b9b894a808ad4f923741b67ca Author: Drew DeVault <sir@cmpwn.com> Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2023 12:07:14 +0200 Reforming the free software messageDiffstat:
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1 file changed, 50 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)diff --git a/content/blog/Reforming-the-free-software-message.md b/content/blog/Reforming-the-free-software-message.md@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@ +--- +title: Reforming the free software message +date: 2023-06-19 +--- + +Several weeks ago, I wrote [The Free Software Foundation is dying][0], wherein I +enumerated a number of problems with the Free Software Foundation. Some of my +criticisms focused on the message: fsf.org and gnu.org together suffer from no +small degree of incomprehensibility and inaccessibility which makes it difficult +for new participants to learn about the movement and apply it in practice to +their own projects. + +[0]: https://drewdevault.com/2023/04/11/2023-04-11-The-FSF-is-dying.html + +This is something which is relatively easily fixed! I have a background in +writing documentation and a thorough understanding of free software philosophy +and practice. Enter [writefreesoftware.org]: a comprehensive introduction to +free software philosophy and implementation. + +[writefreesoftware.org]: https://writefreesoftware.org + +The goals of this resource are: + +- Provide an accessible introduction to the most important principles of free + software +- Offer practical advice on choosing free software licenses from a free software + perspective (compare to the OSS perspective at [choosealicense.org]). +- Publish articles covering various aspects of free software in practice, such + as how it can be applied to [video games][1] + +[choosealicense.org]: https://choosealicense.com/ +[1]: https://writefreesoftware.org/blog/free-software-games/ + +There are also some non-goals, such as: + +- Association with any particular free software project or organization +- Non-cooperation with the open source movement + +Compare [writefreesoftware.org] with the similar resources provided by GNU +([1][gnu-1], [2][gnu-2]) and you should get the general idea. + +[gnu-1]: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-recommendations.html +[gnu-2]: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/philosophy.html + +The website is itself free software, CC-BY-SA 4.0. You can check out the [source +code here](https://sr.ht/~sircmpwn/writefreesoftware.org/) and suggest any +improvements or articles for the mailing list. Get involved! This resource is +not going to solve all of the FSF's problems, but it is an easy way to start +putting the effort in to move the free software movement forward. I hope you +like it!