*Please consider adding to your address book, which will ensure that our messages reach you and not your spam box.* *Read and share online: * Welcome to the *Free Software Supporter*, the Free Software Foundation's (FSF) monthly news digest and action update -- being read by you and 229,851 other activists. That's 317 more than last month! ## TABLE OF CONTENTS * Escape to Freedom now also available in Mandarin and Spanish * A gold record year for SecuRepairs and the Right to Repair * FFDW Grant & DWebCamp: Our decentralized community industry debut * XScreenSaver was released thirty years ago * A new jailbreak for John Deere tractors rides the Right to Repair wave * DreamWorks Animation to release MoonRay as free software * Textbook publisher: NFTs will let us squeeze even more money out of students * August GNU Emacs news * Join the FSF and friends in updating the Free Software Directory * LibrePlanet featured resource: DRM-free textbooks * August GNU Spotlight with Amin Bandali: Twelve new GNU releases! * FSF and other free software events * Thank GNUs! * GNU copyright contributions * Translations of the *Free Software Supporter* * Take action with the FSF! View this issue online here: Encourage your friends to subscribe and help us build an audience by adding our subscriber widget to your Web site. * Subscribe: * Widget: Miss an issue? You can catch up on back issues at . Want to read this newsletter translated into another language? Scroll to the end to read the *Supporter* in French or Spanish. ### Escape to Freedom now also available in Mandarin and Spanish *From August 16* *Escape to Freedom* is the animated video from the Free Software Foundation giving an introduction to the concepts behind software freedom: both what we gain by having it, and what rights are at stake. The video focuses on protagonist Zara, which allows viewers to relate to her challenges and concerns. And now we now have it video available in Mandarin and Spanish language tracks. The [free software awareness videos](https://www.fsf.org/videos) have already reached thousands of viewers. Let's continue to get the word out by sharing them widely. * ### A gold record year for SecuRepairs and the Right to Repair *From August 29 by Paul Roberts* Right to Repair activists, and the SecuRepairs group of pro-repair IT and information security professionals had many bright spots in the last year. And, as Paul Roberts writes in this article, "in the midst of all that, our intrepid group landed some important kudos from one of the most important organizations fighting for a free, fair and equitable Internet: The Free Software Foundation. FSF named SecuRepairs the winner of its Award for Projects of Social Benefit for 2021." * ### FFDW Grant & DWebCamp: Our decentralized community industry debut *From August 17 by Spritely Institute* Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized Web (FFDW) has announced an award to Spritely Networked Communities Institute (Spritely Institute) to support the creation of free standards for decentralized social media. Spritely's mission is to put people directly in control of their online identities and relationships, and this award will further the organization's efforts. Christine Lemmer-Webber (GNU Mediagoblin) and Randy Farmer are the institute's founders. * ### XScreenSaver was released thirty years ago *From August 17 by Jamie Zawinski* XScreenSaver, the familiar screensaver that comes preinstalled on many GNU/Linux distributions, just had its thirtieth anniversary. The original author reminisces about its development and life thus far, and shares the initial announcement with a link to the first blog post. [XScreenSaver](https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Xscreensaver) is free software and has its own entry in the [Free Software Directory](https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Main_Page). In celebration of its anniversary, please consider exercising some of your freedoms -- anything from using it as you like to developing your own screensaver creations to be used for the next thirty years. * ### A new jailbreak for John Deere tractors rides the Right to Repair wave *From August 13 by Lily Hay Newman* If the software in tractors were free, the farmers would be able to take ownership over their machines again, and they would truly have the right to repair. This write-up explains how farmers around the world have turned to tractor hacking so they can bypass the digital locks that manufacturers impose on their vehicles. Like insulin pump "looping" and iPhone jailbreaking, this allows farmers to modify and repair the expensive equipment that’s vital to their work, the way they could with analog tractors. The article shows that for the farmers to have access to true right to repair, it starts with free software. * ### DreamWorks Animation to release MoonRay as free software *From August 5 by Dan Sarto* DreamWorks intends to make MoonRay available under the Apache 2.0 license. Further information and updates will be available at . While the move to the free software license is still yet to happen, this initial announcement is promising. * ### Textbook publisher: NFTs will let us squeeze even more money out of students *From August 3 by Adi Robertson* Pearson's CEO, and former chairman of Walt Disney International, Andy Bird, recently explained his plan to sell digital textbooks as NFTs in a scheme that allows the publisher to profit from secondary sales, as well as track the ownership of a book even when it changes hands. Although the details have yet to be divulged, Pearson has made its intent clear that they would like to skirt legal grounding such as the first-sale doctrine, which permits physical book buyers to own their books outright and sell it without sending any money back to the original publishers (nor notifying them of the sale). Notably, Pearson already employs Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) of various kinds, using their unjust power to squeeze money out of teachers and learners, which made them the target of the FSF's [International Day against DRM (IDAD) in 2019](https://www.defectivebydesign.org/blog/idad_2019_thank_you_defending_right_read). * ### August GNU Emacs news *From August 29 by Sacha Chua* In these issues: Themes to give your eyes a rest, a comics builder, EmacsConf 2022 information, "encrypt-region" encryption package and more! * [2022-08-29](https://sachachua.com/blog/2022/08/2022-08-29-emacs-news/) * [2022-08-22](https://sachachua.com/blog/2022/08/2022-08-22-emacs-news/) * [2022-08-15](https://sachachua.com/blog/2022/08/2022-08-15-emacs-news/) * [2022-08-08](https://sachachua.com/blog/2022/08/2022-08-08-emacs-news/) * [2022-08-01](https://sachachua.com/blog/2022/08/2022-08-01-emacs-news/) ### Join the FSF and friends in updating the Free Software Directory Tens of thousands of people visit directory.fsf.org each month to discover free software. Each entry in the Directory contains a wealth of useful information, from basic category and descriptions to version control, IRC channels, documentation, and licensing. The Free Software Directory has been a great resource to software users over the past decade, but it needs your help staying up-to-date with new and exciting free software projects. To help, join our weekly IRC meetings on Fridays. Meetings take place in the #fsf channel on Libera.Chat, and usually include a handful of regulars as well as newcomers. Libera.Chat is accessible from any IRC client -- Everyone's welcome! The next meeting is Friday, September 2 from 12pm to 3pm EDT (17:00 to 19:00 UTC). Details here: * ### LibrePlanet featured resource: DRM-free textbooks Every month on [the LibrePlanet wiki](https://libreplanet.org/wiki/Main_Page), we highlight one resource that is interesting and useful -- often one that could use your help. For this month, we are highlighting DRM-free textbooks, which provides information about textbooks and other educational books that do not implement DRM. You are invited to adopt, spread and improve this important resource. * Do you have a suggestion for next month's featured resource? Let us know at . ### August GNU Spotlight with Amin Bandali: Twelve new GNU releases! * [binutils-2.39](https://www.gnu.org/software/binutils/) * [gcc-12.2.0](https://www.gnu.org/software/gcc/) * [glibc-2.36](https://www.gnu.org/software/libc/) * [gnunet-0.17.4](https://www.gnu.org/software/gnunet/) * [gss-1.0.4](https://www.gnu.org/software/gss/) * [libtasn1-4.19.0](https://www.gnu.org/software/libtasn1/) * [linux-libre-5.19-gnu](https://www.gnu.org/software/linux-libre/) * [nano-6.4](https://www.gnu.org/software/nano/) * [octave-7.2.0](https://www.gnu.org/software/octave/) * [parallel-20220822](https://www.gnu.org/software/parallel/) * [pies-1.8](https://www.gnu.org/software/pies/) * [shishi-1.0.3](https://www.gnu.org/software/shishi/) *For a full list with descriptions, please see: * To download: nearly all GNU software is available most reliably from . Optionally, you may find faster download speeds at a mirror located geographically closer to you by choosing from the list of mirrors published at , or using to be automatically redirected to a (hopefully) nearby and up-to-date mirror. A number of GNU packages, as well as the GNU operating system as a whole, are looking for maintainers and other assistance: please see if you'd like to help. The general page on how to help GNU is at . If you have a working or partly working program that you'd like to offer to the GNU project as a GNU package, see . As always, please feel free to write to me, , with any GNUish questions or suggestions for future installments. ### FSF and other free software events * September 16-18, 2022, Paris, France, [Ten Years of Guix](https://10years.guix.gnu.org/) * September 26-30, 2022, Washington, D.C., [GRCon 2022](https://www.gnuradio.org/news/2022-02-14-grcon22-location-announcement/) * October 7, 2022, Barcelona, Spain, [KDE Academy](https://akademy.kde.org/2022/cfp) * November 4-5, 2022, Online, [SeaGL](https://seagl.org) * December 3-4, 2022, Online, [EmacsConf](https://emacsconf.org/2022/cfp/) ### Thank GNUs! We appreciate everyone who donates to the Free Software Foundation, and we'd like to give special recognition to the folks who have donated $500 or more in the last month. * This month, a big Thank GNU to: * Casper Freksen * Felix March Tantoso * Matomo.org * Minoru Sekine * Stellenanzeigen.de Technologie Entwicklungs-GmbH You can add your name to this list by donating at . ### GNU copyright contributions Assigning your copyright to the Free Software Foundation helps us defend the GNU GPL and keep software free. The following individuals have assigned their copyright to the FSF (and allowed public appreciation) in the past month: * Joshua Allen Branson (GNU Emacs) * Malik Tuwebti (GNU Emacs) * Peter Povinec (GNU Emacs) * Randy James Taylor (GNU Emacs) * Trevor Edwin Pogue (GNU Emacs) * Valentin Lab (GNU Emacs) Want to see your name on this list? Contribute to GNU and assign your copyright to the FSF. * ### Translations of the *Free Software Supporter* El Free Software Supporter está disponible en español. Para ver la versión en español haz click aqui: **Para cambiar las preferencias de usuario y recibir los próximos números del Supporter en español, haz click aquí:** Le Free Software Supporter est disponible en français. Pour voir la version française cliquez ici: **Pour modifier vos préférences et recevoir les prochaines publications du Supporter en français, cliquez ici:** ### Take action with the FSF! Contributions from thousands of individual associate members enable the FSF's work. You can contribute by joining at . If you're already a member, you can help refer new members (and earn some rewards) by adding a line with your member number to your email signature like: > I'm an FSF member -- Help us support software freedom! > The FSF is always looking for volunteers (). From rabble-rousing to hacking, from issue coordination to envelope stuffing -- there's something here for everybody to do. Also, head over to our campaigns section () and [take action on software patents](https://endsoftwarepatents.org/), [Digital Restrictions Management](https://www.defectivebydesign.org/), [free software](https://libreplanet.org/wiki/Group:Freedom_Ladder) adoption, [OpenDocument](https://www.fsf.org/campaigns/opendocument/download), and more. **Do you read and write Portuguese and English?** The FSF is looking for translators for *Free Software Supporter*. Please send an email to with your interest and a list of your experience and qualifications. *** Copyright © 2022 Free Software Foundation, Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit .