industryterm:free software

7 Reasons to Use Debian (and 3 Reasons Not To) - Datamation
▻http://www.datamation.com/open-source/7-reasons-to-use-debian-and-3-reasons-not-to.html

Seven Reasons to Use Debian

Rumors depict Debian as a distribution for hardcore Linux users. That may have been true once, but today Debian has many features that appeal to every level of user.
7. A Comprehensive Installer

Early on, Debian gained a reputation for being hard to install that it has never altogether lost. In reality, though, the reverse is true, and Debian has the most thorough-going installer available. Although most people installing Debian only need a shortened version, the Debian Installer allows the selection of almost every detail — so long, of course, as you are prepared to spend a couple of hours installing.

If you are having trouble getting Debian to run on your hardware, take the example of Ubuntu and use the advanced version of the Debian Installer to solve your problems. Short of Linux from Scratch, you won’t find a more customizable installer.
6. A Choice of the Degree of Freedom

Debian installs with only free software. However, if you choose to work with proprietary software, add contrib non-free to the end of each line of /etc/apt/sources.list, then run apt-get update. The contrib section contains free software that requires non-free software to run, while non-free section contains proprietary software. Officially, neither section is tested as thoroughly as the rest of Debian, but unofficially, their stands are still high.
5. Multiple Hardware Architectures

Each Debian release officially supports nine hardware architectures, ranging from amd64 (64 bit Intel) to arm64 and PowerPC. Another five architectures are unofficially supported, while three are unsupported but listed anyway.

In comparison, many distributions, including the popular Linux Mint, support only 32- and 64-bit Intel chips. Others, like Fedora, have dropped support for many architectures that Debian still supports, such as SPARC. If Debian doesn’t run on your hardware, the chances are no other distribution does.
4. Easy Transitions Between Technologies

The introduction of new technologies like Systemd often causes problems when upgrading to a new release. However, Debian makes a point of creating packages that make the changeover as smooth as an ordinary upgrade.
3. The Largest Number of Installed Packages

Probably no one has counted exactly, but Debian includes over 40,000 packages — and possibly over 50,000. Either number is generally assumed to be larger than any other distribution, even though few other distributions count their own packages.

The only packages that Debian is unlikely to have are recent ones. However, Debian and its derivatives are so common today that if a project bothers to create packages, they probably do in the .deb format.
2. A Balance Between Cutting Edge and Stability

Debian’s three main repositories are Stable, Testing, and Unstable. These repositories are supposed to be organized for the purposes of producing a new release, but it is a rare user who can resist the temptation to raid Testing and Unstable for the most recent software.

Mixing the three repositories can cause problems, especially if you borrow core packages from Testing and Unstable. Yet, looked at another way, their availability lets you choose your priorities. If reliability matters, then stay with Stable. If you want the latest software, enable Testing and Unstable — but be careful.
1. Stability and Security

All distributions have guidelines for their packages, but the Debian Policy Manual is by far the most comprehensive. The manual details every possible aspect of what a package may contain and how it can interact with other packages, and every package must adhere to it. The result is that the Debian Stable repository is almost certainly the most dependable version of Linux available. Even Unstable is as stable as other distributions most of the time — although occasionally it can have some unpleasant surprises.
Three Reasons Not to Use Debian

So, if Debian is so wonderful, why does anyone bother with any other distribution? The question has many answers, but these are probably the most common ones:
3. Debian Installs with Only Free Software

In Debian, getting non-free software is as easy as adding the repositories. However, for some users, even that is too much effort. They prefer a Debian derivative like Linux Mint or Ubuntu that makes getting non-free drivers or tools like Flash even easier.
2. Debian Uses Systemd

While most users have accepted the introduction of Systemd a few years ago, some continue to fault Debian for using it. They see Systemd as too powerful an administration tool, and suspect it as a ploy by Red Hat to control the desktop. The Debian wiki includes instructions for replacing Systemd with Init, but the process is cumberson, so those who object to Systemd often prefer a derivative distribution like Devuan, which installs without Systemd.
1. Debian Software Is Not Always Up To Date

The cost of Debian’s stability is often software that is several versions behind the latest. This cost becomes especially obvious in the kernel and desktop environment; for example, Debian Stable has yet to include the fourth release series of the kernel or the fifth release series of KDE, despite both being available for a couple of years.

Debian does have Security and StableUpdates repositories to help keep Stable more current, but neither makes Debian cutting edge. Debian is most current immediately after a general or a point release, but even then its software versions are behind most other distributions.

The Debian Inevitability: Although the advantages of Debian outnumber the cons, whether Debian suits you is a matter of your priorities. For networking, Debian is an obvious choice, especially if you prefer to support yourself rather than buy a service contract from Red Hat or SUSE. But, for a desktop user, Debian’s frequent lack of up-to-dateness may be frustrating, especially if you have hardware unsupported by its kernel.

Fortunately, if Debian doesn’t meet your needs, then one of its derivatives probably will. Even if you don’t consciously plan to use a derivative, probability suggests than you will wind up using one anyway. These days, avoiding contact with Debian is nearly impossible.

#Debian #linux #gnu/linux #libre

About | TransforMap
►http://transformap.co/about

TransforMap works towards an online platform to visualize the myriad of alternatives to the dominant economic thinking on a single mapping system. It will give everyone the opportunity to map the initiatives, communities, projects, worker-owned, self-managed, democratically organised companies and other institutions dedicated to meeting people’s needs, serving the common good and/ or contributing to a sustainable way of life.

TransforMap will/ can show all the places, spaces and networks that work on fostering cooperation and deepening human relationships through (co-)producing, exchanging, contributing, gifting and sharing, for a free, fair and sustainable world.

TransforMap invites all existing mapping initiatives to cooperate and co-create maps based on an open pool of data, a common taxonomy, free software and standardised APIs. It is published under an Open Data License.

Our world is transforming. There are old and new alternatives all over the planet. TransforMap will show you how to get there.

This was the short description. You are invited to read the long one also.

TransforMap - a not so short introduction - Welcome on Board / About - transformaps
▻https://discourse.transformap.co/t/transformap-a-not-so-short-introduction/239

The challenge

Today there is no map that allows anyone to easily identify and directly benefit from transformative social innovations, either in their neighborhood or globally. While a new economy based on horizontal collaboration for the common good is emerging with the mushrooming of practices like sharing, repairing, bartering, co-producing, co-using, commoning, Transition initiatives, etc. – most of them aware of the limits to growth and the finiteness of natural resources – it is extremely hard to get an overview of this global transformation.
For common people and citizens as well as for researchers, these initiatives are often invisible: information is stacked in thousands of (sometimes) cryptic websites or an impressive number of (recent) maps – mirroring the different silos the communities and networks seem to be locked in.

Hence, almost every mapping initiative is mapping in non-connected layers – we have collected here around 200 maps connected to ideas of socio-ecological transformation. That is, for each field (e.g. urban gardening) we have scores of maps that are developed in parallel, in each region anew, based on different taxonomies (i.e. ways to categorize initiatives and allow filtering) and which repeat the same effort again and again. Tragically, there is no way for users to navigate from one to another or get an idea of what this “mushrooming of social innovations” actually looks like and how powerful they already are. Additionally the maps’ data is often locked in by Terms of Services from proprietary mapping platforms (namely: many mapping projects use Google Maps; that is, they give up their sovereignty over their data).
This setup has a two-fold effect: it leads to the constant reproduction of the silos mentioned above and it neither enables the adoption of alternative productive and creative processes or social practices, nor spurs synergies between the huge diversity of movements. As a result, many initiatives are abandoned when the initial energy runs out and the “the plenty of alternatives” remain marginalized, invisible. However, through a distributed, collaborative mapping effort, based on free and open platforms and technologies, the different communities of the socio- ecological transformation can overcome these shared problems.

The TransforMap answer

TransforMap is a collaborative answer to this challenge and its complexities. It aims to co-develop with users (common citizens as well as representatives of the different movements) the necessary tools and standards for free and open crowd mapping that allows for aggregating all those mapping initiatives in one map that can be navigated by neophytes. TransforMap is being developed by, and offers the opportunity to display ALL initiatives that belong to communities of practice approved by the wider TransforMap community.

#cartographie @b_b

Anarchism Triumphant
▻http://old.law.columbia.edu/my_pubs/anarchism.html

The spread of the Linux operating system kernel has directed attention at the free software movement. This paper shows why free software, far from being a marginal participant in the commercial software market, is the vital first step in the withering away of the intellectual property system.

I. Software as Property: The Theoretical Paradox
II. Software as Property: The Practical Problem
III. Anarchism as a Mode of Production
IV. Their Lordships Die in the Dark?
Conclusion

...
Our Media Lords are now at handigrips with fate, however much they may feel that the Force is with them. The rules about bitstreams are now of dubious utility for maintaining power by co-opting human creativity. Seen clearly in the light of fact, these Emperors have even fewer clothes than the models they use to grab our eyeballs. Unless supported by user-disabling technology, a culture of pervasive surveillance that permits every reader of every “property” to be logged and charged, and a smokescreen of droid-breath assuring each and every young person that human creativity would vanish without the benevolent aristocracy of BillG the Creator, Lord Murdoch of Everywhere, the Spielmeister and the Lord High Mouse, their reign is nearly done. But what’s at stake is the control of the scarcest resource of all: our attention. Conscripting that makes all the money in the world in the digital economy, and the current lords of the earth will fight for it. Leagued against them are only the anarchists: nobodies, hippies, hobbyists, lovers, and artists. The resulting unequal contest is the great political and legal issue of our time. Aristocracy looks hard to beat, but that’s how it looked in 1788 and 1913 too. It is, as Chou En-Lai said about the meaning of the French Revolution, too soon to tell.
–---
This paper was prepared for delivery at the Buchmann International Conference on Law, Technology and Information, at Tel Aviv University, May 1999; my thanks to the organizers for their kind invitation. I owe much as always to Pamela Karlan for her insight and encouragement. I especially wish to thank the programmers throughout the world who made free software possible.

About the Author

Eben Moglen is Professor of Law & Legal History, Columbia Law School.
E-mail: Mail: moglen@columbia.edu

source différente pour le même texte : ▻http://journals.uic.edu/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/684/594

#capitalisme #software #droit #propriété_intellectuelle #histoire #politique

Why I won’t recommend Signal anymore - Sander Venema
►https://sandervenema.ch/2016/11/why-i-wont-recommend-signal-anymore

To the best of my knowledge, Signal is cryptographically sound. But there are certain problems which IMO we need to solve for the benefit of the Internet. — Permalink

#messagerie #vieprivée

EU copyright proposal reinforces DRM
▻https://fsfe.org/news/2016/news-20160928-01.de.html

On 14 September the European Commission (EC) published its long-awaited proposal for a Directive on copyright in the Digital Single Market. While we welcome the proposal to introduce a mandatory exception for ’text and data mining’ (TDM) in the field of scientific research, we are concerned about the inclusion of a far-reaching “technical safeguards” clause granted to rightholders in order to limit the newly established exception.

The proposal grants a mandatory exception to research organisations to carry out TDM of copyrighted works to which they have lawful access. The exception is only applicable to research organisations, thus narrowing its scope and excluding everyone else with the lawful access to the copyrighted works.

According to the accompanying Impact Assessment, the TDM exception has the potential of inflicting a high number of downloads of the works, and that is why the rightholders are allowed to apply “necessary” technical measures in the name of “security and integrity” of their networks and databases.

Such a requirement, as it is proposed by the EC in the current text, gives rightholders a wide-reaching right to restrict the effective implementation of the new exception. Rightholders are free to apply whichever measure they deem “necessary” to protect their rights in the TDM exception, and to choose the format and modalities of such technical measures.

This provision will lead to a wider implementation of “digital restrictions management” (DRM) technologies. These technologies are already used extensively to arbitrarily restrict the lawful use of accessible works under the new TDM exception. This reference to “necessary technical safeguards” is excessive and can make the mandatory TDM exception useless. It is worth repeating that the exception is already heavily limited to cover only r esearch organisations with public interest.

Further reasons to forbid the use of DRM technologies in the exception are:

DRM leads to vendor lock-in. As researchers will need a specific compatible software in order to be able to access the work, they will be locked to a particular vendor or provider for arbitrary reasons. These technical safeguards will most likely stop researchers from exercising their right under the exception of using their own tools to extract data, and can lead to the factual monopoly of a handful of companies providing these technologies.
DRM excludes free software users. DRM always relies on proprietary components to work. These components, by definition, are impossible to implement in Free Software. The right of Free Software users to access resources under the exception will be violated.
DRM technologies increase the cost of research and education. Accessing DRM-protected resources typically requires purchasing specific proprietary software. Such technology is expensive and it is important to ask how much the implementation of these technologies would cost for research and educational institutions throughout Europe. Furthermore, very often this software cannot be shared, so every research workstation would need to purchase a separate copy or license for the software.
DRM artificially limits sharing between peers. A typical functionality DRM provides is to cap the number of copies you can make of documents and data. This will force different researchers to access and download data and documents several times even if they are working on the same team. This is a waste of time and resources. As DRM also typically limits the number of downloads, teams could find themselves cut of from resources they legitimately have a right to access under the exception.

We ask the European Parliament and the EU member states to explicitly forbid the use of harmful DRM practices in the EU copyright reform, especially with regard to already heavily limited exceptions.

Started using ►https://searx.me yesterday - now promoting it as my main interface to #search services ! Good coverage, quick answers, no leaks to search operators and free software so you can even host it yourself: ▻https://asciimoo.github.io/searx

A very interesting paper (I said “interesting”, I didn’t say I agree!) on open networks where independant nodes with independently developed programs interoperate thanks to standards. The author claims closed and centralized systemes are better, because they allow faster evolution (he uses security and privacy as an example).

►https://whispersystems.org/blog/the-ecosystem-is-moving

#Internet #privacy #federated_systems #centralized #decentralized

A very nice talk, very lively, about the story of a free software project, the technical side, and the people.

“It was the summer of 2009. I found myself helping a coworker debug something in their terminal. As I attempted to type in a few command lines, I noticed that the prompt wasn’t responding to the shortcuts that my brain had grown accustomed to. [...]”

▻https://medium.com/@robbyrussell/d-oh-my-zsh-af99ca54212c

#zsh #oh_my_zsh #free_software

FreeCalypso Libre Phone Project
▻https://www.freecalypso.org

Prior to our project, all existing cellular phones without exception (dumb, smart, old, new, whatever) ran proprietary firmware which we could not study or modify, and this situation caused us severe distress. Alice could be a devout user of free software, never touching a proprietary operating system on any PC or other general-purpose computer, but the moment she would like to call her boyfriend Bob and tell him how her day went, she is forced to use a phone, dumb or smart, whose core telephony functions are driven by proprietary code she cannot study or modify.

#Firmware #Libriste #Logiciel_libre #Open_source #Téléphone_mobile

Introduction to #Circos, Features and Uses // CIRCOS Circular Genome Data #Visualization
►http://circos.ca

http://circos.ca/img/circos-sample-panel.png

WHAT IS CIRCOS?
CIRCULAR VISUALIZATION

Circos is a software package for visualizing data and information. It visualizes data in a circular layout — this makes Circos ideal for exploring relationships between objects or positions. There are other reasons why a circular layout is advantageous, not the least being the fact that it is attractive.

Circos is ideal for creating publication-quality infographics and illustrations with a high data-to-ink ratio, richly layered data and pleasant symmetries. You have fine control each element in the figure to tailor its focus points and detail to your audience.
[…]
Circos is free software, licensed under GPL.

Circos is written in Perl, can be deployed on any operating system for which Perl is available (e.g. Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and other UNIX flavours) and produces bitmap (PNG) and vector (SVG) images using plain text configuration and input files.

If it’s not practical to redistribute free software, it’s not free software in practice
▻http://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/38467.html

Ubuntu itself isn’t free software - distributing the individual binary packages without permission is forbidden

Interviews : RMS Answers Your Questions - Slashdot
▻http://news.slashdot.org/story/15/09/09/2252212/interviews-rms-answers-your-questions

« I don’t object to making money in an ethical way. I don’t object to raising money ethically to work on free software. But when you talk in terms of "monetizing", your thoughts have become twisted in a direction that will lead you to be a parasite. »

<3 <3 <3(Permalink)

#libre #informatique

Richard #Stallman ’s #GNU manifesto turns thirty
▻http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/the-gnu-manifesto-turns-thirty #free_software

“With software, either the users control the program, or the program controls the users”

Imagine a better, privately hosted, free software version of the defunct #Google #Latitude It now exists:
▻http://blog.opencagedata.com/post/110758782373/open-geo-interview-daniel-kirstenpfad-miataru #Miataru #Fireeagle

#Mozilla #Bug Report 949446 : “I can see all source code of all projects”
▻https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=949446
#free_software #open_source

New defensive publication from ownCloud: file syncing encryption
▻http://hroy.eu/posts/owncloud-encryption-defpub

Last month, I have worked with Björn Schießle on ownCloud’s first defensive publication. This one covers ownCloud’s encryption system.

The challenge is that ownCloud is a free software server for file syncing and file sharing, and you can connect it to different storage backends. However, you don’t necessarily want these storage providers to access data unencrypted.

Thus, being able to use encryption to protect user data is paramount, but not trivial. Users of local encryption tools such as GnuPG will know that.

Fortunately, ownCloud has offered an encryption system for more than a year.

The source of their defensive publication is available on Linux Defenders’ repositories. In order to make it, I started working from Björn’s blog post. It turns out that Björn already had documents describing (...)

Le logiciel (et aussi la boîte à outil) de la semaine :

"COOPY » a toolbox for cooperative data"
▻http://share.find.coop

The COOPY toolbox adapts the free and open-source workflow and culture to collaborative data sharing. It is a skunkworks project of the Data Commons Cooperative. COOPY contains:

coopy - A graphical user interface for collaborative development of databases/spreadsheets.
ssmerge - A tool for doing “three-way merges” between two versions of a database/spreadsheet and a “common ancestor” of both. Supports lots of formats.
ssdiff, sspatch, ssfossil - diffing, patching, and distributed revision control systems are key to the happiness and success of the free software ecology. The COOPY toolbox brings them to the world of collaborative data.
... and more.

COOPY currently supports comparisons between tables in the following formats:

CSV (comma-separated values)
TSV (tab-separated values)
SSV (semicolon-separated values)
Excel, OpenOffice/LibreOffice Calc, Gnumeric, and similar formats (via Gnumeric)
Sqlite
MySQL
Microsoft Access (via mdbtools)
SocialCalc (experimental)

COOPY is a free download for Linux, Windows, and Mac OSX. Its source code is publically archived on github, and can be freely used, modified, and distributed under the GPL

What is distributed revision control?

Programmers use revision control systems to develop programs collaboratively. These systems take care of the housekeeping needed such as merging non-conflicting changes and preserving project history. In the COOPY toolbox, the ssfossil program is a lightly modified version of the fossil distributed revision control system, specialized for tables. The coopy program wraps ssfossil in a friendly graphical user interface for sharing spreadsheets and databases. If you prefer other version control systems, the COOPY toolbox is adaptable - see for example using git with the toolbox.

http://share.find.coop/doc/coopy_write_done.png http://share.find.coop/doc/coopy_would_fork.png http://share.find.coop/doc/coopy_conflicted_excel.png http://ouseful.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/csv-diff.png?w=700&h=379

How to produce defensive publications
▻http://hroy.eu/posts/defpub-workflow-rfc

Last month, I introduced what defensive publications are: documents describing something (a new feature, a new algorithm, a new system) in order to prevent further patents.

Defensive publications are needed because on the one hand, even when the source code is available to the public, it is not necessarily accessible to the patent office examiner who’s reviewing patent applications. This is why we submit defensive publications to their databases: it makes the review process more aware of what free software projects develop.

On the other hand, while pushing code to a public repository is easy for a project contributor, writing and submitting a defensive publication is not as straightforward.

On of my goals is to help fix this, so that producing defensive publications gets as easy as (...)

Why I want to update the User Data Manifesto
▻http://hroy.eu/posts/why-new-user-data-manifesto

http://hroy.eu/./posts/why-new-user-data-manifesto/Aybabtu.png

In late 2012, a new manifesto emerged from some members of the free software community: The User Data Manifesto. Quite similar to the Franklin Street Statement on freedom and network services, the manifesto was taking another approach which I think was good: identifying a new set of rights for users, or as the manifesto puts it: “defining basic rights for people to control their own data in the internet age.”

I have applauded the approach. However, I have had several criticism with the text itself. Which is why I have started an effort to create a new better version built on the first version. If you are interested directly into reading the discussion about the new version then you can skip the first part of this article.

What’s wrong with the current version?

Right now, the manifesto (...)

Richard Stallman’s TEDx video: “Introduction to Free Software and the Liberation of Cyberspace” — Free Software Foundation — working together for free software
▻https://www.fsf.org/blogs/rms/20140407-geneva-tedx-talk-free-software-free-society?pk_campaign=RMSTEDx&pk_kwd

Are you in search of an easy way to explain to others what free software is and why it matters? Or are you perhaps wondering why you yourself should be concerned about computer-user freedom? If your answer is yes, then this TEDx talk by RMS is what you’re looking for!

EU’s Anti-Open Source Approach to Procurement
▻http://blogs.computerworlduk.com/open-enterprise/2014/07/european-commissions-anti-open-source-approach-to-software-procurement/index.htm

In recent posts, I’ve looked at the increasing use of open source software by governments in countries as diverse as China, Russia, India and Germany. Here I want to contrast those moves with the continuing failure of the European Commission to embrace free software - with huge costs for European citizens as a result, to say nothing of lost sovereignty.

#open_source

Adullact to award open source development project | Joinup
▻https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/community/osor/news/adullact-award-open-source-development-project

Adullact, the platform for French civil servants working on free software, is organising an award for the best open source tablet-based solution aimed at public administrations. The competition is open to all computer science students. The award ceremony will take place in mid-September, coinciding with the organisation’s annual congress in the city of Montpellier.

OpenMandriva Lx is an exciting free Desktop #Operating_System based on #GNU/Linux that aims to cater to and interest first time and advanced users alike. It has the breadth and depth of an advanced system but is designed to be simple and straightforward in use.

Lx comes from a 100% community-driven association that believes in the values of free software & collaboration and whose founding values are development, equality, co-operation, openness, freedom, group achievement, independence, and solidarity.

Our team is also a proud user of #Spip technology.

Very interesting rant, from a free software developper, about large companies contacting free software projects anonymously (because they have no choice, for internal reasons) and the consequences.

▻http://blog.powerdns.com/2014/05/05/how-to-talk-to-an-open-source-software-project-as-a-large-scale-or-ot

#software

Extract CSV data from PDF files with Tabula

▻http://flowingdata.com/2014/04/08/extract-csv-data-from-pdf-files-with-tabula-2

Tabula, by Manuel Aristarán, came out months ago, but I’ve been poking at government data recently and came back to this useful piece of free software to get the data tables out of countless free-floating PDF files.

If you’ve ever tried to do anything with data provided to you in PDFs, you know how painful this is — you can’t easily copy-and-paste rows of data out of PDF files. Tabula allows you to extract that data in CSV format, through a simple interface.

It’s not the fastest software in the world, but it really is simple to use and it sure beats manual entry. You just load a PDF file into Tabula, which runs on your computer, highlight the table to extract, and the program does the rest. Save as a CSV and do what you want with it.

Tabula
▻http://tabula.nerdpower.org

Why Tabula?

If you’ve ever tried to do anything with data provided to you in PDFs, you know how painful this is — you can’t easily copy-and-paste rows of data out of PDF files. Tabula allows you to extract that data in CSV format, through a simple interface. And now you can download Tabula and run it on your own computer, like you would with OpenRefine.