[GNU/FSF Press] FSF adds speakers for LibrePlanet conference on GNU/Linux: March 21st-22nd

[John Sullivan]

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Wednesday, March 4, 2009 -- The Free
Software Foundation (FSF) today announced additions to the speaker
lineup for its March 21st-22nd LibrePlanet 2009 conference.

The conference, to be attended by GNU/Linux users, free software
activists, and programmers from around the world, stresses three themes:
strengthening global free software activism, addressing the threats
posed to free software users by moves toward "cloud computing" and
"software as a service," and advancing the projects on the FSF's High
Priority Projects list.

The current list of speakers is available at
<http://groups.fsf.org/index.php/LibrePlanet2009/aboutspeakers>.

Jeremy Allison, lead developer of Samba, will be giving a talk
entitled, "The Elephant in the Room. Free Software and Microsoft."
Allison said, "Free software is going mainstream, but there are
still many threats to the ideals that are changing the face of the
software industry. I'm delighted to be able to speak at LibrePlanet,
and encourage anyone interested in the future of free software to
attend."

Microsoft's recent patent aggression toward TomTom's use of the kernel
Linux also sets the stage for Ciaran O'Riordan, executive director of
the End Software Patents campaign, to update free software activists on
the aftermath of the landmark *in re Bilski* decision in the United
States, as well as other related international political activity.

Evan Prodromou, member of the autonomo.us working group and founder of
the identi.ca free software microblogging service, will be sharing
lessons learned from his experience bringing free software concepts to
web services. Concerned about user autonomy, he warns, "If you decide
that Google Docs doesn't work the way you want, you can't tinker with
the software and fix it. If you want to share a map on your Web site,
you need Yahoo!'s permission. If you want to use a new social networking
site, you have to re-enter all your personal data and re-invite all your
friends. The data and code belong to someone else, and they're hidden
behind servers that you, the user, aren't allowed to touch."

John Sullivan, FSF operations manager, said, "We're excited to feature
FSF president Richard Stallman and other well-known speakers in these
three major areas -- but this isn't going to be a lecture series. The
second day will be scheduled in collaborative style with rooms and
resources provided for activists, users and programmers to work
together, with breakout sessions happening on the first day as well."

LibrePlanet 2009 attendance is free to FSF associate members, with
nonmembers paying a $60 fee to cover conference costs. Space is limited,
so the FSF is requesting RSVPs to <address@hidden> by March 14th.
Further details and the conference wiki can be found at
<http://www.fsf.org/associate/meetings/2009>. The list of High Priority
Projects is at <http://www.fsf.org/campaigns/priority.html>. Organizers
and participants are also congregating in the #libreplanet IRC channel
on irc.freenode.org.

### About the Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute
computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as
in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its
GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free software. The FSF
also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of
freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites, located at fsf.org
and gnu.org, are an important source of information about GNU/Linux.
Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
<http://donate.fsf.org>. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

### Media Contacts

Matt Lee  
Campaigns Manager  
Free Software Foundation  
+1 (617) 542 5942  
<address@hidden>  

 ###