pages tagged free_softwareBleah!http://bleah.co.uk/tags/free_software/Bleah!ikiwiki2011-06-23T13:49:44Zpages tagged GNUhttp://bleah.co.uk/tags/GNU/2011-06-23T13:49:44Z2011-04-09T12:03:14Z
<p>The <a href="http://www.gnu.org/gnu/">GNU</a> (GNU’s Not Unix) operating system is <span class="selflink">free software</span>
system developed by the <a href="http://www.gnu.org/">GNU Project</a>. A GNU system in widespread
used is known as <a href="http://bleah.co.uk/tags/free_software/../GNU/Linux/">GNU+Linux</a>, and inaccurately as
<a href="http://bleah.co.uk/tags/free_software/../Linux/">Linux</a>.</p>
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<p>
<a href="http://bleah.co.uk/tags/free_software/../Debian/">pages tagged Debian</a><br />
<i>
Posted <span class="date">Sat 09 Apr 2011 13:04:01 BST</span>
</i>
</p>
<p>
<a href="http://bleah.co.uk/tags/free_software/../../blog/posts/2007/11/19/gnu_affero_gpl_v3/">GNU Affero GPL v3 Published</a><br />
<i>
Posted <span class="date">Mon 19 Nov 2007 22:16:06 GMT</span>
</i>
</p>
Get Losthttp://bleah.co.uk/blog/posts/2008/06/07/get_lost/2011-04-09T12:03:03Z2008-06-07T19:38:40Z
<p>Last weekend I went to an <a href="http://nowhere-fest.blogspot.com/2008/05/who-are-lrm-what-is-psychogeography-and.html">Introduction to LRM and psychogeography</a>.
<a href="http://diffrentcolours.livejournal.com/">PerfDave</a> mentioned the <a href="http://nowhere-fest.blogspot.com/">Loiterers Resistance Movement</a> when
discussing the <a href="http://manchester.fsuk.org/blog/2008/05/28/openstreetmap-17th-june/">OpenStreetMap talk</a> for <a href="http://manchester.fsuk.org/">Manchester Free
Software</a>, so I went to learn more, and give <a href="http://openstreetmap.org/">OpenStreetMap</a> a
mention.</p>
<p>The meeting began with an a few people speaking about different aspects of
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychogeography">psychogeography</a>, the meaning of which noone’s really clear on anyway. I
think that’s what makes part of it: The mystery.</p>
<p>We split off into groups, each with “maps” collated from drawings made by
those present. The idea was to wander around Manchester and interpret the
drawings as places to go to, or directions to take. If I’ve made it sound
boring, it was actually quite fun, and a pleasant walk, while others in the
group would talk about the history of the places we went through.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://nowhere-fest.blogspot.com/">LRM</a> have a festival going on this month, the Get Lost Festival, in
association with <a href="http://www.trip2008.wordpress.com/">TRIP</a> and the <a href="http://www.royalexchange.co.uk/">Royal Exchange Theatre</a>. I’m planning
to go to some more events, starting with the <a href="http://nowhere-fest.blogspot.com/2008/06/historical-weekend.html">Tour of Old Ancoats</a>
tomorrow. If you’re interested, take a look at the <a href="http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/3/14/1813512/Get%20Lost%20Brochure%20FINAL%204%20WEB.pdf">full programme</a>.</p>
Greynickhttp://bleah.co.uk/blog/posts/2008/05/28/greynick/2011-04-09T12:03:03Z2008-05-28T07:12:20Z
<p>I started out with <a href="http://scripts.irssi.org/html/nickcolor.pl.html">nickcolor.pl</a>, flirted with a
<a href="http://svn.df7cb.de/dotfiles/cb/.irssi/scripts/nickcolor.pl">patched version of nickcolor.pl</a> (see: <a href="http://www.df7cb.de/blog/2005/Killfiling.html">Killfiling</a> on <a href="http://www.df7cb.de/blog/">Myon’s Blog</a>),
and ended up with a rewrite in the form of <a href="http://projects.bleah.co.uk/misc/browser/irssi-scripts/trunk/greynick.pl">Greynick</a>. It’s a script for
<a href="http://irssi.org/">Irssi</a> that implements something like ‘/ignore’ (but nowhere near as
flexible), but colours the text differently instead of not displaying it. In
my case (and currently hardcoded, sorry), it’s dark grey (bold black), on
black, giving it less impact than normal text.</p>
RMS Speech a Successhttp://bleah.co.uk/blog/posts/2008/05/04/rms_speech_a_success/2011-04-09T12:03:03Z2008-05-04T23:11:34Z
<p>I didn’t say an awful lot in my last post. I was a bit tired by that point.
The <a href="http://manchester.fsuk.org/blog/2008/04/13/richard-stallman-1st-may/">RMS talk</a> was indeed a success.</p>
<p>Before the talk, a few of us handed out flyers for <a href="http://manchester.fsuk.org/">Manchester Free Software</a>
and the <a href="http://www.fsf.org/">Free Software Foundation</a>, hopefully gaining some
publicity there.</p>
<p>The badgering to get the larger lecture theatre (and possibly the blog posts
too) paid off, with the talk being moved from a 100‐seater to a 300‐seater
room. Most, if not all, of the seats were taken, with some people sitting on
the stairs or standing at the back. I was one of the latter. I tried some
different positions that didn’t make me any more comfortable, but I lasted it
out.</p>
<p><a href="http://stallman.org/">Stallman</a>’s talks mostly boil down to one of a small number in similarity,
and this was one of them. He covered off the <a href="http://www.gnu.org/">GNU project</a>, the principles
of <a href="http://www.fsf.org/licensing/essays/free-sw.html">free software</a>, some of the bad things about proprietary software, and
free software in educational institutions. I had heard most of it before but
it still interested me and possibly filled some bits I had missed. I suspect
a fair number of the audience hadn’t.</p>
<p>The questions and answers at the end lasted a long time. There was something
about how works of art compare to software, and how computer games fit in; an
amusing look into the future when machines may have freedom; and a drawn out
debate from someone desperately trying to argue that they should be allowed to
make money through proprietary software and, in Stallman’s view, subjugate the
users.</p>
<p>RMS then auctioned off a copy of <a href="http://www.gnu.org/doc/book13.html">“Free Software, Free Society”</a>, which was
fun to witness. <a href="http://johnleach.co.uk/">John Leach</a> put in his first (or second?) bid following
with a request for a hug. The next bidder requested not to get a hug, with
Stallman saying “how much will you pay not to have a hug?” (maybe
paraphrased). Eventually, I think £90 was raised for the <a href="http://www.fsf.org/">FSF</a>, and the
winning bidder (not John) got a hug.</p>
<p>I thoroughly enjoyed the talk, and wish Richard Stallman well. Also, thank
you <a href="http://mat.tl/">Matt Lee</a> for setting things in motion, and <a href="http://www.roguetory.org.uk/">Paul Waring</a> and the
<a href="http://www.bcs.org/">BCS</a> for the effort that went into organising the event, and
<a href="http://blog.vagueware.com/">Paul Robinson</a> for hosting Richard Stallman during his visit.</p>
Success!http://bleah.co.uk/blog/posts/2008/05/02/success/2011-04-09T12:03:03Z2008-05-02T00:11:10Z
<p>Success!</p>
RMS Upcominghttp://bleah.co.uk/blog/posts/2008/04/21/rms_upcoming/2011-04-09T12:03:03Z2008-04-21T22:13:28Z
<p>I’ve brushed the dust from my Yahoo! account to add Richard Stallman’s talk in
Manchester to Upcoming: <a href="http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/495367/">http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/495367/</a></p>
<p>If you’re going, stick your name down. Let’s see how many are really going¹.</p>
<hr />
<ol>
<li>or how the number reflects the reality post‐event.</li>
</ol>
Richard Stallman in Manchesterhttp://bleah.co.uk/blog/posts/2008/04/20/rms_in_manchester/2011-04-09T12:03:03Z2008-04-20T09:18:25Z
<p>I’m sure everyone who knows me knows by now, but just in case you don’t:
<a href="http://www.stallman.org/">Richard Stallman</a> is <a href="http://manchester.fsuk.org/blog/2008/04/13/richard-stallman-1st-may/">speaking in Manchester</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://blog.vagueware.com/">Paul Robinson</a>, who has kindly offered to host Richard Stallman for his
visit, <a href="http://blog.vagueware.com/2008/4/17/richard-stallman-speaking-in-manchester">expresses his opinion</a> on the size of the lecture theatre the
<a href="http://www.bcs.org/">BCS</a> have booked. He’s not alone, I wholeheartedly agree. We don’t just
have people coming from Manchester. We have, that I have heard rumour of,
people from Yorkshire, and even the Midlands. As said on the <a href="http://www.futuresonic.com/08/ideas/">Futuresonic
site</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>A rare UK talk by Richard Stallman, founder of the Free Software movement.</p></blockquote>
<p>This is a rare thing, attendance is very likely to be good. I can only hope
the catering guys sorting out the “refreshments” before the talk have been
forewarned.</p>
<p>Note: The <a href="http://www.futuresonic.com/08/ideas/richardstallman/">Futuresonic talk</a> is a different one to the <a href="http://manchester.fsuk.org/blog/2008/04/13/richard-stallman-1st-may/">Manchester
Free Software and BCS/IET‐organised event</a>. Go to both!</p>
<p>I wouldn’t mind knowing about <a href="http://blog.vagueware.com/2008/4/17/richard-stallman-speaking-in-manchester">Paul Robinson’s backup plans</a> though:</p>
<blockquote><p>however there is a backup plan those of us with an ear to the ground will
have in place.</p></blockquote>
<p>I haven’t had my ear pressed to the ground hard enough, despite being a
silent(‐ish) observer of the liaison between <a href="http://www.roguetory.org.uk/">Paul Waring</a> on behalf of
<a href="http://manchester.fsuk.org/">Manchester Free Software</a>, <a href="http://www.stallman.org/">RMS</a> and the <a href="http://www.fsf.org/">FSF</a>, and the <a href="http://www.bcs.org/">BCS</a> (and
<a href="http://www.theiet.org/">IET</a>, but apparently they left it all to the <a href="http://www.bcs.org/">BCS</a> to sort out).</p>
<p><a href="http://manchester.fsuk.org/">Manchester Free Software</a> (well, <a href="http://www.roguetory.org.uk/">Paul Waring</a>) asked the
<a href="http://www.bcs.org/">BCS</a> and the <a href="http://www.theiet.org/">IET</a> to help, <em>because</em> we knew it would be big.
<a href="http://manchester.fsuk.org/">Manchester Free Software</a> didn’t get a mention on the initial flyers
from the <a href="http://www.theiet.org/">IET</a> (they didn’t know there was an involvement), so if I’m being
a little paranoid I hope you can understand. That is not important though:
What is important is that Richard Stallman’s words on freedom are heard by
many.</p>
Easter Catch‐Uphttp://bleah.co.uk/blog/posts/2008/03/24/easter_catchup/2011-04-09T12:03:03Z2008-03-24T11:03:05Z
<p>Life seems to have been taken up with other things these past few weeks.</p>
<p>Since I mentioned <a href="http://bleah.co.uk/tags/free_software/../../blog/posts/2008/03/02/openstreetmap/">OpenStreetMap</a> I have done a little bit more mapping,
including <a href="http://www.manchester.gov.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=1476">Birchfields Park</a> in Longsight, and some bits around
Deansgate Locks. I have a number of pending questions about mapping bits of
the latter area, but just haven’t got around to asking.</p>
<p>I had neglected my bike a bit. To make up for it, I gave it a good clean.
The cadence sensor to go with my <a href="https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=160&pID=331">Edge 305</a> arrived last week, so I’m
sure I’ll have a little “must play with new shiney gadget” phase that gets me
out a bit more. I had hoped to cycle over to my mum’s this weekend, but I
think I have left it a little late.</p>
<p>Also last week, I have suddenly become a whole lot more involved with
<a href="http://manchester.fsuk.org/">Manchester Free Software</a>. We had <a href="http://www.alexhudson.com/">Alex Hudson</a> speak mainly
about the <a href="http://bongo-project.org/">Bongo Project</a>, and followed up in <a href="http://www.fabcafe.co.uk/">Fab Cafe</a> with a
meeting to discuss the future of Manchester Free Software. The <a href="http://groups.fsf.org/index.php/Manchester/2008-03-18/Minutes">minutes</a>
are online in the <a href="http://groups.fsf.org/index.php/Manchester">Manchester</a> area of the <a href="http://groups.fsf.org/">FSF Groups</a>
wiki for those interested. Next month we have <a href="http://johnleach.co.uk/">John Leach</a>, author
of <a href="http://geekz.co.uk/lovesraymond/">Everybody Loves Eric Raymond</a>. He’ll be talking about that, as well
as well as <a href="http://www.brightbox.co.uk/">Brightbox</a>, a Ruby on Rails hosting provider.</p>
OpenStreetMaphttp://bleah.co.uk/blog/posts/2008/03/02/openstreetmap/2011-04-09T12:03:03Z2008-03-02T19:16:04Z
<p>Around about a month ago, I purchased a <a href="https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=160&pID=331">Garmin Edge 305</a> for my
bike. It is a fitness training and cycle computer that also happens to
contain a GPS receiver. It features the ability to follow workout programs
and courses that can be programmed in via the device itself, or likely much
more easily sent to the device from a computer via USB. I haven’t used it for
that yet, though, that sort of thing requires me to get into a routine.</p>
<p>What I have been doing is taking it with me wherever I ride, and collecting
GPS traces to upload to <a href="http://openstreetmap.org/">OpenStreetMap</a>. OpenStreetMap is a project to
create and provide free¹ geographic data that people can then use to create
maps, plan routes, or whatever else takes their fancy. Anybody can
contribute, and you don’t even need a GPS: Street names often need to be
filled in, or maybe you know that a junction is actually a mini‐roundabout.
Some areas also have fairly high quality aerial imagery available, such as the
<a href="http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/index.php/Yahoo!_Aerial_Imagery">Yahoo! aerial imagery</a> and <a href="http://openaerialmap.org/">OpenAerialMap</a>, which can be used to
add roads, building outlines, parks, and other things. Old, out of copyright
map data for the UK is also available from the <a href="http://www.npemap.org.uk/">New Popular Edition
Maps</a>, which can be used to map, for example, cycle routes that follow
the paths of disused railway lines.</p>
<p>My first edits in South Manchester covered the area around West Point,
Levenshulme, most of it residential areas. I continued from there by mapping
up to Rusholme and Longsight. There is Yahoo! imagery available, although
it’s not always easy to see things clearly. Combining the aerial imagery with
GPS traces and notes taken while surveying makes things a little easier. A
highlight has to have been putting <a href="http://www.southmanchesterreporter.co.uk/news/s/527908_move_over_clint_its_the_street_with_no_name">The Street With No Name</a> (<a href="http://www.northwestvision.co.uk/page/the-street-with-no-name-is-discovered">article
with more pictures</a>) on the map.</p>
<p>Last Sunday I met up with Rob (pobice) and went to Leeds for a <a href="http://www.wylug.org.uk/2008/02/wylug-social-and-openstreetmap-session-sunday-24th-february-2008/">micro‐mapping
party</a> organised by <a href="http://www.wylug.org.uk/">WYLUG</a> members <a href="http://www.louisaparry.co.uk/">Louisa</a> and <a href="http://www.johnleach.co.uk/">John</a>, joined
by Paul and <a href="http://thinkwhere.wordpress.com/">Tim</a>. Partnered up with Tim, I helped map around <a href="http://www.leedsth.nhs.uk/patients/aboutus/hospitals/st_james.php">St James’s
University Hospital</a> aka Jimmy’s. I lost Tim as we were finishing up
to head back to Leeds, but with the help of existing maps from OpenStreetmap I
had little trouble finding my way back. Louisa posted a <a href="http://louisaparry.co.uk/journal/archives/2008-02-26/open-street-map-micro-mapping-party">summary</a> along
with some lessons learned from organising the mapping party, and Tim created
a <a href="http://geothings.net/osm/leeds/microMappingFeb08.mpg">fantastic animation</a> (MPEG video) of the traces collected that
afternoon.</p>
<p>Back to work, and I have been spending some lunch hours mapping in Manchester
city centre, mainly around Great Bridgewater Street. It was nice to see that
at around the same time, someone else put the G-MEX on the map. Incidentally
that’s already out‐of‐date since it has had its name changed (back?) to
<a href="http://www.manchestercentral.co.uk/">Manchester Central</a>. Fear not, the maps should be updated soon. The
ease of updating the data is part of what makes OpenStreetMap, similar to
<a href="http://wikipedia.org/">Wikipedia</a>.</p>
<p>Today I followed the footpaths of <a href="http://www.manchester.gov.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=1476">Birchfields Park</a>, which is yet to be
seen on OpenStreetMap, despite other nearby parks being included to a
reasonable level of detail.</p>
<p>I think I may have caught the mapping bug.</p>
<hr />
<ol>
<li>“free” here has little to do with price, it means you have certain basic
freedoms to use, study, modify, and redistribute the data, akin to those
you have with <span class="selflink">free software</span>.</li>
</ol>
Don’t Bollock the Normal Userhttp://bleah.co.uk/blog/posts/2008/02/20/dont_bollock_the_normal_user/2011-04-09T12:03:03Z2008-02-20T01:42:15Z
<p>“Don’t Bollock the Normal User” is the message that sticks in my head after
<a href="http://www.kryogenix.org/days/">Stuart Langridge</a>’s (aka Aq, of <a href="http://lugradio.org/">Lugradio</a> fame) talk for <a href="http://manchester.fsuk.org/">Manchester
Free Software</a>, most likely because of the slide illustrating
parts of the male anatomy. He’s right: Someone tells you about their latest
software experience, and then some zealot like me comes along and says “that’s
not free software, don’t use it.” Some free software zealots are worse than
me. Instead, as also presented by Aq, we should be going for the people who
cause this to happen, the people like nVidia and Broadcom, who develop
hardware that requires software components that are not freely distributable.</p>
<p>I thoroughly enjoyed Manchester Free Software this month, and Aq’s a good
speaker. He managed to get his message across, and involved the audience.
Not a large audience, but reasonable for the fledgling group of people centred
around free software and having a different target to most LUGs, which by
being the first such group we know of in the UK (not counting those LUGs that
are very much free software groups), became known as a UK Free Software group,
and even got stretched to Europe (despite the existence of <a href="http://www.fsfeurope.org/">FSFE</a>).</p>
<p>After (and before), we went to Fab Cafe just a few doors down. They have
free wifi, but noone felt compelled to use it, either because they couldn’t or
we had some interesting conversation. I had some Guinness.</p>